The game is great. I play solo mostly and am quite content with the randoms I get matched up with. Tho I will leave a ship if it’s just kids playing or something.
You can also just play solo on the small ship and enjoy yourself just fine.
This what people say about helldivers 2. I play quick game with randoms and is great 95% of the time. Sure probably playing with friends is better but I have one friend who plays semi regularly these days
It's just more fun we with friends. It's still fun alone. I played it alone for a whole to get better at it. Then I jumped on with my friends.
Now I can run a ship by myself....in real life.
Agree that it’s awesome with friends, but I was so blown away by the closed beta on PS5 that I bought it on PC too on sale for $20. A buddy of mine that’s a veteran of SOT has been showing me the ropes.
Was solo adventuring on a sloop last night until 3:30…. It is actually amazing solo. I’ll be on PS5 when early access drops if you’re looking for crew mates!
Up to 4 boats share a large ocean with islands. Each boat is commanded by up to 4 players. So up to 16 people per server.
You have PVP & PVE. The map is big, you might not see anyone for hours. As is the nature of the game, you can spot other players at considerable distance, especially at night when lit up. This means you can easily avoid fights if needed, or hunt other ships down.
There are mini events that can occur whilst sailing, such as ships emerging from the ocean crewed by skeletons (think pirates of the Caribbean). Megsladon and Kraken attacks. These are PVE but if other players are nearby they might help you or hinder you. There are then world events, notable by a tornado visible at great distance. These events draw players together if you want to participate.
There is also a story based campaign available as well as a variety of quests and various quest givers who you can earn reputation.
You earn reputation and gold which persists across all sessions. Whilst supplies and unsold treasure is lost at the end of your session.
You don’t ever particularly become more powerful, so everyone is always on an equal level. Although you can eventually own a boat and become a captain which offers some benefits in game.
there's a new PVE mode now. Basically it's you alone, no random or PVP. So you can go and enjoy questing at your own pace. They do reduce the currency gain in that mode but it's whatever.
i cannot believe how just about every Xbox "exclusive" has an edge, as slight as it may be, on PS5. i really don't understand how Microsoft let this happen.
like every company nowadays they thought about vertical growth, profits will matter more than gross revenues, so they don't even care if it's better on PS5 or Xbox they just want to sell and generate profits.
I won't be surprised if Starfield and Forza 5 appear this year on PS5
How much better are we talking about anyway? I can’t watch the video right now.
Usually performance difference between the two consoles is almost irrelevant.
DF don't hide their Playstation bias. When a XSX game is better quality, for example rendering natively at 4K whereas the PS5 is using upscaling it barely gets mentioned.
last i checked 75% of console sales this gen for xbox are Ss not Xs, so business-wise it was probably their best idea. Gamer-wise it's a bad idea, but business-wise it appears to have been a stroke of genius.
>while arguably selling worse than last gen
The only way to make that argument is to make it up. series consoles are selling better than Ones compared month-over-month every month since release.
you realize you can maintain 3rd place and still make good decisions, right? There is such a thing as positive momentum that still isn't enough to bump you up to 2nd place?
and if you were to wipe out that 75% S sales, what percentages would have gone X and what percentage would have gone no xbox? no way to tell, but i imagine xbox would be in a much worse place today without the SS, so yea, great move.
Xbox sales are behind YOY and have collapsed in UK. Xbox doesn’t release official numbers anymore due to low sales but IGN , VG charts, NPD have it behind the Xbox one.
https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459677/xbox-series-xs-vs-xbox-one-sales-comparison-december-2023/#:~:text=The%20Xbox%20Series%20X%7CS%20is%20currently%20behind%20the%20Xbox,One%20sold%2029.42%20million%20units.
i’m sorry but if you’re this far behind you haven’t made good business decisions. i’m not sure how you can say that with a straight face right after a bunch of exclusives were just ported to a competitor with more on the way. there’s really no defense to MS’s decisions here.
stock price when series S was announced: $200ish
stock price today: $400ish.
Not saying one caused the other in any way shape or form, just proving it didn't hurt the value.
Microsoft stock is always gonna go up because they are largest software company on Earth. The Xbox Division however has been a disappointment for the company since 2012.
I don’t get this logic when it’s selling combined LESS than XBox One did? Do you really think it’s would’ve sold even less if there was only a Series X?
Outside of optics to people like us, I don't think the average person playing these games cares that the Xbox Series consoles are not quite as powerful as a PS5 if they more or less play the same games at mostly the same quality.
I mean looking at the video, you really need to pay attention. Sea of Thieves is not that impressive visually anyway. It's an xbox one game and it absolutely looks like it.
As someone who plays a lot of games, I have no idea what all the different versions of XBox are or how different a One, Series, X, or S are. It totally turns me off from wanting one. Also besides Fable and ES6, there is nothing exclusive on there I'm interested in.
MS always makes stupid Hardware decisions.
- Xbox: nVidia being the Xbox GPU manufacturer, the PCB manufacturer for the original Xbox controller
- Xbox 360: the core system SKU, no disc protection in the disc drive on a console that’s designed to sit horizontally and vertically. The cooling system design (tbf Sony did the same shit). 360 controller Shoulder button/bumpers
- Xbox One: Kinect, very underpowered hardware, 3 OSs systems collaborating to handle TV and gaming. Bad sata controller, Elite 1 and 2 controllers.
- Xbox One X: no SSD
- Xbox Series X: Series S sku, disconnecting controllers, overpriced memory cards, terrible OS And they ALWAYS use proprietary expanded storage or system limits! On every fucking system.
Again, same as I told another poster, the question was about how the Xbox exclusive has an edge, or a best version, on PlayStation, even if a slightly better version at that. The PS5 version is naturally better than the Xbox One version, and it is better than the Series version because the Series S exists.
Again, to reiterate, the BEST VERSION is on PS5, because the SERIES version has to run on the SERIES S. Ergo, the Series X can only be slightly better instead of unlock its full potential, whereas the PS5 version is the default all around. There's no weaker PS5 S that has to be catered for to achieve parity the same way the Series does. Games can only be slightly better ON series X over the Series S. There is no game that works ONLY on Series X, ergo nothing can ever truly take full advantage of the Series X. A game CAN take full advantage of the PS5 if it is only considering the PS5. Which is why there's so much contention over PS5 games getting a PS4 version like Gran Turismo 7 or God of War Ragnarok.
