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[Heisenberg007]

Maybe you are right and this idea blows my mind. Why? I enjoy my series x with a huge backlog and I don't understand why few gamers out there don't feel the same.
It's not a console war argument. There are good games in every system on the shelves.
From my pov as Xbox user (and switch too) there are a lot of games, it's not a problem for me if they aren't AAAAA….
Pentiment, Immortality, Hi-Fi rush, AoE2 HD and all the stuff on gamepass (Persona, return to Monkey Island and more) fills my days and enlarges my backlog (I still have to play Deathloop).
And next months will arrive Forza Motorsport (AAA), Redfall (AAA?), WOLONG(AAA) day1 gamepass…Starfield!
What is wrong with gamers around the world ?? They all wanna play only Harry Potter and be sheep in the flock?
Xbox doesn't deserve this poor numbers. No way.

My two cents.

I think there are always more games that a gamer can play. Just look at the number of games that release every week. But you see, you don't buy/play most of those games. You buy/play the ones that you're really hyped for.

For instance, I have over 200+ games in my backlog right now. Out of those 200, there are 50+ games that I think I want to play. But when God of War Ragnarok releases, I pre-ordered it because I could not wait. I had to play it as soon as I could. When Harry Potter released, I was there day one.

My backlog could wait.

The same will happen when Final Fantasy XVI, Horizon Burning Shores, and Spider-Man 2 will release.

So, at least for me, it is not just the number of available games. It is the number of must-play games. Xbox kind of lacks in that area of "must-play games" -- especially for the larger market.

 

[Heisenberg007]

NPD game sales are based on revenue.

Oh yes. Thank you!

 

[Three]

is not premium

Premium just means for sale as a complete game and not f2p dlc. Those steam/xbox sales just weren't high enough.

 

[Varteras]

MS are chasing the wrong crowd. This is another repeat of last gen, in fact they probably sold less units launch aligned.

Let's just blame this on Don again shall we?

You just don't understand. Don Mattrick, for the last 9 years, has been sneaking into Microsoft HQ disguised as Phil Spencer. Shredding documents. Pulling plugs. Canceling orders. Making prank calls to potential partners. He's a crafty bastard and cannot be stopped. Xbox will rue the day they fired him almost a decade ago.

 

[SEGA_2012]

Why?

They put themselves in this position, I don't understand the pity.

Sad because i like XBOX and i believe competition is important to the industry. I don't wanna see MS leaving the Gaming Industry.

 

[Ar¢tos]

constraints with stock?

Not in EU, at least. I asked, out of curiosity, 3 weeks ago about stock of next-gen consoles in a big retailer here in Portugal and they told me, while ps5 stock was higher, it wasn't enough to have them in stores, it was only readily available via their online shop, Xbox he said they had stock but it simply wasn't moving much (but it also doesn't help that it wasn't in display at the store, if someone wants one, they have to ask an employee and he will get it from the warehouse, and people aren't psychic to predict that).

Edit: 0_o Hey, where is GTA5 in that chart??????

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Premium just means for sale as a complete game and not f2p dlc. Those steam/xbox sales just weren't high enough.

I thought it meant full prce.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Fully agree. 2023 will be Xbox's most important year since 2009!

Sony just needs to release spiderman 2 one or two days before whatever the biggest game MS has to come for the year. That alone would suck the life out of their year.

 

[Imtjnotu]

and some of yall in here still think Games dont sell consoles......

AAA titles from first parties are what sell consoles....

 

[solidus12]

But Pachter told me Playstation is doomed, so yea, Xbox won!

Always expect the opposite of what this clown says, but you already know that

 

[OmegaSupreme]

and some of yall in here still think Games dont sell consoles......

AAA titles from first parties are what sell consoles....

I really wonder if gamepass's importance is overstated on the internet. According to MS's own words it's plateaued and less than 50 percent of Xbox console owners have it. If it really is the future for them, they're going to need a lot more time and money investment.

 

[solidus12]

Sad because i like XBOX and i believe competition is important to the industry. I don't wanna see MS leaving the Gaming Industry.

I understand, but Xbox's definition of competition is buying the industry, and that's unacceptable. You can't just go buy third party publishers left and right.

