The Xbox people have a better grasp of things. Consoles have little reason to exist… and the writing was on the wall when the PS3 stumbled out the gate. Really, in the PS2 era, all those Renderware / id Tech 3 / Unreal 1 games running the same on every platform was a big hint that there was no longer a benefit to having different platforms. Now there’s just various badges over x86 PCs and smartphones - and the smartphones are starting to run Steam games.
None of which is to say that Microsoft has conducted their grand scheme to computer-ify the console market with any degree of finesse, consistency, or follow-through. They’re still idiots for setting successful studios on fire, and for refusing to shit or get off the pot vis-a-vis whether there’s gonna be an Xbox The Next One.
I’m guessing you weren’t around for the “arrogant sony” phase of late PS2/early PS3 where they thought/knew they could do whatever they want and they’d still be the kings of the market?
This is just a return to that (not specifically this though, since as others have pointed out it’s a direct result of GDPR etc laws). It’s because Xbox has basically been killed. Sony have no competition, so they don’t have to pretend to be a pro-consumer company anymore. They know they have an army of fans that will swallow up whatever they serve them, and they know that the people who don’t like it will end up buying it anyway since there’s no other option.
It’s odd timing given that microsoft seems to be giving up on Xbox
The Xbox people have a better grasp of things. Consoles have little reason to exist… and the writing was on the wall when the PS3 stumbled out the gate. Really, in the PS2 era, all those Renderware / id Tech 3 / Unreal 1 games running the same on every platform was a big hint that there was no longer a benefit to having different platforms. Now there’s just various badges over x86 PCs and smartphones - and the smartphones are starting to run Steam games.
None of which is to say that Microsoft has conducted their grand scheme to computer-ify the console market with any degree of finesse, consistency, or follow-through. They’re still idiots for setting successful studios on fire, and for refusing to shit or get off the pot vis-a-vis whether there’s gonna be an Xbox The Next One.
I’m guessing you weren’t around for the “arrogant sony” phase of late PS2/early PS3 where they thought/knew they could do whatever they want and they’d still be the kings of the market?
This is just a return to that (not specifically this though, since as others have pointed out it’s a direct result of GDPR etc laws). It’s because Xbox has basically been killed. Sony have no competition, so they don’t have to pretend to be a pro-consumer company anymore. They know they have an army of fans that will swallow up whatever they serve them, and they know that the people who don’t like it will end up buying it anyway since there’s no other option.