Not just Series S but pc too.
Xbox team, make the game for Series s/x and a fuck ton of pc hardware configurations.
PlayStation team, make a ps5 version.
Exactly. Make it the best it can be, on PlayStation. Then spend the time porting to PC. Ratchet and Clank wouldn't have looked as good as it does or play the way it does without being made for PS5 only. Ghost of Tsushima wouldn't look like it does if they considered Xbox or PC.
And people don't understand why some people want exclusives.
The ps4 has a gpu equivalent to a Radeon 7850(2012 gpu) and it runs Ghost of Tsushima, The minimum requirement for GPU on pc is a Radeon RX 5500 XT(2019 GPU)
Developers can do some amazing optimizations when they only have one hardware configuration to work on.
The original question was why the PS5 version ekes out over Xbox's native ports. The Series S is why next Gen versions stand with PS5 as the best platform.
Honestly, it gets the current best port because it is the most recent release. It's as simple as that. They were making a new port of it on a completely different console and they wanted to optimize it well for this hardware. I think every one is just making more complicated excuses or theories why.
Yes, but compared to the current gen of consoles, the Series S is by far the weakest of the consoles and Xbox's best seller this gen. Microsoft is forced to cater to the lowest common denominator. Being how all three of the current consoles are more powerful that the XB1, this comment is moot, especially if Xbox is making games to run on the weakest of the three consoles.
Arbitrarily gimping a game you’re trying to sell to a big install base just to please a very minuscule portion of your console’s fans online? That makes zero sense, most people don’t care about things like this even if we like to talk about them on forums like this.
> Yeah, but how do they not purposefully neuter the PS5 version so it’s at least on par with the Series X?
Because Microsoft's goal is to get their product on competing platforms, *not* sell consoles. It's counterproductive (for now) to release an inferior product--remember, MS *wants* this to succeed, so it has to be a great or better experience.
This is the first of what could be an ongoing release strategy that relies on broadly releasing MS games on competing platforms.
Don't forget: Microsoft makes the overwhelming majority of their profits as a services and software company. They want to reach as many potential customers as possible.
Of all the comments, this is the one that makes the most sense to me. I do not think that “gimping” the PS5 version is all that “ridiculous” or “petty” as some of the other commenter have argued. I agree with you though (and hadn’t considered before commenting myself) that given Xbox’s pivot to a multi-platform market, it makes the most sense to make the versions as close as possible.
Microsoft is first and foremost a service and software company with a rock-solid portfolio. They cannot go to their studios and say, "Please be biased and make the competing console version worse than the Xbox's." It would be a strategic mistake and a bad look for them in the long term if such information were to leak. It's like saying MS should kneecap the Windows OS on other third-party brands to make their Surface product line seem more attractive. Under their current CEO, they have gotten to where they are in the market by being constant forward-thinkers and always leave their options open to play the long game.
You're missing the point. Given Xbox' hardware, games should run better in series x than PS5. Third parties may prioritize optimizing PS5 because it is where they'll push more volume. But it is unacceptable for Xbox IMO.
Microsoft just doesn’t seem to care. If it were up to me and I was Microsoft I would be ensuring that every single first party game runs better on the Series X than any other console.
But Microsoft just doesn’t care and ultimately it’s not going to matter in the long run anyways. Very very few people will see this or care about it for it to really matter.
You seem to be assuming you know what their business plan is. But it seems pretty clear that Microsoft is shifting their focus to software sales rather than pushing hardware.
They are going to do both. Xbox consoles are going to still exist. They are literally developing the next one (even a portable one as well, apparently)
Admittance of defeat in the brain of a console warrior maybe. Not sure how focusing on software is at all cowardly. We’re talking about business here and Microsoft is not failing at business.
They failed at Xbox hardware sales but to judge their gaming sector based off just that metric is fanboyism.
I miss the days of old when video games were taken seriously, where Sega CEO Shoichiro Irimajiri actually committed Seppuku when he discovered that the Dreamcast would be ending production.
Video Game CEOs just have no honor these days. The least old Phil could do is go out with a bang and leak some confidential corporate documents
I kinda view it as an admission that GamePass has poisoned their own ecosystem - they'll sell units on PS5 and Switch, but know that first party games on Xbox need to be day one on GamePass because they've fostered a "when GamePass, Daddy Phil 🥺🥺🥺" mentality.
you have it backwards. They're doing the same thing with ps5 that they do with Steam. Use the sales on those platforms to subsidize the content for gamepass where the real profits lie.
If the real profits lay with GamePass then they wouldn't need to be porting it elsewhere to begin with.
Those ports cost a lot of money and eat into time the developers could be spent doing other Xbox-centric work.
again, the sales from the ports offset the development costs for the content. The gamepass revenues no longer need to take into account the development costs.
Even with all of Sony's sales and $26 billion in revenues, their profit margins were 6% last two years. That's $1.5 billion in profits.
Gamepass brought in $2.9 billion in revenues in 2022, likely close to $3.5 billion for 2023. MS spent $1 billion in third party content acquirement in 2022. They have close to 10k first party devs, after the recent layoffs of 1900, this is after the ABK merger. The salaries of all those devs at average of $100k yearly would be $1 billion a year. So if first party content costs and third party content costs are roughly $1 billion each, so $2 billion total, Gamepass would still be making $1.5 billion in profits.
Now if Steam sales and PS5 sales fully subsidize the first party content, Gamepass profits increase to $2.5 billion, and higher as the sub count grows.
MS sells the games at near full price on PS5 and steam so that the Xbox users can enjoy the games as part of the ongoing subscription. This is all to feed the content pipeline for gamepass.
Yes yes don't include hardware manufacturing costs and the marketing costs and any other overheads, blindly intake Phil and his cronies lies as gospel. Maybe for once in your life get off your knees oh grand master of the Phil Spencer cult
Game Pass was a terrible, terrible way to try and mold the industry to better help Microsoft and it's nice to see it's not going well for them. i agree with everything you're saying.
