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Chris Dring at GDC: Xbox sales flatlining in Europe, majority of Xbox games coming to PS5 at some point, MS putting less focus on GamePass

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
This isn't a "news" report of what he "thinks might happen". He is reporting what he is being told by his sources.

Unnamed "sources" from a small time youtube channel. Even of true, it doesn't warrant another death of xbox thread. It's getting silly.
 
You twist to your narrative, that much is true.

I'm not the one posting that Dring and GameIndustry.biz are nobodies because I don't like what they say....

You are

Mad Salt GIF by Brimstone (The Grindhouse Radio, Hound Comics)
 

Astray

Member
I agree with you, but Spencer was considered the savior of Xbox....

He can't blame Mattrick anymore, not after 10 years at the helm of Microsoft Gaming
I'm not really blaming Mattrick here, Phil's tenure hasn't been good enough imo, but at the same time the market predicament facing Xbox is not easy.

Look at Boeing, the CEO just left and he was only around for 3-4 years, and yet the issues still remain, it's very hard to turn around a sinking ship.
 

Woopah

Member
It's still just his opinion, and we know what they say about those. It's still just speculation, we could litterly have 20 threads about speculation on YouTube every day.
But its not "just his opinion". The sales data is not an opinion.

When someone at a third party studio says ""We're putting a lot of effort into creating an Xbox Series S/X version of a game where, to be honest with you, the market for us is PC and PS5", that is not Dring's opinion. That's the opinion of the person from the thrid party.

Edit: If we were dealing with a random YouTube speculation video then yes, I agree. But Gamesindustry.biz is a pretty well respected publication. There's a reason that GSD partners with them.
 
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Mobilemofo

Member
A moment of silence please, for our good friends at Xbox. From Steve balmer's total fuckery, to the one good generation Xbox had, (rip 360). They had indeed done a 360 and went from winning to comprehensively not winning. You will be remembered and mocked with much love and laughter.
 
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Nonehxc

Member
Rest in (the) Power of Dreams 😔

What do you think about the hanheld strategy, if true? 🤔🤔

After failing for 20 years to win against Sony, lets do the Triple Dumb Cartwheel and go against Valve, and more importantly, THE HANHELD CLAN, Nintendo, and all the other hanhelds, at the same time, and fail explosively? 😚

Will it be called the XBoy? 😁
 

DeaDPo0L84

Member
I'm confused why they're not having success when their core audience are the same people who only buy games from the 3 for $10 sale at Gamestop.
 

ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
I have problems with Dring's takes but his connections are very reputable.

At this point the size of Xbox userbase doesn't cover the costs for devs of any size so ports like Presona 3 Remake are a thing simply because Phil still has some billions in his pockets. Turn off those free gamepass money and the platform wouldn't make any financial sense, especially for smaller devs.
 
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onQ123

Member
You could be talking about a few dozen guys my man.

I think it was this guy


 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
Rest in (the) Power of Dreams 😔

What do you think about the hanheld strategy, if true? 🤔🤔

After failing for 20 years to win against Sony, lets do the Triple Dumb Cartwheel and go against Valve, and more importantly, THE HANHELD CLAN, Nintendo, and all the other hanhelds, at the same time, and fail explosively? 😚

Will it be called the XBoy? 😁
Not sure a handheld is the best idea at this point.

I am looking very forward to seeing IF they bring their nextbox to market late 2025 or into 2026, THAT I will be all over if its what people think it might be
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I'm not the one posting that Dring and GameIndustry.biz are nobodies because I don't like what they say....

You are

Mad Salt GIF by Brimstone (The Grindhouse Radio, Hound Comics)

I didn't say nobody, I said we shouldn't have a negative thread every time one small youtube site happens to post some conjecture on what might happen with ms. You on the other hand, seem quite happy to propagate anyone and anythjng, regardless.
 

Nydius

Member
they have 34 million subs on game pass as of last month that's all they care about. they're making money.

They're fine.They didnt buy activision just to go 3rd party

Both of these points were repeatedly destroyed in the last massive rumor thread before the announcement of certain games going to other platforms.

That "34 million subs" figure includes the newly converted "Game Pass Core" customers. In the major leak of FTC documentation, as of April 2022, Microsoft had 21.9M Game Pass subscribers and 11.7M Xbox Live Gold subscribers -- 33.6 million total, combined, not including PC Game Pass. This year they're bragging about having 34 million "total Game Pass" subscribers, including PC Game Pass. That isn't an increase in subscribers.

