Support NeoGAF

[Dash_Riprock]

MS' biggest problem with exclusives IMO is that they're all in safe, supersaturated genres like shooters that have a TON of competition from 3rd parties. In the age of Call of Duty and Battlefield/Battlefront, Halo has become just another FPS.

 

[Shin-chan]

Bloodborne was near 400k iirc
DS3 is 504k

Sorry, I meant specifically the PS4 sales for Dark Souls 3, not total retail.

 

[Jarod McChicken]

Bloodborne was near 400k iirc
DS3 is 504k

So unless I'm totally dumb we have two possibilities.

1] Bloodborne actually sold more than DSIII PS4, even though the latter is the best launch of the series.

2] Bloodborne did not sell more than DSIII PS4, but in that case the Xbox One split gotta be really small.

I need that split, dammit :[

 

[Rymuth]

MS' biggest problem with exclusives IMO is that they're all in safe, supersaturated genres like shooters that have a TON of competition from 3rd parties. In the age of Call of Duty and Battlefront, Halo has become just another FPS.

That's pretty ironic, considering Phil Spencer said Halo is on the same level as Star Wars.

 

[Ghost Slayer]

That's pretty ironic, considering Phil Spencer said Halo is on the same level as Star Wars.

Did he smoke when he said this?

 

[IvanJ]

So unless I'm totally dumb we have two possibilities.

1] Bloodborne actually sold more than DSIII PS4, even though the latter is the best launch of the series.

2] Bloodborne did not sell more than DSIII PS4, but in that case the Xbox One split gotta be really small.

I need that split, dammit :[

I think it's 2)

OP says that Star Fox is #5 on individual charts.
Assuming that is correct, and knowing the combined Top 10 list, the only way it can play out is:
1. DS3 PS4
2. R&C
3. MLB PS4
4. QB XOne
5. Star Fox.

Since we know SF is about 100K, that means that DS3 XOne is below 100K, giving us 4:1 split in favor of PS4 version. And then the PS4 version is above Bloodborne.

Edit: (apparently Star Fox is #6, so forget all this)
Other knowledgeable members put it at 70:30

 

[StrongBlackVine]

Did he smoke when he said this?

I wanted to say something similar to that, but I held back.

 

[Nightengale]

That's pretty ironic, considering Phil Spencer said Halo is on the same level as Star Wars.

Did he smoke when he said this?

To be fair, he said he thinks the Halo brand can have the longevity of Star Wars.

It's not that hard.

Pac-Man & Donkey Kong are getting there.

 

[IvanJ]

To be fair, he said he thinks the Halo brand can have the longevity of Star Wars.

It's not that hard.

Pac-Man & Donkey Kong are getting there.

So he expects XBox and Halo to be around in 2040? That's very optimistic.

 

[Ghost Slayer]

To be fair, he said he thinks the Halo brand can have the longevity of Star Wars.

It's not that hard.

Pac-Man & Donkey Kong are getting there.

I see. Well, I don't think Halo will have the same longevity of Star Wars after Halo 5 performance.

 

[John Harker]

So unless I'm totally dumb we have two possibilities.

1] Bloodborne actually sold more than DSIII PS4, even though the latter is the best launch of the series.

2] Bloodborne did not sell more than DSIII PS4, but in that case the Xbox One split gotta be really small.

I need that split, dammit :[

Roughly 70% ps4.

Bloodborne sold slightly more on ps4, but I wouldn't really get hung up on it. Its total revenue that's most important in launch month.

 

[Fady K]

Roughly 70% ps4.

Wow, that's a crazy split.

 

[Loris146]

Roughly 70% ps4.

Bloodborne sold slightly more on ps4, but I wouldn't really get hung up on it. Its total revenue that's most important in launch month.

Thanks as usual John.

70% PS4 damn...

 

[Rymuth]

Roughly 70% ps4.

Thanks, so basically PAL charts continue to be a microcosm of the NPD.

71% of the game's launch week sales were on PS4, GFK says, with Xbox One managing just 26%.