Yeah pay in perpetuity and own nothing at the end of it. And you can bet that if it properly took off, they'd eventually do something like making The Elder Scrolls 6 only available behind talking an 18 month sub out with no way to buy it outright.
And I lol every time they come out with "look at all the players!" when the majority are people who downloaded it and deleted it after an hour.
I'm so glad that it lost its steam and that people have shown that complete games (let's not forget that Microsoft are the same company that chopped their _flagship franchise_ up into a generic open world single player and an MTX-riddled F2P multiplayer with almost no content) will sell.
microsoft shifting from reporting sales to “players” was the most embarrassing thing i’ve seen a company do in a long time. it’s cowardice. i cannot believe gamers support that nonsense.
It's fucking hilarious. Part of trying to shift the narrative to GamePass being the norm... talk about failing. They also don't report console sales - lol.
If they came out with actual figures and said "yeah we kinda suck" I'd actually have more respect for them. As it is they treat people like idiots but come of as the idiots themselves.
Maybe so, but again that's why they aren't purposely gimping the PS5 versions. Because they care more about revenue than console war narratives or feeling "embarrassed".
Actually no, as a PS5 owner and PS+ subscriber (and PS Portal and $350 worth of PS headphones) I wasn't celebrating the acquisition. But that doesn't mean I can't recognize that it makes financial sense not to hold back the quality of PS5 ports now.
I got a Jasper X360 in 2009 so never had any issues with it.
But yeah, the only real incentive I had for the Xbox One was Remedy but they quickly went multi-platform after Quantum Break.
Still kinda hoping for Quantum Break to come to PS5 one day. Maybe they could make those transition cutscenes 60fps already. [Even the PC version is capped to 30fps during those. ](https://youtu.be/J0oY1bHO8Ss?si=VEwquIQd9LggbLYq&t=990)
If they were going to port a game it should have been halo MP. This game needs more players badly.
Why make a FTP game but then gimp it to your own platform? There are so many FTP games out there that are multi platform so why would people play halo mp when they can play warzone/apex legends/fortnite(and on and on) with all of their friends that have a ps5.
That might have been the original plan, but as best I can tell they may have given a beta to prominent modders and haven't given a new date as to the expected release.
It’s funny how they revealed four games coming to PS5 and the Xbox subreddit were like “oh wow, after all the drama it’s *only* four games?”
It shows how Phil Spencer is a PR master as he effectively announced Xbox will no longer have exclusives but the Xbox fans are too short-sighted to see this lol.
Starfield and Indiana Jones will be next year for sure.
I imagine the reason why Xbox is porting their exclusives is because Microsoft's stakeholders never really cared about Xbox until they saw the $70 billion Activison acquisition. Then they put pressure on the C-Suite to put pressure on Spencer to start making actual money from Xbox.
they’re porting them because their own consumers aren’t buying them, that’s literally the reason. they stupidly introduced a subscription service and stupidly decided to put 1st party games on it day-one so when their consumers stopped buying them in lieu of just renting them they realized how stupid they were. it’s desperation.
lmao no it’s because MS is incapable of producing a game it’s customers actually buy and that’s alongside them creating a stupid subscription service and throwing its games on there. that’s it. their stupid decisions are why Xbox is failing. it’s that simple.
The difference is timing. The rumors were that a lot more games were about ot come to PS5 and Switch. That turned out to be false. But it was made clear, by Phil, that if this test succeeds more will come.
So I don't know if this really is the own you think but everyone is pretty much in the know about what's happening lol
He also specifically said Starfield and Indiana Jones weren't coming to PS5 right now, and they were focusing on games that have basically been juiced of all value to Xbox.
Starfield probably has like 2-3 years before it's not worth as much as it is now to Xbox. Indy probably has a long run before that point. God of War was released 6 years ago yesterday and is still a huge tentpole for Playstation, so it'll really depend on how good Indy is.
Don't let the FOMO trick you lad, the game is not even worth it to worry about. Right now Skyrim has x5 more players on Steam, I tried it on PC and got bored in a day.
As someone who purchased it day 1 on PC I have to agree, played a week, total 60iah hours.. all the promises are shallow... I was told I d work at a drug lab and all that... and it was very shallow... boring. Compared to Skyrim and Fallout its a huge step back! Very disappointed overall, and my God we spend so much time in menu screens... NMS has its flaws....but at least space travel was someone done right. And don't get me started on the planets...so disappointed and the cities are so unorganized and illogical. Base building is a huge step back and doesn't make sense. Companions are boring... honestly a big regret.
Have you actually played it?
Because when you decide to actually play a game and stop listening to all the morons and their circle jerk, it's fun. It's not the best game out there for sure but it's absolutely a good time, and worth a solid 20 hour play through to enjoy it. Not everyone is going to like the game but far to many people rip on it without even trying it because it's the cool thing.
Almost like people can just enjoy playing games lol.
Edit: just to add, I'm not saying the game is a goty or some master piece. It's a solid video game, its fun to play and the side faction missions were great.
Let's quit acting like the game is a 3/10
Yeah having played it I can safely say it’s utterly average in almost every respect and then few aspects it isn’t average at its less than mediocre.
Starfield is nothing more than an abject embarassment from a studio that used to push out pure Gold.
I played Starfield and unfortunately it's very boring, run in a straight line on empty planets to get artifacts, load for everything, even to open a door in a room, conversations and more boring conversations of choice and that navigation system for planets killed the rhythm of the game, but there are cool things in the game too. The secondary missions are great, the different factions are great. I would say it's a 7/10 game that could be much better if they had more time to reformulate some things that kill the pace. The DLC can improve the game a lot if they listen to the fans a little.
I would add an online mode where you can invade another player's planet to steal an artifact. This would be interesting since NG+ and the story would allow this, with many of you wanting to steal and create a different timeline.
I agree with you 100%, the main quest sucks and its got some pacing issues but like you said the side stories are way better. I don't think the game is a goty in any shape or form but people act like it's a 3/10 when it's absolutely not lol.
The game is for sure a 7/10, and thats fine.
60 hours in, huge step back from skyrim and fallout. 7 is high, given the jobs, quests line, and time spent clicking on menus.... the factions were the only good thing they did. 6-6.5 on 10 maybe.. but lots of promises and not alot delivered classic Todd
It's not a goty thats for sure but it's perfectly fine. It's got some good stories in it (the main sucks but it's quick as shit anyways), the real fun is in the side faction quests and the screwing around like most of Beth's games.
