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Axios: Microsoft misses Xbox Game Pass subscriber target for second year
- Thread starter FalsettoVibe
- Start date
LazyParrot
Member
Phil stated that they (along with "most experts") expected combined console sales to surpass 400 million that coming gen if gaming consoles remained just that - consoles you play games on. If you went, as Phil puts it, "broader than a game console" (i.e. the now infamous decision to market XBO to people who don't even game by focusing on shit like TV and sports) you could "go to potentially upwards of a billion units".
If going broader would increase potential sales from 400 million to over a billion, then pretty much all of those 600 million+ extra sales (on top of the ~130 million Xbox sales already included in the 400 million) would have to come from Xbox One, since it was the only console that gen designed to target that broader market.
All that's besides the point, though, which is that MS were a bunch of idiots drunk on their own Kool-Aid back then. It was an utterly absurd and wildly unrealistic prediction, no matter how you slice it.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
1. Stray is exclusive. Plague Tale launched day one on PlayStation.
2. Neither Stray nor Scorn/Plague Tale are first-party games.
3. Sony's PS+ does not release games day one on the service. Everyone knows that. No one subscribes to PS+ for day one games. No point in competing the two services on a feature that one service intentionally doesn't even offer.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
1. Phil didn't say that, the then VP of interactive media Yusuf Mehdi said that, his name is credited with the quote in the very article you linked.
2. Mehdi very clearly says he, and other experts, believe the combined next gen consoles could potentially sell that much, not just xbox ones.
Finally, this whole topic has been a shit show over nothing.
This is the very first line of the article in the OP, which is not mentioned in the OP itself anywhere:
The 'growth' target was for Satya's bonus and performance pay, the service has not gone in the red, or fell flat.
but please folks, let gaf be gaf
SportsFan581
Member
Hard to believe someone could read that article and take those quotes from Mehdi and turn that in to MS stating that they expected to sell 1b Xbox consoles. Reading comprehension ain't what it used to be, I'll tell you that.
How about now that Phil thinks he can reach 2 billion gamers with streaming in their phones? What's your opinion?
He even stated it's no longer Sony and Nintendo that they compete against but Amazon and Google.
vito_don_corleone_
Banned
It ain't on Steam I don't use it.
Now even more valid as I spend so much time on Steam Deck.
Now even more valid as I spend so much time on Steam Deck.
SenjutsuSage
Banned
? What? The problem is not just that they cannot produce enough consoles, but also that they cannot produce enough consoles… double counting again
I caught that reference.
That was a funny ass thread. At least it shows I'm not as stubborn as people might think. If I legitimately come to the realization I'm wrong, I'll own it.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I don't know what the history of Phil saying stuff like that is, but if the Xbox division had projections of up to a billion units, that's obviously just him dreaming about maxing out industry capacity including by the looks of it people replacing their cable box with an Xbox. That's marketing talk to drum up interest. That's like someone on Shark Tank saying they want their product to be in every house in America. Even the most popular consumer product (I dont know, maybe a can of coke or bottle of water) wont even be in every home.
360 did 85M units. To go from 85M to 1 billion is literally 12x the sales.
The chances of MS having an Xbox corporate objective on everyone's employee performance review of achieving 1 billion Xbox One sales is zero.
GhostOfTsu
Banned
This thread is not about the fucking Satya bonus, nobody cares about that. It's about GP only growing 28% since June 2021.The 'growth' target was for Satya's bonus and performance pay, the service has not gone in the red, or fell flat.
but please folks, let gaf be gaf
In june 2021 they had 20 millions subs so from July 2021 to June 2022 (after Halo, Forza, Age of Empires, Flight Sim, Psychonauts 2, xCloud) the maximum numbers of subs is 25.6 Millions. We already know they had 25 millions back in Jan so from Jan to July 2022 they barely gained any.
You said this a few days ago:
Now we know it's NOWHERE close to that so what's your take on this news? Do not go back to talk about Satya. We don't care.
Xbox Game Pass Subscribers Said to be Below Microsoft’s Target; 20 Million as of June 2021
Based on a recent financial filing by Microsoft, Xbox Game Pass subscribers were around 20 million as of June 2021, below Microsoft's target
PeteBull
Member
Looks like gamepass wasnt simply good enough deal for more ppl to jump on it, cant be helped, for total casual if they even know about it, they play 1-2 games/year(usually new cod and respectably depending if in europe or north america - fifa/nba2k/nfl) so dont need gamepass for anthting, super hc gamers (like many here on GAF)buy any game they are interested in or/and have on top huge backlog.
So it looks like gamepass is for that avg gamer, not casual enough coz he/she wants to play more than 2games/year but not too hardcore either to buy many games as soon as they launch, thats where perceived value of gamepass kicks in, for over 25m players- not small number by any means, just its not that 50m+ juggernaut everyone, especially microsoft and their fans though its gonna be by now.
