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[nosoynadie22]

"Console sales don’t matter,"
"We don't care where you play our games"

So what's stopping them from releasing Halo and Starfield on PS5?

 

[Flutta]

So glad you said this. You are 100% correct here. It's a bone-head decision that makes ZERO sense. They need to undercut Sony on price NOW!!!

It’s like you guys have a memory of a fish .

They’ve been undercutting PS5 from the start of this gen. Even remember that you could get a Series S for $250 or something.

People clearly don’t care so much for a price cut when it comes to Xbox. They clearly want appealing games to go along with it.

 

[MisterXDTV]

"Console sales don’t matter,"
"We don't care where you play our games"

So what's stopping them from releasing Halo and Starfield on PS5?

Nothing...

It doesn't even make business sense to lock out milions of players from their games at this point

They exclude Playstation out of spite and jealousy

 

[TheGodfather07]

"Console sales don’t matter,"
"We don't care where you play our games"

So what's stopping them from releasing Halo and Starfield on PS5?

Because they have their own hardware, which makes no sense at this point. Microsoft are primarily a software company. Why would you have your own hardware and limit your software to it when you have the smallest install base? It makes perfect sense for Microsoft to drop hardware and sell software on more popular devices. Why did they even bother with a console at all? Should have just been a multiplatform publisher instead.

 

[DForce]

Which is why Microsoft releases software day 1 on PC. Software is where the profit is. They don't have to sell as many consoles to make money.

That has nothing to do with anything. This issue has been going on before the increase in price. Xbox sales are tanking due to MS attitude to the console market and their own incompetence.

Their messaging is all over the place.

Sales are tanking because their strategy is failing.

They thought they could improve dramatically by making the Xbox Series S console alongside the most powerful console in the Xbox Series X.

- They offered payment plans for Series consoles.
- They created the Xbox Series S as a budget console to get MORE casual consumers into their ecosystem.
- Documents revealed they had internal targets that they wanted to reach within the next two years on the Xbox platform.
- Phil was confident in early 2020 that they had a winning strategy. They pushed the power narrative and Phil was confident that things would be different this generation.

There are many signs that Xbox always cared greatly about console sales, but when Xbox isn't performing well, you have people damage controlling by saying Microsoft either doesn't care that much about console sales or they don't care about them at all.


The problem Xbox and Phil Spencer is that they market a lot towards the hardcore Xbox fan base and not the casual consumers.

 

[NEbeast]

It's just a silly thing I like to post in any thread starfield sales related. People seem to really like discussing the game a lot.

Plus, for some strange reason the comment seems to rustle some people's jimmies. Quite funny I think.

Starfield is a beast!

 

[StealthGoblin]

Yet again, Starfield hasn't moved the needle.

I didn't expect it to do gangbusters but I thought there'd be a positive comparison to be made.

Looks like my thoughts about the Xbox Starfield userbase already having the console with gamepass looks accurate.

 

[Thirty7ven]

-13% yoy = flat

 

[Unknown?]

September USA+UK:
PS5 ~ 582K
X|S ~ 354K

2023 USA+UK:
PS5 ~ 4,33 M
X|S ~ 2,26 M

USA+UK:
PS5 ~ 18,62 M
X|S ~ 13,81 M

That's very near(like very very) to 2:1 in their strongest markets. Rest of EU and Asia it's like they don't even exist.

 

[Three]

if it's flat yoy, then... starfield had no effect. this is basic statistics

What if without starfield it would have seen a massive decline?

 

[Heisenberg007]

Yet again, Starfield hasn't moved the needle.

I didn't expect it to do gangbusters but I thought there'd be a positive comparison to be made.

Looks like my thoughts about the Xbox Starfield userbase already having the console with gamepass looks accurate.

Called it a long time ago.

My theory is that even if Starfield is a 90 MC "must-play" game, just oozing quality, it still won't move the needle much for Xbox.