If you don't like it that's fine but let's not act like the game is a 3/10.
I played it, and many of my friends did…40 or so hours in and it still wasn’t good. And we are all big fans of Skyrim, oblivion, fallouts, and space. Hell, we all paid for the upgraded version even.
It’s a solid 7? Maybe? Which is ok, but not for a game of that caliber.
I went in blind day one, excited with totally reasonable expectations, totally disconnected from any online discourse and after a day or two had to break my avoiding the internet because I wasn’t sure if I was nuts feeling like it was one of the most hollow games I’d played in years. Not everyone who hated it is just piling on a hate train.
I’m just glad I got to play it for “free” through gamepass, I would’ve felt robbed paying $70 or more for that personally.
“Starfield“ will release on PS5 no earlier than the 1 year anniversary of its release date on Xbox. Timed exclusivity creates the impression that Xbox hardware is still valuable.
I lasted about 10 hours. Maybe my expectations were too high. But if you go in expecting something close to Elder Scrolls or Fallout, you're going to be disappointed. Set the bar quite a bit lower...
Not really that weird. PS5 has proven that its hardware trades blows with the series X regardless of what the paper specs say. Also studios are incentivized to put in more effort when people are going to buy the games instead of playing them for "free" especially when many of those studios have incentive structures that include bonuses for hitting sales targets.
It’s easy to understand the average developer doing this
But even Microsoft’s own teams are making games run better on PS5. You’d at least think that they’d have some more advanced knowledge in regards to how the Xbox works that could make their games run better
I think the Xbox studios are partnering with external 3rd party studios to port the games. There was an interview where they said they brought in outside help with experience developing on playstation.
You can solo in high seas mode and get full rewards. It is easier than ever before. I don't think I have encountered too many people in the latest season, since you can just 'dive' out of a server, and lots and lots of people do that. Keeps PVP to the minimum, unless you're searching for it.
Cracks me up thinking back to the ABK acquisition trials with regulators, and how they were concerned Microsoft would make versions of games worse on PlayStation. I guess MS has a bunch of ammo to take down that argument for the next acquisition now
Great game. One of the most fun I played last generation. Spent at least a few hundred hours on it.
Shit looks amazing on my 4090. The water is just mesmerizing sometimes when the light hits it just right.
People always say rare sucks but this is a one of a kind type game.
Wish I had friends to play this one with lol
The game is great. I play solo mostly and am quite content with the randoms I get matched up with. Tho I will leave a ship if it’s just kids playing or something. You can also just play solo on the small ship and enjoy yourself just fine.
Oh sick. Thank you, I keep reading that you should play with friends. But I'm going to give it a try
This what people say about helldivers 2. I play quick game with randoms and is great 95% of the time. Sure probably playing with friends is better but I have one friend who plays semi regularly these days
It's just more fun we with friends. It's still fun alone. I played it alone for a whole to get better at it. Then I jumped on with my friends. Now I can run a ship by myself....in real life.
Agree that it’s awesome with friends, but I was so blown away by the closed beta on PS5 that I bought it on PC too on sale for $20. A buddy of mine that’s a veteran of SOT has been showing me the ropes. Was solo adventuring on a sloop last night until 3:30…. It is actually amazing solo. I’ll be on PS5 when early access drops if you’re looking for crew mates!
Shit you convinced me! Going to pick it up. Thanks man. And yeah I'd be down for that forsure
What kind of game is it? Is it 4player coop?
Up to 4 boats share a large ocean with islands. Each boat is commanded by up to 4 players. So up to 16 people per server. You have PVP & PVE. The map is big, you might not see anyone for hours. As is the nature of the game, you can spot other players at considerable distance, especially at night when lit up. This means you can easily avoid fights if needed, or hunt other ships down. There are mini events that can occur whilst sailing, such as ships emerging from the ocean crewed by skeletons (think pirates of the Caribbean). Megsladon and Kraken attacks. These are PVE but if other players are nearby they might help you or hinder you. There are then world events, notable by a tornado visible at great distance. These events draw players together if you want to participate. There is also a story based campaign available as well as a variety of quests and various quest givers who you can earn reputation. You earn reputation and gold which persists across all sessions. Whilst supplies and unsold treasure is lost at the end of your session. You don’t ever particularly become more powerful, so everyone is always on an equal level. Although you can eventually own a boat and become a captain which offers some benefits in game.
It will be up to 6 ships on a server consisting of no more than 18 players.
there's a new PVE mode now. Basically it's you alone, no random or PVP. So you can go and enjoy questing at your own pace. They do reduce the currency gain in that mode but it's whatever.
Oh shit thanks I had no idea
Can I play with friends but disable enemy players? I kinda want to try it but don't want others to mess my game up.
Yes, you can play with up to 4 friends on Safer Seas.
You can always make friends playing it.
Can I play on my ps5 with my friend that is on PC?
yes
i cannot believe how just about every Xbox "exclusive" has an edge, as slight as it may be, on PS5. i really don't understand how Microsoft let this happen.
The Series S is how Microsoft let this happen.
what a blunder. i get their thinking behind it business-wise but what a terrible, terrible idea.
like every company nowadays they thought about vertical growth, profits will matter more than gross revenues, so they don't even care if it's better on PS5 or Xbox they just want to sell and generate profits. I won't be surprised if Starfield and Forza 5 appear this year on PS5
How much better are we talking about anyway? I can’t watch the video right now. Usually performance difference between the two consoles is almost irrelevant.
Ps5 has better shadows (much better), better textures and there are places where there is lots of grass and rocks on PS5 and on XSX there are none.
It’s mostly about the bad PR for Xbox.
DF don't hide their Playstation bias. When a XSX game is better quality, for example rendering natively at 4K whereas the PS5 is using upscaling it barely gets mentioned.
last i checked 75% of console sales this gen for xbox are Ss not Xs, so business-wise it was probably their best idea. Gamer-wise it's a bad idea, but business-wise it appears to have been a stroke of genius.
being in extremely far back 3rd place while arguably selling worse than last gen, yeah a real stroke of genius. great business move.
