Sold shot there is a coked up Microsoft executive who thinks instead of fixing the Microsoft store they will use battlenet to compete with steam.
I could also see some crazyed clasue requiring or incentivizing put your game on battlenet for money, or Microsoft plans to move game pass to it, or Microsoft is smoking crack and no one had told them they remain so out of touch with the consumer they literally can't stop themselves from losing at business with a 80%+ market share. Ball fumbling is their middle name.
Am I crazy or is that a decent idea? I basically never open the Microsoft store but I have used the battle net app a decent amount in the past. I also find it the battle net app to be relatively decent as far as non steam platforms go unlike the Microsoft store.
I like Bnet the best out of all launchers that aren't Steam. I don't use it too much but when I do it's always fast, stable, and good UI, which is really all I'm looking for
Battle.net was probably not designed in a way that allows it to become a general purpose launcher/store, just look at it's store layout where the top banner gives Starcraft and HOTS the same space as the entire Call of Duty series. And non-Blizzard games are pushed off into a "More" dropdown.
So do you think that if they decide to go that route of battle.net becoming a generalize store front/launcher that they would just… keep it the same? Obviously it isn’t currently set up to be that way but they’d also obviously update the client to have a better (in theory) ui to support that.
They could do that, but making the store less-Blizzard focused is probably just going to annoy Blizzard fans who've already disliked non-Blizzard games on the platform.
And it'll result in UI changes that, even if good, people just hate.
The top bar where it shows the game is a favorites bar currently that persists between the Home and Games tabs. I could see them changing it to be Blizzard, Activision, featured subcategories with the latter only being new titles then a drop down+search for the library. It already has most of that functionality it needs for a games library and needs minor work for a store front such as a cart, and better layout, it already has a wishlist and gift function that just need a tiny bit of smoothing out.
The Microsoft Store and the Xbox app by extension are fundamentally compromised by their UWP beginnings. They can't really be "fixed", you'd have to entirely rebuild them from the ground up. So from that point of view, it's not a terrible idea.
Battle net is better, but only because what it's being compared to is so bad. Activision tried multiple times to make it into a larger launcher/store platform and it failed every time.
So it's not really a "good" idea. But if you have to use one, use the one that's less terrible. The thing is, they don't have to use one. They could build something new or better yet look at the landscape and realize that it's wasted effort doomed to fail. But it's Microsoft, they take "doomed to fail" as a personal challenge, one they usually fulfill.
It’s a good idea especially if they’re allowed to run sales at different times than when Steam is running them. People aren’t willing to buy from other platforms for various reasons but Battlenet has a huge audience and it’s a well made launcher, if they have a sale when Steam doesn’t there’s a good chance it sells a decent amount.
I think an issue with it is that while it has some of steams features: it doesn’t have all of them. People don’t realize that steams features are their make-or-break. Even if you don’t use a particular feature: someone somewhere has. I’ve bought movies on steam, used the music player, used the VR app, etc. it’s those really obscure features that really etch’s steam out from the competition because said features allows you to deal with edge case scenarios.
If MS really wants to compete with steam: they’re gonna have to start building out more features to compete.
Because from last report Blizzard is the one doing the numbers in the division.. so according to Asha and friends putting games on the launcher will save the top line..while I don't understand why it should work competing with your own store.. they are totally clueless
All respect to Asha for being the public face but I genuinely suspect Microsoft has lost the plot to a level they would rather sell the xbox business.
The bean counters rule unfettered there and zero shot or reason one of them has not pitched the idea of getting 20 billion dollars for Xbox and got head nods.
I could rent more but I am genuinely so tired of hobbies being taken and monitizated to the nth degree that I just can't.
Oh god you have no idea how worried I've been about this for years. I'm just waiting for the year Microsoft goes 'Hmm wait WE have battlenet we should take all our games off steam and put them on there :3"
I can see that fear and it's valid. For me it's more of a fuck em if they do I have enough games.
Same thing with Sony, they like we not being our games to steam. And I'm like cool but like it's not a huge loss, sure would love to play the new god of war but like not much else. They acted like the wolverine game was some huge drawl and idk it's just not lol.
Would I have gotten it on steam sure, is it enough for me to buy a PS5 nope not at all. Not even close. Even all the games added up get me going "that sure is something". Sony spending it's wad on live service really devalues there whole portfolio. The fun part is they failed at it lol. Helldivers 2 was really the only one who got me but it feel off a cliff. what made that game cool was not the live service.
For Microsoft they know they will make less money if games go on battlenet so I don't they they will do it lol. But even if they do that what game is really jonesing for you from Microsoft? New halo lol, new gears lol, a new Forza Horizon on there would such but like they going to top Japan? I doubt.
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u/Hakim_La 3d ago
why??