Sacred Symbols, Episode 186: A Very Stupid Arms Race (Video)

I have a theory about Gamespass that no one else has discussed and it’s about the long game of it. I’m a pessimist so maybe that paints my idea but I see XBOX’s long term strategy as this: once they corner the market, could be as early as next generation, they’ll have at least half of gamers minds conditioned to devalue video games and see them entirely in a subscription mindset. Once that occurs the kindness and helpful XBOX changes because they no longer have to pay large sums to developers and publishers, Gamespass is now integral and if you want to be a part of the video game business you need to be on it so either take what we’re offering or pound salt. I truly believe this is what will happen and video games will suffer because of it.

The Rose Experience

The source audio is fine, so this is a problem on your end. Try clearing your cache, deleting and reapplying your RSS link, etc. DM if you have further problems!

Colin Moriarty

The apple podcast audio is screwup big time

Postisto

Capcom is booming right now. Price is going up...

Colin Moriarty

It was their first game! =)

Colin Moriarty

There is one publisher that fits the most with Sony and Playstation if Microsoft goes after another publisher. Capcom would be the quickest publisher to regain their money. It benefits Sony by having Street Fighter and the return of Marvel vs Capcom as first-party games they don't have to pay Capcom during the Evo video game tournament.

Lee Duncan

I can’t believe Rocket on the N64 was mentioned on the podcast. I played this game so much as a kid. Definitely didn’t know it was by Sucker Punch.

Raymond Aludino

"The entire apparatus that produced most of the accusations will be Microsoft's." Sorry but Last Stand Media's podcasts regurgitated those stories, and they didn't seem to be made up at the time. Are you now throwing doubt on to the accuracy of those stories and accusations because of this move?

Greg Dawson

Thanks for listening. =)

Colin Moriarty

The entire apparatus that produced most of the accusations will be Microsoft's.

Colin Moriarty

Like I was saying to the Defining Dukes folks, Activision for me is basically next to no impact for their current products, partially because I stopped buying their stuff after the Hong Kong/Tencent thing, and more because they stopped making most of the series I was actually interested in. The only thing they've made in 4-5 years that I liked was the Spyro remake. Their back catalog of dead IPs though is absolutely massive and has a ton of things I'm interested in, but as for current stuff, Bethesda, Obsidian, Doublefine, and Ninja Theory each have at least as much impact for my gameplaying habits. Activision? They're paying so much for this, but it's their least consequential purchase to me. It's yuge for Call of Duty players though.

Kaz Redclaw

"Everyone hated Activision yesterday" Yeah, because it was run by a cartoon villain character of a CEO with some outrageous accusations and a culture of sexual harassment to say the least. Studios pushed into CoD and taken away from more interesting IPs (was the perception) 'Not another CoD"... People are looking at the MS acquisition as a change to that. The devil is being shown the door and there's a possibility of a bright future. MS (rightly or wrongly) has a reputation of being good to work for - so that's why it's being celebrated. Whether or not changes will actually come to pass remains to be seen. As Chris pointed out it'll take 3-5 years before we see any real change there. As a predominantly PC player I don't care tbh. The only repercussion for me is if Sony returns to not releasing their exclusives on PC but £500 for a PS5 + the price of each game is too high a price of entry to play their exclusives.

Greg Dawson

Yes, I know. That's what I said.

Colin Moriarty

<3

Colin Moriarty

Oh, also... the siren when reading Call of Duty titles on the best-selling games list is hysterical. Please keep that up. I'm laughing again right now just thinking about it.

Giovanni D'Amico

In what way? All I can think of is crossplay... but the Epic-Apple papers kind of shed light on that.

Colin Moriarty

I think it makes people inconsistent.

Colin Moriarty

In response to Gary about the scorched earth comment. Do you all not see that Sony started the war? They refused and refused and refused to play nice with a gentle Microsoft and now Xbox has decided to play the game with all their chips in. It’s on Sony. Why fanboys can’t see that I don’t understand.