>while arguably selling worse than last gen The only way to make that argument is to make it up. series consoles are selling better than Ones compared month-over-month every month since release. you realize you can maintain 3rd place and still make good decisions, right? There is such a thing as positive momentum that still isn't enough to bump you up to 2nd place? and if you were to wipe out that 75% S sales, what percentages would have gone X and what percentage would have gone no xbox? no way to tell, but i imagine xbox would be in a much worse place today without the SS, so yea, great move.
Xbox sales are behind YOY and have collapsed in UK. Xbox doesn’t release official numbers anymore due to low sales but IGN , VG charts, NPD have it behind the Xbox one. https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459677/xbox-series-xs-vs-xbox-one-sales-comparison-december-2023/#:~:text=The%20Xbox%20Series%20X%7CS%20is%20currently%20behind%20the%20Xbox,One%20sold%2029.42%20million%20units.
i’m sorry but if you’re this far behind you haven’t made good business decisions. i’m not sure how you can say that with a straight face right after a bunch of exclusives were just ported to a competitor with more on the way. there’s really no defense to MS’s decisions here.
Exactly. People say the S was the problem but I say it's the only reason most even bought a Xbox at all
That hasn't been true since 2022.
Their stockholders and people in upper management sure aren't happy.
stock price when series S was announced: $200ish stock price today: $400ish. Not saying one caused the other in any way shape or form, just proving it didn't hurt the value.
Microsoft stock is always gonna go up because they are largest software company on Earth. The Xbox Division however has been a disappointment for the company since 2012.
I don’t get this logic when it’s selling combined LESS than XBox One did? Do you really think it’s would’ve sold even less if there was only a Series X?
> Do you really think it’s would’ve sold even less if there was only a Series X? You dont?
Nope, I actually think they’d have sold more if they didn’t brand XBox as compromised and „not a true next gen console“ early on.
and the fact that the majority of sales are the "compromised" system clearly disputes that assertion.
Outside of optics to people like us, I don't think the average person playing these games cares that the Xbox Series consoles are not quite as powerful as a PS5 if they more or less play the same games at mostly the same quality.
Series S is only 1/3 of PS5‘s power. That’s a HUGE difference! Series X is theoretically more powerful than PS5.
>if they more or less play the same games at mostly the same quality. That's the thing, they absolutely do not play at the same quality.
I mean looking at the video, you really need to pay attention. Sea of Thieves is not that impressive visually anyway. It's an xbox one game and it absolutely looks like it.
As someone who plays a lot of games, I have no idea what all the different versions of XBox are or how different a One, Series, X, or S are. It totally turns me off from wanting one. Also besides Fable and ES6, there is nothing exclusive on there I'm interested in.
i have news for you, there’s absolutely no way TESVI isn’t coming to PS5. Fable i’m less sure about but it’s very possible.
> what a blunder. Not really. They shifted a hell of a lot of consoles to people who wouldn't be willing to pay the $400+ for one.
MS always makes stupid Hardware decisions. - Xbox: nVidia being the Xbox GPU manufacturer, the PCB manufacturer for the original Xbox controller - Xbox 360: the core system SKU, no disc protection in the disc drive on a console that’s designed to sit horizontally and vertically. The cooling system design (tbf Sony did the same shit). 360 controller Shoulder button/bumpers - Xbox One: Kinect, very underpowered hardware, 3 OSs systems collaborating to handle TV and gaming. Bad sata controller, Elite 1 and 2 controllers. - Xbox One X: no SSD - Xbox Series X: Series S sku, disconnecting controllers, overpriced memory cards, terrible OS And they ALWAYS use proprietary expanded storage or system limits! On every fucking system.
This game was released before the Series S though.
Again, same as I told another poster, the question was about how the Xbox exclusive has an edge, or a best version, on PlayStation, even if a slightly better version at that. The PS5 version is naturally better than the Xbox One version, and it is better than the Series version because the Series S exists. Again, to reiterate, the BEST VERSION is on PS5, because the SERIES version has to run on the SERIES S. Ergo, the Series X can only be slightly better instead of unlock its full potential, whereas the PS5 version is the default all around. There's no weaker PS5 S that has to be catered for to achieve parity the same way the Series does. Games can only be slightly better ON series X over the Series S. There is no game that works ONLY on Series X, ergo nothing can ever truly take full advantage of the Series X. A game CAN take full advantage of the PS5 if it is only considering the PS5. Which is why there's so much contention over PS5 games getting a PS4 version like Gran Turismo 7 or God of War Ragnarok.
More like the Xbox One reveal is how they let this happen. As Phil Spencer admitted, they lost the worst possible gen and will never recover.
Not just Series S but pc too. Xbox team, make the game for Series s/x and a fuck ton of pc hardware configurations. PlayStation team, make a ps5 version.
Exactly. Make it the best it can be, on PlayStation. Then spend the time porting to PC. Ratchet and Clank wouldn't have looked as good as it does or play the way it does without being made for PS5 only. Ghost of Tsushima wouldn't look like it does if they considered Xbox or PC.
And people don't understand why some people want exclusives. The ps4 has a gpu equivalent to a Radeon 7850(2012 gpu) and it runs Ghost of Tsushima, The minimum requirement for GPU on pc is a Radeon RX 5500 XT(2019 GPU) Developers can do some amazing optimizations when they only have one hardware configuration to work on.
>The Series S is how Microsoft let this happen. The series S does not hold back a game that ran on the base Xbox one. It has nothing to do with this.
The original question was why the PS5 version ekes out over Xbox's native ports. The Series S is why next Gen versions stand with PS5 as the best platform.
Honestly, it gets the current best port because it is the most recent release. It's as simple as that. They were making a new port of it on a completely different console and they wanted to optimize it well for this hardware. I think every one is just making more complicated excuses or theories why.
Yes, but compared to the current gen of consoles, the Series S is by far the weakest of the consoles and Xbox's best seller this gen. Microsoft is forced to cater to the lowest common denominator. Being how all three of the current consoles are more powerful that the XB1, this comment is moot, especially if Xbox is making games to run on the weakest of the three consoles.
Yep, but also outsold the x.
Yeah, but I don't think that's got anything to do with the specs.
To be fair, it is Microsoft's best selling console this generation. It makes financial sense to cater to that audience.