For Xbox's sake, I hope I'm wrong. But if I'm right, we can talk more about it when the time comes. No point in spreading negativity, theorizing stuff in advance.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

Year to date numbers versus 2022 in the UK from InstallBase

Jan-Sep 2023 vs 2022
PS5 - 575k - 364k (+58%)
NSW - 295k - 284k (+4%)
XBS - 269k - 270k (-0.4%)

2022 total
NSW - 880k
PS5 - 780k
XBS - 720k

Estimate total 2023
PS5 - 1.25m
NSW - 800k
XBS - 750k

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

"There is no world where Starfield is an 11 out of 10 and people start selling their PS5s"
Phil Spencer, Xbox CEO.

 

[reinking]

GG Phil, Todd and the teams at BGS and Xbox Games Studio.

 

[Freelance Yakuza]

Would prefer they gave YoY increase than month-over-month as then we have something to more directly compare to the USA/EU figures we were given. So in Starfield month we have, USA up less than 10% YoY, EU Down 35% YoY, UK up 136% compared to August. Reads very weirdly! Starfield sold consoles in the UK but seemingly not anywhere else.

edit: Chris has now given YoY by saying Xbox is basically Flat.

So September 2023 vs September 2022:
USA - up less than 10%
UK - Flat
EU (excluding UK+Germany) - Down 35%
Japan - Down 48% (August 28th to October 1st Period)

Greenberg bragging about sales on Twitter is the only metric we need to know if Xbox is doing good or not.
Did he say something?

 

[sendit]

Copying and pasting posts now are we?

Looks like the critical acclaim Forza and Starfield received has finally broken his code.

 

[Reckheim]

Sales are tanking because their strategy is failing.

They thought they could improve dramatically by making the Xbox Series S console alongside the most powerful console in the Xbox Series X.

- They offered payment plans for Series consoles.
- They created the Xbox Series S as a budget console to get MORE casual consumers into their ecosystem.
- Documents revealed they had internal targets that they wanted to reach within the next two years on the Xbox platform.
- Phil was confident in early 2020 that they had a winning strategy. They pushed the power narrative and Phil was confident that things would be different this generation.

There are many signs that Xbox always cared greatly about console sales, but when Xbox isn't performing well, you have people damage controlling by saying Microsoft either doesn't care that much about console sales or they don't care about them at all.


The problem Xbox and Phil Spencer is that they market a lot towards the hardcore Xbox fan base and not the casual consumers.

I've never seen such a huge leash on a CEO in my life. At some point you have to look at the people at the top and hold them accountable.

Yeh, guys like Jim Ryan are boring old turds; but you need accountability to run a company successfully. MS is just way too hands off with their studios and it comes down to Phil not really ever having to fight for anything. He has a deep bag of money and a long leash; all it does is create a sense of complacency.

I want xbox to be successful (cause I don't like the direction Sony is going). The console space has room for all 3; I hope there are changes made at the leadership of xbox. I think it sorely needs it.

"There is no world where Starfield is an 11 out of 10 and people start selling their PS5s"
Phil Spencer, Xbox CEO.

Like what is this defeatism bullshit. You were handed 76B worth of cash to turn the boat around and you crying about the situation you put your self into.

Seems like a good dude; but an incredibly bad CEO.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

No way bro. I think you may be missing the point of what MS is trying to do. They might legit by 3rd party within 5 years if GamePass doesn't hit 100 million subscriptions. And if they do, OWNING the content will be worth billions. Not selling more consoles today.

Gotta finish reading what I said. What I said is that that move reveals a lack of confidence or interest in selling consoles, but the reality the fastest way to 100 GP subs is through Xbox Series S sales.

 

[mckmas8808]

It’s like you guys have a memory of a fish .

They’ve been undercutting PS5 from the start of this gen. Even remember that you could get a Series S for $250 or something.

People clearly don’t care so much for a price cut when it comes to Xbox. They clearly want appealing games to go along with it.

