Speculation: MS to drop out of console race next gen for games for windows?

Its a well known fact that MS gaming division has been a financial black hole for the corparation giant. even with the sales frin blockbust and record making halo3, they just scratched the debt that MS gaming division has created. whats more is the last year MS has been really pushing its PC gaming library, calling it "games for windows".

We are also seeing the companies MS aquired in the console race starting to leave. Bungie recently left, and so did the developers of project gotham racing. not to say the developers have stopped developing for MS, they just went back to being 3rd party developers.

The 360 is quickly approaching its 2nd birthday and getting ready to start year 3 of its life, and as such the 360s live is about half over (if this generation keeps the trend the generations before it set). a home console has a life expectency of about 6 years. so its not uncommon to see rumors and news of the next systems in the works to be talked about, it was what 4 years ago we started hearing about the xbox360, and thats when the ps3 was only 3 or 4 years old (if i remember right).

so do you think MS is going to drop the console race infavor of supporting games for windows? or perhaps MS is just suddenly able to keep a few secrets.

I dont think i can see them droping out just yet. It takes a lot to kill a gaming division of a company like micorsoft. And think, naughty dog left, did that mean that sony was in for it at the time?Geek12

the diffrence with sony is...they make money off their gaming division. its not a financial black hole like MSs gaming division currently is.

i also dont recall 2 developers suddenly leaving from MS for mysterious reasons either.

Sony also doesnt try to promote the same game on 2 platforms.

why did you even bring sony into this?

[QUOTE="Geek12"]I dont think i can see them droping out just yet. It takes a lot to kill a gaming division of a company like micorsoft. And think, naughty dog left, did that mean that sony was in for it at the time?GlassDominion

the diffrence with sony is...they make money off their gaming division. its not a financial black hole like MSs gaming division currently is.

i also dont recall 2 developers suddenly leaving from MS for mysterious reasons either.

Sony also doesnt try to promote the same game on 2 platforms.

why did you even bring sony into this?

Get your facts straight, the only company that left microsoft was bungie. Micorosoft still gets first dibs on their games as well. Microsoft never owned Bizzarre. Plus Sony has been losing money lately as well.

Plus Sony has been losing money lately as well.kevy619

[QUOTE="GlassDominion"]

[QUOTE="Geek12"]I dont think i can see them droping out just yet. It takes a lot to kill a gaming division of a company like micorsoft. And think, naughty dog left, did that mean that sony was in for it at the time?kevy619

the diffrence with sony is...they make money off their gaming division. its not a financial black hole like MSs gaming division currently is.

i also dont recall 2 developers suddenly leaving from MS for mysterious reasons either.

Sony also doesnt try to promote the same game on 2 platforms.

why did you even bring sony into this?

Get your facts straight, the only company that left microsoft was bungie. Micorosoft still gets first dibs on their games as well. Microsoft never owned Bizzarre. Plus Sony has been losing money lately as well.

but the main point of what he si saying is correct. Sony MAKES money, Microsoft doesnt make jack ****. Their games devision is pretty useless and financially, im surprised they are still in the game. I can honestly see the 360 as their last console. And i can also see them putting all focus onto games for windows live, getting some more developers, and publishing more and more games on the platform. The preperations have pretty much been made already, all they are probably doing is wating for gamers o adopt vista on a larger scale. This is a much better business modeal cause they wont be losign money due to operating expenses havign to supply the hardware.

Sonys game division doesnt make money. Check your facts. They are bleeding even more than MS are.

Nintendo are the only ones making money at the moment.

Sonys game division doesnt make money. Check your facts. They are bleeding even more than MS are.

Nintendo are the only ones making money at the moment.

Radiozo

[QUOTE="Geek12"]I dont think i can see them droping out just yet. It takes a lot to kill a gaming division of a company like micorsoft. And think, naughty dog left, did that mean that sony was in for it at the time?GlassDominion

the diffrence with sony is...they make money off their gaming division. its not a financial black hole like MSs gaming division currently is.

i also dont recall 2 developers suddenly leaving from MS for mysterious reasons either.

Sony also doesnt try to promote the same game on 2 platforms.

why did you even bring sony into this?

Microsoft is so rich that it doesn't matter. Sony is no where near as rich as MS so when they make money of the gaming industry, it actually matters. It doesn't matter to MS. They are certainly not going to drop out of the console race, but if they ever do, PC GAMING FTW!

Sonys game division doesnt make money. Check your facts. They are bleeding even more than MS are.