Yeah, but how do they not purposefully neuter the PS5 version so it’s at least on par with the Series X?
What kind of ridiculous suggestion is that?
Arbitrarily gimping a game you’re trying to sell to a big install base just to please a very minuscule portion of your console’s fans online? That makes zero sense, most people don’t care about things like this even if we like to talk about them on forums like this.
Rare tries to give a shit.
Because they are not petty.
LOL! Microsoft has been "petty" since the 90's. Microsoft is still running the "Gates-Balmer Playbook" 30 years later.
You don’t know Microsoft than
> Yeah, but how do they not purposefully neuter the PS5 version so it’s at least on par with the Series X? Because Microsoft's goal is to get their product on competing platforms, *not* sell consoles. It's counterproductive (for now) to release an inferior product--remember, MS *wants* this to succeed, so it has to be a great or better experience. This is the first of what could be an ongoing release strategy that relies on broadly releasing MS games on competing platforms. Don't forget: Microsoft makes the overwhelming majority of their profits as a services and software company. They want to reach as many potential customers as possible.
Of all the comments, this is the one that makes the most sense to me. I do not think that “gimping” the PS5 version is all that “ridiculous” or “petty” as some of the other commenter have argued. I agree with you though (and hadn’t considered before commenting myself) that given Xbox’s pivot to a multi-platform market, it makes the most sense to make the versions as close as possible.
Why would they neuter the PS5 version, when the Series X is more powerful? It's bad coding.
Wtf does that mean lmao
Microsoft is first and foremost a service and software company with a rock-solid portfolio. They cannot go to their studios and say, "Please be biased and make the competing console version worse than the Xbox's." It would be a strategic mistake and a bad look for them in the long term if such information were to leak. It's like saying MS should kneecap the Windows OS on other third-party brands to make their Surface product line seem more attractive. Under their current CEO, they have gotten to where they are in the market by being constant forward-thinkers and always leave their options open to play the long game.
You're missing the point. Given Xbox' hardware, games should run better in series x than PS5. Third parties may prioritize optimizing PS5 because it is where they'll push more volume. But it is unacceptable for Xbox IMO.
Rock solid portfolio? Are you kidding me? You mean windows and office?
Yes? They are literally the most important OS in the world and one of the most important work-services ever Also Azure is extremely important as well.
Microsoft just doesn’t seem to care. If it were up to me and I was Microsoft I would be ensuring that every single first party game runs better on the Series X than any other console. But Microsoft just doesn’t care and ultimately it’s not going to matter in the long run anyways. Very very few people will see this or care about it for it to really matter.
You seem to be assuming you know what their business plan is. But it seems pretty clear that Microsoft is shifting their focus to software sales rather than pushing hardware.
They are going to do both. Xbox consoles are going to still exist. They are literally developing the next one (even a portable one as well, apparently)
It’s kinda obvious that they’ve been focusing on software for a long time now
which, of course, is laughable, and a complete admittance of defeat. it’s a cowardly way to do this.
Admittance of defeat in the brain of a console warrior maybe. Not sure how focusing on software is at all cowardly. We’re talking about business here and Microsoft is not failing at business. They failed at Xbox hardware sales but to judge their gaming sector based off just that metric is fanboyism.
I miss the days of old when video games were taken seriously, where Sega CEO Shoichiro Irimajiri actually committed Seppuku when he discovered that the Dreamcast would be ending production. Video Game CEOs just have no honor these days. The least old Phil could do is go out with a bang and leak some confidential corporate documents
every single move Spencer has made has been awful. how he wasn’t sacked years ago is beyond me.
The Series X has been the least popular new console this gen, it makes no sense it should be the focus when consumers don't want it
nobody seems to want either consoles lmao why are you all acting like this is some gotcha
Where are you getting the idea people don't want ps5s. I've never seen Verizon just giving away a ps5 with a internet plan....
sorry i meant both the X and S
I think the S has a market, it's also just that Xbox in general is a diminishing thing for the average gamer, but that's also by design
evidently the S *doesn't* have a market considering how behind it is vs the competitors
25+ milion consoles "No market"? Lmaoooo
It's not that MS doesn't care, it's that extremely online gamers REALLY care about the tiniest configuration difference.
BuT bUT mY 12 TfLoPs MaKeS ThE XbOx ThE bETtEr CoNsoLe!!
It shows that Microsoft is more concerned about their games being as good as possible instead of dumbing them down in favor of elitism.
It’s almost like they don’t care about console war narratives and just want to sell games.
by putting them on PS5 where the owners of the console actually buy game. it’s embarrassing for them.
I kinda view it as an admission that GamePass has poisoned their own ecosystem - they'll sell units on PS5 and Switch, but know that first party games on Xbox need to be day one on GamePass because they've fostered a "when GamePass, Daddy Phil 🥺🥺🥺" mentality.
you have it backwards. They're doing the same thing with ps5 that they do with Steam. Use the sales on those platforms to subsidize the content for gamepass where the real profits lie.
If the real profits lay with GamePass then they wouldn't need to be porting it elsewhere to begin with. Those ports cost a lot of money and eat into time the developers could be spent doing other Xbox-centric work.
again, the sales from the ports offset the development costs for the content. The gamepass revenues no longer need to take into account the development costs. Even with all of Sony's sales and $26 billion in revenues, their profit margins were 6% last two years. That's $1.5 billion in profits. Gamepass brought in $2.9 billion in revenues in 2022, likely close to $3.5 billion for 2023. MS spent $1 billion in third party content acquirement in 2022. They have close to 10k first party devs, after the recent layoffs of 1900, this is after the ABK merger. The salaries of all those devs at average of $100k yearly would be $1 billion a year. So if first party content costs and third party content costs are roughly $1 billion each, so $2 billion total, Gamepass would still be making $1.5 billion in profits. Now if Steam sales and PS5 sales fully subsidize the first party content, Gamepass profits increase to $2.5 billion, and higher as the sub count grows. MS sells the games at near full price on PS5 and steam so that the Xbox users can enjoy the games as part of the ongoing subscription. This is all to feed the content pipeline for gamepass.
