Bernardougf
Member
Mate we dont do xbox numbers here.. we dont need it .. we have Phil Spencer words .. thats enough!
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Xbox FY23 Q4 gaming revenue increased 1% year-over-year (HW down 13%)
- Thread starter cormack12
- Start date
Ar¢tos
Member
Considering how the sales are down, that they are selling xboxs at a loss and how the market is moving to GAAS games (where they can't skip Playstation because of distributed player bases among tons of similar ganes), it is likely that the ATK acquisition might mean the end of Xbox hardware if they don't pick up numbers in a couple of years.
Instead of buying Sega, they'll become Sega.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Yeah, and that's fine to say, "I don't have any numbers; I misspoke that they have been posting profits every quarter."
But no ... the ego and the refusal to accept a mistake must always come in between the truth.
Bernardougf
Member
If someone still trully believes that phil spencer words (lies) are the gospel truth they cant also believe in being wrong about something he said it ... I think you are fighting a lost battle against people that dont have common sense and objective thoughts at this point
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Stardust_Dragon
Banned
Did Microsoft really just try pointing to third party games as a reason for Xbox division's underperformance for this past quarter? Like, was Phil expecting that pile of crap Gollum game to be some sort of GOTY contender? The only award that horrible Gollum game is ever going to get is whatever Geoff Keighley's equivalent is for the Golden Raspberry award. This past quarter we've had Diablo 4, Street Fighter 6, Dead Island 2, and Star Wars Jedi Survivor among others released in that time period, so Microsoft has no one to blame but themselves for conditioning their own console base to not buy games day 1 anymore with their current strategy.
PropellerEar
Member
Not to go all
But I think the single largest contributor to this is indeed their PC strategy. There's simply no pull factor towards the console when you get everything it offers and a lot more on PC. It's possible that might be exactly what they want but considering considering the games are primarily consumed via other storefronts I'm not entirely convinced that's the case.
I think the whole day and date commitments they've made both in regards to PC releases and Gamepass might prove to be some of the biggest strategic mistakes in Xboxs history, because it would be very painful to unwind it.
Are we still in that "PC day one is bad" argument?Not to go all
But I think the single largest contributor to this is indeed their PC strategy. There's simply no pull factor towards the console when you get everything it offers and a lot more on PC. It's possible that might be exactly what they want but considering considering the games are primarily consumed via other storefronts I'm not entirely convinced that's the case.
I think the whole day and date commitments they've made both in regards to PC releases and Gamepass might prove to be some of the biggest strategic mistakes in Xboxs history, because it would be very painful to unwind it.
SEGA_2012
Member
No one can become SEGA because SEGA IS THE BEST GAMING COMPANY OF ALL TIME !
To be this good takes AGES,
to be this good takes SEGA
skit_data
Member
I guess I just don't see many upsides outside of only having to spend money on one single market push.
Outside of that I can only see downsides, but please enlighten me.
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Parsing words are hard. I know.
Top selling games on Steam, positive reception from players who always tought they should have been supportive of their own platform, PC Gamers weren't buying a console regardless, worst case scenario was during the "PC Gaming" drought from 2005 to 2011 where many developers were refusing to port to PC due to piracy.
skit_data
Member
I don't see anything in this that is tied specifically to day 1 release, all those things can be accomplished with a staggered release.
Mr Moose
Member
For console sales? Absolutely.
Why do a staggered release when they are not buying your hardware regardless? Is that hard to understand that people might console a console for affordability and simplicity than paying out 3x+ the price for a gaming PC?
Riky
$MSFT
PropellerEar
Member
720p TV and Series S 4 life?More people playing your game day one is never a bad thing.
We can see your pixels.
Bernoulli
M2 slut
Launching a free game for 1 minute isn't the W you think it isMore people playing your game day one is never a bad thing.
Thick Thighs Save Lives
NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
No one can become SEGA because SEGA IS THE BEST GAMING COMPANY OF ALL TIME !
To be this good takes AGES,
to be this good takes SEGA
Riky
$MSFT
Vox Machina
Banned
Why would I, as the consumer, want that at all? It's up to Xbox to make the numbers work, but speaking as a PC-only gamer I spend a LOT more money on Xbox games than I did before they made that move.
Varteras
Member
Ansphn
Member
Microsoft needs to pull the plug on Xbox hardware and go full 3rd party. I guarantee they will make way more money than they do now. I think they will when they start to see the profit from Playstation from COD. Why go back to losing money on hardware when you can make money hand over fist from Halo, Gears and Forza on PlayStation and Nintendo?
Sounds like someone who has been on antidepressants for the entire past decade.
Hope you are feeling better knowing Microsoft is now outspending Sony on acquiring masterpieces like Candy Crush.
yazenov
Member
Pro-tip; MS doesn't disclose profits for the gaming division in their financials so nobody knows if they are profitable or not. You're mixing up revenue with profit.
MS hides unit sales, software, and now Game Pass subscribers for a number of reasons. I guess shame is one of them.
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Freelance Yakuza
Member
I wonder what is MS motivation do keep selling consoles today. Are they doing to not let Sony dominate the living room just like in 2001 when they released the first Xbox?
Are they looking for maximum profits?
Ansphn
Member
Probably ego? Cause it makes no sense to be losing money for decades on hardware when your strength has always been software. They will make way more money from 3rd party partnership and getting their games everywhere. Let the 3rd parties make game for them and release all their games everywhere.
Unknown?
Member
Their product didn't get worse as they got back in the black though. I just thought it was funny that he thinks X1 and Series turning a profit matters to a gamer when that profit has made the product worse.
Freelance Yakuza
Member
The money goes to Ms, basically the 69 billion take that in account
IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Again, wasn't really the point.