Caleb Shelton

Yes, I cheer for Microsoft buying Activision-Blizzard because they can potentially turn ABK around. Do I love ABK? Hell no, but I love some of what they own like Crash or Spyro. Is it wrong for me to be happy because there's a chance those two can keep getting games, and hell, maybe Toys for Bob can even make a Banjo game? People aren't hating ABK last week and loving them this week, it's people having hope for their favorite IPs becoming better and being optimistic. I don't see what's wrong with that, it doesn't make people shills or fanboys.

David P

Why?

Colin Moriarty

Corporate celebration leaves me skeptical.

Colin Moriarty

You guys dismissed the person who suggested NFT being used for things like digital trade-in, but it made sense. It doesn't matter if it is worth anything; it is about the consumer having ownership of their digital purchases. If I want to sell my digital game for $1 to someone else, I should be able to.

Joe

I'm with you in the acquisition being maybe not great as everyone celebrating. Nobody is talking about how games are going to get taken away from people from bethesda to Activision if you like playing the games on other systems than xbox.

superbadisfunny .

Get ahead of microsoft and start releasing sony 1st and 2nd party games on xbox..

Richard Court

I have a lot of concerns about the health of the game subscription market now. Both Hoeg and Jeff Grubb have mentioned in passing Microsoft’s monopolistic behavior. These moves try to keep competitors out as the barrier to entry to compete with Gamepass may now be too high. A Sacred Symbols+ episode with an economist talking about MS market share could be very interesting.

Matthew Kohlman

I guess I don't understand the sheer negativity regarding this move by Microsoft when compared to Sony. Insomniac's big games the few years before selling to Sony were Spider-Man, Ratchet & Clank, and Sunset Overdrive. Sunset Overdrive is an Xbox exclusive. Regardless of Sony's relationship with Insomniac over the years, they were an independent studio who were taken over by Sony. And they are widely regarded as one of the best in the industry. Why is that OKAY when Microsoft buying other studios is BAD? I guess why not push for more and more independence overall for both sides?

Rusty

That thumbnail is GOLD. And this was a great discussion - excellent points from everyone, especially Chris.

JusticeSoulTuna

The thumbnail is a masterpiece. As pointed out by others, I disagree that this is bad for the ABK devs, since Bobby and their admin were clearly shit and MS is definitely better. Many of them are already celebrating the change. I aslo disagree regarding creativity, ABK is just bankrupt on creativity, milking wow subscriptions and CoD annual sales. Gamepass will be a great venue for smaller games and revival of old IPs. I understand you are upset and disappointed. And I agree that it is bad for the industry. But creativity and devs wellbeing is a very weak argument here.

Iqan Adil

Please stop market moralizing, you’re embarrassing yourself Colin.

BlindRiot

All Sony needs to do is keep making good video games. We learned way back during the Sega vs Nintendo wars that it's always *all about the games*. Warcraft 3 Reforged or The Last of Us? Fallout 76 or Ghost of Tsushima? Diablo Immortal or God of War? Sony just needs to keep their eye on the ball and they'll be fine. The vast majority of gamers (not the few of us who are truly "plugged in" to gaming and watch channels like this) only buy a handful of games per year anyway. Make sure those games are your games! Make better games and you'll always win the "console war" (if that's what you want to call it)... ALWAYS! Side note: Stop censoring games on your platform, Sony. That's not helping you. The type of people calling for that censorship don't buy your games anyway, and they never will. STAND THE FUCK DOWN WITH THAT NONSENSE!

Dave Carsley

This is good. Puts more pressure on Sony! You know what they say. You can't make diamonds without Pressure! 💎💎

Just for conversation I'm gonna say Sony should buy EA. That would stir the pot.

drew

Just got to say Chris was on point this episode. All of his input throughout the duration was very focused and well spoken. Great episode as always.

The mouse that can't get the cheese CAPTCHA that you have to do 20 times drove me insane. I just wanted to see my 2021 Wrap Up, Sony!

