Gaming News - Page 4

Xbox Cloud Gaming (Project xCloud) was originally created to deliver Xbox console games to mobile devices, but the service has not gone according to plan.

Microsoft's game streaming initiative was born out of necessity. The company--and the rest of the industry--has identified mobile gaming as the largest area of growth, with mobile expected to rise to $113 billion by 2027. While Microsoft has a presence on console and PC, it is significantly lacking in mobile. In an attempt to solve that, the Xbox games division decided to try to bring its existing content library to mobile using cloud gaming instead of creating a smattering of native mobile games.

During his testimony in the federal trial between the FTC and Microsoft/Activision, Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer delivered an insightful history lesson on Xbox Cloud Gaming and revealed why the service was made and why the xCloud platform hasn't gained traction.

Bethesda's Todd Howard reveals that most of Starfield's planets will be devoid of life, and that's as much as a design decision as it is a technical one.

Starfield promises a lot. The game is supposed to have 1,000 planets with exotic flora, fauna, resources, and possibly even strange ancient alien artifacts. We might find things like derelict ships in space, colonies of adventurers that died in mysterious ways, and other forms of unique environmental storytelling that Bethesda is known for.

One thing that Starfield will also have are those lonely, introspective moments of exploration in a vast world--or in this case, galaxy. This is something Bethesda RPGs have, and not all of your expeditions are going to be exciting encounters with life. Your explorations might end up with you being mostly solitary. In a recent interview with Kinda Funny Games, Bethesda's Todd Howard talked more about what gamers can expect when it comes to Starfield's planets and how the team is looking to a distinct Buzz Aldrin quote for inspiration.

Before Take-Two Interactive bought Zynga for $12.7 billion, Microsoft had its eye on the mobile-maker.

Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer made one thing clear in today's court testimony: Console gaming is not growing. In the hearing, Phil Spencer laid out the rationale behind Microsoft's $68.7 billion merger proposal with Activision, saying that despite his best efforts, the Xbox console business has remained stagnant.

Despite beating Nintendo in games revenues in 2022, things apparently aren't going well for Xbox. In the hearing, Spencer admitted to FTC laywer James Weingarten that Xbox has missed its internal targets. Microsoft's board of directors and senior leadership, including CFO Amy Hood and CEO Satya Nadella, pressure the Xbox unit to continue growing. That's just not happening on console.

The Elder Scrolls VI's release is so far away that Microsoft is not ready to fully commit on Xbox exclusivity.

Bethesda's next Elder Scrolls RPG could also release on PlayStation. Even Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer has no idea when Elder Scrolls 6 will release--it's pretty far out there, and right now Bethesda is full steam ahead on Starfield. TES6 may not launch on Gen9 consoles, and could move to Gen 10, which is expected to begin in 2028.

As part of his recent testimony at the FTC v Microsoft court evidentiary hearing, Phil Spencer cautioned that a decision hasn't been made on The Elder Scrolls 6 skipping PlayStation.

Xbox Gaming CEO Phil Spencer says that PlayStation is a hostile competitor.

Note: The quotes taken here were transcribed via live audio call and are not wholly representative of what was said, and there are paraphrases.

Microsoft believes that Sony is a hostile competitor due to its myriad of exclusivity deals, which sees Sony buying up platform and timed-exclusivity for big-name games like Final Fantasy and Call of Duty. Spencer says that Sony outright pays developers to skip Xbox, a controversial business practice also referred to as "blocking rights."

Xbox gaming boss Phil Spencer gives a quick explanation on how developers make money from Xbox Game Pass deals.

Xbox Game Pass can be risky or rewarding depending on many factors. The service can bring negative effects like "cannibalization," which reduces overall premium full game sales as a result of the business model--gamers are less likely to buy a game for full price if they can access it on Game Pass. To help make up for this effect, Microsoft offers specific deals to developers as incentives to bring new content to the value-driven service.

In the recent FTC v Microsoft evidentiary hearing, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer outlines the kinds of revenue deals that developers can take advantage of on Game Pass. When asked specifically about a revenue share split by FTC legal counsel James Weingarden, Spencer replied that Game Pass actually doesn't adhere to the standard 70-30 storefront model because it's a subscription.

ZeniMax's Head of Publishing Pete Hines explains why some Bethesda games go exclusive, and highlights the general merits of platform exclusivity that apply to all independently-operated game developers.

Starfield is a full-on Xbox exclusive, but it wasn't always going to be. Microsoft's $7.5 billion buyout of ZeniMax, Bethesda's parent company, changed things. In yesterday's evidentiary hearing in the FTC v Microsoft trial, ZeniMax's Pete Hines revealed key information about exclusivity deals, how such deals benefit ZeniMax, and how the publisher fits into Microsoft's games division.

Hines' testimony first reveals that ZeniMax is a limited-integration company, meaning that ZeniMax's studios--Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, Tango Gameworks, ZeniMax Online, Arkane, etc--do not report or answer to Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty. Instead, ZeniMax reports directly to Phil Spencer.

Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming (also known "as xCloud") may not ever become a standalone subscription service due to the constrained logistics of the business.

During yesterday's evidentiary hearing the FTC v Microsoft case, Xbox SVP Sarah Bond highlighted the practical realities of Microsoft's game streaming initiative. The Xbox executive highlights how xCloud operates, reiterating that Xbox's game streaming fork is powered by actual Xbox Series X consoles and not Azure servers. Microsoft has made it clear that it makes no money from Xbox hardware sales, and since these servers are powered by Xbox consoles, Microsoft themselves must acquire Xbox units for the service and potentially reduce consumer product availability in the process.

This could put constraints on the practicality of the business. It's unclear that xCloud is even profitable, which is likely why the delivery method is combined with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate--the premium value-oriented part of Game Pass could offset any losses from xCloud, the same way that software sales and services help Microsoft offset the losses from console hardware sales.

In new court filings, Microsoft's legal counsel reiterates a 2028 forecast for the next PlayStation and Xbox console generation.

If the traditional hardware cycle is anything to go by, Gen10 could launch in 2028. The modern games industry has taught us that things change quite fast, especially with disruptive services like Game Pass, and world-altering events like the pandemic and challenging economic climate.

In a recent findings of fact filing in the FTC provisionary injunction court case (Case 3:23-cv-02880-JSC Document 177), Microsoft lawyers once again mention a potential release date for the PS6 and next-gen Xbox. It's a very small mention, and the date is in relation to the 10-year Call of Duty deal that Microsoft has offered Sony. Microsoft lawyers say that the 10-year deal would overlap with the launch of Gen10 consoles...assuming they came in 2028.

After engaging tens of millions of players and making tons of revenues, Warzone 1.0 will officially shut down in September.

Warzone Caldera, the first iteration of the landmark free-to-play Call of Duty mode that radically transformed Activision-Blizzard's business, is officially closing shop on September 21, 2023. The mode will be pulled offline on all platforms and gamers will need to move over to Warzone 2.0. The move remains clear: Activision has unified the Call of Duty ecosystem with a new updated proprietary games engine that is capable of belting out new premium games, the F2P Warzone 2.0, and the upcoming Warzone mobile--there's just too many spinning plates going at once.

Activision says that all existing content that was purchased in Warzone 1.0 from MW 2019, Black Ops Cold War, and Vanguard will still be available in those games, but the base F2P game will be taking offline.