Rob Fahey (Page 2)

Opinion

The "live service" model is all played out | Opinion

Players are voting with their wallets – like any other industry trend or fad, live service games have seen their moment pass; companies able to pivot away should do so fast

Feb. 9, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Genshin Impact's protesting players aren't just "entitled gamers" | Opinion

Protests against underwhelming in-game rewards should be treated as valuable feedback on a monetisation strategy gone awry, not as ingratitude or entitlement

Jan. 26, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Not everyone bows to the inevitability of subscription models | Opinion

Larian boss Swen Vincke is the latest industry figure to push back against subscription models; the growing mess in TV and movies makes clear why that perspective is important

Jan. 19, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Cyberpunk’s redemption took both hard work and uncanny luck | Opinion

The three-year path from one of the industry's most catastrophic launches to widespread acclaim is the story of a miracle, not a case study to be emulated

Jan. 12, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

2023's great games were a backdrop for industry failure | Opinion

A constant tolling bell of industry layoffs defined 2023 – with job losses for thousands being in stark contrast to a stellar release schedule and record-beating acquisition numbers

Dec. 15, 2023 Rob Fahey

News

Video games in 2024: Eager anticipation, or just treading water?

With pandemic-delayed titles finally arriving in 2023, and GTA 6 not due until 2025, next year could see a slump in blockbuster games – creating opportunities for other titles

Dec. 8, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

You shall not (Game) Pass | Opinion

Microsoft's CFO reiterates a vision for Game Pass on rival consoles – but the obstacles make it a near-impossibility, and go far deeper than questions of revenue sharing

Dec. 1, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Steam stumbles on regional pricing | Opinion

Valve's new policy of using USD denominations in countries with unstable currencies will hurt consumers there – but the real target is region-spoofing consumers elsewhere

Nov. 24, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Embracing disaster | Opinion

In the absence of the low-interest economic climate that created it, the recklessness and unsustainability of Embracer Group’s aggressive acquisition strategy is laid bare

Nov. 17, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Blizzard’s Overwatch League was ambitious and doomed | Opinion

One of the most interesting experiments in esports history comes to an expensive close – with the game itself struggling, the writing was on the wall for the league

Nov. 10, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Does Sony have a long-term software strategy? | Opinion

PlayStation's studio system is world-class today – but with reports of cost-cutting and cracks showing in the expensively-acquired Bungie, there are concerns about tomorrow

Nov. 3, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Microsoft joins the publishing top table | Opinion

By adding Activision Blizzard to its existing studios, Microsoft has created a publishing behemoth – and in its financials this week, it was keen to underscore the commitment this represents to gaming

Oct. 27, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

What did Microsoft want from Starfield? | Opinion

Bethesda's latest is a bona fide hit, topping US sales charts – but for Microsoft's plan to use exclusives to drive Game Pass subscriptions, that success is a double-edged sword

Oct. 20, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Unity's crisis is much bigger than John Riccitiello | Opinion

What Unity's customers need isn't a sacrificial scalp, it's a clear plan for how the company they rely on is going to achieve financial stability

Oct. 13, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Resident Evil Village on iOS makes cases both for and against cloud streaming | Opinion

Capcom's impressive port shows once again that cloud streaming isn't required for high-end mobile gaming – but it might be the only path to commercial success

Oct. 6, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Meta's Quest 3 fires the starting gun on consumer AR devices | Opinion

Apple and Meta are betting big on augmented reality – but expectations of a revolution to rival the introduction of smartphones should be tempered

Sept. 29, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Microsoft's hardware strategy looks more and more traditional | Opinion

Xbox Series X|S once presented a radically different vision; a console platform that would evolve and improve, ending the hardware generation cycle for good. What happened?

Sept. 22, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

The pressure of expectation adds a sour note to Starfield’s launch | Opinion

Bethesda’s latest is exactly what the studio’s fans would expect – but deeply unsuited to carrying the weight of Microsoft’s ambitions

Sept. 8, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

PS Plus price hike: We'll all pay for a subscription-based future | Opinion

There's a flicker of Sony's old arrogance in the bump to its PS Plus prices, but it's also a reminder that current subscription pricing is a land grab, not a sustainable business model

Sept. 1, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Xbox at the crossroads | Opinion

Microsoft’s new ABK deal would set the company on a very specific path – can it also focus on the first-party pipeline Starfield is meant to exemplify?

Aug. 25, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Is any progress being made against online anti-social behaviour? | Opinion

Microsoft announced a new strikes system for policing online behaviour – but for the most part, it feels like we're treading water on this increasingly damaging problem

Aug. 18, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Capcom's recipe for success is simple: stay the course, ignore the bandwagons | Opinion

Publishers feel immense pressure to pursue new technologies and trends, but Capcom's decade-long rise highlights the importance of focusing on the fundamentals

Aug. 11, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Xbox' back catalogue isn't just a stopgap – it's a competitive advantage | Opinion

Maintaining great backwards compatibility shouldn't be seen just as a way to cover for a lack of exclusives; we're in an era where back catalogues are more valuable than ever before

July 21, 2023 Rob Fahey

Opinion

We’re in the Wild West of generative AI: Beware the outlaws | Opinion

Technology is again out in front of legal and commercial frameworks – but those being taken in by the "this changes everything" hype could learn some lessons from the past

July 7, 2023 Rob Fahey

Feature

Redaction errors reveal the economics of exclusivity | Opinion

Badly-redacted documents from the FTC vs Microsoft show why platform exclusivity is such a big deal

June 30, 2023 Rob Fahey