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Gears 5 Is the First Game to Dethrone Fortnite As the Most-Played Game on Xbox Live in Over a Year
- Thread starter CyberPanda
- Start date
1. Microsoft doesn't release metrics on Game Pass, generally speaking, so where is he getting "massive" numbers from? (retailers sell or give numbers away for physical)
2. If it were "massive", they are only "massive" because they basically gave it away.
Daniel's comments are more correct i.e. Microsoft hopes that people stay with the service (actually pay), but they won't find that out for many years as they gave away any demand for basically $1. So, many people could be playing as you can see from their own website (Microsoft most played), but unless people are paying - that's probably not sustainable medium and long term. (come back in 2-3 years)
Basically, they sold $1 GP subscriptions but sales will take a massive hit, Gears 5 is only number 46 on Steam's most played today for instance.
The issue with a service like this is, you need games coming out every month, imo, or you just cherry pick.
2. If it were "massive", they are only "massive" because they basically gave it away.
Daniel's comments are more correct i.e. Microsoft hopes that people stay with the service (actually pay), but they won't find that out for many years as they gave away any demand for basically $1. So, many people could be playing as you can see from their own website (Microsoft most played), but unless people are paying - that's probably not sustainable medium and long term. (come back in 2-3 years)
Basically, they sold $1 GP subscriptions but sales will take a massive hit, Gears 5 is only number 46 on Steam's most played today for instance.
The issue with a service like this is, you need games coming out every month, imo, or you just cherry pick.
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JLB
Banned
off course, an positive xbox thread without a downplay comment from you cant happen around here lol
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
One other point, they are using semi-data (meaning ranking in the MS Store), but this largely skews the data as nobody really uses the MS Store for purchases.... so all of sudden as a brand new AAA game is released via Game Pass, it will probably shoot right up to the top past Fortnite, PUBG, etc. because nobody is using those launchers. People use other launchers, which is why they are now putting their games on Steam. I would expect to see similar results for just about any new AAA game they put out there. They are trying to imply more people are playing Gears 5 than Fortnite, but this is incorrect.
So, they are attempting to say (or imply) something is a success when large amounts of people really aren't paying for the service, than they compare apples to oranges, by using data from a store nobody generally uses.
To judge whether a game is success in a service like that, the closest thing you are going to get is hours played, but we're still using an apples to oranges comparsion as Fortnite and others are basically f2p, but even than I'm not sure that is a good thing.
So, they are attempting to say (or imply) something is a success when large amounts of people really aren't paying for the service, than they compare apples to oranges, by using data from a store nobody generally uses.
To judge whether a game is success in a service like that, the closest thing you are going to get is hours played, but we're still using an apples to oranges comparsion as Fortnite and others are basically f2p, but even than I'm not sure that is a good thing.
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FranXico
Member
A most played game actually does not say anything about GamePass in this context, it shows that the game is insanely popular and a major hit. This is not your standard Assassin's Creed game, it is a very beloved franchise.
People are just extrapolating (without any foundation) that this is due to GamePass. I doubt it. It's just because it's a great and very popular game.
I will be willing to bet that this game is also going to top the physical sales charts.
manfestival
Member
I want to just chime in. I am playing gears 5 on gamepass and I imagine that my activity is counted in on this. I did not buy Gears 5
I would say the tell is Steam.
FranXico
Member
That only applies to PC though. The vast majority of Gears fans have always played it on Xbox.
Nikana
Go Go Neo Rangers!
Man I'm so dizzy.
We'll see, hard to see how it does well, when they gave away games for a $1 for years to come. I would expect it to be in the top 10 for a week or two, it is #9 on amazon for video games. If its not in the top 100 for 2019 in a few weeks, its basically a bomb as far as sales.
I doubt it comes close to Resident Evil 2 or Seikro PS4 sales on Amazon.
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Kagey K
Banned
That is exactly what most played on XBL measures. It's not sales or unique users, its hours played.
Yes, but they combining numbers i.e. PC, when most people play PC not from the MS Store. Who in the fuck uses the MS Store for buying their games or playing most PC games. They're implying numbers, which are getting skewed, which is why Gears 5 is only #46 on Steam. What their tweets are implying is that more people are playing Gears than Fortnite, no, only more people that are getting the game from MS store.
They are using a rank system to say one thing but it doesn't mean anything right now.... in a few years, maybe. They would have to actually have a separate rank for Game Pass rankings.
I guess it could be used as a popular thing but it really doesn't mean anything.... its a free game, more or less. (I guess you could use it to see if people are interested in the game like monitoring twitch) On twitch I see #12, but I don't see what the twitch ranking really meanings unless it stays up there for months. I guess if it starts diving down... we could say its a failure?
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FranXico
Member
But aren't play time statistics openly available from Valve? MS can easily combine their PC stats if that's the case.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Fortnite uses its own launcher and they have no way of measuring it on the PC, correct?
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J-Roderton
Member
Nice. It's a fun game.
Kagey K
Banned
Lets re-read the title
Gears 5 Is the First Game to Dethrone Fortnite As the Most-Played Game *on Xbox Live* in Over a Year
There's 3 very important words in there that people seem to be missing.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
The conversation shifted from just the title since there was a much broader context within the tweets, etc..
Technically, you are playing on Xbox Live when you play Gears 5 on PC. Xbox Live is just the authentication and communications system, generally speaking.
However, I will note the MS Store doesn't seem to track PC most played that I can tell anymore - pretty sure it use to do that. (I will note that Gears 5 appears to be the most played on Xbox, assuming they only mean the hardware... they use to split it out, iirc)
I'm sure quite a few people are playing right now - Microsoft basically gave it away for free to a degree... .why not? (sales are going to be hit hard, imo, but I agree with benji, they have a different model now)
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FranXico
Member
You can rest assured, bad free games are still bad games. Give people a free turd and they will never touch it either. This absolutely is not the case here.