Those prices need to be PERMENENT! Sales aren't good enough. Appealing games like Starfield and Forza Motorsport? Those both came out in back to back months man. So why aren't consoles flying off shelves?

 

[chilichote]

"There is no world where Starfield is an 11 out of 10 and people start selling their PS5s"
Phil Spencer, Xbox CEO.

There is no world where Starfield is an 11 out of 10^^

 

[Heisenberg007]

Those prices need to be PERMENENT! Sales aren't good enough. Appealing games like Starfield and Forza Motorsport? Those both came out in back to back months man. So why aren't consoles flying off shelves?

Therein lies the problem -- those games aren't appealing enough.

Imagine a Spider-Man, a TLOU, or a God of War launching on Xbox. Have 5 such games released back-to-back as true Xbox exclusives (no PC launches) and watch console sales go through the roof.

 

[mckmas8808]

Gotta finish reading what I said. What I said is that that move reveals a lack of confidence or interest in selling consoles, but the reality the fastest way to 100 GP subs is through Xbox Series S sales.

They kinda need to do both lol. The Xbox Series S should be $250 now and the Series X should be $399. And they should have tried to buy ABK too with that $70 Billion. I see no way for them to hit 100 million GP subs without doing both.

 

[NickFire]

Gotta finish reading what I said. What I said is that that move reveals a lack of confidence or interest in selling consoles, but the reality the fastest way to 100 GP subs is through Xbox Series S sales.

Has MS released any information to show the % of S players who sub vs. the % of X players who sub?

You may be right on the fastest way to 100 GP subs, but something feels off to me with the argument. People buying budget models don't strike me as the most likely people to pay monthly sub fees. If they were that into games I'd expect them to go for horsepower in my mind.

 

[mejin]

Therein lies the problem -- those games aren't appealing enough.

Imagine a Spider-Man, a TLOU, or a God of War launching on Xbox. Have 5 such games released back-to-back as true Xbox exclusives (no PC launches) and watch console sales go through the roof.

Spider alone will swallow Xbox lineup all up this year.

It's not about quantity, but quality.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Therein lies the problem -- those games aren't appealing enough.

Imagine a Spider-Man, a TLOU, or a God of War launching on Xbox. Have 5 such games released back-to-back as true Xbox exclusives (no PC launches) and watch console sales go through the roof.

Part of the problem is Spider-Man, TLOU, and God of War wouldn't be Spider-Man, TLOU, and God of War on Xbox.

The small userbase poses a serious problem with game adoption and overall sales. Sony games are successful because the userbase is so high and the userbase is so high because sony games are successful. It's a bit of a vicious cycle.

Microsoft has only ever really had 1 juggernaut of a game franchise apart from Minecraft which they bought and that was Halo.

Halo redefined FPS on console similar but to a larger extent as GoldenEye did. GoldenEye actually outsold Halo 1 but never got a true sequel. With the gamecube selling less than the N64, there wasn't really much hope for growth for Rare FPS anyways. Perfect Dark never hit home as hard as Halo did.

The next big franchise was always Gears and it wasn't nearly as successful as Halo and was made by a different company.

The problem is with the brand and I don't see any room for recovery. The damage has just been done. You could have Witcher 4 exclusive on Xbox and it would only stifle Witcher 4 sales.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

They kinda need to do both lol. The Xbox Series S should be $250 now and the Series X should be $399. And they should have tried to buy ABK too with that $70 Billion. I see no way for them to hit 100 million GP subs without doing both.

A Microsoft, confident that they wanted to stay in business would have dropped the Xbox Series price before Spider-Man launched. They have literally nothing to push the console for the next 3 months... That demands a price cut to stay competitive, but they also know that's what Sega tried and failed to do. Dropping the price can also make you look lesser.

 

[akaFullmetal]

PlayStation going up , crazy. What will spiderman 2 do?
Xbox saw an increase that's good, just flat for the year though.... Hopefully this will start an upward trend, need to see consistently, if not then we will see it decline again.

