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Christopher Dring "console market continues to have a horrible year. Sales of games machines are down 30% in the UK this year"

ArtHands

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch


www.gamesindustry.biz

Fallout 4 rules the roost in April | UK Monthly Charts

Fallout 4 was comfortably the best-selling game of April in the UK, according to the latest GSD data. It was a quiet mo…
www.gamesindustry.biz www.gamesindustry.biz

Sales of video game consoles continue to struggle in the UK, with hardware sales down 39% over April to 71,000 units sold (GfK panel data).

All three major platforms continue to post declines, with overall console sales down nearly 30% year-to-date. So far this year, Xbox Series console sales are down just under 25%, PS5 sales are down just over 25%, and Switch sales are down 38%. It's a situation that's likely to continue until we have sight of new hardware or major game releases to help boost sales.
Click to expand...
 
A

Aguero9320

Member
Isn't this lacking context though? Sales were up last year due to shortages easing - expecting that to continue is unrealistic.

Yes I understand the demand for infinite growth, yes it is stupid. That said, I do think the console market is going to wither and die unless something changes. Archaic thinking will make that inevitable.
 
rm082e

rm082e

Member
PS5 is more expensive than when it launched, the Switch is ancient, and the Series consoles are a deserted waste land for exclusives.

In generations past, the PlayStation console would have gotten at least one price cut by now, maybe even two. If the PS5 were $299, it would likely have a bigger group of people to sell to. They've just tapped out the people who can/will pay the launch price for it.
 
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feynoob

feynoob

Banned
Aguero9320 said:
Isn't this lacking context though? Sales were up last year due to shortages easing - expecting that to continue is unrealistic.

Yes I understand the demand for infinite growth, yes it is stupid. That said, I do think the console market is going to wither and die unless something changes. Archaic thinking will make that inevitable.
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People shifted from SP games to live service games.
The rise of fortnite and other f2P games took most of people's attention.
 
diffusionx

diffusionx

Gold Member
Despite what the "experts" say, this economy is absolutely terrible for most people, and a $500+ console is a lot more difficult to justify when your food costs are 30-50% more than they were two years ago. Especially if the games you play are still coming out on the console you already own
 
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DenchDeckard

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
trainwreck GIF
 
jm89

jm89

Member
It's a situation that's likely to continue until we have sight of new hardware or major game releases to help boost sales
Click to expand...
Or how about a price drop?

Especially the ps5 which got a very decent bump when it did go on discount, xbox didn't really see any decent boost.

If sony continue with the current price it will continue with big YOY drops.
 
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LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Do any of you here or anybody anywhere bother to think about where the world economy is at? It's like saying that a team that is injured and have to starters are out and couldn't beat another good team yet we still criticize them for the same level of thing in the soccer world. Is there any other rational people that see where the world is right now especially in the west and what's happening over inflation. I miss you some person that has managed to make more money and outpace inflation especially in the united states, how would you know the reasons for people tightening their belts.

There is analytical reasons such as xbox's demise, lack of games around this time of the year, and obviously Nintendo slowing down with it's successor incoming.

Can anybody have a rational take instead of looking for the hyperbole for people to argue and I guess we would have nothing to talk about other than you know the games itself, which is our main hobby which we should love.
 
kyussman

kyussman

Member
I certainly picked the right gen to sit it out.....it's been fucking awful,things are going to have to turn around big time for me to come back to gaming,I'm not getting any younger.
 
kruis

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
rm082e said:
PS5 is more expensive than when it launched, the Switch is ancient, and the Series consoles are a deserted waste land for exclusives.

In generations past, the PlayStation console would have gotten at least one price cut by now, maybe even two. If the PS5 were $299, it would likely have a bigger group of people to sell to. They've just tapped out the people who can/will pay the launch price for it.
Click to expand...

Consoles have become too expensive. During the PS1/PS2 days there were almost annual price cuts and both the PS1 and PS2 were ludicrously cheap during their final years on the market. At the same time there were tons of cheap rereleases of older games so even the most price conscious birthday present shoppers were tempted to get a games console.