Gears 5 is not a failure.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Vawn
Banned
If course it is. It just hasn't been warranted in quite a while.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Agreed. I don't even add the "free games" that I don't care for to my Library from Plus.
GHG
Member
What will be interesting is how many people are playing via gamepass, how many of those are new subscribers and what the conversion rate is to long term subscribers.
Most people forget to cancel subscriptions so I think they'll make decent money from this in the long run.
www.globenewswire.com
Most people forget to cancel subscriptions so I think they'll make decent money from this in the long run.
Hiatus Survey: 62% of Consumers Waste Money on Unwanted Subscriptions Because They Don't Cancel Automatic Renewals
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Mar 21, 2016) - Subscriptions and memberships are usually offered at low upfront costs but can quickly turn into...
Gavon West
Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
Fortnite and Apex Legends are also free though, right?
Vawn
Banned
Yeah and they make their money (a lot) through microtransactions. I guess MS could tell us how much they're making through microtransactions and paid content, but is that something for gamers to celebrate?
Jigsaah
Member
Ding....Ding...Ding!
I would say that the largest factor here is new vs not so new.
Had these games come out at the same time, Gears would definitely be on top 1st.
Fortnite was absolute trash when it first released
Apex would have given Gears some go but I still think Gears would have been on top.
From there I imagine Gears would fall off sharply while Fortnite eventually grew into the behemoth it is now
Arachnid
Member
That assumes the majority of casual players even know what game pass is or care enough to mess with another subscription on Xbox. Plus, isn't Fortnite FTP? This seems like a perfectly fair comparison. It even gives a slight edge to Fortnite since you don't need gamepass for that.
Also, the Steam numbers ignore any PC player who's accessing it through the Microsoft store, which I'd bet is the majority since there's also a PC gamepass and owning Gears on Xbox automatically gives you it on PC.
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Right, but I think that's a separate topic. The question is whether the Gears of War franchise can still attract significant numbers of players, whether free or not.
(Microsoft's model is different since they are selling a subscription service and discounting in the short term to boost their user base. )
Can we have a thread about an achievement without having to find ways to instantly downplay it?
VertigoOA
Banned
Apex is at 5th post recent updates. It’s lost a good amount of momentum as well.
Fornite is f2p but it also generates a shit ton of revenue. I don’t like, don’t care for it... but for players to sink both that kind of time and money should speak well of its quality. I kinda just see it as Mario Kart...
Gears is far more traditional. Expensive campaign, and straightforward classic pvp modes.
The fact that the formula still got this much attention is impressive. Gamespass or not.
It could drop like a rock, like RDR and to a greater extent Division 2 but that depends if it’s legitimately good or not and player rentention would indicate such, for the most part...
If it’s still charting in the top 10 2-3 week’s from it’ll be impressive.
Also... don’t be surprised if borderlands dethrones it ... like tomorrow.
Fortnite’s reign is over. The top spot is for the taking this holiday.
Fornite is f2p but it also generates a shit ton of revenue. I don’t like, don’t care for it... but for players to sink both that kind of time and money should speak well of its quality. I kinda just see it as Mario Kart...
Gears is far more traditional. Expensive campaign, and straightforward classic pvp modes.
The fact that the formula still got this much attention is impressive. Gamespass or not.
It could drop like a rock, like RDR and to a greater extent Division 2 but that depends if it’s legitimately good or not and player rentention would indicate such, for the most part...
If it’s still charting in the top 10 2-3 week’s from it’ll be impressive.
Also... don’t be surprised if borderlands dethrones it ... like tomorrow.
Fortnite’s reign is over. The top spot is for the taking this holiday.
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I don't think it will top the physical sales chart. As Benji said unit sales will not seem hugely impressive but this is MS' service business model. I think Modern Warfare will top the charts. Especially being multiplatform but maybe even by platform.
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prinz_valium
Member
Didn't think the game would do that well.
RDR2 is a bigger juggernaut but it's not free or on gamepass. You don't get most played on those sort of games.
Fortnite has staying power. I wonder what topped Fortnite last summer? Was it maybe Minecraft on gamepass being added around April?
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ResilientBanana
Member
People that spent $1 on Gamepass spent 1000% more money than they did buying fortnite.
In all fairness, however, the goal for Game Pass in the situation is to deliver good content to keep people subscribed to the service. This is a step in the right direction.
Honestly, I’ve actually canceled my PSN subscription in favor of Xbox game pass on the PC because of the wealth of content on the service. With all the good games coming out I have zero need to worry about how much they cost any more.
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VertigoOA
Banned
GTA proves otherwise. It’s always on fortnite’s tail.
RDR2 dropped the ball so far with player retention and it’s online portion.
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New Yorks Finest
Banned
Ohh my Gawd, just enjoy the fkn game without this nerdy technical bull shit...sales, who's playing on what..you are the biggest fan of Xbox and support %110, you buy every game, you love Xbox to death..we get that, just slow down a bit
MiyazakiHatesKojima
Banned
The king is back.
EverydayBeast
ChatGPT 0.1
Business as usual, but would if it stays at #1?
Vawn
Banned
Except he's a butch lesbian woman now.
Nemesis Prime
Member
I’m currently playing this game on gamepass, and it’s a good intro into what the service has to offer. I don’t plan on buying the game considering I’m almost done with the campaign, so I’m thinking of sticking with gamepass for a while to keep playing
CatLady
Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
I took out a GamePass trial several months ago with the absolute intention of cancelling except I fell in love with the service and plan to keep it as long as it's available.
I love GamePass, I'm really LOVING Gears 5 and hopefully I will love Outer Worlds when it releases day 1 on GamePass next month.
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