 

[Flutta]

"Console sales don’t matter,"
"We don't care where you play our games"

So what's stopping them from releasing Halo and Starfield on PS5?

If i remember correctly there were talks at MS about maybe releasing Halo on PS.

Those prices need to be PERMENENT! Sales aren't good enough. Appealing games like Starfield and Forza Motorsport? Those both came out in back to back months man. So why aren't consoles flying off shelves?

Bro, The series S was already cheaper than the PS5 from the get go. They’ve also tried a bunch of deals and people aren’t biting. Price cut is not the answer here. If it was those Series S deals would be flying of the shelves. Maybe if they gave it out for 99$ or something

Simple answer to your question, the masses don’t care for Xbox. Since the Xbone era the appeal for Xbox have been declining more and more. You can clearly see it this gen. No price cut will fix Xbox biggest issue or issues rather.

They can start by giving the boot to Phil the trend chaser and go back to caring about making quality games that appeal to console gamers.

Forza and Starfield ain’t it.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I just hear Benji saying Xbox Series was -35% in Europe. Is that true?

 

[mckmas8808]

If i remember correctly there were talks at MS about maybe releasing Halo on PS.



Bro, The series S was already cheaper than the PS5 from the get go. They’ve also tried a bunch of deals and people aren’t biting. Price cut is not the answer here. If it was those Series S deals would be flying of the shelves. Maybe if they gave it out for 99$ or something

Simple answer to your question, the masses don’t care for Xbox. Since the Xbone era the appeal for Xbox have been declining more and more. You can clearly see it this gen. No price cut will fix Xbox biggest issue or issues rather.

They can start by giving the boot to Phil the trend chaser and go back to caring about making quality games that appeal to console gamers.

Forza and Starfield ain’t it.

Maybe this is why Phil said the Xbox brand is doomed without Mobile.

I just hear Benji saying Xbox Series was -35% in Europe. Is that true?

Yes, it's true.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Yes, it's true.

Yisus Fucking YIKES!

 

[Physiognomonics]

In this thread I learned that Chris Dring is a bit of a Xbox fanboy.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

The way RDR2 keeps selling so much yet they just don't care for a PS5 version is insane to me.

They don’t even need a new SKU, just a 60fps patch would be great. Game still looks solid.

 

[Flutta]

In this thread I learned that Chris Dring is a bit of a Xbox fanboy.

Huh.

In what way?

 

[jm89]

In this thread I learned that Chris Dring is a bit of a Xbox fanboy.

I don't think his an xbox fanboy, probably more nintendo.

But recently his been doing some serious gymnastics to paint xbox in a positive light as much as possible.

Looking foolish in the process, and people are starting to call him out on it.

 

[zedinen]

I just hear Benji saying Xbox Series was -35% in Europe. Is that true?

 

[Thirty7ven]

In this thread I learned that Chris Dring is a bit of a Xbox fanboy.

Don’t think so, looks more like a behind the scenes push for him to be positive on Xbox because I believe he used to talk differently, including a negative remark he wrote in an article which was edited out after it was published.

 

[Sw0pDiller]

You Guys just wait for (insert next xbox hype game) to launch… wasnt 2023 suppost to be the best year for xbox so far?

 

[Sw0pDiller]

DAMN Nintendo is pretty much done in the UK I see.

Until Switch 2 of course

I dont know, they still are selling software like there is no tomorrow. Switch had maybe hit it’s ceiling for hardware but switch is a big succes.

 

[demigod]

You Guys just wait for (insert next xbox hype game) to launch… wasnt 2023 suppost to be the best year for xbox so far?

No man you got it wrong, it’s 2024. Folks can’t wait to played Avowed and the walking sim they love so much in Hellblade 2!