Nintendo are the only ones making money at the moment.

Radiozo

LOL look at this guy. Sony's games division has mad money. LOTS of money on the PS2 and PS. Now that its just released the PS3 it is losing money in the 100 millions but they are on the way to making money. They are nowhere around the amount that MS is losing which is in the BILLIONS. And you tell me they are bleeding more than MS? Wow jus wow. Even though this is a 360 forum that just cant stand. YOU need to check YOUR facts. Anyway, this isnt about the playstation and sony. The fact fo the matter is that MS never should have entered the console gaming arena, it was a bad move for them They try and dip in to everything. The ipod is still crushing the zune. They need to focus on windows, and i think that once Vista picks up its steam in the next year or 2, the xbox will be abandoned and Games for Windows live will have like 80-90% of the companies games division resources if not 100%. I do not see a 3rd generation xbox on the rise.

You cant honestly expect Sony to fill the hole in 6 months. The PS3 has hardly sold in the last year and unless Halo 4 gets released for the PS3 in the next five months the consoles will stay in stores.

Edit : Mind you, im talking about PS3 numers, not including the PS2 income.

loky4000

but hes talking profit. not number of units.

[QUOTE="GlassDominion"]

[QUOTE="Geek12"]I dont think i can see them droping out just yet. It takes a lot to kill a gaming division of a company like micorsoft. And think, naughty dog left, did that mean that sony was in for it at the time?TMontana1004

the diffrence with sony is...they make money off their gaming division. its not a financial black hole like MSs gaming division currently is.

i also dont recall 2 developers suddenly leaving from MS for mysterious reasons either.

Sony also doesnt try to promote the same game on 2 platforms.

why did you even bring sony into this?

Microsoft is so rich that it doesn't matter. Sony is no where near as rich as MS so when they make money of the gaming industry, it actually matters. It doesn't matter to MS. They are certainly not going to drop out of the console race, but if they ever do, PC GAMING FTW!

MS is also a company. they didnt get on top by being stupid.

when you have a division of your company that has lost you 11-13 billion in 6 years, one would think that division would go away.

You cant honestly expect Sony to fill the hole in 6 months.loky4000

[QUOTE="Radiozo"]

Sonys game division doesnt make money. Check your facts. They are bleeding even more than MS are.

Nintendo are the only ones making money at the moment.

Miguel16

LOL look at this guy. Sony's games division has mad money. LOTS of money on the PS2 and PS. Now that its just released the PS3 it is losing money in the 100 millions but they are on the way to making money. They are nowhere around the amount that MS is losing which is in the BILLIONS. And you tell me they are bleeding more than MS? Wow jus wow. Even though this is a 360 forum that just cant stand. YOU need to check YOUR facts. Anyway, this isnt about the playstation and sony. The fact fo the matter is that MS never should have entered the console gaming arena, it was a bad move for them They try and dip in to everything. The ipod is still crushing the zune. They need to focus on windows, and i think that once Vista picks up its steam in the next year or 2, the xbox will be abandoned and Games for Windows live will have like 80-90% of the companies games division resources if not 100%. I do not see a 3rd generation xbox on the rise.

Even if Microsoft does drop out, so what. I dont understand why people are always like "Microsoft should have never entered the console gaming arena." Why not, did you get physically injured by the Xbox, is it any hair off of your back? The Xbox has had quality titles and Xbox Live is a great network. I'm a gamer, I shouldn't have to care about who's making money and what a companies plan is for next gen. All I care about is which games are good and what I need to play them.

And to address your other statement, the Zune is also a great product.

[QUOTE="TMontana1004"][QUOTE="GlassDominion"]

[QUOTE="Geek12"]I dont think i can see them droping out just yet. It takes a lot to kill a gaming division of a company like micorsoft. And think, naughty dog left, did that mean that sony was in for it at the time?GlassDominion

the diffrence with sony is...they make money off their gaming division. its not a financial black hole like MSs gaming division currently is.

i also dont recall 2 developers suddenly leaving from MS for mysterious reasons either.

Sony also doesnt try to promote the same game on 2 platforms.

why did you even bring sony into this?

Microsoft is so rich that it doesn't matter. Sony is no where near as rich as MS so when they make money of the gaming industry, it actually matters. It doesn't matter to MS. They are certainly not going to drop out of the console race, but if they ever do, PC GAMING FTW!