 

[JaksGhost]

When folks say its hard to find an xbox series x in the states, they're not even trying.

 

[Kilau]

One is first and had its best January month.

The other one is last and declined so hard that it brought hardware sales in general down, despite the Switch and PS5 being up.

So?…?

 

[OmegaSupreme]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNWDC18R/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Series x right now on amazon. They're out there.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Sony just needs to release spiderman 2 one or two days before whatever the biggest game MS has to come for the year. That alone would suck the life out of their year.

That's what they are saving the gameplay reveal for.

Those who would be on the fence, amidst the Starfield launch day hype, thinking that they should probably get an Xbox over PS5 to play Starfield, will be shown the Spider-Man 2 gameplay trailer to remind them of what they'd be missing.

 

[JaksGhost]

I saw my first one in the wild on Friday at Walmart, so stock on the Series X has somewhat improved in my city.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I understand, but Xbox's definition of competition is buying the industry, and that's unacceptable. You can't just go buy third party publishers left and right.

Imagine a world without Xbox. lol

Sony would close half of their studios and the other half would half-ass their games.

Nobody wants to Xbox to close, they just want MS to play fair and to get where they want to be via hard work instead of using shortcuts just because they have gazillions of money.

 

[mckmas8808]

no games no sales

Basically this.

The million-dollar question: how? They have nothing big on the horizon to change the market perception.

I can't put myself in Phil's shoes at the moment; he really has a tough job to do. I'd have 0 ideas of what to do at this point if I were him.

Care more about AAA content. Plus not even partnering with a VR headset was stupid too. Everything MS makes for Xbox works on PC. So why can't a PC headset just work on the Xbox Series X?

I do wonder how Microsoft is planning to address the issue with sales of consoles. They clearly gave up on Series X sales and their main idea seems to try to sell Series S.

Without much promotions and with big marketing campaign for third party games like HP by Playstation, it will bring more people to PS ecosystem and they are much less likely to switch (I guess that's the reason of their push for cheaper Series S). And it is very hard to switch ecosystems (especially after generation of investments in it). And that's without rumored diskless PS5 that will be (or probably not) cheaper than Series X.

It's scary to think that MS might have given up on the Xbox Series X and is pushing\making more Series S sells. It's scary because their biggest games this year need to be played on a beefy PC or the XSX. The Series S will not do Starfield and Forza 8 justice.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Imagine a world without Xbox. lol

Sony would close half of their studios and the other half would half-ass their games.

Nobody wants to Xbox to close, they just want MS to play fair and to get where they want to be via hard work instead of using shortcuts just because they have gazillions of money.

I doubt that happens though. These games are selling over 20-million copies and making Sony almost a billion dollar per franchise. They would not shut them down, because Sony would be killing their revenue, growth, profitability, and executive bonuses.

 

[SneakersSO]

Spiderman is really big IP? I think Hogwarts legacy might also have big legs.

I do wonder how Microsoft is planning to address the issue with sales of consoles. They clearly gave up on Series X sales and their main idea seems to try to sell Series S.

Without much promotions and with big marketing campaign for third party games like HP by Playstation, it will bring more people to PS ecosystem and they are much less likely to switch (I guess that's the reason of their push for cheaper Series S). And it is very hard to switch ecosystems (especially after generation of investments in it). And that's without rumored diskless PS5 that will be (or probably not) cheaper than Series X.

MS focusing on XSS production is more a result of them focusing on the device whose demand they can measure and is moving. They were fully aware that there was a hard demand ceiling on the XSX. Limiting its production is exactly what they should be doing in light of it. Heck, they lose somewhere around $100-$200 per unit produced - having excess stock depreciating is literally the worst thing MS could do. Phil learned this lesson with all of the fucking stock losses he had to eat on unsold X1X's.

 

[solidus12]

Imagine a world without Xbox. lol

Sony would close half of their studios and the other half would half-ass their games.

Nobody wants to Xbox to close, they just want MS to play fair and to get where they want to be via hard work instead of using shortcuts just because they have gazillions of money.

That's what I'm talking about. Buying their way to "victory" hasn't worked out for them.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Imagine a world without Xbox. lol

That's really easy if you're over 25. It flourished without them in the past and would have no problems without them in the future.