So it looks like gamepass is for that avg gamer, not casual enough coz he/she wants to play more than 2games/year but not too hardcore either to buy many games as soon as they launch, thats where perceived value of gamepass kicks in, for over 25m players- not small number by any means, just its not that 50m+ juggernaut everyone, especially microsoft and their fans though its gonna be by now.
phil_t98
#SonyToo
OMG so now you're here pretending that small mobile dev Sony bought (I don't even remember their name) is the same as buying King, Blizzard and Candy Crush? Really?
again those buyouts had the benefits of the mobile divisions so yeah a good buy for them. Sony is getting into the market to its as simple as that
Bumblebeetuna
Member
1. No shit. Irrelevant.
2. They sure aren’t.
3. I wasn’t the one comparing them.
Pelta88
Member
If you've been gaming long enough, then you'll know that Microsoft's XBOX PR is its Achilles Heel. I remember this "Billion consoles sold" PR prior to XB1's launch. And it's indicative of the conversation we're having in this thread.
Esentially Phil Spencer, Greenberg, and Major Nelson have gone on record via podcasts, social media, video, print, and online articles with 2 messages.
Firstly "Game Pass is the future of XBOX."
Secondly "Gamepas will be the Netflix of gaming."
But because of their legally binding submissions to the CMA where they admit slow growth and hesitant cloud adoption. And Phil's recent interview of GP only being 15%, of revenue those who have been parroting these two PR statements are to put it politely, in a state of flux. TO the point where people are reassessing the math to factor in the reality. I've seen posts across the gaming web where some be like
"If this Ip hits big and then the global recession is brief and this publisher joins forces then it'll drive subscriptions." Instead of just admitting that they fell for the hollow PR because it was repeated year in year out and they wanted to believe. Personally, I despise PR. In all forms and in every industry. Because I understand that PR is the overt but also the polite way to lie.
Microsoft has changed direction again and the XBOX division has to change with it. The good/bad news for some is that these admissions about GP most likely means the ATVI acquisition is a certainty.
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
It's the very first line in the OP's article, that's what the news is about. You lot have turned it into something else, but that is expected
Do you have the sub numbers as of July 2022 ? Post them.
Now we know it's NOWHERE close to that so what's your take on this news? Do not go back to talk about Satya. We don't care.
Xbox Game Pass Subscribers Said to be Below Microsoft’s Target; 20 Million as of June 2021
Based on a recent financial filing by Microsoft, Xbox Game Pass subscribers were around 20 million as of June 2021, below Microsoft's targetwccftech.com
?
According to that article it's around 20m June/July 2021. 25~m around January this year. And we don't now what the actual sub number is right now since Jan 2022.
Until we get an actual up to date sub count, there's nothing to comment on the news.
GhostOfTsu
Banned
The FY is from June 2021 to July 2022 and that document says the subs increased by 28% since the 20 millions. That's 25.6 millions.
It's 28% increase since June 2021 until July 2022. Do you not understand this whole thread or you're playing dumb?
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The % is based on finance, not number of subscribers and we already know not all subscribers pay the same amount of money. You're probably in that camp as well.
Unless you really think that there has been absolutely no increase in sub numbers from January to July, to which I don't think there is any way to convince you otherwise.
Paperclip Killa
Banned
it's more accurate to say 25 million in 2.5 years. It doesn't make sense to pretend GP was a thing before then, Microsoft was barely promoting it and it was only used to help with the renewed mindshare of the Xbox One. The problem is that had a limit since it was already near the end of the generation, and there were only so many people that would buy a One S or X with BC or GP that late in the game.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Paperclip Killa
Banned
Where is the evidence Microsoft was heavily promoting GP before late 2019? I only remember BC and people saying the Xbox One was being turned around because of BC, barely anyone was talking about GP.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
From day one with the "Netflix of Gaming" in every interview (guy does an interview every other week it seems), and the cheap promotions since launch.
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Paperclip Killa
Banned
On gaming forums, no one outside of them knew what was happening and those promos were not widely marketed.
Microsoft announced in April 2020 10M subs, in Sept 2020 they had 15M. On January 2022 they announced more than 25M subs. Before 2020 they rarely reported sub numbers.
They had the $1 promo since launch, so that 15M jump can only be explained by more people knowing about it, updates to the service, and interest in the new Xbox consoles, Series S in particular which is digital only.
Banjo64
cumsessed
Sorry pal but as soon as they announced in January 2018 that all first party games would hit Game Pass day one that’s when they pivoted to Game Pass being at the front and centre of their marketing. Maybe you only noticed in the last 2 years or so (this generation is 2 years old now) but they were banging the drum during the One S/X era, I should know, I re-bought a One S and subscribed to GP 2 years before the Series S launched.
