Microsoft acquires Bethesda/Zenimax

[Readher]

Xbox's Major Nelson and Phil Spencer talk with Bethesda's Pete Hines and Todd Howard.

 

[DalekFlay]

Generally that's true. Steam was launched with the hype for a single game. Not sure how well it's working out for Epic though.

The thing here though is people like to own their games. They like a back library of titles they can thumb through and play whenever they want. Gamefly is still around, costs a reasonable price, and lets you play any game you want. Why hasn't it completely killed the rest of the market?

I mean I agree with you personally, but Netflix started the streaming boom and I think it's a pretty niche thing already to "own" media. Streaming channels have tons of exclusives you can't buy anywhere to own, period. Yes obviously discs still come out, and I buy them, but it's quickly becoming a small collector's market outside the mainstream with limited releases. How long will that take to happen with games? I have no idea, but and anyone thinking it won't happen is kidding themselves so they don't have to feel bad about paying for Gamepass.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

The funny thing about Netflix is they've always intended to raise their rates but everyone threatens to jump ship as soon as they do. Whenever something becomes a big enough draw to pull in subs (Marvel films) the IP owner takes it away because they can make more money off of it themselves. Outside of a few rare hits, Netflix Originals are a total joke.

Netflix needs exclusive content but sucks at making it. Anyone with a killer IP will drain away the profit through license fees. There are a bunch of free crap channels on Smart TVs now like Crackle and Pluto TV. I expect Netflix to be there soon. If people just want inane background noise from a TV screen they can always throw on Youtube.

I do see physical media dying but personal libraries and owning content will persist. Steam proves this. So does the iTunes store. Jobs had to fight like hell with the record companies to get it to where it is now but look at it. Type in a song, buy it, play it forever. Any song. Boom. It's glorious. People love adding and collecting an endlessly growing song library, every single one their favorite.

The problem with all subscription services is you can't pick and choose. You get some good and mostly bad.

Ala carte content is king but companies hate it. Zenimax went bananas when they realized people were still playing Skyrim year after year without paying them any more money. Pretty much guaranteed TES6 will have some kind of sub model, if not from MS then from Bethesda. Gamepass is an attempt to monetize the back library. But the MMO boom and crash reveals there's only so much money out there for subscriptions. If Gamepass has every game released, forever, it's awesome. More likely every company will have a Gamepass in the next few years. Forced to pick and choose where to sub, the market shrinks. The best content wins out, everyone else dies or goes 'free to play.' Games become full of ads, microtransactions galore, and quality drops through the floor.

Well, that's all happening anyway, so whatever. Microsoft has a history of launching stores and streaming services, bombing out, and cancelling while screwing all their customers over (Games for Windows Live, lol). Maybe they won't fuck this one up completely. I guess we'll see.

 

[conan_edw]

 

[fantadomat]

Todd is top chad!

 

[Ol' Willy]

Todd Howard reveals that one of the tricks to combat low memory on the original Xbox was to reboot the console without the player noticing

Gee, Todd, thanks, nobody ever knew that, DE Invisible War killing its own process and restarting it was a complete mystery to anyone.

 

[DalekFlay]

I do see physical media dying but personal libraries and owning content will persist. Steam proves this. So does the iTunes store. Jobs had to fight like hell with the record companies to get it to where it is now but look at it. Type in a song, buy it, play it forever. Any song. Boom. It's glorious. People love adding and collecting an endlessly growing song library, every single one their favorite.

Netflix has some issues and its content quality is subjective, but people love the subscription model. You're kidding yourself that most people are collectors. For your iTunes example:

Streaming is 85% of the entire market already, and is growing significantly faster than any other profit source. Buying MP3s and whatnot is already niche.

 

[LESS T_T]

MS shoots down the SEGA acquisition rumor.



(A partnership is still in the cards I guess.)

 

[J_C]

The funny thing about Netflix is they've always intended to raise their rates but everyone threatens to jump ship as soon as they do. Whenever something becomes a big enough draw to pull in subs (Marvel films) the IP owner takes it away because they can make more money off of it themselves. Outside of a few rare hits, Netflix Originals are a total joke.

Netflix needs exclusive content but sucks at making it. Anyone with a killer IP will drain away the profit through license fees. There are a bunch of free crap channels on Smart TVs now like Crackle and Pluto TV. I expect Netflix to be there soon. If people just want inane background noise from a TV screen they can always throw on Youtube.

I do see physical media dying but personal libraries and owning content will persist. Steam proves this. So does the iTunes store. Jobs had to fight like hell with the record companies to get it to where it is now but look at it. Type in a song, buy it, play it forever. Any song. Boom. It's glorious. People love adding and collecting an endlessly growing song library, every single one their favorite.

The problem with all subscription services is you can't pick and choose. You get some good and mostly bad.