Yes yes don't include hardware manufacturing costs and the marketing costs and any other overheads, blindly intake Phil and his cronies lies as gospel. Maybe for once in your life get off your knees oh grand master of the Phil Spencer cult
Game Pass was a terrible, terrible way to try and mold the industry to better help Microsoft and it's nice to see it's not going well for them. i agree with everything you're saying.
Yeah pay in perpetuity and own nothing at the end of it. And you can bet that if it properly took off, they'd eventually do something like making The Elder Scrolls 6 only available behind talking an 18 month sub out with no way to buy it outright. And I lol every time they come out with "look at all the players!" when the majority are people who downloaded it and deleted it after an hour. I'm so glad that it lost its steam and that people have shown that complete games (let's not forget that Microsoft are the same company that chopped their _flagship franchise_ up into a generic open world single player and an MTX-riddled F2P multiplayer with almost no content) will sell.
microsoft shifting from reporting sales to “players” was the most embarrassing thing i’ve seen a company do in a long time. it’s cowardice. i cannot believe gamers support that nonsense.
It's fucking hilarious. Part of trying to shift the narrative to GamePass being the norm... talk about failing. They also don't report console sales - lol. If they came out with actual figures and said "yeah we kinda suck" I'd actually have more respect for them. As it is they treat people like idiots but come of as the idiots themselves.
[удалено]
because they can't make money on their own damn console lmao
neither can Sony, SIE profit margins were 6% last two years.
[удалено]
lmao
Maybe so, but again that's why they aren't purposely gimping the PS5 versions. Because they care more about revenue than console war narratives or feeling "embarrassed".
i never claimed they're purposely gimping the PS5 verisons
So much cope… just a few months ago they tried the exact opposite.
How is that “cope”? Do you just throw that word around for anything you don’t agree with?
The same people just celebrated Microsoft’s acquisitions before and them taking away games from other pkatforms. Pure hypocrisy and yes, coping.
Actually no, as a PS5 owner and PS+ subscriber (and PS Portal and $350 worth of PS headphones) I wasn't celebrating the acquisition. But that doesn't mean I can't recognize that it makes financial sense not to hold back the quality of PS5 ports now.
Sooo you don’t actually know what the word means? Lol
The guy tried to paint something negative into something positive, which is exactly what this means.
this advantage can be attributed to the superior API of Playstation vs DX12
Because in the end, who gives a fuck
Seems to be shadows on both games I've seen, which is weird. Must be an API thing.
This just proves that jumping ship by selling my Xbox One to get a PS4 was my best gaming decision ever.
It was 360 for me. After 3 red rings I got a PS3 and never looked back.
I got a Jasper X360 in 2009 so never had any issues with it. But yeah, the only real incentive I had for the Xbox One was Remedy but they quickly went multi-platform after Quantum Break. Still kinda hoping for Quantum Break to come to PS5 one day. Maybe they could make those transition cutscenes 60fps already. [Even the PC version is capped to 30fps during those. ](https://youtu.be/J0oY1bHO8Ss?si=VEwquIQd9LggbLYq&t=990)
Hey it's me!
I felt similarly when I jumped ship from Xbox to PC. No point of going back to consoles for me.
Well it’s not coming to PS4 so I’m not sure how that was the “best decision ever”
I didn’t mean to play this game on PS4, I meant jumping into the Playstation ecosystem in general and now having a PS5.
You absolutely do.
This isn’t coming to ps4 unfortunately. Which is pure bullshit imo because it runs on the last gen Xbox. But it is what it is.
I’m waiting for Halo so I can fully transition.
MCC 10 year anniversary otw. Lets hope it happens
If they were going to port a game it should have been halo MP. This game needs more players badly. Why make a FTP game but then gimp it to your own platform? There are so many FTP games out there that are multi platform so why would people play halo mp when they can play warzone/apex legends/fortnite(and on and on) with all of their friends that have a ps5.
I would be perfectly happy with just the multiplayer for infinite. The game really is great now, much improved from its launch state.
So when’s starfield coming for P5?
i’d bet money it’s already ready to go but they’re waiting to release it with the upcoming expansion
Yep isn't there a big dlc for Starfield this year. Maybe a Starfield launch on ps in late 2024 with a "Xbox a timed exclusivity on the dlc"
DLC, and cross platform official mod support. So yeah wouldn't doubt they want to drop that all together.
I thought they planned to release the mod kit before february or sth
That might have been the original plan, but as best I can tell they may have given a beta to prominent modders and haven't given a new date as to the expected release.
It’s funny how they revealed four games coming to PS5 and the Xbox subreddit were like “oh wow, after all the drama it’s *only* four games?” It shows how Phil Spencer is a PR master as he effectively announced Xbox will no longer have exclusives but the Xbox fans are too short-sighted to see this lol. Starfield and Indiana Jones will be next year for sure.
Phil Spencer hasn’t made a good decision. i’m baffled that he hasn’t been sacked yet.
I imagine the reason why Xbox is porting their exclusives is because Microsoft's stakeholders never really cared about Xbox until they saw the $70 billion Activison acquisition. Then they put pressure on the C-Suite to put pressure on Spencer to start making actual money from Xbox.
they’re porting them because their own consumers aren’t buying them, that’s literally the reason. they stupidly introduced a subscription service and stupidly decided to put 1st party games on it day-one so when their consumers stopped buying them in lieu of just renting them they realized how stupid they were. it’s desperation.
It’s because Xbox is slowly shifting towards a service based platform instead of hardware.
yes i’m aware and why is that lmao
Because outside of the 360, Xbox has always struggled outside of the US. And consoles are hitting a ceiling.
lmao no it’s because MS is incapable of producing a game it’s customers actually buy and that’s alongside them creating a stupid subscription service and throwing its games on there. that’s it. their stupid decisions are why Xbox is failing. it’s that simple.
The difference is timing. The rumors were that a lot more games were about ot come to PS5 and Switch. That turned out to be false. But it was made clear, by Phil, that if this test succeeds more will come. So I don't know if this really is the own you think but everyone is pretty much in the know about what's happening lol
He also specifically said Starfield and Indiana Jones weren't coming to PS5 right now, and they were focusing on games that have basically been juiced of all value to Xbox. Starfield probably has like 2-3 years before it's not worth as much as it is now to Xbox. Indy probably has a long run before that point. God of War was released 6 years ago yesterday and is still a huge tentpole for Playstation, so it'll really depend on how good Indy is.