Wyvborn

I think Colin overemphasizes the importance of the “story” of Uncharted. This is Indiana Jones, the game. They do characterization very well, but the plots and stories are pretty shallow. Uncharted 4 was the first in the series that had an actual emotional depth and sophistication - but I don’t think I’d have been lost if I hadn’t played the first three entries.

Stephen Lucey

How worried is Microsoft about “Spartacus” I feel like it’s not talked about how much of a competitor that could become towards “gamepass”. All you ever hear from Microsoft is how they are worried about “Amazon”, “google”,”meta”, but shouldn’t they be concerned about “Spartacus”?

Could be neat. =)

Colin Moriarty

I definitely agree, but we a.) have other episodes to get through, too, and b.) don't want to beat a dead horse. A call-in show, one way or another, is incoming in the next few weeks I hope.

Colin Moriarty

Imagine a Tarkov-like SOCOM. Raids with loot gathering, specific tasks, etc. Obviously a lot less technical, but the technicality and difficulty is a huge barrier for a lot of people. Keep the same vibe as Tarkov, but more accessible.

I think a Call-in with Colin is warranted here for the Activision thing, though I know you have a stacked SS+ line-up. You could exclusively invite people from the audience who disagree with you to discuss and defend your points or whatever in real time once and for all rather than via many comment responses. It seems all the cohosts mostly agree. That’s just my thought, though. Thanks regardless

Caleb Greer

Yes.

Colin Moriarty

We're gonna make that happen next week.

Colin Moriarty

We are eager to get our games onto GamePass to assess for ourselves.

Colin Moriarty

Cool.

Colin Moriarty

Yup.

Colin Moriarty

Leave the comment reading to me (Colin).

Colin Moriarty

Will do.

Colin Moriarty

I agree.

Colin Moriarty

It's the little things.

Colin Moriarty

If I had to order them in terms of a list of targets for Sony to acquire, it would be: Square Enix, SEGA, Capcom, Konami, Bandai Namco. But in an ideal world, all five of those companies will remain independent.

Colin Moriarty

Way outside of my wheelhouse.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, you know, the major hit Rocket, which Sony took away when they bought Sucker Punch. =)

Colin Moriarty

It's sad, but I'm kind of excited about the possibility of a temporarily-defeated Sony, because covering the PS3 in the early-to-mid generation was kinda-sorta fun, and totally dark. It's where the PlayStation community found itself.

Colin Moriarty

In researching the full scope of their acquisitions over time, outside of Xbox, it's clear that it's a cultural thing. It's not a surprise that Xbox would adopt the culture of its parent.

Colin Moriarty

Yes you did.

There’s No I in LLC

Did I miss the 2021 games of the year discussion or is that episode still coming?

Theres sales and discounts every 2 seconds , almost all the time

Pianopower

I do also think when speaking to the overwhelming positivity of journalists and fans it’s not about the fact PlayStation gamers can’t play this or that game but rather people are excited that they know they can play games that they possibly couldn’t afford otherwise through gamepass. Prior to gamepass I literally only bought 2K and played GTA. I’ve become way more of a variety gamer now because I can play them through gamepass. Is it better that I miss out on those experiences just to maintain the status quo? Idk I feel like both sides have a point but gaming is an expensive hobby and more people than not can’t afford more than 2 or 3 games at full price in a year. I just think that perspective should be applied to rather than blind following of a brand or corporate defense.

Kbr Sports

Would love to have you and Matty together to discuss Activision he seems to have very different opinions then you about it

Kc Wright

I personally disagree with the take that it hurts creativity Colin. Multiple developers who have worked with Xbox for gamepass or 1st party studios have already said that the service has provided them an audience they wouldn’t otherwise have but also have the safety net of knowing that they don’t have to make a game that is going to generate millions of dollars just to fund the studio. I do think this deal gives us cause to pause and wait and see what they do with the studios acquired but they’ve already said they were going to let Bethesda run themselves as is. So what we see from Bethesda is what Bethesda wants to put out, not something to fill a niche Xbox is lacking. I believe the same for the Activision studios as we’ve already seen the news from those in Activision that say they no longer want it to be an annual release. I don’t think it’s wrong to be cautious but I don’t think it’s right to be overly positive or negative about it in either case.