They have mass appeal, the fact they had massive sales when on Playstation indicates that appeal will likely result in some Xbox sales.
Nobody expects a game on 1 platform that has Gamepass on it to actually have high sales numbers.
It'll be played by millions of people; many will be 1st time gamepass subs, many will be first time Xbox buyers.
How big those numbers are is a question, but XBox 1st party games just aren't going to compete with other big games on "sales" due to Gamepass.
IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
My understanding is that part of the extension deal is that the money might go to ABK shareholders. There are 2 dates, one is the overall "MUST CLOSE OR PAY $5 BILLION" date the other is basically a "IF YOU CLOSE BUT ITS AFTER X DATE, ABK SHAREHOLDERS GET ALL CASH ON HAND".
Basically every ABK shareholder might get around $1 per share is my understanding, paid out by the cash on hand.
Gorgon
Member
Not sure. I may just pay a month or two of GP to play it and then unsub GP again. I may buy it when it goes on sale for 20 bucks or so.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Because it's a PR nightmare to back down now.
I think they really thought that Xbox Series consoles will outsell PlayStation or, at least, make a very serious dent in Sony's marketshare. Phil Spencer talked to IGN about "having a plan for console sales" (spoiler: it was the Series S plan that backfired lol) and they announced Bethesda's acquisition a day before pre-orders opened.
None of their plans worked, and they are now stuck with this generation of consoles. This is also I think why they are unlikely to release a Pro console now.
Summary: They thought they'd win, so they released next-gen consoles. Their plans backfired, and now they're stuck with their loss-leading consoles, which they can't abandon mid-generation without a PR nightmare.
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
Unless investors force them to pull the plug on Xbox hardware, it's not going anywhere. Video game Hardware is a drop in the bucket for a $2.4 Trillion company, and so long as the division stays even slightly positive, nobody will care.
Gorgon
Member
I think that MS will still go for another generation of consoles in 2028 or so. After that it's impossible to predict.
But I do agree that MS doesn't give two shits about that piece of plastic in the living room. This is about dominating the market through subscription services, streaming services, etc.
ByWatterson
Member
Today the services are at worst comparable. Sony's big titles, albeit late, are far superior to Microsoft's recent exclusives. And the third party titles are about similar quality.
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Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
After ABK, yeah they will likely give it another try.
gametimedecision
Member
If you have a high performance PC you wouldn’t play any 3rd party on console and it probably wouldn’t be the place you buy microtransactions in games either
It would legit just be an exclusive machine to them, so at that point why wouldn’t you just sell them the game? To tick a hardware count up slightly? They won’t be buying anything else on the hardware they have a PC for that.
Goes to the MS wallet. The purchase price/value of ABK includes the cash.
There are many motivations
1- Xbox is one of the brands with the most value and worldwide recognition of MS. Almost a symbol for MS. Its maintenance cost is negligible within the general MS business. There is no urgent financial need for MS to decide to end a symbolic product and brand.
2- The appreciation of the console business among the leaders of XBoX and also Nadella who continue to see potential.
3- Xbox console is still the main revenue generator in software, microtransactions and subscriptions (also future xcloud). It is an environment that is the main channel for new users to the ecosystem. In the current situation, for MS to dispense with the console business is little less than idiocy.
3- Today MS is in an excellent position as a first party (if ABK is produced, incontestably) to be able to supply its own console like never before. Closing the console business now would not make sense. Not to mention that it has PC (and PS and Switch/Nin many times) as an equally priority platform to compensate and amortize first party developments.
I think that reality tends to be mixed with desires. It is true that surely P. Spencer would like another situation in terms of XSeries sales, but I have no doubt that he assumes that his forecasts in terms of first releases have not been as desired and he will be waiting for the fruits of the huge number of first Studios that has accumulated can be reflected in an improvement in the sales of XSeries this generation and the potential of the next generation of consoles.
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X-Wing
Member
If it wasn't the point why were you comparing it with Elden Ring then? You are the one who brought sales to the conversation.
When you realize most of that happened during the PS3 era, and the beginning of the PS4 era...maybe you will understand the point some are making about Xbox profits.
....MS literally doesn't share it any more...if they ever did at all...
Both PS3 and the 360 lost each company billions. Only one actually post numbers about profits tho.
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IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I was replying to someone who claimed Starfield wouldn't be a game that has wide appeal, nor would it sell consoles.
I brought up 2 things to say that seems like an odd statement:
- Bethesda RPGs have absolutely had wide / casual appeal in the past, indicated by their sales numbers
- While we don't have a recent example of one, since it's been so long, we know the genre is healthy from games like ER
OBVIOUSLY should go w/o saying you can't have a regular "sales" conversation with Xbox 1st party anymore though.
Gorgon
Member
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt MS' gaming division makes more revenue than Windows and MS Office.
Vox Machina
Banned
+1 here. Game Pass subscriber that will be purchasing the game outright on Steam for the better mod experience.
IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I'll be buying the game on Steam because I'll probably play Starfield off and on for like 20 years lol.
My wife bought the game already on Xbox, for the same reason.
Gamepass model just doesn't work for me personally, I only play a few games a year across PC and console (but I play the shit out of those games lol). I like highly replayable / longer games.
Not to go all
But I think the single largest contributor to this is indeed their PC strategy. There's simply no pull factor towards the console when you get everything it offers and a lot more on PC. It's possible that might be exactly what they want but considering considering the games are primarily consumed via other storefronts I'm not entirely convinced that's the case.
I think the whole day and date commitments they've made both in regards to PC releases and Gamepass might prove to be some of the biggest strategic mistakes in Xboxs history, because it would be very painful to unwind it.
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