Support NeoGAF

[Felessan]

This should also be a clear warning for Sony. Releasing games on competing platforms does not automatically mean earning more money. In fact, it risks the same thing that happened to Xbox: the devaluation of the core ecosystem.

Sony have all the data
And they stated several times that releasing games after 1 year delay have little impact on their operations.
FOMO is a thing, you know, you can't just write it off and present as everybody, especially mass market, are eager to wait 1+ year to play a game.

If there is no longer a strong reason to buy a PlayStation, Sony does not just lose hardware sales. It undermines the 30% platform cut, which has always been the backbone of the business. Fewer consoles mean fewer active users, fewer third party sales, and ultimately less stable revenue.

There are plenty - it's cheapest and most convinient platform to play modern, especially AAA, games. No other platform have the same value for money.
You can play GTA, CoD, FIFA or Fortnite everywhere - but people prefer to play and to pay on Playstation

Xbox is a warning sign. The attempt to save the brand with multiplatform releases hollowed out the console ecosystem. If Sony continues pushing PC ports, they risk the same fate.

Xbox did many more errors than just porting games to PC day1 - Xbox one fiasco, low quality of games, a really long delay in making f2p games really free etc. it all accumulated in massive loss of mindshare and playerbase shifted out

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

No other platform have the same value for money.

People in gaming bubbles are parroting about PCs, when common folks usually don't even want anything to do with them outside of work. Typical family PC is a Mac or some cheap laptop to occasionaly play CS2 or Minecraft. People with huge RGB coffins is an expensive niche. Big one, but nonetheless.

Sony have all the data
And they stated several times that releasing games after 1 year delay have little impact on their operations.
FOMO is a thing, you know, you can't just write it off and present as everybody, especially mass market, are eager to wait 1+ year to play a game.

Even outside of FOMO, very few PCs can even fit into the system requirements of PS5-only games. With idiotic DRAM, NAND and GPU price hikes it's easier to play, say, Spider-man 2 on a console than to build a PC that can run it with the same settings.

 

[GriffinCorp]

Executives in the Xbox boardroom. HOW DID WE GET HERE?!?

They've run Xbox into the ground. This gen has been the worst for gamers and Xbox fans. Microsoft 100% is deserving of these numbers. Just pull the plug jim, it's dead.

 

[Felessan]

Sony has set their third party strategy up so that virtually all of their new games aside from select blockbusters go to Steam and Epic on day 1.

It depends on the market
Games targeting East, where Sony tries to carve piece of market from PC - games tends to have the same 1yr lockdown even on PC (FF7R2, FF16, Stellar Blade). Games targeting West where PC and consoles have a low competition are day1 on PC

 

[Cumulus]

Guess Xbox will not reach Papa Nutella`s demanded quotas.

 

[spons]

I only use my Xbox Series S for backwards compatible games and PC Moonlight streaming these days, so it seems I'm part of the problem in them not making a profit.
God bless Microsoft for allowing Moonlight on the retail store, it's the only real reason I haven't unplugged the thing.

 

[dragonyeuw]

I'm actually surprised the hardware 'only' dropped 30%. Who the fuck is buying Series S/X at $150-200 over the original MSRP at this point?

 

[spons]

I'm actually surprised the hardware 'only' dropped 30%. Who the fuck is buying Series S/X at $150-200 over the original MSRP at this point?

When I go to xbox.nl and try to purchase a Series X, links are either dead or they are refurbs for seven hundred fucking euros from external sellers. Microsoft themselves are completely out of stock.

 

[winjer]

I'm actually surprised the hardware 'only' dropped 30%. Who the fuck is buying Series S/X at $150-200 over the original MSRP at this point?

There have been so many quarters with hardware drops, that sales are probably getting close to zero.
I would not be surprised if one day MS announced a zero drop, simply because sales had already dropped to nothing and there was no way to go lower.

 

[dragonyeuw]

When I go to xbox.nl and try to purchase a Series X, links are either dead or they are refurbs for seven hundred fucking euros from external sellers. Microsoft themselves are completely out of stock.