 

[Ryng_tolu]

BloodBorne (PS4) - 389,000
Dark Souls 3 (PS4) - 353,000
Dark Souls 3 (XBO) - 151,000

 

[Ghost Slayer]

30% on X1 then what the heck stop X1 people buying QB?

 

[Black Mantis]

That's pretty ironic, considering Phil Spencer said Halo is on the same level as Star Wars.

Did he say that? Only comparison I recall him saying, was in regards to its longevity.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-can-last-as-long-as-star-wars-and-spider-man-/1100-6430819/

 

[Durante]

If you take that 70% number of 504k together with the SteamSpy estimates for DS3 for April (and the estimates for the US share of that) then the total split in the US for DS3 in April would be ~20% XB1, ~35% PC and ~45% PS4.

 

[score01]

I'd say it needs to do both. Can you imagine MS launching their version of a neo and having it 40% behind neo in graphics power? How do you think that would go down? It would be DOA.

ms need graphical parity at a minimum *in addition* to the ww appeal stuff. Launch a weak console and it has 0 chance of getting ww appeal.

Agreed, also with their use of the virtual machines Os I don't think they are going to be as tied to the current Xbone hardware as many people think they will be.

 

[prwxv3]

The writing was on the wall for DS3 sales split once it was revealed that DS2 ps4 outsold the X1 version even though Bloodborne came out just recently.

 

[Loris146]

If you take that 70% number of 504k together with the SteamSpy estimates for DS3 for April (and the estimates for the US share of that) then the total split in the US for DS3 in April would be ~20% XB1, ~35% PC and ~45% PS4.

You have to add digital sales for PS4 and XB1.. But yeah DS is a popular serie on PC too.

 

[Conduit]

3rd April for 360 (2008) - 188,000
3rd April for XB1 (2016) - 167,600 [-11%]

3rd April for PS3 (2009) - 127,000
PS3 2008 - 187,100
3rd April for PS4 (2016) - 174,800 [+38%] [-7%]

Thanks, man!

 

[AmaterasuOni]

30% on X1 then what the heck stop X1 people buying QB?

Xbox is now even stronger BF/CoD/sports/franchise-box (aka casual console) than before? No one is intrested in "exclusives" on that side of the fence anymore. All the core gamers have moved to PS4?

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

Xbox is now even stronger BF/CoD/sports/franchise-box (aka casual console) than before? No one is intrested in "exclusives" on that side of the fence anymore. All the core gamers have moved to PS4?

That's not true either, since all of those games perform better on PS4.

The XB1 doesn't have a "user base" any more. Exclusives, multiplatform. They sell to nobody.

And that's kind of sad.

 

[prwxv3]

That's not true either, since all of those games perform better on PS4.

The XB1 doesn't have a "user base" any more. Exclusives, multiplatform. They sell to nobody.

And that's kind of sad.

In the US some of these games performed better on X1 though most of the time only slightly. Though that is terrible for MS since they needed it to be a landslide like the 360 had to have any competition WW.

 

[ps3ud0]

Xbox is now even stronger BF/CoD/sports/franchise-box (aka casual console) than before? No one is intrested in "exclusives" on that side of the fence anymore. All the core gamers have moved to PS4?

Yeah Id hazard a guess that the XO market has very narrow tastes as thats how MS weaned them...

In the US some of these games performed better on X1 though most of the time only slightly. Though that is terrible for MS since they needed it to be a landslide like the 360 had to have any competition WW.

What were those? Maybe theres a pattern - I know FO4 was close in the US

ps3ud0 8)

 

[AmaterasuOni]

That's not true either, since all of those games perform better on PS4.

The XB1 doesn't have a "user base" any more. Exclusives, multiplatform. They sell to nobody.

And that's kind of sad.

Yeah, I'm beginning to think that all that MS has left is the Xbox brand believers, stock holders and fans. Others have jumped off that ship already.

Yeah Id hazard a guess that the XO market has very narrow tastes as thats how MS weaned them...

What were those? Maybe theres a pattern - I know FO4 was close in the US

ps3ud0 8)

Exactly this.