But now prices are stagnant for years on end. How do Sony and co. think they can reach new markets when their console offerings are still too expensive for a part of the population?
 
rm082e

rm082e

Member
kruis said:
Consoles have become too expensive. During the PS1/PS2 days there were almost annual price cuts and both the PS1 and PS2 were ludicrously cheap during their final years on the market. At the same time there were tons of cheap rereleases of older games so even the most price conscious birthday present shoppers were tempted to get a games console.

But now prices are stagnant for years on end. How do Sony and co. think they can reach new markets when their console offerings are still too expensive for a part of the population?
Click to expand...

I don't think they expect to reach new markets with the current pricing. They're getting squeezed because the supply chain can't support those constantly falling materials prices. Essentially, they're just a middle-man in this game. If the cost to produce the hardware for them isn't going down, they can't cut the retail price.
 
midnightAI

midnightAI

Member
Mr Hyde said:
Is it confirmed or just rumored? I don't listen to anything Twitter leakers say.
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Rumoured from several sources now to be latter half of the month, 29th is my guess,they like to do these things on a Wednesday and last year it was May 24th (announced May 17th)
 
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XXL

XXL

Gold Member
Some more context, since they love to leave that out.

April 2023 UK
www.gamesindustry.biz

Special edition Zelda console boosts Nintendo Switch sales | UK Monthly Charts

It was a tough April for the UK PC and console games market, with sales down on games and hardware. Just under 111,000 …
www.gamesindustry.biz www.gamesindustry.biz

PS5 sales fell 35% over March, but is up 15% compared with April last year. Meawhile, Xbox Series S and X sales are down 32% over March, but up 8% over the same period the year before.

However, the big winner of the month was the Nintendo Switch, which was up 26% over March and 30% up over April 2022. This was mostly due to the new Zelda edition of the console, which was released right at the end of the month (and two weeks before the game), but it still managed to account for 29% of all Switch consoles sold last month.
Click to expand...
 
Mr Hyde

Mr Hyde

Member
Hudo said:
Any hope of a new Motorstorm, Wipeout or Resistance being announced?
Click to expand...

Not gonna happen with modern Sony. I want a new Infamous or Sly Raccoon or something creative like Puppeteer or Tearaway. Hell I'll settle for a new Uncharted. But knowing Sony it's gonna be more The Last of Us, Horizon and God of War, and even though I enjoy those franchises I'm kinda tired of them. Especially TLOU and the dark and moody atmosphere and serious tone. Motorstorm coming back would be awesome. Apocalypse was pretty cool. A new one with modern tech would be 👌
 
ShaiKhulud1989

ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
Dring spinning boring facts and selling them as some sort of alarmist revelations. Again.

Sigh, no wonder Elsevier dropped the whole gaming media shtick, including GI.biz.
 
feynoob

feynoob

Banned
GHG said:
To be fair, it's Dring drawing conclusions while failing to take in to account the context of previous year's along with the relative life cycles of the various consoles.
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Previous year happened because of covid, otherwise it would have been a shit year.
Too many studios delayed their games.
 
M

mayham2199

Member
With all the top live service games still being available on past gens this isn't surprising. Eventually those users will have to upgrade though. This might actually end up working out better for playstation. By the time those users decide to upgrade the Xbox brand will be so diminished that Xbox might lose all those players to playstation or PC. If those people were forced to upgrade early in the gen they might have stuck with Xbox before all the doom and gloom.
 
Lunarorbit

Lunarorbit

Gold Member
Are they horrible or is it just normal in this gens life cycle? Hyperbolic headlines are all the rage, man.

Could it be that xbox doesn't care about console sales, the ps5 has been out for years, and the switch is at the end of its life cycle. Hmmmmm. No. The industry is doomed.

