nikolino840
Member
Is 20 years that people says microsoft close the xbox division
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Arsic
Gold Member
Need games to sell game consoles and software. Shocker.
Gamepass can’t save shit if all these acquisitions don’t churn out a few bangers.
This year should be good for them with Starfield and a new Forza. If they throw in Hellblade 2 at last and anything else then they can start pumping those numbers up.
Gamepass can’t save shit if all these acquisitions don’t churn out a few bangers.
This year should be good for them with Starfield and a new Forza. If they throw in Hellblade 2 at last and anything else then they can start pumping those numbers up.
Umbasaborne
Banned
Definitely think there is a future where ms closes the xbox division and sells the devs and ip, still, hate to see it. They seem to have trouble getting triple a games out the door, which certainly isnt helping them
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Huh? They said it themselves "driven by lower price and volume of consoles sold."
El Pistolero
Banned
Looks at gaming numbers and realizes this is exactly the way Microsoft wants to be portrayed for the approval of the Activision Blizzard deal.
I am feeling dizzy, having been subjected to the spinniest spin I have ever gone through! Respect!
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R3claimer117
Member
They also didn’t have series x to sell it was sold out. Again I’m not sure if they’re underproducing them or are making their numbers look bad to gain favorable with regulators. There’s a weird thing going on with them holding games and also with Sony as well I know tin foil hat and all but they haven’t had a showcase either in the midst of all this activision stuff.
semiconscious
Member
yep, it certainly was. without the killer combo of series s + game pass, & after 2 years of next to no major exclusives? i'm not sure where xbox'd be as a brand right now...
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Indyblue
Member
I’m a little concerned about the future of Xbox at this point. They just aren’t releasing games. I bought one first over the ps5 cause of gamepass and back compat (haven’t had an Xbox since 360 early days) with the hope that all those studios would start releasing games. I will get a ps5 this year regardless but if they don’t release GREAT games soon and start to take off this year and next, I could genuinely see them dropping hardware altogether and start releasing games on PS. I mean, while a lot of us buy both, I don’t think most people do and if they wait too long, they will run out of time.
I really like gamepass and quick resume so I hope Xbox can become (or remain) a healthy platform.
I really like gamepass and quick resume so I hope Xbox can become (or remain) a healthy platform.
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El Pistolero
Banned
I am certain the games will be coming out, if only because MS has bought so many goddamn teams, that even their legendary mismanagement will not prevent them from having a plethora of bangers in the near future. The question is wether the current Sony lead, and the momentum that they have built since the second part of the PS3 life cycle will continue to grow stronger with each month MS does not right its wrongs. During every generation, there comes a time when the winner is declared by the mass market, regardless of the subsequent efforts of the competition: A console/system is crowned, and the word of mouth/general enthusiasm create an impenetrable invincibilty halo (no pun intended!) that carries over to the very end. I think that 2023 is the most important year for the SX/SS...If Sony's lead extends significantly over the next 12 months, it will be it, until 2028 and beyond.
gokurho
Member
YEP, MS is making their numbers look bad to gain favorable with regulators.
In fact, it's clear that MS won against Sony.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
Microsoft seems to be having a difficult week (PR-wise). Will tomorrow's presentation from them be a success or will it provide more ammunition for criticism?
Snowdonhoffen
Member
I think Starfield will be the first real test of what a big AAA game with tons of hype can do for Gamepass, should be interesting to see what happens.
Mibu no ookami
Member
Halo Infinite wasn't a big AAA game with tons of hype?
DarkMage619
$MSFT
Halo Infinite had f2p multiplayer. It was never intended to sell Game pass. You didn't need Game pass to play half the game. I don't know why people bring up that title over Forza which clearly was meant to attract people to Game pass.
You realize there is a showcase for up coming games TOMORROW right? Decide how concerned to be after watching the show at least.
People have wishing, hoping, and praying for MS to exit the games industry for over 20 years. Why stop now?Is 20 years that people says microsoft close the xbox division
ZehDon
Gold Member
A game that was mocked across the internet from the day it was revealed? No, I don't think Halo Infinite quite qualifies. Apart from old fans coming back to see if 343i delivered (spoiler: they didn't), no one really cared about Halo Infinite because it didn't do anything worth caring about.
I'd argue that Forza Horizon 5 already served as an example, but Starfield certainly has a larger appeal. It's a fair barometer. If Starfield is a decent game and it doesn't work out on Game Pass, I'd probably say nothing would. All eyes on Todd "Sweet little lies" Howard to deliver.