Over in my lil neck of the woods( Azores/Portugal), the Xbox section in stores like Radio Popular and Wortons is like a 3 foot shelf with half a dozen games, some controllers/misc accessories and game/GP codes. Couldn't tell you the last time I saw a Series console on the shelf.

 

[poppabk]

Executives in the Xbox boardroom. HOW DID WE GET HERE?!?

They've run Xbox into the ground. This gen has been the worst for gamers and Xbox fans. Microsoft 100% is deserving of these numbers. Just pull the plug jim, it's dead.

I wouldn't say $15-25 billion in revenue per year is in the ground. The Xbox console - yeah that is dead. What happens to that revenue when the current Xbox install base drifts away will be the litmus test - this drop might be the first sign of this - or it may just be due to the worst CoD year in a long time.

 

[Baemono]

I'm actually surprised the hardware 'only' dropped 30%. Who the fuck is buying Series S/X at $150-200 over the original MSRP at this point?

That's the beauty of maths, Going from 1 million to 700k is -30% while going from 10 units to 7 is still -30%.

Or they use Copilot for the numbers and they are all messed up

 

[PauloRoberto]

I wouldn't say $15-25 billion in revenue per year is in the ground. The Xbox console - yeah that is dead. What happens to that revenue when the current Xbox install base drifts away will be the litmus test - this drop might be the first sign of this - or it may just be due to the worst CoD year in a long time.

There is one thing you are not counting... Linkedin is making almost as much money as Xbox, using MS own numbers... how much does it cost to run Linkedin?

 

[Team Andromeda]

Nobody tell Adam.

Or AMY

 

[AJUMP23]

Might be the end of XBOX. If they blame the gaming division.

 

[winjer]

Might be the end of XBOX. If they blame the gaming division.

And of course, it's never the fault of the CEO and management. It's always the fault of the consumer, the gamers.

 

[Baemono]

Might be the end of XBOX. If they blame the gaming division.

Don't blame it on marketing
Don't blame it on line up
Don't blame it on brand power
Blame it on the gaming

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Might be the end of XBOX. If they blame the gaming division.

Fact of the day: Phil Spencer(III) is still employed

 

[poppabk]

There is one thing you are not counting... Linkedin is making almost as much money as Xbox, using MS own numbers... how much does it cost to run Linkedin?

Dunno - it was maybe $4 billion to run Twitter I think? Even with Musks cuts it's still maybe about $2 billion.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

Its okay they'll just fire more employees and further increase their prices. Lean even more into AI slop.

At what point do they sell Xbox at a bargain price and just write off the loss? Or so they plan to not even bother and just close and write off the whole thing?

 

[alabtrosMyster]

It's been piling up for a while now:

 

[Felessan]

That's the beauty of maths, Going from 1 million to 700k is -30% while going from 10 units to 7 is still -30%.

Or they use Copilot for the numbers and they are all messed up

It's not units, it's revenue
In units it should be close to -50% given how numbers in US behave, raised price and lack of promotions.

Overall numbers are so low so it down to completely random purchases, replacements, demo units etc

 

[Baemono]

At what point do they sell Xbox at a bargain price and just write off the loss?

They should've done it years ago. "Phil saved Xbox" nah he just delayed his death

 

[PauloRoberto]

Dunno - it was maybe $4 billion to run Twitter I think? Even with Musks cuts it's still maybe about $2 billion.

MS paid US$ 26 bi to buy linkedin (salesforce, meta, google were rivals, so there is a substancial premium). So we are talking about something with WAY LESS DRAMA, costing a fraction of the latest MS gaming aquisitions and is generating almost the same amount of money...

 

[Baemono]

It's not units, it's revenue
In units it should be close to -50% given how numbers in US behave, raised price and lack of promotions.

Overall numbers are so low so it down to completely random purchases, replacements, demo units etc

Yeah I meant revenue, cause we don't know the units, and they also count controllers as hardware. And Welfare always skip that part when he make calculations.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

And of course, it's never the fault of the CEO and management. It's always the fault of the consumer, the gamers.

The need a major house cleaning at Xbox if they want any chance to survive

 

[Ebrietas]

If you take a step back, it's more about who survives and who doesn't. My money is on Nintendo simply because they know who to sell to. Sony and Xbox software have more or less imploded across the board.