MS is also a company. they didnt get on top by being stupid.

when you have a division of your company that has lost you 11-13 billion in 6 years, one would think that division would go away.

Exactly and thats a thing a lot of people are nto understanding. Businesses are in it to MAKE money not lose it. When they look at these financial statements and see the losses, the end result is inevitable. They dont care about the customers. Think about why they stopped supporting the xbox as soon as the 360 launched? Extra expenses they cant afford to have. Meanwhile Sony can afford to support the PS and the PS2. It shows two things.

1- Sony is in a better position to lose money on the PS3, they supported the PS for 10 years and will do the same for PS2. (Remember sony is a big corporation too)

2 - Microsoft as a company really isnt putting a lot into their games division. It isnt gunna last .

while you do have a valid point in all of this, GlassDominion, I really dont see microsoft leaving the console market for at least the next generation. (Hopefully) There are some good financial guys that say "look we've only been on the console market for 6 years with two systems, and we need to give it time to grow." If micrsoft actually does drop out of consoles, then it means the money-hungry stereotype about them is true, and at that point ill just be so dissappointed in microsoft i wont even buy their products anymore. vista is a crock of **** anyway, mac osx is a last generation OS and it still beats the dog crap out of vista.dgguidryjr

im glad MS is there, especially now. With nintendo going after the non gamer and super casual gamers, Sony needs some competition in the hardcore and main stream department. im just commenting on paterns and things of that nature. make for some good discussion. tho i do find myself annoyed i needed to get all 3 consoles to enjoy the games i want.

[QUOTE="Miguel16"][QUOTE="Radiozo"]

Sonys game division doesnt make money. Check your facts. They are bleeding even more than MS are.

Nintendo are the only ones making money at the moment.

RipaX21

LOL look at this guy. Sony's games division has mad money. LOTS of money on the PS2 and PS. Now that its just released the PS3 it is losing money in the 100 millions but they are on the way to making money. They are nowhere around the amount that MS is losing which is in the BILLIONS. And you tell me they are bleeding more than MS? Wow jus wow. Even though this is a 360 forum that just cant stand. YOU need to check YOUR facts. Anyway, this isnt about the playstation and sony. The fact fo the matter is that MS never should have entered the console gaming arena, it was a bad move for them They try and dip in to everything. The ipod is still crushing the zune. They need to focus on windows, and i think that once Vista picks up its steam in the next year or 2, the xbox will be abandoned and Games for Windows live will have like 80-90% of the companies games division resources if not 100%. I do not see a 3rd generation xbox on the rise.

Even if Microsoft does drop out, so what. I dont understand why people are always like "Microsoft should have never entered the console gaming arena." Why not, did you get physically injured by the Xbox, is it any hair off of your back? The Xbox has had quality titles and Xbox Live is a great network. I'm a gamer, I shouldn't have to care about who's making money and what a companies plan is for next gen. All I care about is which games are good and what I need to play them.

And to address your other statement, the Zune is also a great product.

Hey man im a gamer too, thats why i frequent this site. If doesnt leave, good they better continue to support the 360 and not shaft it liek the xbox tho. But what wwe are talking about in this forum right now is their business practices and predictions for the next gen, and with that at hand to give the best possible opinion i need to drop all gaming preferences and just look at the industry. And doind that you cant deny that what they did was a mistake. Am i wrong man?

I dont understand why people are always like "Microsoft should have never entered the console gaming arena." Why not, did you get physically injured by the Xbox, is it any hair off of your back?RipaX21

[QUOTE="RipaX21"][QUOTE="Miguel16"][QUOTE="Radiozo"]

Sonys game division doesnt make money. Check your facts. They are bleeding even more than MS are.

Nintendo are the only ones making money at the moment.

Miguel16

LOL look at this guy. Sony's games division has mad money. LOTS of money on the PS2 and PS. Now that its just released the PS3 it is losing money in the 100 millions but they are on the way to making money. They are nowhere around the amount that MS is losing which is in the BILLIONS. And you tell me they are bleeding more than MS? Wow jus wow. Even though this is a 360 forum that just cant stand. YOU need to check YOUR facts. Anyway, this isnt about the playstation and sony. The fact fo the matter is that MS never should have entered the console gaming arena, it was a bad move for them They try and dip in to everything. The ipod is still crushing the zune. They need to focus on windows, and i think that once Vista picks up its steam in the next year or 2, the xbox will be abandoned and Games for Windows live will have like 80-90% of the companies games division resources if not 100%. I do not see a 3rd generation xbox on the rise.