 

[Rymuth]

What were those? Maybe theres a pattern - I know FO4 was close in the US

Elder Scrolls Online, iirc. I remember because 'PS4 has FF14' meme was thrown around.

 

[Mpl90]

If you take that 70% number of 504k together with the SteamSpy estimates for DS3 for April (and the estimates for the US share of that) then the total split in the US for DS3 in April would be ~20% XB1, ~35% PC and ~45% PS4.

I should've expected such a one-sided situation, on the console front...but I wasn't expecting sales on Xbox One being that lower than on PC in US. I don't even want to see what's the situation between PC and One in Europe. The Souls brand is, indeed, strong on PC though. You know, we should start making more PS4/XBO/PC comparisons, it could be interesting.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

If you take that 70% number of 504k together with the SteamSpy estimates for DS3 for April (and the estimates for the US share of that) then the total split in the US for DS3 in April would be ~20% XB1, ~35% PC and ~45% PS4.

whats the numbers for PC?
Digital needs to be accounted for consoles.

 

[Saty]

If you take that 70% number of 504k together with the SteamSpy estimates for DS3 for April (and the estimates for the US share of that) then the total split in the US for DS3 in April would be ~20% XB1, ~35% PC and ~45% PS4.

Are you keeping the geographic data for each end of month? Because Steamspy only shows the geographic data for when you check it, which would up to May 13th so the comparison isn't quite accurate.

 

[CosmicQueso]

Nevermind.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

30% on X1 then what the heck stop X1 people buying QB?

It was the fearsome competition from Ratchet and Clank, I tell ya.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

Atleast in videos Qb doesn't look very interesting or appealing. like some other games.

Well more to do with the first 10 seconds of impressions. Keep people attention make them want it then go from thwre.

Qb and a game like Tearaway both suffer from this. Hell, even after the demo I still didn't like Tearaway but 20 percent in, it's really damn good..

If you can't get people impressed and into it then this is what you end up with unless the I initial impressions are earth shattering. ( halo 1, goldeneye momentum, rocket league.)

Even after skimming some of the it, I don't see why I need to rush out for Qb. I'll wait for it to be cheaper, max Payne was a different story though. Amazing game to play at the time.

 

[EGM1966]

MS' biggest problem with exclusives IMO is that they're all in safe, supersaturated genres like shooters that have a TON of competition from 3rd parties. In the age of Call of Duty and Battlefield/Battlefront, Halo has become just another FPS.

In some ways its an issue of MS own making. With 360 they really scored well with a narrow set of genres (not being derogatory but their was a reason 360 was referred to a shooter box early on before library expanded) and at the same time pushed a strategy that was more reliant on 3rd party titles and exclusive or timed DLC. This was always going to lead to strong third party market (something Sony clearly simply bowed to during last gen and embraced this gen) that would ultimately supplant MS themselves as prime provider to that narrow range. Without a broader palette of 1st party IP MS have found their own exclusives and identify lost in the mix. Right now 1st party should argubaly be about titles that are more diverse to provide appeal outside the big 3rd parties with a focus on pushing decent amount of new IP knowing some will work and some won't. Sony went with this while MS doubled down on safe current IP and found it less successful.

Wow, that's a crazy split.

That's the result of Bloodborne hitting first. It was a clever move that was bound to lure Souls fans to PS platform early on. Thus it was inevitable multi-platform Souls games would sell notably more on PS vs XB platform as the bulk of the fanbase had already gone that way to get their hands on BB while waiting for Souls.

 

[Mister Megative]

3rd April for 360 (2008) - 188,000
3rd April for XB1 (2016) - 167,600 [-11%]

3rd April for PS3 (2009) - 127,000
PS3 2008 - 187,100
3rd April for PS4 (2016) - 174,800 [+38%] [-7%]

Oh look, historical trends indicate there's nothing to be alarmed about. Imagine that

 

[PanicFreak]

To all the posters that think that Microsoft may leave the console business: I have a question for you all to ponder, why would they have turned down more than more than $100 million to sell Lionhead with the Fable IP in tow?

