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UK sales October 2023 - PS5#1 (-4%) XBS#2 (-33%) NSW#3 (+15%) | EA FC 24#1 Spider-Man#2 AC Mirage#3
- Thread starter Thick Thighs Save Lives
- Start date
- Sales-Age
Mibu no ookami
Member
Maybe you could get a way with one of these bad bets, but you definitely can't do both.
Particularly GamePass on PC with those day 1 games.
Then you look at these GeforceNow deal and it seems like Microsoft is desperate to kill off Xbox by making it as easy as possible to not have to buy into their ecosystem in order to play any of their games.
At least there is a barrier of entry to owning a high end PC rig so you might want to play on console, but from what I've seen of GFN, it seems suitable enough if you just wanted to play one or two games from Microsoft a year without having to buy a high end pc OR their console.
Mibu no ookami
Member
To expand on why this is such a problem:
Let's say I bought a Gameboy Color to play Pokemon and I loved it. So when Pokemon Diamond comes out, I feel like I have to buy a DS to buy Pokemon.
Because I bought a DS, I check out Brain Age and Nintendogs, two games I would have otherwise never played, and I buy Mario Kart because of course.
Now let's say I could have just played Pokemon on PC instead of GBC and never bought a GBC and let's say Pokemon Diamond is on PC too. Maybe I buy Pokemon Diamond and maybe I don't, but what I certainly never do is buy the DS and Brain Age and Nintendogs and Mario Kart...
This is especially true if I could have subscribed short term in order to play Pokemon and just canceled my subscription after beating it on PC.
It's a completely anti-growth strategy and it has MASSIVE knock-on effects that Xbox will feel for the rest of time.
They should have made Starfield a 3-6 month exclusive on Xbox before going to PC and after a year put it on GamePass. Maybe that sells you a million or two Xbox units... Maybe these brand new buyers would have bought Forza Motorsport...
StealthGoblin
Banned
Given Microsoft's strategy (apparent one), you really have to look at figures like that as 10x more people more likely to sub to PS+ than gamepass.
They are being ratioed everywhere like that so they will absolutely have to make the lion's share of their subs off console. That could mean having to have 50% or more of their 100m target in machines that don't have their walled garden. In that scenario, each gamepass member is less valuable to them as they are less likely to be spending within their ecosystem on add-ons etc
Mibu no ookami
Member
It goes further than that.
I bet if we saw the numbers. PC GamePass probably is significantly more volatile in terms of sustaining subscribers than Xbox GamePass. Meaning you have to spend more money to keep people on PC GamePass compared to Xbox GamePass.
It's entirely unsustainable.
Sony also knows this. They know the faster they can create a high water mark, the more difficult it is for Microsoft to get exclusive, so they don't have to buy exclusivity from publishers anymore. They know that it's a race to get subscribers. They know that if they can starve Microsoft off subscribers, it makes GamePass more difficult to sustain.
These are reasons why Sony is so focused on getting 25 million units this fiscal year and they'll want another 20+ for fiscal year 2024. 75 million units and this generation is over.
GHG
Member
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
TheGodfather07
Member
Microsoft are like a dictatorship. Nobody is allowed to speak the truth about them. You have to spin things to make it look positive for xbox. Its so damn obvious. His tone has been a complete 180 since that editorial. They have so many shills on the payroll aswell. Don't know why Microsoft bother with this shit. What does it achieve? Spend some money on marketing your damn console instead.
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GHG
Member
Someone reminded him who keeps the lights on via advertising and other means.
They (games industry.biz) are owned by ReedPop, who also own the following publications:
If in doubt, follow the money.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
TheGodfather07
Member
Someone reminded him who keeps the lights on via advertising and other means.
They (games industry.biz) are owned by ReedPop, who also own the following publications:
If in doubt, follow the money.
Well there it is. Didn't take long to find out. Its sad that he got in trouble just for stating his honest opinion, which is what a journalist should do. Instead now he's another fake towing the line, thanks to Microsoft and xbox fans say the media is Sony biased? The media isn't even allowed to say what they want because of Microsoft getting butthurt. They must stick to the script.
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GHG
Member
The media (in general) is a prime example of consolidation gone wrong. Very few of the major outlets are independent and all of them are indirectly paid/funded by the companies they are supposed to write about.
Those who are willing to pay the most money will get preferential treatment. It's just the way it is.
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StealthGoblin
Banned
The worrying thing for Microsoft is that PlayStation has widened the rate of the gap in a very light year where press hasn't been good for them.
While all this is going on Sony are moving their chess pieces with regards to more SP content being ready, their GAAS games getting closer, their PC initiative (wiser than Xboxes) getting stronger and their moves in Mobile getting nearer. They've also launched a pretty good cloud service for PS5.
If I'm Xbox and I'm looking to grow my walled garden then I'm starting to get worried.
Mowcno
Member
Oh dear Chris. The difference is Xbox haven't had a game nominated for TGA GOTY for 10 years. Every other publisher he listed has been at least nominated once in the last 5.
It takes two won for EA. AC Valhalla, RDR2 and Persona 5 were all nominated for Ubisoft, Take Two and Sega respectively.
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Unknown?
Member
This is why you don't work in corporate media if you want to be a real journalist.
That's the way Microsoft operates as emerged thanks to the FTC trial and other documents.
They have a network of shills in the press and on socials that is tasked to create and shape positive narratives about them while spreading FUD about competitors that must be pictured on the verge of collapsing, with inferior products, doing anticonsumer things while they're the good guys
Unfortunately for them reality is just not on their side, I'm sorry for Dring being silenced and embarrassing himself on twitter with this stuff:
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Mario and zelda, no lies detected
Mibu no ookami
Member
evidence of that
Here Spencer knows there is a concern around P&L (profit and loss). He understands that there is going to be scrutiny at some point around the profitability of individual games and studios as they relate to the overall GamePass portfolio.
He even couches the closure of Ensemble as they lost their passion (though that probably manifested in their not making profitable games).
Spencer dislikes the Netflix comparison but Netflix is way out ahead of Microsoft in terms of managing its portfolio. They're way out ahead of everyone. He doesn't like the comparison because he knows GamePass is not yet Netflix and they aren't mature enough to have conversations about P&L based on individual titles.
He's right that there are games like TLOU and Spider-Man that bring a lot of eyeballs to something and then relatively quickly flame out. Then you have things that keep people engaged for months if not years like Gran Turismo, that might not sell as well upfront. The same is true in the subscription landscape. So you can't compare the two directly with the same metrics, but you can still look at the profitability whether immediate or sustained.
This exchange was in 2021. So either Phil Spencer is flat-out lying to someone who works at Microsoft because he didn't want to answer the question or he's woefully behind the curve in terms of portfolio management. Either way, he detests the fact that he is being asked, and is even put on the spot about being challenged in general. I'm sure it happens a lot based on the e-mail leaks we saw. Even the Microsoft board admonished him about being overconfident.
Keep in mind that Spencer became head of Xbox in 2014... What at all should he have been confident about let alone over confident about that the board would have to admonish him? X1 sales? Software sales? GamePass subscribership? All of the above?
Yes, and 6 from XBox family.
