Former Blizzard President Mike Ybarra is criticizing Xbox for their lack of exclusive titles and urging both Sony and Microsoft to stop pushing expensive skins and battle passes.
Despite their efforts, Xbox’s failure to produce popular games has remained a significant disadvantage in the battle of consoles, ultimately leading to the Sony PlayStation’s victory due to its exclusive deals.
After learning that the postponement of Black Myth: Wukong’s release on Xbox was caused by a Sony exclusivity deal rather than technical issues, former president of Blizzard, Mike Ybarra, commented that if he were in PlayStation’s position, he would capitalize on the situation, sensing an opportunity for success.
According to an X post discussing exclusivity, it was stated that in order to dominate the living room, having exclusive hits is crucial as it serves both as a platform and a game perspective. Sony has a proven track record of creating and selecting successful hits to be exclusive.
If your strategy is to win the living room, you need exclusive hits because winning is both a platform and games perspective. Sony knows how to make hits, and how to pick the hits from others to be exclusive. If I was them I would double down right now because the blood in the…
— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) August 30, 2024
This led to some people suggesting that Sony made a mistake by prioritizing live-service games like Concord. The hero shooter failed to reach 700 players on its launch day despite being in development for eight years.
Ybarra advised Sony to reconsider their all-in approach and expressed concerns about players becoming fed up with certain trends in live-service games, particularly regarding their monetization methods.
According to him, players are growing weary of battle passes and skins that cost $18.
Yes. I would stop the all in approach on this. Players are tired of battle passes and $18 skins.
— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) August 30, 2024
Microsoft made a notable purchase of Activision-Blizzard for a staggering $68B, acquiring popular franchises like Call of Duty and Overwatch that offer in-game battle passes and expensive skins. Many players have expressed their dissatisfaction with the high prices of these cosmetic items, often using social media and other platforms to criticize the “scummy”pricing tactics.
In January 2024, the ex-president of Blizzard departed from the company due to Microsoft’s acquisition and their choice to terminate approximately 1,900 employees.
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