Just like that Alanah pierce tweet. So much doom. This shit is cyclical and by forecasting doom constantly it becomes a self full filling prophecy
 
Mibu no ookami

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Chris Dring continues to bend the truth when he wants to. And it feeds the most annoying people

  • PS5 was still getting over demand issues in the UK this time last year
  • Hogwarts legacy was still selling in big numbers, helping to shift units
  • The PS4 at this time in the cycle had already received a price cut
  • The PS4 at this time in the cycle had already been boosted by the PS4 Pro
  • The PS4 did not experience a pandemic at this point in its life cycle
That Chris Dring adds contexts that sensationalizes but doesn't add context that informs, suggests that he is either a poor analyst or he has an agenda.

All of this is important in understanding whether the PS5 is ACTUALLY tracking behind the PS4.

He claims that this is a horrible year, but is it? The Switch is in natural decline it came out 7 years ago. How does this year compare to 2017? Oh wait, a succesful new Nintendo device came out that year?

It's important when comparing things that you explain why things are different. It's why we look at Month over Month and why we look at Year or Year.

If I provided a slide saying that YoY something was down 30% but didn't explain why, I'd hear about it. Chris Dring doesn't work for us, but you'd think in the capacity as a journalist, he'd be more forthcoming.
 
H-I-M

H-I-M

Member
PS5 had record high numbers in 2023 (due to the chip shortage ending), makes sense that it would decline and stabilize now.
The Switch is in its last year, a decline is to be expected.


Xbox had record low numbers in 2023 and is still dropping lower in 2024, which we obviously love to see.
5tzE.gif
 
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D

Darsxx82

Member
You have

_Consoles whose price is even higher than what they had at their launch.

_Price that was previously prohibitive for the casual player, now in the middle of a recession even more so.

_ Lack of big releases, general cuts in the industry, controversies, longer development times...

_ New generations less interested in consoles and with more platforms to play these types of games.

_ Players who only play the big GASS franchises (Fornite, COD, GTA, FIFA etc...) and can continue playing them from their PS4/XBO

That is to say, there are many conditions and reasons that can explain this situation. Personally, I think sales are better than I could expect under such conditions...

A general price reduction is necessary but that can be a big hit to the accounts as they accumulate losses. Surely PS5Pro can help boost PS5 sales, but the vast majority of those sales will be from hardcore people who are already PS5 users. The interest should also be in boosting sales of the original version and attracting new users and sell more software. Of course, XSeries needs much more than an official discount that it has been crying out for for a long time. Controversies, insecurity, no marketing... On the Nintendo side, I'm starting to think that Switch 2 is going to arrive late and in a different economic climate and that is going to affect it when it comes to trying to achieve the success of the Switch.
 
DenchDeckard

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Mibu no ookami said:
Chris Dring continues to bend the truth when he wants to. And it feeds the most annoying people

  • PS5 was still getting over demand issues in the UK this time last year
  • Hogwarts legacy was still selling in big numbers, helping to shift units
  • The PS4 at this time in the cycle had already received a price cut
  • The PS4 at this time in the cycle had already been boosted by the PS4 Pro
  • The PS4 did not experience a pandemic at this point in its life cycle
That Chris Dring adds contexts that sensationalizes but doesn't add context that informs, suggests that he is either a poor analyst or he has an agenda.

All of this is important in understanding whether the PS5 is ACTUALLY tracking behind the PS4.

He claims that this is a horrible year, but is it? The Switch is in natural decline it came out 7 years ago. How does this year compare to 2017? Oh wait, a succesful new Nintendo device came out that year?

It's important when comparing things that you explain why things are different. It's why we look at Month over Month and why we look at Year or Year.

If I provided a slide saying that YoY something was down 30% but didn't explain why, I'd hear about it. Chris Dring doesn't work for us, but you'd think in the capacity as a journalist, he'd be more forthcoming.
Click to expand...

While everything you say is true, it doesn't stop these suits from pushing the panic buttons. Budgets will be cut, studios will be closed down...We've got more of this ahead of us until the reset has occurred.
 
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