As for the second quote, no, I don't think they bought Activision to go third party but as soon as they realized they weren't going to be able to magically turn all of the properties into exclusives without causing an anti-trust shitstorm they discovered they could make a fuckton more money by keeping the games multiplatform. Which likely made shareholders question why they were keeping other games exclusive when they could make a lot more money by selling those games on other platforms with larger install bases.

Xbox as a hardware brand is in its death throes. Game Pass is stagnant. Their entire brand has conditioned people to spend as little money as possible on a hobby that is highly expensive to develop for.
 
If there is one thing that we have learned when it comes to Xbox... money does not buy success.

When it all comes down to it, Phil Spencer has been an absolute abject failure. He has squandered tens of billions along with every meaningful advantage Microsoft had in the console space. I still can't believe he attempted to gaslight us into believing 10/10 system selling games wouldn't make a difference when it comes to the success of Xbox. The death of the Xbox brand came when Phil mandated same day release of titles via GamePass on Xbox and PC - effectively eliminating Xbox exclusives. In the aftermath of that decision, there is barely any incentive whatsoever in owning an Xbox console - thats the uncomfortable truth and it makes me sad.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
I think it was this guy



Yeah.....I know you are proud of your locked threads. lol
 
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I think it was this guy



7S46KUa.gif


GTJ21qx.gif
 
If this isn't the biggest sign of a brand slowly dying i don't know what is.

PS6 will be the only running the show alone. Even if MS releases a console, i don't see how they can turn this around. They know this. Otherwise their games wouldn't be on Playstation now.
There will be a new entrant. But it requires that Xbox enters stage left first. When SEGA left, there was a swam of companies trying to take its place.
 

onQ123

Member
Not sure a handheld is the best idea at this point.

I am looking very forward to seeing IF they bring their nextbox to market late 2025 or into 2026, THAT I will be all over if its what people think it might be
It actually is the best idea only problem is how can MS get people to buy a Xbox Handheld over buying the other handhelds? I think what they really want to do is put Xbox in your face no matter which Windows device you buy .

Keep everyone from going to Steam for their drugs
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
But its not "just his opinion". The sales data is not an opinion.

When someone at a third party studio says ""We're putting a lot of effort into creating an Xbox Series S/X version of a game where, to be honest with you, the market for us is PC and PS5", that is not Dring's opinion. That's the opinion of the person from the thrid party.

Edit: If we were dealing with a random YouTube speculation video then yes, I agree. But Gamesindustry.biz is a pretty well respected publication. There's a reason that GSD partners with them.

The sales data isn't the problem, it's saying they will go full third party. While this may actually happen, it could just as easily never happen. Ms has deep pockets and other plans, that may change.

There's a decent user base already, and there may be ways to spur sales this generation still.
 

Kacho

Member
I think it was this guy


Angry Season 2 GIF by The Office
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Sorry for your loss

That's just it, I don't lose a lot, just potentially a back catalog. My gaming life continues regardless as a multiplatform gamer. People on this board are way to quick to judge anyone who sticks up for ms. Competition is good for gamers, and as one I want them to stay in the hardware business.
 
The sales data isn't the problem, it's saying they will go full third party. While this may actually happen, it could just as easily never happen. Ms has deep pockets and other plans, that may change.

There's a decent user base already, and there may be ways to spur sales this generation still.
I would love to see them start swinging.
 

Woopah

Member
The sales data isn't the problem, it's saying they will go full third party. While this may actually happen, it could just as easily never happen. Ms has deep pockets and other plans, that may change.

There's a decent user base already, and there may be ways to spur sales this generation still.
That's very true, it might never happen.

But I don't think Chris is saying he can read the future or anything. He's just relaying what he heard from his conversations with people from Microsoft and other gaming companies during GDC and elsewhere.
 
There will be a new entrant. But it requires that Xbox enters stage left first. When SEGA left, there was a swam of companies trying to take its place.
I fear that Apple will make some purchases, then enter with some affordable all digital m series chip powered doohicky integrated with icloud and will rip everyone a new asshole and stomp a mudhole in the asses of the competition
 
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HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
The sales data isn't the problem, it's saying they will go full third party. While this may actually happen, it could just as easily never happen. Ms has deep pockets and other plans, that may change.

There's a decent user base already, and there may be ways to spur sales this generation still.
People have been running with that Xbox going full 3rd party ever since the leaks of games going to PS

Like you said it may very well happen eventually but if I were a betting man I would put large sums of money of it not happening anytime soon.

