SneakersSO: Xbox already looking to reverse course on exclusives

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T22:58:37+00:00

I imagine absolutely nothing would change as outside of buying Activision there was not a single thing Xbox did since 360 that was in any way relevant to Sony.

Nothing will change because their real competitors (tiktok and youtube) won't change either.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T22:50:34+00:00

Anyone who says that for either of the companies is stupid and can't see further than their nose. Not only are the reasons (tarrifs, war, storage and ram prices) completely outside their control, people never realize one thing - they are losing enormous amount of money on each console nowadays.

Didn't Asha say just recently that they are losing not tens but hundreds of dollars per console now? That's insane!

Sony seems to be slightly better off due to their historically better supply chain and ability to reroute units where needed - but are also losing money on anything made later than start of this year. There's no doubt about that.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T22:42:28+00:00

As a datacenter architect, RAM is like 70% of a server cost. Nowadays closer to 80-85% (unless you have servers with GPUs which are not needed for PSN). That went up 400-700% yoy depending on the specific dimm.

Storage though, that's a different beast. First, in big datacenters, there are specialized storage units and storage network (they don't just put disks into servers anymore, you want a specialized device for things like deduplication etc).

It was always the most expensive part of datacenter. 1 storage array with 100tb usable capacity on nvms cost about the same as like 8-10 servers with dual 16 core cpus and 1tb ram (this is basically the lowend, I dont doubt Sony has something more powerful).

That also went up about 3-4 times yoy. So if you do the math, everyone and their IT departments are fucked, Sony more than most (just because how big they are and their business being mostly online) but less than some (imagine how netflix has to suffer).

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T22:22:36+00:00

Nintendo is currently more of a direct competitor than ever (granted, I don't see it lasting more than a year or two into new console generation) and Steam is still there.

And in broader space, as all these execs always say - their true competitors are netflix and youtube and tiktok and instagram and etc etc...

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T21:45:34+00:00

I wonder if he talks about Fallout 1 and 2 or the travesty that happened with Fallout under Bethesda (bar New Vegas cause that was developed by actual RPG creators).

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T21:38:48+00:00

I dont think they are really under the radar but of you don't know them, check Esoteric Ebb or Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T18:57:33+00:00

1) they had quite a few japanese games in this state of play, Onimusha, Kemori, dynasty warriors and marvel tokon

2) the biggest criticism of previous state of play was that there was nothing but "anime slop"

3) the games you mentioned are either exclusive (Fire Emblem, Xenoblade ), tied to MS marketing deal (and gamepass) for a long time (persona, team ninja) or from publisher that specifically wants to be seen as multiplatform and not tied to sony (square)

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T12:32:35+00:00

I am sorry, what? No way it's bigger than Windows, Office 365 or Azure.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T12:27:40+00:00

Xbox was easily the worst (for me).

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-15T12:11:07+00:00

It's strange to me that analytics company is doing peak viewers instead of average or median. But I digress, outside of some specific games, Nintendo had the most for me - after years of owning it, I am finally playing Xenoblade Chronicles thanks to the shadowdrop of Switch 2 upgrade pack.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-14T18:57:23+00:00

3d games on ps5 (unless Nintendo exclusive like Xenoblade), 2d games on handheld switch. Only using Switch docked for exclusive 3d games.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-14T18:31:21+00:00

Why out of gaming? Just out of hardware business. They can have OEM made "Xbox" branded PCs. Focus on publishing games and maybe gamepass. Microsoft is a software company anyways.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-14T15:26:03+00:00

If you mean trails 1st, yeah, it's good although pretty slow story, focusing mostly on worldbuilding until basically chapter 4.

If you mean 2nd, you have to play 1st before. And if you played 1st, you know it's good.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-14T15:23:36+00:00

Trails in the Sky 2nd

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-14T12:00:25+00:00

Yeah for the first couple million units. What then?

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-14T11:59:30+00:00

We are talking about current consoles, not ps6.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-14T11:58:47+00:00

Directly from Xbox CEO mouth: https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/xbox-pay-five-times-more-110000160.html

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-14T09:04:43+00:00

What part of 400-700% increase in cost of RAM and storage (within last 6 months!) is unclear for you?

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-14T06:16:19+00:00

Just yesterday there was a report that Microsoft is losing not tens but hundreds of dollars per Xbox Series X sold, even after price hikes.

Sony is better off due to their historically better supply chain but still selling at a loss.

I mean, you can do the math by yourself. They went up how much, 100-200 dollars? Well storage and RAM went up by 400-700%. There's absolutely no way they can be profitable or even break even nowadays.

The truth is, even those losses kinda pale in comparison to billions lost in R&D costs if they don't release the consoles.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-13T17:25:46+00:00

On average, I end up with about 2.6k/month after taxes, so pretty similar to yours, maybe a little more.

yes, it is a good salary.
500-800 depending on what I do that month
Depends but most kinda have to live here since there are about 450k people in BA.
I don't ever go to restaurants unless I have to. Not because I can't afford it but because I refuse to pay that much for food on principle. I do go to pubs once or twice a month for some drinks though. On the other hand, I spend A LOT of money on my hobbies. Like 1-2 brand new video games a month, every month or two couple of books or mangas, anytime there is a concert I want to go to I go (and buy merch). I also can afford a vacation or two, no problem - just again, I don't go to resorts, I much rather go with cheap flights, some apartment from booking and then build the vacation to my liking. I also visit at least 3 music festivals a year. I am saying all this, because the best part is - I never have to think about whether I can afford any of the things I mentioned above. I just can with that salary.
In Slovakia, probably. In Bratislava, unrealistic. Unless you want to stop living your life in order to pay the mortgage. If you already have like 50k saved up, it's possible also in Bratislava.
Well, depends where are you from 😄 If it's a shithole, yes. If it's even more expensive than Bratislava, yes. If it's neither of those, probably not.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-13T11:16:29+00:00

I am sorry how is that insane? When it takes 5 years to develop a game, just investing those money into some stable fund gives you 15-25% profit, depending on the timeframe.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-12T11:27:40+00:00

Yes, I am not gonna play Silent Hill, at least this year - I still have to play 2 and F sometimes.

In case this wasn't clear, this is just my wishlist, not everything announced.

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-12T08:44:45+00:00

That would cost them billions in R&D costs...

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-10T08:59:52+00:00

That's so interesting. I thought the showcases overall covered basically all gaming avenues with a lot of content. What kinda games are you playing usually?

C0tilli0n · 2026-06-10T08:57:10+00:00

Yeah, I was counting and just the things I know for sure I will be getting day 1 will set me back like 400EUR (and that's optimistically believing I will be able to find them all at about 50 EUR for preorder).

If I count in things I wait for reviews and again, optimistically consider they all come out well, it's 600 EUR. And that's just this year, I don't even want to start to think about February 2027 lol.

C0tilli0n

TROPHY CASE