 

[Ar¢tos]

That's really easy if you're over 25. It flourished without them in the past and would have no problems without them in the future.

I remember, but things were different then, games were much simpler before 3d happened.
I think Xbox showing up was a good thing for Sony, that and the initial failure of the ps3. We wouldn't have the amount of 1st party games we have now from them without those two things.

 

[sainraja]

I think coming to any conclusions right now is a bit silly. ABK is still pending, but MS did acquire a publisher and some studios before that, so the results of those are still pending. They have Game Pass as a differentiator, but the promise of first-party day one only has meaning when you have a ton of first-party games that you are pushing out. It is also a silly thing to promise (given what they are known for right now is Halo, Forza and Gears) but it does look good on the marketing sheet for Xbox, and it definitely should when the fruits of labor from their previous purchases start to show. It made sense why they got studios like Ninja Theory and even the Bethesda purchase made some sense but going after ABK shows to me that they are trying to force their way and buy success over actually working at it. That's just my take on the series of events that have happened but I still say that it is too early to say anything about Xbox's future since the work for that was recently put in. It is basically a wait and see game.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Sony without an MS would literally be the worst....I dont honestly think people would want Sony to be the only choice out there and if they do, holy fuck we are doomed.

MS just need to get good games out, theyve got the best hardware theyve ever had, the best services and the best studio portfolio theyve ever had. 2023 needs to be a complete game changer of a year.

 

[Topher]

A world without Xbox?

 

[jm89]

Yeah jim got it right

One thing that can be said is that if you look at the history of the game business, creating a special low priced, reduced spec console is something that has not had great results in the past. We've considered that option and seen other executives who have attempted this discover how problematic it is

https://www.videogameschronicle.com...-not-had-great-results-says-playstation-boss/

Although in the UK series s has actually helped keep up with the switch and ps5, as chris dring said the gap for the last few months was very small between them, not sure about the total gap though.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Care more about AAA content. Plus not even partnering with a VR headset was stupid too. Everything MS makes for Xbox works on PC. So why can't a PC headset just work on the Xbox Series X?

Because games on Xbox are sold on Xbox store, not Steam or another shop.
VR headsets are sold at loss or minimal profit, when a player no longer buys their game on your store to play on your headset, you gain ZERO from it, might even lose money.
No VR manufacturer will ever agree to making their headset work on Xbox unless Xbox pays them in full their share of games other developers made.

 

[SneakersSO]

I remember, but things were different then, games were much simpler before 3d happened.
I think Xbox showing up was a good thing for Sony, that and the initial failure of the ps3. We wouldn't have the amount of 1st party games we have now from them without those two things.

Yeah, sorry, but your take is wrong.

Part of what enabled Sony's current first party strategy is a combination of Sony delivering experiences that 3rd parties were more than happy to abandon in favor of chasing the big money making MP trend that was currently setting the gaming fiscal world on fire. Sony merely adopted Nintendo's strategy towards software support enabling platform adoption. MS didn't cause any of that to happen. In fact, this is precisely how the 360 was operating until Spencer took over control of their publishing slate in 2008.

MS' presence in the market right now, outside of consolidation, is not something Sony is or needs to react to. The biggest things Sony makes money on SW sales (1st & 3rd party) and sub service revenue, two things MS have basically given up hope on. And even with all that said - MS is basically never going to leave gaming. They are just going to make the HW optional and begin publishing their SW on any platform that can have it.

 

[Benniewise de Clown]

Well, Spencer said the Xbox brand is becoming irrelevant.

But that's fanboy talk, so what does he know, aye?

 

[jm89]

A world without Xbox?

Yeah agreed. Even though i really don't like what the xbox/ms leadership are doing with acquisitions, losing xbox gives a one way ticket for sony to run a train on our asses

Maybe another competitor could enter the console market, but who even has the appetite for it?

And nintendo kinda doing their own thing.