Kbr Sports

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Tick Dickler

We're just headed towards two or three companies owning everything... It's gonna suck.

Reuben Barrett

Wish there was a comment section Chris actually read, because if he knew about how games like Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Ape Escape 2 perform through back compat on PS5, maybe he’d understand why we all assume the worst from Spartacus, not from “arrogant Sony”, but “incompetent Sony”.

NickBLeaveIt

I love the weekly NFT slander lol keep it up!!!

Sumojoe118

Great episode guys. I agree with Colin that Sony should just focus on that quality and investing in building more teams and relationships rather than just buying big publishers. If they do go in that direction though I think it will be either Square Enix or Capcom.

"I love farting when I wake up" Great episode, guys. Thank you.

Liam Mcnulty

What's the point of bringing their rumoured Spartacus to PlayStation if they allowed Gamepass on their system, makes no sense. Colin, I know you said you don't want PlayStation buying any publisher but if they was going to which one would you have, Konami, square Enix, Capcom, Sega or Bandai namco

Zack Fair

I'm curious about the development of WWE 2K22 with WWE releasing 80+ wrestlers in 2021.

Boots!

Colin I nearly spit out my drink when you mentioned Rocket on N64. I thought I was the only person on earth who played that game back in 1999/2000 hahaha

Ryan Daly

I have hopes that the ABK x Microsoft situation may actually force Sony into the humble Sony of the latter half of the PS3 era. Maybe focus back on pleasing the consumer rather than entering a silly arms race? Streamline the next-gen upgrades- make them free, perhaps? Give a single tier Spartacus, with a focus on quality. It’s the little things that’ll keep me happy. But that’s just me, obviously.

Mr Curtis

I hate where the industry is heading. Microsoft never builds, I would have preferred them spend 70billion on new studios. I have an xbox but it makes me not want to support this.

matthew

I'll never be interested in Game Pass because I don't play games 'like that.' As noted, even Spartacus would only really be appealing to me with day-and-date access.

Colin Moriarty

Anyone who thinks Microsoft is some benevolent trillion dollar company is delusional.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you! Of course subscriptions will decrease quality, there's no doubt. It becomes a volume game.

Colin Moriarty

Maybe.

Colin Moriarty

I mean, I am a dev, so clearly there is disagreement. Thanks for listening.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you! I think Microsoft did SE a huge favor, frankly.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for letting us know, we were eager to see what you would do.

Colin Moriarty

Finally listened to whole thing, great episode, my only question would be, should we be worried about Microsoft hiring a Square Enix team to work on Perfect Dark. We know that Square Enix/crystal dynamic is down bad after avengers. Is Microsoft pulling a tencent move here by saying “hey we’re gonna give your team work” and allowing a way for them to have deeper conversations with square enix so to speak.

Kenneth Oms

I'll always be a fan, but I have to duck out on this one too.

Matthew David

Colin I just have to disagree with your 3 major points. This is not bad for gamers that are fine with a subscription service like Spotify this is phenomenal for 90% of gamers an insane amount of great quality games for a small monthly fee. This is not bad for devs…. the devs themselves have almost all said that are very excited that Microsoft will now be in charge in the future it is consistently voted as one of the top employers in the country towards employees. And most of all this is phenomenal for creativity….how is Activision/Blizzard the last 6 years not a dumpster fire towards creativity this opens up 10-15 dormant IPs all over again a new Spyro Crash CTR Kings Quest Pitfall so many others. The reason Sony does not buy publishers is because they gatekeep so many important IP from Xbox all the time with insane timed exclusives Street Fighter Persona Final Fantasy so many others But I do respect you guys lol and will continue giving you my $5 a month while I hate listen 😂😂😂

Shane Geis

Is it possible that Sony goes after Bungie to fill that FPS void on PS?