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-05-11-microsoft-refused-to-sell-fable-ip-report

 

[Jack The Nipper]

To all the posters that think that Microsoft may leave the console business: I have a question for you all to ponder, why would they have turned down more than more than $100 million to sell Lionhead with the Fable IP in tow?

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-05-11-microsoft-refused-to-sell-fable-ip-report

Can't work as third party and pc?


Halo on nx
Nx, ps4 and pc. Seems like third parties like this situation and do just fine as publishers only. If Microsoft can be moreikr Rockstar and try to gain the pc digital marketing as a when, then what stops them from having that idea anyways.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

MS' biggest problem with exclusives IMO is that they're all in safe, supersaturated genres like shooters that have a TON of competition from 3rd parties. In the age of Call of Duty and Battlefield/Battlefront, Halo has become just another FPS.

Pretty much nailed it on the head actually.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

Yeah, I agree with those saying MS should have taken full advantage of what was happening with the PS3 situation. That was the most vulnerable Sony has ever been (possibly ever will be) on the console front. MS was in the driver's seat at that point and while Sony definitely did everything they could to turn things around, MS was still in a relatively great position.

I think there was an opportunity for MS to build newer games that could have transferred over to this generation. They could have built notable relationships with other studios and what not to carry over to this generation.

Instead of that, it seems we are in a situation where their biggest IP are declining and their doesn't seem to be anything to take their place. Of course, a good deal of that has to do with them being considerably behind Sony in mindshare and numbers of consoles but I do think they could have been in a better situation had their foresight been sharper during the 360 era.

MS was zoned in on the now during that time (cashing in on motion control and riding off the success of their trifecta IP) rather than looking ahead and building even more regardless of whether Sony and PS made a comeback or not.

 

[astroturfing]

Can't believe something like DS eventually made it to somewhat-mainstream levels. Good for the industry.

well they made the game more mainstream. added voice chat (lol), more checkpoints (bonfires) etc.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Look at the date of the article. Phil Spencer made the statement about the Xbox having incremental upgrades before there were even mutterings of PS4K or Xbox 1.5

And you're being absolutely ridiculous. How is a substantial incremental upgrade an impossibility due to the architecture and specs of the Xbox One, when Microsoft is making a massive fucking push to blur the boundaries of Xbox and PC gaming? Ease of development across platforms is literally one of the pillars of their entire company moving forward. Everything they've been doing from an OS, SDK and API level has been about cross platform development.

Harson relax man I'm not trying to fight you here I'm just showing why Phils statement is incongruous with the facts of what is possible. None of us want Xbox to disappear but they are facing some massive challenges as they go forward. Like was already explained after you posted this if they don't want to fragment their existing Xbox One base with an iterative console then they are tied to that console architecture to a large degree just like Sony is with the rumored NEO. Thats why Phils statement that he wants a big jump is just not possible IF he wants to retain that current Xbox One market.

So what does MS do? If you are Nadella and your sitting in a meeting with Spenser how do you figure out where to go from here?

Do you:

1) Create a new incremental upgrade that will be outpaced by the competition because your tied to a weak architecture.

2) Create a brand new console meant to be scaleable from the get go but then you face the issue of the diminishing value of your IP's.

3) Invest in brand new studios to start creating future IP or

4) Spend that money on 3rd Party to develop for you a strategy they have done this generation that hasn't worked out well for them at all and historically only worked with EPIC.

5) Not go the console route and instead chase Steam and continue to evolve the UWP with exclusive content.

 

[LordRaptor]

It's actually #6.

???

"[By individual SKUs], Star Fox Zero for the Wii U was No. 5, while the Japanese role-playing game Bravely Second was No. 9. It’s worth noting that this is different from the NPD’s overall top 10, which combines platforms and things like special editions for a game’s sales."

From the OP which appears to be presenting this information as NPD PR from Callahan, based on the structure of the article

 

[MasterMongoose]

Still waiting on picking up Quantum Break, which is a shame because Remedy has never let me down but it just launched at a meh time for me. And now in May it's even harder for any of these other promising games like Doom to shine.