 

[TheGodfather07]

Xbox on the decline this early is a very bad sign. Its been consecutive months now too. Looks like microsofts subscription push isn't working out and may have even caused further harm to the brand. Now hardware and software is down. I think Microsoft banked way too hard on gamepass. They should have found a middle ground instead of going all in so quickly.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Wait…if the market is down yoy but both PS5 and Switch are up yoy how much did both Series sell in January?

Jesus christ…

I'm starting to believe the theory that a lot of people were buying Series consoles because they couldn't find a PS5. Now they walk in every store and seeing a PS5, that's what they choose.

And this is on Xbox home country.

This will be a fun year…

 

[Unknown?]

Sad because i like XBOX and i believe competition is important to the industry. I don't wanna see MS leaving the Gaming Industry.

Why if a better competitor comes in?

 

[suspicious mind]

Why compare console sales? Every xbox release has day and date release on pc.
My friendlist is full of people playing pc nowadays.

 

[Benniewise de Clown]

wonder how big the gap is.....People are obviously certain that it is huge , going by the posts in here

33+M PS5 vs >20M Series S/X

 

[Unknown?]

Sony without an MS would literally be the worst....I dont honestly think people would want Sony to be the only choice out there and if they do, holy fuck we are doomed.

MS just need to get good games out, theyve got the best hardware theyve ever had, the best services and the best studio portfolio theyve ever had. 2023 needs to be a complete game changer of a year.

Are you forgetting Nintendo? I don't want them to be the only ones but I'd rather a better company enter the market that can compete without consolidating the industry.

 

[SneakersSO]

Wait…if the market is down yoy but both PS5 and Switch are up yoy how much did both Series sell in January?

Jesus christ…

I'm starting to believe the theory that a lot of people were buying Series consoles because they couldn't find a PS5. Now they walk in every store and seeing a PS5, that's what they choose.

And this is on Xbox home country.

This will be a fun year…

Looking forward to the inevitable announcement that Bethesda's upcoming slate is now releasing on PS. Gonna be a fun one on the internet when that comes out.

 

[Ezekiel_]

The million-dollar question: how? They have nothing big on the horizon to change the market perception.

I can't put myself in Phil's shoes at the moment; he really has a tough job to do. I'd have 0 ideas of what to do at this point if I were him.

Become a successful third party publisher?

 

[reinking]

Xbox will be fine when they start focusing on what makes a console a console. Their most successful years come from focusing on games and user experience not services. Game Pass is great but it needs to be a supporting service and not the focus. I hope they are adjusting to that and bring the focus back to game development for the console (and PC) instead of trying to feed Game Pass. Game Pass will work itself out naturally with console (and PC) growth. I believe XB has great ideas but they try to force them too quickly.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Why compare console sales? Every xbox release has day and date release on pc.
My friendlist is full of people playing pc nowadays.

Because PC is not Xbox.

It makes sense to compare the two under-the-TV consoles and their sales.

 

[SLB1904]

I really wonder if gamepass's importance is overstated on the internet. According to MS's own words it's plateaued and less than 50 percent of Xbox console owners have it. If it really is the future for them, they're going to need a lot more time and money investment.

People underestimating recurrent charges on your bank account when you already have dozens of direct debits

 

[Ar¢tos]

Become a successful third party publisher?

Worked for Sega. (Well.. Kinda)

 

[onQ123]

Why compare console sales? Every xbox release has day and date release on pc.
My friendlist is full of people playing pc nowadays.

You ask this in a NPD sales thread? Your mind is suspicious for sure

 

[suspicious mind]

I dont think it does as xbox has no console exclusives anymore. So its not a fair comparison in my book. I came back to xbox with the realease of the one x and i was amazed how 70% pct of my friends from the 360 era are now on pc. I know its anecdotal but still....

 

[Ronin_7]

Become a successful third party publisher?

This is probably their maintenance goal once they can put Gamepass everywhere.

No reason to limit people who access games.

 

[El Pistolero]

Still time to correct course for MS, but they screwed up by not capitalizing on the two first years, when the insane shortages put a dent on Sony's plans to outsell the PS4 by a healthy margin. The next 12 months will, I think, decide the fate of this generation for both players.

 

[suspicious mind]

Well yes mr genius where else do i have to post this ? The hogwarts thread?

 

[PropellerEar]

Imagine a world without Xbox. lol