Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/theres-never-been-an-easier-time-to-boycott-microsoft-the-most-boring-video-game-publisher-in-the-business

When I talk to other journalists and random bus stop strangers about the idea of divesting from Microsoft and Xbox - worth doing for many reasons besides the company's dealings with the Israeli military - there is often an air of learned helplessness, a kind of deer-in-headlights mentality. Microsoft's gaming biz is too huge to ignore. They own so much. They own a lot of the malarkey that gets eyeballs. Which I can confirm, based on day-to-day experience of traffic stats. Still, I would argue that they do not have any momentum with the things they own, and to be frank, a fair whack of their stuff does sod-all traffic for us. Microsoft today are institutionally incapable of being intriguing. As such, an extremely indulgent way of thinking about the BDS boycott is to treat it as positive encouragement to seek intrigue elsewhere.

Last week's Xbox showcase was a banner day for advocates of the idea that Microsoft's gaming business is a zombie, after thousands of layoffs in the face of a landscape transformed by fever dreams about productivity gains and the 'democratisation of art' under ChatGPT - a brave new world of acute component shortages in which the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard starts to feel like buying up horse stables in 1908. Admittedly, a more basic reason for the show being so short of excitement is that Microsoft are keeping the powder dry for their next Xbox console, which isn't far away from a proper reveal. But still, what a crock of diminishing returns.

Yeah but then you won't get to experience the bland ass generic as fuck attempt to milk the fable franchise whose dev team apparently never bothered to even look at a picture of the originals

I had a good time with fable, but I never was like ‘yeah brew fable!!!’ Ya know?

Yeah, still wild to me how they seemingly bought up half the gaming industry and how little output they produce from that...

You dont have to compete if you own the industry. That has been the Microsoft MO for decades.

You might want to look at their output compared to the other publishers before saying that.

Most insane thing to me is how fast customers are forgetting how bad microsoft gamimg is. Asha did like two small things and everybody is celebratimg her as the second coming of christ.

That would be true if their studios released games. They almost never do. They're a video game company with no games.

They release games. Just shitty games and slowly. Doesn't matter if they can minimize your options. If they control 50% of the market, it stops mattering if their games suck because the options are limited and they can control so much.

And I know there will always be indie devs, but the majority of gamers will buy whatever is marketed most heavily. It makes everything worse for everyone, but Microsoft doesn't have to work as hard to be competitive.

I used to be a big fan of the Elder Scrolls games, but they haven't released anything actually new in 15 years. That's frankly impressive. Everyone wanted to make a game that could be "the next Skyrim," except, apparently, Bethesda, who could literally do that.

And it's only gotten worse since the Microsoft acquisition. I never played Starfield, because it didn't look like they understand their own gameplay model. I didn't play the Oblivion remaster, as they seem not to understand their own art direction either.

At this point I kinda doubt they'll actually release TES 6, but if they do, I've not got much hope for it.

I mean, she's only been here for a few months and already did some well-received change/reversal(for the customer), but people still attribute Phil and Satya's fuckup to her. I know i'm gonna eat my own word later on considering there would be an expected layoff next month, but i'd reserve my judgement after a year or so, mostly because traditionally woman are judged worst than man.

Also i don't really gaf about m$ or xbox 🤷

Holy shit, the author of the article did NOT hold back. And I'm glad he didn't, all the criticisms listed are valid and deserved.

Avoiding Microsoft gaming? Been doing that for a very, very long time.

Not hard at all. Xbox was a never own since it came out and windows went to shit at XP.

And people find this "helpless"? What?

Yeah, it always felt like the worst decisions under Spencer were forced onto him by investors. For sure, there's some leeway in how you please investors, and she will be given more leeway at the start as well, which could get out of a rut and make things somewhat better.

But ultimately, I still expect her to play the CEO role for a profit-driven corporation. Because that's what she was hired for. She was not hired to be the saving grace of gamers.

At least gamepass and the ms aquisition spree gave us Pentiment.

Seems a small thing to have released after buying half of the industry but thats microsofts problem. Maybe they can sell them all again when they get bored.

This guy Edwin is a gem. He frequently talks about the politics and ethics of video games -and has a very vibrant prose, I recommend reading his other stuff

There's always the option of not playing games and doing something else. They're competing with every form of pastime out there, and need to be good enough to make their product worthwhile.

What, you're not excited to play Halo again?!? Losers.

Thanks. Its hard to find good video game journalism at all.

I’ve been accidentally boycotting Xbox for the past 20 years because they never had anything appealing in the first place.

I didn't know that. I guess that gives me a little more confidence in Bethesda, but it still suggests a woeful mismanagement of TES under Microsoft.

https://aftermath.site/ is a good site for video game journalism. They've mentioned https://rogue.site/ but I don't subscribe to that one so can't vouch for it personally

Microslop has always been the most hostile and boring publisher in the business. Everything they touch turns to dust and it has been that way, non-stop, since the very beginning.

Oh, boycotting Microsoft's games comes naturally. Boycotting some of their other stuff, on the other hand, ranges from moderately difficult to impossible depending on your job

Thanks!

Also Psychonauts 2.

I kept thinking during the entire microsoft show how weird it was just how little charisma and tonal consistency there was. It was like watching robot people talk at me about whatever oddities were currently in their cupboard.

Anyway, this article was a really fun read after all that.