May 7th Microsoft broadcast the special issue of the program Inside xbox, where the partners of the company presented the first wave of their games for the next generation console Xbox Series X. Initially, the issue was advertised as “gameplay display“, However, as a result of this gameplay on the show there was practically no. In most cases, the audience was shown pre-directed commercials on the engine.
Would you like to see games for the Xbox Series X? And we want to show you the games for the Xbox Series X.
The first demonstration of the gameplay of projects from our global partners is in the new Inside Xbox release next Thursday, May 7, at 18:00 Moscow time. pic.twitter.com/N5oOYJMVxZ
– Xbox RU (@xboxru) April 30, 2023
PR just resulted in a wave of indignation in social networks and forums where players rudely discussed how the trailer on the engine differs from a full-fledged demonstration of the game. The majority of users turned out to be not so simple to deceive, since hardcore gamers are quite skeptical about presentations, although they have high hopes for them. Therefore, it is not surprising that Microsoft had to apologize for what happened.
The next day, the head of the Xbox marketing department Aaron Greenberg acknowledged the company’s mistake in promoting the presentation of Inside Xbox, saying the team “set the wrong expectations.” A week later, a marketer spoke about an unsuccessful show Rukari Austin, who noted during the podcast Real Deal Xbox “losing” tactics of Microsoft.
Copying ideas is never easy. Remember the same State of play, the first issue of which caused a flurry of indignation from the players. Fans Playstation put video presentations on YouTube so many dislikes that Sony I had to hide the movie and reload it again. Although this did not help.
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Unlike Sony with its State of Play, Microsoft introduced the Inside Xbox back in the days of the Xbox 360, but then the company abandoned the idea to return to it in 2018. And now the Redmond team has a lot to learn.
At the moment, players and journalists are sitting at home, all significant events have been transferred to the online, so the “shoot” with something like this is now the time. Moreover, Microsoft announced its desire to hold a presentation Xbox Series X in June, followed by the July show of the game from indoor studios.
It is likely that companies will have enough time to sort out their mistakes and draw conclusions from the failures of the past Inside Xbox. Below we will try to expand on points what exactly went wrong and which things from the gameplay presentations of Sony and Nintendo Americans should pay increased attention to.
Organization
Rukari Austin notes that in a pandemic, it’s hard to hold a show. Therefore, the release is doubly critical to fill with game frames. Instead, we see Xbox executives, in particular Aaron Greenberg, through the cheapest webcam available. Why viewers are shown the leading faces of the company in a bad light is not entirely clear. Remembering Masahiro Sakurai (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate development manager) sitting at a neat little table in his office, he becomes sad.
Fans should not see another stranger who is trying to explain to them why the show is interesting, instead they should show games.
Innings
Announcing the latest release of State of Play, Sony announced in advance that it will feature 18 minutes of gameplay. Ghost of tushusha from studio Sucker punch. The company confirmed that it will show the device of the combat system and the open world, which was demonstrated in the broadcast.
At the same time, Sony separately emphasized what should not be expected, so the audience did not have unrealistic hopes, starting the stream.
Need more gameplay
Short trailers are a relic of the pre-digital era, when time limits were imposed on television commercials and movies in movie theaters. Of course, such wow-videos have their own niche, but it certainly does not resemble the Microsoft-declared “demonstration of gameplay.”
It is better to leave a fading hash of frames for announcements, for example at The Game Awards and E3, but not for the presentation of gameplay and demonstration of projects for the next generation console.
During the April Inside Xbox, the company introduced and subsequently uploaded to YouTube a three-minute Gears Tactics video telling about what the game is like. A video called Five Badass Things about Gears Tactics is very similar to the presentation of the project. Seeing him, many never interested in the development will certainly want to play Gears Tactics. Even a hardcore gamer who has watched all the videos will find something useful for himself in this video.
Why increase the number of such videos? After all, they are sometimes even more effective than the Ghost of Tsushima demo mentioned above.
Bureaucracy must be disposed of
Journalists and insiders sometimes talk about how hard it is to work with Microsoft as part-timers or third-party developers, and how corporate the company is. It is necessary to get through red tape, strange prohibitions and all kinds of processes before getting permission for anything. This echoes the company’s presentations and events, exerting negative consequences on aspects of Microsoft’s operations.
Developers Scorn They said that initially they wanted to present to the public a long video with elements of gameplay, but shortly before Inside Xbox they received an offer from Microsoft with a request to show their game on the show. The problem was that the corporation allocated no more than two minutes to show the video, so the authors of the horror had to rethink and remake the trailer. As a result, squeezing the gameplay into it, without violating the mood and rhythm of what was happening, was quite difficult and had to be completely abandoned.
The world is seized with hysteria associated with the coronavirus epidemic. Companies are rebuilding their workflows and changing practices almost daily. Six months are left until the next generation console is released, so the proper promotion of the Xbox Series X is now more relevant than ever.
Microsoft cannot afford to wallow in criticism and inappropriate marketing. The competitors are on the alert and supposedly interesting and fascinating wow videos may not turn out to be what the Xbox team imagined.
The latest release of Inside Xbox, which was greeted with hostility, showed that the players care, they do not like being deceived and can easily lose faith in the publisher by going over to the competitor. If Microsoft is at least somewhat concerned about the opinion of its audience, the company should review its policies and change the flow of new games.
We’re trying new things, listening / learning. We gave ourselves room to improve and we will. We believe in our plan. I’m 100% on XSX, playing games, watching platform tech land, seeing what’s ahead. Patience is the most difficult part for me, that’s not C19 related, that’s just me
– Phil Spencer (@ XboxP3) May 16, 2023
“We try new things, listen and learn,” says Xbox CEO Phil Spencer. “We have identified a field for improvement, and we will do it.”
The next presentation of the games for the Xbox Series X is scheduled for June this year, and in July, fans are waiting for projects from internal studios. Let’s see what they get this time.
Read also: Old versus New: Unreal Engine 5 demo for PlayStation 5 compared to Uncharted 4
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