Richard Duflo

hey new patron here and ngl, very cathartic to listen to the discussions that apparently not many in games media are willing to have right now. Quick question: have you guys ever talked about the ramifications of the Game Pass-esque service model completely replacing the conventional games market as the overall norm? Personally I fear an increasing decline in game quality. More broken services with bloated and paywalled content with slowly decreasing rewards for the player so long-time investment is guaranted etc. - Basically mobile game design philosophy. I know this isn't Q/A but would appreciate it if anybody from the crew or community could answer me whether these guys talked about it at some point.

ToiletDrummer

Greetings colinauts. Why are people so quick to forget that Microscoft was involved in an anti trust law suit not too long ago? Many people are repeating the narrative that today's Microsoft is a changed company, with compassion and community at the helm. This is of course, is laughable. They are a company who's wealth and influence has grown far greater than before. I'm sure alot of the money used to purchase Activision was made during the pandemic. I personally don't believe that anything good can come from this acquisition and time will tell.

Shallon Ogden

Hopefully Chris is right and by the time the acquisition goes through in mid 2023 game pass is an app you get through your tv. So you have your PS5 as your console and sign up for game pass through your tv and your covered on both ends. Or just go get an xbox too ya cheapskates.

Piston Pants

We will see.

Colin Moriarty

Shocking, LOL.

Colin Moriarty

Your right, but from analytical data that might be considered “outdated”. Jimmy Ryan want their games to reach 100mil players not 20mi. I just see it like a “console war”, anything can happen.

mediaCRAXbaby

Just to update y'all on Enchanted Portals: According to the game's Kickstarter page, the funding request was not reached by their Deadline of 16 May 2020. They were only able to raise $21,679 out of of their desired $135,895.

88, the Big Cat

Analysts expect PS5 to outsell Xbox 2:1 in 2022.

Colin Moriarty

Imagine how many games could have been funded with that.

Colin Moriarty

LOL.

Colin Moriarty

A lot of gamers aren't hard to please, I guess.

Colin Moriarty

Oh, that's interesting. They should maybe tell us that.

Colin Moriarty

Them eating each other isn't ideal.

Colin Moriarty

Dustin made it.

Colin Moriarty

&lt;3

Colin Moriarty

MY IDEA, not Dustin's. =)

Colin Moriarty

WSJ confirmed that he's leaving once the deal closes

NotJack

At this point, it makes more sense for Sony to go 3rd party like sega. Instead of a curated Gamepass on PS5. Give Sony 80billon to go 3rd party.. sadly

mediaCRAXbaby

As someone who doesn't like most Activision games its hard not to think about how many probably better games could be funded with 68 billion dollars

Walker Simmons

"Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard," the release said, "and he and his team will maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company's culture and accelerate business growth. Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming." Why do people keep saying that he's leaving? Both Activision and Microsoft have plainly said otherwise?

Shawn Hayden

Please let that Sacred Symbols + pool episode be a reality…

Michael Miller

I haven’t listened to this yet, but am surprised it’s seeing such a negative reaction on Twitter. There’s nothing healthy when a company gets sold to another for almost $70b lol. Wasn’t good when Disney did it, not good here with msoft. Is it just emotions driving the narrative that bc kotick is an asshole, this is ok? What if msoft then buys EA, then Ubisoft, is that ok too? Gamers jumping on that corporate monopoly train bc they think Phil spencer is some white knight lol

The Funky Monk

You have to have "opted in" to share your data, for the year wrap up to function I believe

TreyDogg

Microsoft be out here like the SOAD song. "My cock is much bigger thN yours! My cock can walk right through the door" But ah ah Sony you can't sit on your hands with this one singing "Can't you see that I love my cock?" It's the way I view these companies at this point. Let them eat each other like pity ass siblings.

Frank G.

Give whomever made this thumbnail a raise

John Fiorio

These thumbnails lately have been making my Fridays 😂

Ben Bell

Great thumbnail

Michael (ObjoGaming)