Even if Microsoft does drop out, so what. I dont understand why people are always like "Microsoft should have never entered the console gaming arena." Why not, did you get physically injured by the Xbox, is it any hair off of your back? The Xbox has had quality titles and Xbox Live is a great network. I'm a gamer, I shouldn't have to care about who's making money and what a companies plan is for next gen. All I care about is which games are good and what I need to play them.

And to address your other statement, the Zune is also a great product.

Hey man im a gamer too, thats why i frequent this site. If doesnt leave, good they better continue to support the 360 and not shaft it liek the xbox tho. But what wwe are talking about in this forum right now is their business practices and predictions for the next gen, and with that at hand to give the best possible opinion i need to drop all gaming preferences and just look at the industry. And doind that you cant deny that what they did was a mistake. Am i wrong man?

[QUOTE="RipaX21"] I dont understand why people are always like "Microsoft should have never entered the console gaming arena." Why not, did you get physically injured by the Xbox, is it any hair off of your back?teebeenz

dont you guys realize that even though MGS seems to be in a hole MS still has other divisions that are profiting so MGS will always have the money they need and won't shut down till clearly defeated. Think of it like this. You lose feeling in your legs after a car crash but the doctor says there is hope. You dont just go and cut your legs off because at the moment they are useless. You go to phyical therapy untill you regain control. Same process applies here. Sure MS just lost a billion dollars because of the whole extended warrenty but that certainly doesn't mean they wont recover. if what you say is true about the 360 having only another 3 years left in it then thats 3 years to make up their losses and while they might not break even this gen the closer they get the easier it will be next gen.FUBAR24

the original xbox never made a dime

the 360 has yet to make a dime, and it costed them billions for the warrentey.

13billion is alot to ask for in 3-5 years from the gaming division. especially when they are still loosing money, they are not even on their way to break even.

those being my points, rather than releasing another console and costing MS even more money...i think they might favor the platform just about everyone has, windows.

I don't see why they would pull the plug now that they're well on the track to profitability. If quitting the console war was even a possibility, it seems like they would have done it after the Xbox.

Although the gaming division is still a ways off from overall profitability, it seems like they have a lot of first party-published and/or developed titles stacked that may make them profitable on an annual basis soon.

Sonys game division doesnt make money. Check your facts. They are bleeding even more than MS are.

Nintendo are the only ones making money at the moment.

Radiozo

Link please? what facts?

Sony selling more than just the ps3, ps2, tvs alot ofother things. And aint bill gates leaving MS soon?

Who the hell its going to pay the bills then?

no, it is a well-known fact that microsoft never gives up on thier products just look at zune at first it was pretty crappy but now zune 2 looks kick ass. and besides its already been confiremed xbox 720 will launch somewhere bettween 2011-2012.Arbiter1237

no, it is a well-known fact that microsoft never gives up on thier products just look at zune at first it was pretty crappy but now zune 2 looks kick ass. and besides its already been confiremed xbox 720 will launch somewhere bettween 2011-2012.Arbiter1237

link please

I don't see why they would pull the plug now that they're well on the track to profitability. If quitting the console war was even a possibility, it seems like they would have done it after the Xbox.

Although the gaming division is still a ways off from overall profitability, it seems like they have a lot of first party-published and/or developed titles stacked that may make them profitable on an annual basis soon.

OremLK

halo3 broke records in sales and it didnt even bring MS 1/2 a billion yet.

halo3 generated what 300 million the first week? most of that went to development costs of halo3...then lets not forget MS spent another big chunck of the money they got from halo3 on servers for halo3.

if halo3 cant even bring them 1/12th of the way out of debt i doubt any line up of games can within the next 3 years.

but maybe if every game sells amazingly well.

your such a fanboy go2 the sony forumsharrison2007

[QUOTE="FUBAR24"]dont you guys realize that even though MGS seems to be in a hole MS still has other divisions that are profiting so MGS will always have the money they need and won't shut down till clearly defeated. Think of it like this. You lose feeling in your legs after a car crash but the doctor says there is hope. You dont just go and cut your legs off because at the moment they are useless. You go to phyical therapy untill you regain control. Same process applies here. Sure MS just lost a billion dollars because of the whole extended warrenty but that certainly doesn't mean they wont recover. if what you say is true about the 360 having only another 3 years left in it then thats 3 years to make up their losses and while they might not break even this gen the closer they get the easier it will be next gen.GlassDominion

the original xbox never made a dime

the 360 has yet to make a dime, and it costed them billions for the warrentey.