 

[mckmas8808]

This is BRUTAL. 2024 is the defining year for the Xbox brand. It's sink or swim because the PS5 Pro is coming and so is the Switch 2. They better not get left behind.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

Starfield failed to move the needle again for them. If Starfield couldn’t do it for them then nothing will do it for them. Shows just how damaged the brand is. I’ll say it again but this is the last generation we see a traditional Xbox console on the market. They’ve tried everything and they can’t compete with Sony and Nintendo in the traditional console space.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

This is BRUTAL. 2024 is the defining year for the Xbox brand. It's sink or swim because the PS5 Pro is coming and so is the Switch 2. They better not get left behind.

They are already left behind. Next year will just be a bloody beatdown that’s probably going to be worse than this year.

 

[DrFigs]

In this thread I learned that Chris Dring is a bit of a Xbox fanboy.

he's absolutely not. but i think he's bending over backwards, saying weird illogical things in an attempt to be fair to xbox fans. like saying a few weeks ago that Starfield was the biggest release of 2023 if you include gamepass.

 

[systemr123]

"Console sales don’t matter,"
"We don't care where you play our games"

So what's stopping them from releasing Halo and Starfield on PS5?

"We don't care where you play our games", as long as it’s not on Switch and PS5.

“Console sales don’t matter”, but they do if we would sell the most and boast about sales non-stop.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

At this point, makes absolutely zero sense why they are keeping Starfield off PS5 if it isn’t to boost Xbox sales which it clearly isn’t. They are doing it out of spite at this point which is a shame since they are only limiting themselves as far as sales go and Xbox itself is beyond saving. Makes zero sense but then again, nothing that MS has done in the last decade makes sense. It’s just been one bad business decision after another and that’s why Xbox is in such a sorry state.

 

[Three]

At this point, makes absolutely zero sense why they are keeping Starfield off PS5 if it isn’t to boost Xbox sales which it clearly isn’t. They are doing it out of spite at this point which is a shame since they are only limiting themselves as far as sales go and Xbox itself is beyond saving. Makes zero sense but then again, nothing that MS has done in the last decade makes sense. It’s just been one bad business decision after another and that’s why Xbox is in such a sorry state.

Because they know it would be a death knell for xbox fans who get a real sense of pride from it being exclusive. As much as they pretend to distance themselves from "console wars" and how useless they find them they are always trying to win that war and keep that image even if it costs them.

 

[Azelover]

Am I getting old? This was so much fun back in the day. I used to wait for the 1up podcast to hear their opinions on the sales.

I just can't make myself care anymore. For some odd reason, I can't explain it..

 

[Tsaki]

Year to date numbers versus 2022 in the UK from InstallBase

Jan-Sep 2023 vs 2022
PS5 - 575k - 364k (+58%)
NSW - 295k - 284k (+4%)
XBS - 269k - 270k (-0.4%)

2022 total
NSW - 880k
PS5 - 800k
XBS - 720k

Estimate total 2023
PS5 - 1.25M
NSW - 800k
XBS - 750k

I'm really confused by their 2023 total estimates. When compared to the January to September sales, they expect in October + November + December to have :
PS5: x1.17 (675K)
NSW: x1.71 (505K)
XBS: x1.79 (481K)
Why would Xbox and Switch get such a big boost when compared to PS5?

 

[RGB'D]

If starfield didn't significantly improve their hardware sales; I'm not sure what will. I don't really see any games in their future that have that type of pedigree.

Yearly call of duty in Gamepass... 2023 was a strong year for Xbox. Even if PS console warriors try and downplay their output, Starfield (83MC), HiFi Rush (87MC), and Forza Motorsport (85MC) are all compelling games that scored well. Not as high as PS and Nintendo but still good.

And they are sounding like quarterly releases might be a thing finally. They pulled it off in 2023. It's not going to be quick, but I'd they keep releasing games in an instantly accessible catalogue, there will be more reasons for the general consumers to get one. Especially when COD is coming out every year or so straight into Gamepass

Also Redfall is garbage. Still had 3 good releases though.