Jaybe
Member
Agree with this especially the last part. There are network effects applicable in this space where the winner builds momentum. Truthfully this gen is only so close as it was due to the supply chain constraints preventing Sony from coming out of the gate with the advantage they had from the end of PS4 gen. And I actually think due to digital purchases, backwards compatibility, and paid online subscriptions that last gen was the most crucial of all to win given it wouldn’t be a fresh break to the extent of historical gens.
R3claimer117
Member
Dude what I’m saying has nothing to do about them beating Sony but it wouldn’t look good for them arguing to get the biggest publisher in gaming why posting record breaking numbers for them that would make no sense.
Oddvintagechap
Member
Yeah Microsoft is Ivan the terrible. Everyone selling consoles, they selling race to the bottom gaming buffets.
They need to buy Ubisoft while they are at it. Fuck it.
Im becoming less and less convinced MS can just buy the gaming carpet right out of Sony’s and Nintendo’s feet.
I actually would love to see them buy multiple publishers. Ubisoft will be a hard one after Activision.
This news makes Playstation look like a powerhouse, when they are actually minuscule in entertainment.
They need to buy Ubisoft while they are at it. Fuck it.
Im becoming less and less convinced MS can just buy the gaming carpet right out of Sony’s and Nintendo’s feet.
I actually would love to see them buy multiple publishers. Ubisoft will be a hard one after Activision.
This news makes Playstation look like a powerhouse, when they are actually minuscule in entertainment.
James Sawyer Ford
Member
They really need for it to be a system seller if they care about "console sales". Their messaging is weirdly inconsistent.
If I were Microsoft, I would be working with Sony and Nintendo as much as possible to get GamePass on their systems.
Wesleyalucard
Member
If You think that Xbox will start selling more consoles than PlayStation because of starfield... lol
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Tchu-Espresso
likes mayo on everthing and can't dance
Tiago Rodrigues
Member
I mean...and a few years ago MS themselves considered closing the division so...Is 20 years that people says microsoft close the xbox division
Not saying these results are alarming for them. That's just stupid, but let's not pretend that thought is that weird or that MS themselves never thought about it when they did.
I also think that this year will be crucial to them. Imagine if Starfield and their 1st party games don't really give Gamepass the boost MS is expecting and they keep missing their targeted numbers for the 3rd year in a row...they may change a few things about their strategy going forward for sure.
ZehDon
Gold Member
As per the posts you didn't read, we're discussing Game Pass.
One interesting topic is the importance of an internal gaming division to push Gaming services within Azure not just streaming but also distributed/cloud based development (similar to what Haven are working on). Whether that requires Xbox at all or the size that it currently is a fun thing to think about.
But anyways, transcript of the QA, mostly azure and openai
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4572123-microsoft-corporation-msft-q2-2023-earnings-call-transcript
DaGwaphics
Member
It's also important to note that we are in the middle of an economic downturn and the primary markets for Xbox (US & UK) have been consistently down YoY in both hardware and software sales over these quarters (from the NPD and UK sales data). While these same issues will undoubtedly effect PS in these regions as well, the fact that Sony is stronger globally helps it offset any slowdown by increasing supply in some of the European markets that had previously been woefully under supplied.
Plus, there is the obvious issue of MS discounting the systems this last holiday when they didn't the year before. Even if unit numbers were identical, you start chopping $50, $80, or $100 (in some rare promos) off the price per unit sold and that revenue number is going to take a hit.
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Fredrik
Member
Who would want that? It’s the competition that makes the industry what it is today. With MS gone and nobody else stepping in stationary consoles would end up in a sleepy Switch scenario with weak hardware and long generations with no price drops and software quality would likely drop too.
diffusionx
Gold Member
My point was that they don’t really *need* a console to make and sell sell video games. They would be a very large publisher with the studios they have, even bigger with Activision obviously. Tencent, for example, doesn’t have a console as far as I know.
Jaybe
Member
Thanks. Was curious on any acquisition talk and the only comment on Activision was their continued push to see it close by June 30, 2023.
Topher
Gold Member
Looks at gaming numbers and realizes this is exactly the way Microsoft wants to be portrayed for the approval of the Activision Blizzard deal.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
I see some weird takes and spins in this thread. A few questions:
- Why did Xbox console sales decrease? In year 2, console sales usually increase. It means there's less demand than before, which is concerning. On the other hand, PS5 sales are increasing. That is a bad signal.