13billion is alot to ask for in 3-5 years from the gaming division. especially when they are still loosing money, they are not even on their way to break even.

those being my points, rather than releasing another console and costing MS even more money...i think they might favor the platform just about everyone has, windows.

Where is this 13 billion figure coming from? That number cannot be right.

[QUOTE="harrison2007"]your such a fanboy go2 the sony forumsGlassDominion

look at your now playing list, go to system wars. besides, if microsoft didn't quit with the first xbox, they won't now. microsoft has their computer division to back them up. also, it is a fact that video games make the most money in the entire entertainment industry, plus the xbox makes microsoft even more famous, and they're already on track to making profit with its gaming division.

[QUOTE="GlassDominion"]

[QUOTE="harrison2007"]your such a fanboy go2 the sony forumssolidsnake2050

look at your now playing list, go to system wars. besides, if microsoft didn't quit with the first xbox, they won't now. microsoft has their computer division to back them up. also, it is a fact that video games make the most money in the entire entertainment industry, plus the xbox makes microsoft even more famous, and they're already on track to making profit with its gaming division.

whats my playlist got to do with anything? oh noes hes playing final fantasy!

secondly im not the one bringing sony into this discussion. this a topic purely on speculation on the possible future of an xbox720. and honestly at this point i dont think MS cares how famious they are.

here are some links about how much MS has spent on the gaming industry.

http://www.seekingvalue.com/microsoft-games-division-in-trouble/

http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-halo6oct06,1,4971504.story?track=rss

It's possible. But the PS3 hasn't made money yet either I think. I am surprised the 360 still hasn't made money though.james28893

with a 2 billion dollar loss just from the warrenty they are offering?

anyway stop bringing up the ps3. this is about the 360. and like i pointed out before, the ps3 was an investment for sony. sony has made money off both ps1 and ps2. sonys gaming department has shown itself to be profitable.

It's possible. But the PS3 hasn't made money yet either I think. I am surprised the 360 still hasn't made money though.james28893

it is right now, outselling the wii in north america ftw. Plus Halo 3 has already sold around 4 million copies.

[QUOTE="OremLK"]

I don't see why they would pull the plug now that they're well on the track to profitability. If quitting the console war was even a possibility, it seems like they would have done it after the Xbox.

Although the gaming division is still a ways off from overall profitability, it seems like they have a lot of first party-published and/or developed titles stacked that may make them profitable on an annual basis soon.

GlassDominion

halo3 broke records in sales and it didnt even bring MS 1/2 a billion yet.

halo3 generated what 300 million the first week? most of that went to development costs of halo3...then lets not forget MS spent another big chunck of the money they got from halo3 on servers for halo3.

if halo3 cant even bring them 1/12th of the way out of debt i doubt any line up of games can within the next 3 years.

but maybe if every game sells amazingly well.

So how is the ps3 going to start making money? They are being outsold 5-1, go away

Take it to system wars, you guys are acting like the 360 isnt completly dominating the ps3 and you are trolling.kevy619

1. im not the one bringing up the ps3.

2. sonys gaming department has been profitable in the past, microsoft gaming has not.

3. how is this trolling? its a simple thread speculating based on the shape of MS gaming division.

[QUOTE="GlassDominion"][QUOTE="OremLK"]

I don't see why they would pull the plug now that they're well on the track to profitability. If quitting the console war was even a possibility, it seems like they would have done it after the Xbox.

Although the gaming division is still a ways off from overall profitability, it seems like they have a lot of first party-published and/or developed titles stacked that may make them profitable on an annual basis soon.

kevy619

halo3 broke records in sales and it didnt even bring MS 1/2 a billion yet.

halo3 generated what 300 million the first week? most of that went to development costs of halo3...then lets not forget MS spent another big chunck of the money they got from halo3 on servers for halo3.

if halo3 cant even bring them 1/12th of the way out of debt i doubt any line up of games can within the next 3 years.

but maybe if every game sells amazingly well.

So how is the ps3 going to start making money? They are being outsold 5-1, go away

sony makes money off of games, with only needing to make a few 100 thousand to break even and about 6 or so years to do it in. as for if the ps3 will break even who knows. stop bringing up the ps3. if you want to discuss the ps3 go to the cosole war.

ms needs to make up Billions of dollars, which is much harder.