Why do publishers think it's good to stack up a month like this? I understand the end of year floods (holidays and all) but between May/June is there really any difference? I think Mirror's Edge is the only "big" June game and here we are with like 5 big May games.

May:

Uncharted, Doom, Homefront, Battleborn, Overwatch, Valkyria RE (which has more following now than before thanks to PC), TMNT, Dead Island DE

June:

Mirror's Edge, No Man's Sky (which I think will have legs like Minecraft and maybe not initial huge sales), Kirby, Mighty No. 9

One list is much more stacked with things an average Joe will spend money on than the other. Let alone July which is a barren wasteland and then August which has Deus Ex and WoW.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

Still waiting on picking up Quantum Break, which is a shame because Remedy has never let me down but it just launched at a meh time for me. And now in May it's even harder for any of these other promising games like Doom to shine.

Why do publishers think it's good to stack up a month like this? I understand the end of year floods (holidays and all) but between May/June is there really any difference? I think Mirror's Edge is the only "big" June game and here we are with like 5 big May games.

May:

Uncharted, Doom, Homefront, Battleborn, Overwatch, Valkyria RE (which has more following now than before thanks to PC), TMNT, Dead Island DE

June:

Mirror's Edge, No Man's Sky (which I think will have legs like Minecraft and maybe not initial huge sales), Kirby, Mighty No. 9

One list is much more stacked with things an average Joe will spend money on than the other. Let alone July which is a barren wasteland and then August which has Deus Ex and WoW.

If you are an RPG fan you're screwed in June lol.

 

[Humdinger]

I'm starting to feel sorry for MS. One big-budget AAA exclusive after another just keeps falling flat. Some of them have been really good games (Tomb Raider) or by studios I've loved in the past (Remedy), so it's kind of sad to watch. Phil Spencer is doing all he can, I suppose, but the brand just doesn't seem to be getting any traction.

 

[W.S.]

Yea going forward you have to wonder what MS will do as far as investing in New IP and even their existing properties. I would assume Halo and Gears will make them lots of money simply because of the business model they've built around that.

But them cancelling that Fable game that was close to completion it's just going to be interesting to see what they do. The TR deal didn't mean much to them after a while.

I mean I love that the Xbox is getting games like QB, Scalebound, ReCore etc. I look forward to picking up and playing all of them, but their audience just doesn't seem to gravitate towards those titles.

There's certainly an audience for them since I'm among them. It's just that the audience that do support these types of games may not be enough to elevate these games into bigger successes.

I fully support newer IP's provided they're interesting and are legitimately good games, especially when it comes to MS since I want them to branch out. Anyway, these NPD numbers are always interesting in terms of ranking of physical media but as always they're only a part of the overall sales story if we were to take into account digital.

Quantum Break should've had a co-op/multiplayer mode. A single player only game is basically a relic of pre 8th gen, especially for the multiplayer centric player base of Xbox, and almost 3 years into the gen is pretty late for this type of release.

Most Xbox games have multiplayer components so it's okay to occasionally have a game that doesn't have one, especially considering the fact that QB is meant to be story driven.

Unless they made Beth Wilder playable and given her time powers I don't really see how they could have added a multiplayer mode without it feeling extremely tacked on and lame. It would have basically been a Tomb Raider situation and I'd rather have no multiplayer than bad multiplayer.

 

[justsomeguy]

Yeah, I'm beginning to think that all that MS has left is the Xbox brand believers, stock holders and fans.

That's kind of a weird argument. The only people who like xbox are the ones who like xbox?

Or have I misunderstood.

 

[RexNovis]

I'm never buying another Ubisoft game unless they put out another linear splinter cell. feels good man

Nah you'll cave after E3. They've already said they'll be revealing a new IP (rumors are it takes place in the future which is pretty new ground for Ubisoft these days) this year and we know we will see more For Honor too.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

I'm interested in For Honor.