- Third-party software sales decreased in a quarter that Call of Duty MW2 launched in? That doesn't sound good, but we should wait for Sony's results to see if other factors were involved.
- It is clear that Gamepass is not helping increase software sales like the initial claim was.
- Talking about Gamepass, where are the numbers? It has been 370 days since they last shared Gamepass subscriber count. Microsoft doesn't share console numbers because, apparently, "console sales do not matter; Gamepass subs matter." But they don't share Gamepass numbers either now. There should be more noise about that, so we at least get some data from them.
Benniewise de Clown
Banned
Well, Sony finally has their supply issues sorted.
yurinka
Member
I think this year with Starfield, Forza and Minecraft Legends plus completing the acquisition they should start to recover, and then to continue growing the following years thanks to a big amount of very appealing first party content plus having got rid of chips shortages.
If they don't achieve that, then I think they should consider to forget to make another generation of consoles (at least by themselves, they could license the brand as their own 'Steam machines' manufactured by 3rd parties) after the current one and instead to start doing a Sega and transition to a full multiplatform 3rd party publisher in consoles.
I think they aren't in an alarming, dangerous point right now, but could be in a couple of years if they don't see a big improvement after the acquisition.
If they don't achieve that, then I think they should consider to forget to make another generation of consoles (at least by themselves, they could license the brand as their own 'Steam machines' manufactured by 3rd parties) after the current one and instead to start doing a Sega and transition to a full multiplatform 3rd party publisher in consoles.
I think they aren't in an alarming, dangerous point right now, but could be in a couple of years if they don't see a big improvement after the acquisition.
Seems this quarter was the best one ever for PS5 hardware sales, but the amount of units sold in countries like Japan or Spain continues to be too small compared to the normal PS sales, with isolated weeks with higher than usual isolated bumps. I think they are still supply constrained. Maybe sorted the issue in some countries, but in other ones seems to be still there.
I assume due to lack of big exclusive big sellers for that quarter, while the direct competition was getting a new GoW and a new Pokemon.
Considering it has been the best quarter ever for PS5 HW sales and that GoW debuted with record numbers I assume that Sony will also have good software numbers for the quarter.
Well, I think their real idea was the opposite: to sacrifice game sales to get instead revenue from a lot of subscriptions and since these games would get more players than with full priced sales, to get also more revenue from addons (mtx/dlcs/season passes/etc).
Normally when they stop sharing numbers it's because they aren't proud of them. Every quarter they mention growth, but as I remember some months ago MS mentioned to a number that was like 25M, but maybe did choose that number because it was the last shared one. Maybe they aren't stuck at 25M.
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Benniewise de Clown
Banned
Jim Ryan came out and stated they sorted issues and supply will pick up starting from last years holidays.
It shows, as PS5 outsold Series S/X during the holidays, despite Xbox price cuts.
It also shows in the decline in HW sales for MS.
Xbox in general is in decline. These numbers fall in line with statements from Spencer saying Xbox is becoming irrelevant.
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yurinka
Member
I know he said that in CES. But the following weeks still shown weak numbers for Japan and Spain, this is why I mention it. I assume they probably got way more units than before per quarter, but they decided to focus these units in a few countries, probably their best selling ones (USA, Germany, UK).
Benniewise de Clown
Banned
US and UK makes the best sense businesswise, as they directly compete with MS in those markets.
If they dominate in those markets, it's exit for Xbox.
Which, again, shows in these earning calls and Spencers statements lately.
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Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Yeah that's what I'm assuming. God of War must have told 7+ million copies by now in this quarter alone. COD MW2 sold bonkers, mostly on PlayStation. Other games like Miles Morales, Horizon Forbidden West, GT7, TLOU, and TLOU 2 continue to sell. I also think PS software sales would be up, but let's wait and see.
That was the inherent (common sense) idea, but not what Xbox leadership said. According to Phil, Gamepass also increases sales.
Phil Spencer: Game Pass leads to more game sales
This past weekend's X018 event was, arguably, a two-hour long advertisement for Game Pass, and given what Microsoft gam…
www.gamesindustry.biz
Yeah, but that's so disingenuous. We'll brag about numbers when they're good and go radio silent for over 370 days when they are bad.
SJRB
Gold Member
lol, "hex".
Imagine having the audacity to blame Don Mattrick for the current situation. That guy left Microsoft TEN YEARS ago.
What a dweeb.