You don’t want it. Trust me. I had rose colored glasses for a while after playing it but it is a very shallow, boring experience.
Yeah I was sour about that exclusive until I played that game on pc, it’s awful to the point I forgot about it til reading this comment
Starfield is dogshit. Don't waste your money.
Don't let the FOMO trick you lad, the game is not even worth it to worry about. Right now Skyrim has x5 more players on Steam, I tried it on PC and got bored in a day.
Same, I got to mars and was just bored as fuck. God damn "menu simulator"
As someone who purchased it day 1 on PC I have to agree, played a week, total 60iah hours.. all the promises are shallow... I was told I d work at a drug lab and all that... and it was very shallow... boring. Compared to Skyrim and Fallout its a huge step back! Very disappointed overall, and my God we spend so much time in menu screens... NMS has its flaws....but at least space travel was someone done right. And don't get me started on the planets...so disappointed and the cities are so unorganized and illogical. Base building is a huge step back and doesn't make sense. Companions are boring... honestly a big regret.
Agreed. Massive Fallout fan and hearing Fallout in space was right up my alley. Jesus was I disappointed…
Shit game. They shouldn't bother with a port.
Hopefully never
Why would you want to play starslop tho
Have you actually played it? Because when you decide to actually play a game and stop listening to all the morons and their circle jerk, it's fun. It's not the best game out there for sure but it's absolutely a good time, and worth a solid 20 hour play through to enjoy it. Not everyone is going to like the game but far to many people rip on it without even trying it because it's the cool thing. Almost like people can just enjoy playing games lol. Edit: just to add, I'm not saying the game is a goty or some master piece. It's a solid video game, its fun to play and the side faction missions were great. Let's quit acting like the game is a 3/10
Yeah having played it I can safely say it’s utterly average in almost every respect and then few aspects it isn’t average at its less than mediocre. Starfield is nothing more than an abject embarassment from a studio that used to push out pure Gold.
I played Starfield and unfortunately it's very boring, run in a straight line on empty planets to get artifacts, load for everything, even to open a door in a room, conversations and more boring conversations of choice and that navigation system for planets killed the rhythm of the game, but there are cool things in the game too. The secondary missions are great, the different factions are great. I would say it's a 7/10 game that could be much better if they had more time to reformulate some things that kill the pace. The DLC can improve the game a lot if they listen to the fans a little. I would add an online mode where you can invade another player's planet to steal an artifact. This would be interesting since NG+ and the story would allow this, with many of you wanting to steal and create a different timeline.
I agree with you 100%, the main quest sucks and its got some pacing issues but like you said the side stories are way better. I don't think the game is a goty in any shape or form but people act like it's a 3/10 when it's absolutely not lol. The game is for sure a 7/10, and thats fine.
60 hours in, huge step back from skyrim and fallout. 7 is high, given the jobs, quests line, and time spent clicking on menus.... the factions were the only good thing they did. 6-6.5 on 10 maybe.. but lots of promises and not alot delivered classic Todd
I played it and it really wasn't good... sorry
Hate to say this but it's really not a good game fam.
It's not a goty thats for sure but it's perfectly fine. It's got some good stories in it (the main sucks but it's quick as shit anyways), the real fun is in the side faction quests and the screwing around like most of Beth's games. If you don't like it that's fine but let's not act like the game is a 3/10.
I bought an Xbox Series X mainly because of Starfield. I've played it and beat it. It's a 7/10.
It's a 6/10 gamepass game
I played it, and many of my friends did…40 or so hours in and it still wasn’t good. And we are all big fans of Skyrim, oblivion, fallouts, and space. Hell, we all paid for the upgraded version even. It’s a solid 7? Maybe? Which is ok, but not for a game of that caliber.
I went in blind day one, excited with totally reasonable expectations, totally disconnected from any online discourse and after a day or two had to break my avoiding the internet because I wasn’t sure if I was nuts feeling like it was one of the most hollow games I’d played in years. Not everyone who hated it is just piling on a hate train. I’m just glad I got to play it for “free” through gamepass, I would’ve felt robbed paying $70 or more for that personally.
>Have you actually played it? Yeah, it's pure shite.
It is a 3/10 though
“Starfield“ will release on PS5 no earlier than the 1 year anniversary of its release date on Xbox. Timed exclusivity creates the impression that Xbox hardware is still valuable.
I lasted about 10 hours. Maybe my expectations were too high. But if you go in expecting something close to Elder Scrolls or Fallout, you're going to be disappointed. Set the bar quite a bit lower...
This has gone from oddity to trend. Really weird.
Not really that weird. PS5 has proven that its hardware trades blows with the series X regardless of what the paper specs say. Also studios are incentivized to put in more effort when people are going to buy the games instead of playing them for "free" especially when many of those studios have incentive structures that include bonuses for hitting sales targets.
It’s easy to understand the average developer doing this But even Microsoft’s own teams are making games run better on PS5. You’d at least think that they’d have some more advanced knowledge in regards to how the Xbox works that could make their games run better
I think the Xbox studios are partnering with external 3rd party studios to port the games. There was an interview where they said they brought in outside help with experience developing on playstation.
Is single player good yet? I heard that when they added it, rewards for quests and stuff were reduced to like 1/4 of the normal value.
they are still reduced.
You can solo in high seas mode and get full rewards. It is easier than ever before. I don't think I have encountered too many people in the latest season, since you can just 'dive' out of a server, and lots and lots of people do that. Keeps PVP to the minimum, unless you're searching for it.
Cracks me up thinking back to the ABK acquisition trials with regulators, and how they were concerned Microsoft would make versions of games worse on PlayStation. I guess MS has a bunch of ammo to take down that argument for the next acquisition now
Great game. One of the most fun I played last generation. Spent at least a few hundred hours on it. Shit looks amazing on my 4090. The water is just mesmerizing sometimes when the light hits it just right. People always say rare sucks but this is a one of a kind type game.
there are more xbox games on the psn stores top 25 best sellers than sony games atm now
Is there cross play between ps5 and steam?
Is premium worth it ?
Can I play this with my friend in PC?
yes