Ala carte content is king but companies hate it. Zenimax went bananas when they realized people were still playing Skyrim year after year without paying them any more money. Pretty much guaranteed TES6 will have some kind of sub model, if not from MS then from Bethesda. Gamepass is an attempt to monetize the back library. But the MMO boom and crash reveals there's only so much money out there for subscriptions. If Gamepass has every game released, forever, it's awesome. More likely every company will have a Gamepass in the next few years. Forced to pick and choose where to sub, the market shrinks. The best content wins out, everyone else dies or goes 'free to play.' Games become full of ads, microtransactions galore, and quality drops through the floor.

Well, that's all happening anyway, so whatever. Microsoft has a history of launching stores and streaming services, bombing out, and cancelling while screwing all their customers over (Games for Windows Live, lol). Maybe they won't fuck this one up completely. I guess we'll see.

Gaming and gamers are a bit different though than book or streaming services. Gamers were the first one to adapt any kind of DRM, they care less and less about total ownership. And games are more expensive than other form of medium. I don't like the sound of Gamepass prevailing, but if average joe who just wants to play Skyrim and Halo has to decide between paying 60-70 dollars, or paying 5 dollars a month to play all the games there, I think they will choose the latter.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Xbox's Major Nelson and Phil Spencer talk with Bethesda's Pete Hines and Todd Howard.

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

I hope Todd Howard walks by Obsidian offices at least twice a week, wearing a cape like M. Bison, two armed guards on both sides of him and looks at Avowed with a condescending smile and a shake of his head.

 

[Kazuki]

EA should sell Bioware to Microsoft too.

But i guess the announcement will be lot less glamour and shocking than Bethesda.

How mighty has fallen.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Generally that's true. Steam was launched with the hype for a single game.

You could play Counter Strike before Steam though.

 

[Drakortha]

Xbox's Major Nelson and Phil Spencer talk with Bethesda's Pete Hines and Todd Howard.

20 minutes of them kissing xbox's ass, then the last 5 minutes shilling Xbox GAMEPASS. Compelling stuff.

See everyone? Xbox & Bethesda are Family. It's not all about the Money!

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

There wasn't any hype around Steam when it launched. Back when Steam launched it was just a shit key code that meant you couldn't play your retail copy of Half-Life 2 without also being connected to the Internet. Remember being at my friends new place when it came out, we were going to play it, hooked his computer up to play, only to discover this game we physically had couldn't be played without a Internet connection his place didn't have yet. It was everything bad about Steam today but with a retail game. Think that was the first time I ever saw a game do something like that.

 

[Immortal]

Xbox's Major Nelson and Phil Spencer talk with Bethesda's Pete Hines and Todd Howard.

20 minutes of them kissing xbox's ass, then the last 5 minutes shilling Xbox GAMEPASS. Compelling stuff.

See everyone? Xbox & Bethesda are Family. It's not all about the Money!

"So if I can get serious here for a moment.. -stares into the Camera - dramatic pause- Todd and Pete, how excited are you guys for Game Pass?"

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Why is he so perfect?

 

[Shitty Kitty]

"So if I can get serious here for a moment.. -stares into the Camera - dramatic pause- Todd and Pete, how excited are you guys for Game Pass?"

I'm honestly kind of impressed, I've never seen four guys suck each other's dicks all at once.

 

[Drakortha]

Why is he so perfect?

The blood of infants.

 

[OctavianRomulus]

Ok, but what about modding?

 

[Kem0sabe]

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Gaming and gamers are a bit different though than book or streaming services. Gamers were the first one to adapt any kind of DRM, they care less and less about total ownership. And games are more expensive than other form of medium. I don't like the sound of Gamepass prevailing, but if average joe who just wants to play Skyrim and Halo has to decide between paying 60-70 dollars, or paying 5 dollars a month to play all the games there, I think they will choose the latter.

If Microsoft can put out AAA hits every month and never raise the price then they are set but that is not going to happen. I'll eat my hat. Why did Disney charge extra for Mulan? Why are cable movie channels and on-demand extra?

TES6 won't be $5 month, it will be $50 'gamepass premium' plus $10-15/month subscription. Then the value proposition vanishes but MS hopes you'll see 50 is less than 70 (next gen games getting a hike) and your subscription is a 'sunk cost' so you won't cancel (plus you don't want to lose your back library).

 

[rusty_shackleford]

gamepass already is above $5 a month(it's $10/month) and it mostly has old AAA titles and a handful of new AA games with neither of them having any DLC
It's going to slowly keep rising in price and the offerings won't get any better

 

[RobotSquirrel]

So gamepass is just a replacement for Blockbuster Video lol ok gotcha.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Why is he so perfect?

Homosexual men are often good-looking.