@notnert427: I'm a big Xbox supporter (I own all consoles), but exclusives aren't something they can just forget about. What is this console launching with? And if it's not a console launch, why have they spent 90 percent of E3 and 90 percent of their media narrative talking about it? They've completely botched their first-party portfolio in the last several years, no matter what their strategy is there.
I wrote many posts defending their first couple of years of exclusives, like you have here. But since then? Studio closures, game cancellations, GaaS, change in scope, etc. Their list of meaningful exclusives grows thin. They basically have delayed stuff like Crackdown and Sea of Thieves into oblivion, so you wonder what their plan really even is there. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad for a brand I like.
Now, to be fair, I like their Live infrastructure and many service offerings. Their indie space is totally solid, as is third-party support.
But the PC/Xbox vision has been botched so far, and that's an area they could always leverage over Sony. Why aren't they doing this more? It's incredibly weak.
At the end of the day, people want a reason to buy this console. Gears, Halo and Forza are all mid-tier tentpoles now. They either maintain the needle or slightly nudge it; they don't meaningful move it like they once did.
Where do they go from here other than just being a way station for third-party "best" versions?
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