Microsoft is having a tough time getting support for its Xbox Live. The Vole"s usual strategy of keeping as much of the money for itself as possible isn"t sitting well with the biggest games makers. Electronic Arts and Eidos have both said they will not be supporting Xbox Live.
According to Bloomberg, the chief executive of Eidos said, "we don"t feel comfortable with Microsoft"s business model - they own the consumer." This is down to Microsoft being determined to control the system that Xboxes connect to and, what a surprise, determined to control the subscriptions. According to Eidos, that leaves no real incentive for it to take part. Conversely, Eidos is quite happily beavering away to make online games for the Playstation 2.
Electronic Arts was quoted as saying that it had no plans for online games for the Xbox either. Although it didn"t go into details, it seems likely that the reasons are similar. EA claimed that it couldn"t agree to Microsoft"s terms.
Analysts are already circling like vultures and pointing to this being a bad omen for Xbox. With companies as big as Electronic Arts and Eidos turning up their noses, it"s really no surprise. It is a bad omen.