If you’ve been online today, which undoubtedly the majority of you will have been, you will have seen numerous headlines and forum threads about Xbox bringing key games to other platforms such as the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 5. Today, the heads of Xbox Phil Spencer has sent out a message on social media informing fans that they will be planning a business update about the future of Xbox and its games. The statement needed to be made as speculation has been running rife. Here’s what Spencer said on X:
Phil Spencer promises update next week on “vision for the future” of Xbox and its games
If they bow out of the console race and go exclusively 3rd party and keep Game Pass, we could be watching the beginning of a radical shift in the Video Game space. If they do, will Playstation follow suit? If that happens, how much longer before Nintendo does the same. I have a strong feeling we’ll at least get one more Nintendo platform before Nintendo games become available on Steam, but this could be the start of a new era where games stop being physical altogether.
“PlayStation’s Gaming Future Will Be On PC, Mobile, And Cloud.” is a quote from Sony’s CEO just last week. Nintendo may very well have a monopoly on the console race next gen if we’re to take these statements at face value.
If thats the case, then thats the point i bow out after 30+ years of keeping up with the industry. Not supporting an all-digital, streaming only crapfest. I highly doubt Nintendo will go that route anyway. They are in a position where they dont need to and can just keep doing what they want.
I don’t even know why people are giving these companies the opportunity to try streaming services. The lag is abysmal for one, and it’s only going to make things more expensive the more subscriptions you’ll need to play games. You only need to look at the past 10 years with video streaming services to know how bad it can possibly get, and those services don’t even rely on saved data. What’s going to happen to your saved data on all these services if you decide to unsubscribe for a certain period, or simply get locked out of your account?
And pay Steam/Valve 30% of their 1st-party games sales? Knowing how stingy Nintendo is? If, and this is a big if, Nintendo releases their games on PC it will be on their own store and launcher.
It won’t happen if their consoles/handhelds keep selling upward of 100+ millions each gen though. Unlike Sony, Nintendo 1st party games actually sell a ton of units on their own hardware with the fraction of development/marketing cost of Sony games.
Another factor not brought up yet as to why Microsoft and Sony are in these positions, is the tremendous costs of AAA development for them and other big publishers with less returns on them and longer development times. We already have seen a bunch of layoffs trying to trim the fat, while Nintendo is doing the opposite and expanding. You could chalk some of that up to brand appeal if you want and you are always going to have claims Nintendo is behind with the times, but ultimately, they are probably playing the right move sticking to being a game developer, rather then what feels like more and more studios and publishers trying to muscle out the film industry in massive experience, and the costs that come with it.
Hate to disappoint you, but Sony announced their new handheld, the PSP2. So yeah, doubt they give up on consoles for now.
Stop dreaming, Nintendo games will never be available on steam unless Nintendo becomes a mere publisher
The traditional-console model is no longer sustainable. PC, mobile and hybrid gaming have taken control. Nintendo peeped-game on this years ago. It seems like Microsoft understands this as well and I’m sure on some level so does Sony. Game consoles were never the destination for Microsoft. The XBOX was just a means-to-and-end to get their brand and software into the gaming-space. It was never about the hardware. It’s been painfully obvious for years.