OS wise I think Google will want to muscle out Microsoft as the top dog. It's a little batshit crazy to expect enterprise corporations to abandon Microsoft, though. It's easy to talk shit on the internet but you'll be laughed out of the room by anyone remotely serious in IT in real life.

Nintendo lives or dies entirely off its own software. Sony does not depend on their own published games. PS only implodes if the entire industry implodes.

 

[RayBoy]

 

[Horseganador]

As expected, a disaster of numbers across the board: the hardware is dead (I don't know what percentage it has already dropped), services have also declined even after a 50% price increase, etc... these numbers are almost unsustainable after the huge investment. We'll see what happens with Xbox in the future.

 

[damidu]

yep they will likely fold the whole business into a cod-es factory soon, wiping out half of the industry they gobbled up in the process.
all the fangirls cheering up the acquisitions by these morons, who were yet to prove they can manage shit in 20+ years, can dance around their xtombs

 

[poppabk]

MS paid US$ 26 bi to buy linkedin (salesforce, meta, google were rivals, so there is a substancial premium). So we are talking about something with WAY LESS DRAMA, costing a fraction of the latest MS gaming aquisitions and is generating almost the same amount of money...

You think Social Media is way less drama? Fake job scams, inflammatory posts, moderation being perceived as left or right or racially motivated - it's a minefield, even for a more staid platform like LinkedIn.
MS gaming is not in a good place, we don't know the underlying financials but it's probably not great - with any increase in (or move towards) profits being driven by no longer really selling hardware.

 

[DR3AM]

Just wait until Halo, Forza, Fable, CoD and others drop this year, XBox will be swimming in money.

 

[PauloRoberto]

You think Social Media is way less drama? Fake job scams, inflammatory posts, moderation being perceived as left or right or racially motivated - it's a minefield, even for a more staid platform like LinkedIn.
MS gaming is not in a good place, we don't know the underlying financials but it's probably not great - with any increase in (or move towards) profits being driven by no longer really selling hardware.

If I think Linkedin is less drama than xbox? Aboslutely. You don't see idiots like here defending something that is bleeding, MS does not need to pay influences to tell that linkedin is the best professional social network (it was before the acquisition), you need less people to run it, you don't need a personality cult to pretend things are Ok when they aren't...

 

[Hyper_hyper]

"below expectations" is not what you want to hear from Amy Hood.

"And in Gaming, revenue decreased 9% and 10% in constant currency. Xbox content and services revenue decreased 5% and 6% in constant currency and was below expectations driven by first-party content with impact across the platform."
~Amy Hood

https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https://microsoft.com/en-us/investor/earnings/FY-2026-Q2/Document/DownloadDocument/144/TranscriptFY26Q2.docx

Many missed this post. What they were thinking/expected? That GP price increase will help that?

Thanks for the link. Future quarter guidance:

And in Xbox content and services, we expect revenue to decline in the mid-single digits against a prior year comparable that benefited from strong content performance, partially offset by growth in Xbox Game Pass. And hardware revenue should decline year-over-year.

Is this the first time that they've mentioned decline in hardware revenue without mentioning single, double digits term??

 

[alabtrosMyster]

This had been

They should've done it years ago. "Phil saved Xbox" nah he just delayed his death

I'm not even sure he did, remember that when he took control the 1st thing he did was to cancel a few exclusives.

 

[Topher]

Many missed this post. What they were thinking/expected? That GP price increase will help that?

Probably goes back to what Bobby Kotick was saying about them not hitting their targets with COD. Game Pass revenue was up, apparently, but I'm thinking subs were probably down.

 

[Klayzer]

Nintendo lives or dies entirely off its own software. Sony does not depend on their own published games. PS only implodes if the entire industry implodes.

Great take. It seemingly has to be repeated consistently. Playstation was and still is, built on third party games and relationships.

Their first party games have never been the main reason, why their consoles are so successful. First party is a reason, not the reason. IMO.

