Microsoft Being Microsoft (or The Reason Why Microsoft Still Sucks)
Okay, so I try not to be the “Angry Guy on the Internet,” but sometimes you just have to “let fly.” So yesterday, Microsoft bought a game publisher and rather than being aghast at the news and what it means for the video game industry as a whole, people are going “gaga” for this news as if it was the greatest thing ever, not realizing that this is as hypocritical of a stance as there could be on the internet.
“Evil” Microsoft is Back!
Aaaaaaannnnnndddd here we go again! Micro$oft is back to its old tricks. For them, they think this is a stunning and bold business move, but it is simply business as usual. For those who have not heard the news, Microsoft has gone out and “bought” themselves a publisher, Bethesda. Yes, you heard right–thwarted in buying Tik Tok, the most popular platform out there right now, they’ve gone and bought themselves a publisher.
So now, they get to have two problems solved: 1) lack of content/games and 2) denying Playstation (and Nintendo, but let’s be real, it’s really Playstation they’re gunning for with this move) content for their system. Why is this not a sound business move, I hear you ask? Simple, it takes a 3rd party publisher off the table and “artificially” bolsters the competition. We’re not talking about a developer that has proven itself through multiple games, delivering on deadlines, quietly cultivating talent, producing high quality work again and again, until a publisher notices and buys them to become part of their stable *cough* Insomniac Games *cough.* No, this is buying your way into a competitive stance without putting in all the work, without taking any risks, without doing it the right way.
If these were baseball teams, then Playstation would be the plucky, hardworking Atlanta Braves of the late 80s early to mid 90s, building their team through hardwork, strategic acquisitions, and good old fashion moxy (“The American Spirit”/”The American Dream”) and Microsoft would be the Arizona Diamond Backs of the same era, spending wads of cash, using their corporate dominance to finance a winning team to outspend and out muscle the other teams (“Corporate Capital”–which no individual can match).
This move is as much about denying Playstation a swath of games as it about Microsoft bolstering its anemic lineup with games that are already in development and in the pipeline (AND already have a certain amount of hype generated–not by Microsoft–but by the publisher, Bethesda, who’ve featured snippets on their previous E3 stages, with the unstated implication that it is coming to both consoles to generate that hype). As usual, Microsoft only wants a PROVEN WINNER and are unwilling to 1) take chances on unique concepts that have a chance to fail and 2) grow something small and nurture it into a legend. Let’s see: Guerrila Games, Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Sony Santa Monica, Ready at Dawn, Bend Studios, and I could go on. While every project isn’t a hit, at least Sony is willing to try new things. Microsoft only wants hits–they’d be the ones to buy the Marvel license only after the movies got big. Sony would at least take a chance on something (and although they might drop it if it didn’t hit, they’d at least give it a chance). How do I know? The “SoulsBorne” games started with Demon Souls, a Sony exclusive, but they let the license and didn’t purchase the studio which allowed for Dark Souls, a cross-system game, to find an audience. Had they locked up Demon Souls, the entire “Souls” games could have been Playstation only.
Hypocritical Much?
But what irks me the most isn’t so much that Microsoft is still evil. No, I knew that all the time–no matter how much goodwill that the industry is willing to give them for their self-serving Game Pass program. No, it is that ALL the people who were crying out for BLOOD because Spider-Man wouldn’t be on X-Box & PC systems in the new Avengers game are absolutely over the moon with this announcement. Which means that they weren’t AT ALL interested in LESS exclusivity, but rather, not allowing Sony to have exclusivity.
I want that to sink in.
The industry is fine with exclusivity–so long as it is Microsoft who does it. A playable Avengers game without Spider-Man, then my X-Box/PC game is devalued and worth less than a Playstation copy. An unplayable copy of Elder Scrolls, then it sucks to be you Playstation. Apparently, Sony is the only company who the Internet won’t allow to have exclusives–even though it is through content that Sony tries to find value from on 3rd party games. Microsoft says, “screw it, let’s just deny everyone the whole game and then they’ll have to come and buy our system if they want to play it.” Halo (which appeared on an Apple stage), Gears of War, and now Bethesda’s games. And they’ll just run these series into the ground, just like they did with Halo and just like they did with Gears, and in a few years, they’ll be looking for the next publisher who’s hot and has already generated buzz to acquire.
Evil is as Evil Does
Mark my words: Microsoft, as a company, has not changed nor learned one iota from their hubris. This acquisition proves it. Give them market dominance (or even a hint of it) and gamers will be staring at an always online system that wants to check “home” for authorization (remember the original reveal of the X-Box One, anyone? I know I do.)
Microsoft only wants to be #1, and will use any tactic (including their war chest) to accomplish their mission. 2013 was ONLY 7 years ago. Why does it feel like I’m the only one who remembers the devastation and the dissolution of the video game industry that Microsoft intended from its lofty, hubris-filled position of being #1? I hate to say it, but many of my fellow gamers are either extremely forgetful or extremely hypocritical in praising Microsoft’s move.
This is not a move we should be celebrating, but rather one we should be condemning and mourning. What happens when hard work and careful planning don’t matter any more and corporate purse strings can turn people’s heads and make a sow look like a prince? Well, we’re about to find out thanks to the Microsoft Corporation.
Think I’m full of it: well, have a gander at this blast from the past Kotaku article: https://kotaku.com/that-xbox-one-reveal-sure-was-a-disaster-huh-509192266.
Here is a key paragraph that might interest you: “The lead-up to the One’s unveiling had been a parade of negative press for Microsoft, as allegations of forced connectivity, mandatory Kinect usage and the blocking of used games had people fearing that their control over the consoles and games they purchased was being taken away from them. That’s an important issue.”
And here’s another link, just for good measure: https://www.svg.com/101430/everything-microsoft-wrong-xbox-one/
And you can be very sure, that if Microsoft is up to its old tactics of denying games to other platforms to enhance its own platforms value, then its other tactics as listed above haven’t gone anywhere either and are just waiting for a more palpable climate (or more likely, a slower, more phased in rollout combined with a more docile gaming community) to implement some of the features that it wanted all along.
Everyone keeps telling me (even old Phil Spencer himself) how much of a different company it is: with Game Pass and Crossplay and Game Pass and Game Pass, ad nauseum. Today, I saw for myself how much Microsoft has pulling the Game Pass over people’s eyes and is still very much the same company that wants to control people’s entertainment choices/decisions.
I, for one, will not fall for it. If it comes to a choice between Microsoft and leaving gaming, I’m leaving gaming behind and I’m not looking back.
Sidney
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