I personally like hearing they are pushing for a very powerful nextbox and trying to get it in our hands sooner rather than later even if it does cost $1000

The fact that we are here now proves they never should have been locked
Have been stuff said here over the years that likely should have stayed up and not locked or removed

Looking Season 6 GIF by This Is Us
 

sendit

Member
"We're putting a lot of effort into creating an Xbox Series S/X version of a game where to be honest with you the market for us is PC and PS5."
Below is a photo of said executive getting interviewed by Dring.

eJjIiYc.png
Please tell me that photo is Photoshopped. 🙏
 

Nydius

Member
Keep everyone from going to Steam for their drugs

Kind of a double edged sword though. Most people are content with their dealer. Offering a handheld that doesn't include Steam support would probably be a death sentence. If it supports Steam and Xbox/Game Pass PC, that would be optimal. But then it wouldn't be any different than existing Windows handhelds and would really need to do something to differentiate itself from everyone else. And given that they're just in the prototype stage, they're years away from any potential release. That's years for existing players to refine their existing products. The handheld market when/if Microsoft launches one will look nothing like the handheld market they're looking at today.
 
I fear that Apple will make some purchases, then enter with some affordable all digital m series chip powered doohicky integrated with icloud and will rip everyone a new asshole and stomp a mudhole in the asses of the competition
Apple doesn't believe in the razerblade model. As in, I expect an Apple console to be $1500 but still the same power as PlayStation's offering. People might buy the console to be cool, but Apple would then fail on the 1st party gaming front. (Apple tried making games for years, it hasn't worked out yet.)
 

ProtoByte

Member
Phil Spencer correctly identified the rising cost of game development in both time and money, and decided to try and undercut the market with gamepass. Now, Xbox has a waning customer base that is conditioned to spend as little as possible on a premium hobby, and a developer base that is slow, inefficient and mediocre in talent. Throw in the multiplatform nonsense (the PC ports were always dumb, and they are dumb for PlayStation), and converting to a post-Gamepass model will be impossible for them.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
Phil Spencer correctly identified the rising cost of game development in both time and money, and decided to try and undercut the market with gamepass. Now, Xbox has a waning customer base that is conditioned to spend as little as possible on a premium hobby, and a developer base that is slow, inefficient and mediocre in talent. Throw in the multiplatform nonsense (the PC ports were always dumb, and they are dumb for PlayStation), and converting to a post-Gamepass model will be impossible for them.
So what if I told you they were likely going to ramp up Gamepass, investing more into it

Not sure if there is another tier coming, sounds like possibly

Fairly Oddparents Burn GIF
 
That's just it, I don't lose a lot, just potentially a back catalog. My gaming life continues regardless as a multiplatform gamer. People on this board are way to quick to judge anyone who sticks up for ms. Competition is good for gamers, and as one I want them to stay in the hardware business.
I think its more of a told you so rather than an actual desire to see Xbox die or go 3rd party. People haven't been happy with the management of Xbox for some time now and these sales numbers seem to reflect said poor management.

This could just be a natural shift in the gaming industry where there is no longer room for 2 higher spec consoles but I personally don’t think MS have been helping themselves so far with the system and the steady release of exclusives.
 
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bender

What time is it?
So what if I told you they were likely going to ramp up Gamepass, investing more into it

Not sure if there is another tier coming, sounds like possibly

Fairly Oddparents Burn GIF

I could see the other tier being Gamepass for PlayStation that would obviously need to be pared down to Microsoft published titles. Pumping more money into Gamepass otherwise would seem like a gross misreading of the market so that wouldn't surprise me either.
 

Ashamam

Member
I am looking very forward to seeing IF they bring their nextbox to market late 2025 or into 2026, THAT I will be all over if its what people think it might be
I don't get the 2025 dates that keep popping up. How? I mean unless they started in earnest on it at the end of 2021? But perhaps its an accelerated program from the end of 2022, but then its a 3 year program which will have to lock in tech available mid this year in order to prototype then dev kit etc. How is that going to be the biggest leap ever, or any leap at all really. Then they have to manufacture the thing, so silicon capacity would have to be booked by now right? All seems very tight, 2026 to me seems like a date that makes more sense assuming they really push, otherwise 2027 if they do a more typical design cycle.

Basically looking at what is published around the Series design cycle. It was >4 years, they were doing a|b tests for industrial design 3 years out and were 'deep in architectural design' 2.5 years out. Playstation was a 5 year cycle for the PS5. So it all comes down to when they got serious. Which sounds like post Q1 2022 based on the leaks. Reasonable if they were originally targeting 2027. Late 2022 would make sense then. 2026 then looks doable, but 2025? I think compromises would have to be made. More off the shelf, less custom. Higher spec silicon because they would have to compensate for not having an extra years progression. Higher price then. Less competitive the following year(s) when the PS6 finally lands. Might still be performant by then but thats not helpfull if its 50% higher in price.
 
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