 

[memoryman3]

You think Social Media is way less drama? Fake job scams, inflammatory posts, moderation being perceived as left or right or racially motivated - it's a minefield, even for a more staid platform like LinkedIn.
MS gaming is not in a good place, we don't know the underlying financials but it's probably not great - with any increase in (or move towards) profits being driven by no longer really selling hardware.

We know that Xbox is nearing PlayStation's revenue figures, and PlayStation is only ahead because they sell a ton of loss leading hardware. We can safely say Xbox is more profitable than PlayStation at this point.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Can't keep up with everyone's alts

IDK how people can handle all their alts, I can barely handle my only retarded account.

 

[Tajaz2426]

Ah

IDK how people can handle all their alts, I can barely handle my only retarded account.

This guy right here above me, speaks facts.

When I set up my account I didn't even know what a paid email was or that is was an actual thing. I ended up using the email I got when I got the internet installed at the house.

It takes too much time to try and set up an alt and then pay attention to posting.

Seems super gay to me when I can just say whatever I want, anyway.

 

[AJUMP23]

Don't blame it on marketing
Don't blame it on line up
Don't blame it on brand power
Blame it on the gaming

Blame it on the rain that was falling falling, Whatever it is you do, don't put the blame on you, Blame it on something.

 

[Baemono]

IDK how people can handle all their alts, I can barely handle my only retarded account.

It can be hard indeed

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sony's financial Report: "We miss you, Bobby Kotick.".

Jimbo knew Phil and crew would fuck everything up in the industry.

They never learn, do they?

Time to dust this off, once again,

 

[ToadMan]

It's not the simple because the hardware is where most of their game pass money comes in from and they do still sell games on there which brings in more revenue. If they get rid of the the hardware then were just talking about shrinking the division as a whole at that point. Revenue will drop from what it once was and never get back to that high again.

It is that simple though. 2 steps to take,

Cancel HW - right now, today, pull a sega and cancel future gaming hardware publicly too.

Cancel Gamepass. Gone, never coming back.

That is the way for MS to get out of the shit hole they've put themselves in.

They're decades behind Steam, Sony, Apple and Nintendo - maybe they don't want to bother catching up to them.

Not only have "we" - the non Xbox fluffers - been saying this for years. Bobby said the same during the acquisition when he pointed out he wouldn't put his games there day one.

The regulators basically intimated the same during those proceedings - seeing that GP couldn't make money, they suspected subterfuge as we all did. It is turns out MS is just monumentally stupid.

Enjoy that 7% (EDIT 10%+ now) loss so far on the MS shares I sold last night to whoever bought them.

 

[Topher]

https://x.com/i/trending/2016620008558719229

 

[Nydius]

This slump in revenue can basically be attributed to the Call of Duty development team not delivering with Black Ops 6, which had consequences for Black Ops 7 sales.

I wouldn't pin it on Phil Spencer or the high ranking execs….yet.

8 straight quarters of negative hardware revenue with or without ABK. That followed a 4 quarter negative streak before that with only one meager 3% increase between the two.

In the lifetime of the Series consoles, they've had 8 positive quarters and thirteen negative ones. How many more failures before finally assigning blame where it belongs?

 

[DeepEnigma]

Their few games are exclusive and well the fact that both Sony and Microsoft gave them their entire lineup means that now they don't need to try too hard

They're not even close to getting Sony's entire lineup.

My PC wishes for GT, MLB, and many, many others.

 

[pudel]

https://x.com/i/trending/2016620008558719229

Their numbers are up by tenths of billions and stock goes down? WTF!?

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

"below expectations" is not what you want to hear from Amy Hood.

"And in Gaming, revenue decreased 9% and 10% in constant currency. Xbox content and services revenue decreased 5% and 6% in constant currency and was below expectations driven by first-party content with impact across the platform."
~Amy Hood

https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https://microsoft.com/en-us/investor/earnings/FY-2026-Q2/Document/DownloadDocument/144/TranscriptFY26Q2.docx

 

[LordCBH]

https://x.com/i/trending/2016620008558719229

MS is pushing so goddamn hard into AI, yet their AI infrastructure is built on sand, as evidenced by how batshit retarded Copilot is with zero fixes or improvements in sight. Can't wait to see them actually tank when copilot eventually fails completely.