SenjutsuSage
Banned
I actually like this new narrative that Xbox Game Pass isn't a massive success. I hope to see that energy next year.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
Is going to be dependent of two things:
1. How many AAA GOTY contenders.
2. How much GP growths. Michael see reaching 100M subscribers.
Hobbygaming
has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
Paperclip Killa
Banned
You're just going to ignore the numbers showing MS having 10M subs in 2020 and jumping to 25M at the start of this year? If everyone including people outside gaming forums were aware of GP and Microsoft was pushing it just as hard as now, why wasn't there a large increase in subs for the first 3 years of GP existence?
Banjo64
cumsessed
The number of subscribers doesn’t directly correlate with how much they spend on marketing.
For example, after I got Game Pass I was asked by some of our extended family members to set it up for 3 of my nephews. Once they had it and were all playing the same games online together a few of their friends asked their parents to subscribe for them too. Word of mouth is a powerful tool.
SenjutsuSage
Banned
I guess you know better than Phil
Show me where Phil Spencer has suggested Game Pass hasn't been very successful for them. We getting into trolling territory now or what?
GhostOfTsu
Banned
DForce
NaughtyDog Defense Force
Barely promoting it? They were aggressive with their advertisement. They were even having a lot of 1 dollar promotional deals longer 3-4 years ago. lol
Mibu no ookami
Banned
The real story here is what caused the -50% target in growth and the obvious answer was Halo Infinite not performing the way they would have wanted.
That combined with Starfield's delay meant not reaching projected targets.
That combined with Starfield's delay meant not reaching projected targets.
Hobbygaming
has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
I'm talking about your comment about Gamepass being massive for 2023 and its future
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
The following articles are from 2017 to 2019.
2018 -- First-party day one launch titles on Gamepass were confirmed, including Sea of Thieves. Phil Spencer also gave an interview to Wired to market Gamepass.
Microsoft expands Xbox One Game Pass with day one launch titles
Sea of Thieves will be the first title to launch on Xbox's subscription service alongside retail and digital sales
Xbox's storage solution partner, Seagate, also did a promotional piece to market Gamepass.
Seagate Blog | Seagate US
Read the latest stories and news about hyperscale storage technology, cloud infrastructure, and beyond.
blog.seagate.com
Xbox offered insane $2-for-2-months discount deals and added more games during Gamescom 2018.
Two excellent Xbox Game Pass deals are available during Gamescom
New Xbox Game Pass subscribers can get 2 months for $2
www.polygon.com
2019 -- They also added more value by including Spotify and promoted the heck out of it.
https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/xbox-game-pass-ultimate-spotify-premium-3943185
They were also offering discount offers to increase subscribers. Here's a Cnet article on how to save $360 with Xbox Gamepass.
Here's how to save up to $360 on Xbox Game Pass over 3 years
If you follow these steps, you can turn your paid Xbox Live Gold subscription into up to 36 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $1.
www.cnet.com
phil_t98
#SonyToo
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Has nothing to do with the exchange that was taking place. But, sure.
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
It looks like if gamepass is growing at all its a success right? If Sony is losing subscribers on ps plus and Microsoft is growing in any shape or form that's got to be a positive for Microsoft that they are bucking the trend in a market where the leader is seeing negative growth?
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Yeah, 28% growth is nothing to scoff about. The only thing it didn't do is meet daddy Satya's bonus goal.
But something tells me he's not gonna be struggling financially any time soon.
If it were losing subscribers that'd be something else tho.
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DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
Yeah, gamepass is still making serious waves in a market that is seeing decline after rue covid boom. Bodes well for next year if they hit it out of the park with starfield etc.
GhostOfTsu
Banned
The 28% is from June 2021 until June 30 2022. Sony PS+ numbers are from last quarter only (this summer - 3 months). PS+ also went from 46, 47 then up to 48 millions in the same period as GP.
How many times do we have to repeat the dates until you rats understand?
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phil_t98
#SonyToo
well as you said cheap promotions, it seems to of worked
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
phil_t98
#SonyToo
So growth is good
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
You're on a roll, captain.
JackMcGunns
Member
The narrative is getting juicier and juicier.
"See? GamePass sucks, no one wants to subscribe to it, it's a low tier service..."
Aha! so the Activision/Blizzard deal can go though then!
Oh wait, never mind, GamePass is a monopoly, no other service can compete
"See? GamePass sucks, no one wants to subscribe to it, it's a low tier service..."
Aha! so the Activision/Blizzard deal can go though then!
Oh wait, never mind, GamePass is a monopoly, no other service can compete
Larogue
Member
It will always be a small segment of the gaming market.
Once they realize the fact that there is nothing else to do to sway people from stores where you pay to own the game (eg. Steam), you will see a decline in new games added and a rise in subscription prices.
Since their current business hedge is to eat the loses today in order to grow larger tomorrow.
Which is not sustainable without user growth.
Negotiator101
Member
I find this thread being bumped every few hours astounding
