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[QaaQer]

I don't think it was Destiny, really. All their launch games were already heavy into microtransactions where remotely possible.

It just seems like they are finding the pot of gold with wheelspins (racing games) and card packs (everything else).

Hard to tell how, if at all, something like Rise of the Tomb Raider was actually influenced by this or if it was more of a Square Enix thing, though. Seems like a big coincidence.

There are rng cards/wheelspins in tomb raider? Ewwww.

 

[Giriath_89]

I'm tired and thought I clicked the NPD thread. I read an entire page, my horror growing with every post, before I realized it was the Halo 5 digital thread.

 

[Sydle]

This is all news to me. I dont remember reading about any of this being stated before. Can you post a source for this? I mean yea that certainly clarifies a few things but I'd like some confirmation before I take it as gospel.

Sure. Forgive me for posting all the bits and pieces, but like I mentioned earlier they haven't really delivered the strategy in one clear announcement or anything. Hopefully that comes when they're ready to push their supposed vision with something to actually show for it.

We will pursue our gaming ambition as part of this broader vision for Windows and increase its appeal to consumers. We will bring together Xbox Live and our first-party gaming efforts across PC, console, mobile and new categories like HoloLens into one integrated play.

Microsoft Puts Windows and Games as the Centre of Its Strategy

Our goal in gaming at Microsoft is to allow people to play games wherever they are and we understand people love to play games on television. And console with its capability around instant on, its robustness as a consumer electronics device, and the role it plays in the household with the big 60" plasma on the wall allowing to play hi-fidelity games with a ton of people in the room is pretty important to millions and millions of people and I think this generation of consoles is showing that.

At the same time we know that there are billions of people that play games across all devices and today the worlds are segmented. You don't have linkage really between the different places where your customers are playing their games, so as we've made this evolution with Windows and as we've thought about our vision for gaming the thing you should keep in your head is I think about our customers as customers on Xbox Live. And I think about those customers moving from screen to screen to screen and what we want to bring to those people is an understanding that the games you own are the games you own and you're able to play those games on any device that you want to play them. You're able to bring your social network of friends together. You want to use the input that you want to use to play the game you want to play. If you want to play on your laptop, if you want to play on your desktop, or if you want to play on your television, if you want to play on your phone, it's a world we want to enable across all Windows 10 devices, including the Xbox.

From his "The Future of Gaming Across the Microsoft Ecosystem" session at GDC in March this year. Link

"In the case of things like Scalebound or Crackdown or Quantum Break, you know, just to be completely honest with you, we started those games before we really looked at expanding into Windows in the way that I wanted to bring as part of becoming head of Xbox.

"Going to those teams mid-cycle and saying: ‘Hey, by the way, I want to add a platform,’ didn’t really feel like necessarily the best way to end up with the best result for the game. They had a path that they were on. It’s not to say those games could never come to Windows, but right now we’re on the path to finish the great games that they’ve started, and I want that to be the case. These games are on a path, whereas with, like, Halo Wars 2 I had the opportunity from the beginning, when we’re sitting down with the studio, to say, ‘Here’s the target. Here’s what we wanna go do.’

Why Scalebound, Crackdown 3, and Quantum Break aren't Coming to PC

There was also a very recent (like last 6 weeks) Tweet by an Xbox rep (maybe the UK one?) said the long-term goal was to have all Xbox games release on Xbox and PC, but I am having a hard time finding it. I'll keep looking, but it's essentially just saying what's already been said by Satya and Spencer outlined in the quotes in the above. He could have just been repeating what they said in response to a question on Twitter.

That is an excellent point. I think you might be right on that. I guess I just assumed Xbox would be synonymous with games in general for them. Do you have any info where Xbox is listed as a supporting function under the existing windows pillar as opposed to a function of their efforts towards universal compatibility?

Yes

I just think about three things. There are a few other efforts we do, and I’ve been very clear about those efforts and why they exist and why we are proud of them. But, there are three products in all of this. There is Windows, there is Office 365, and there is Azure. That’s it. Everything else to me is, of course, you can call them features, you can call them parts of that...

Microsoft CEO Breaks Down the New Soul of His Company

Finally, we will build the best instantiation of this vision through our Windows device platform and our devices, which will serve to delight our customers, increase distribution of our services, drive gross margin, enable fundamentally new product categories, and generate opportunity for the Windows ecosystem more broadly. We will pursue our gaming ambition as part of this broader vision for Windows and increase its appeal to consumers. We will bring together Xbox Live and our first-party gaming efforts across PC, console, mobile and new categories like HoloLens into one integrated play.

Satya reveals new mission statement

The More Personal Computing segment includes results from licensing of the Windows operating system, devices such as Surface and phones, gaming including Xbox consoles, and search.

Microsoft splits financial results into 3 new operating groups, in line with Satya Nadella’s vision

I'll spare you more quotes and links, because these are interesting side notes. Spencer reports to Terry Myerson, EVP of the OS Group, ever since he became Head of Xbox. Additionally, Xbox hardware is now in the same group that is in charge of Surface and Lumia.

The problem with cloud gaming has always been the infrastructure. That's not a problem I see being solved anytime soon so I really doubt the concerted push for cloud supported gaming will happen anytime in the near future.

Agreed.

I think Killer Instinct was a test to see how the market would respond. I'm not sure how successful that was and since the goal is universal coverage I think future free to play efforts hinge largely on the success of the model on their console audience. Does anyone have any data on how profitable Killer Instinct has been for MS? I agree Fable Legends looks to me to be their next testing ground for the FTP model. I don't think there has been any indication that Sea of Thieves will be FTP yet. I think the Halo Online game was just an effort to gain ground in very FTP and PC dominated markets more so than a test for FTP with the Halo brand. I also think it was shut down if I remember correctly. If anything I would say this

They said they were happy with KI, which is why Season 2 happened (they said it was entirely dependent on how successful season 1 was) and now we have Season 3 on the way. Of course, they don't share financial info on it.

I think their captive console audience will be their most lucrative in the short term, but based on what Nadella wants in terms of more gaming engagement on Windows in terms of mobile gaming it will be interesting to see how they try to win more users across screens. If all Phil does is stick with what's easy on the console I don't think Nadella would keep him around, not when there are a number of companies finding successful models on PC, mobile, and consoles.

 

[Ryng_tolu]

I wanna the November NPD predictions thread... only 4/5 days to go.

 

[CosmicQueso]

Nightengale updated his scenarios, added a 7:3 look. This is what I'm going with for the hot topic of the week.

 

[RexNovis]

Cosmic seems to be dropping some hints in the Halo 5 digital thread that the digital ratio might be in the neighborhood of 30% which make it pretty high given the industry average of ~20%. I was thinking it would be somewhere around 25% personally. Hard to believe MS wouldnt find some way to brag about a digital ratio that high. Even with 30% though it obviously isnt anywhere close to offsetting the retail sales decline.

Edit: LOL just saw your post directly above mine Cosmic. So yea looks like you're thinking around 30% then I guess.

 

[Welfare]

Cosmic seems to be dropping some hints in the Halo 5 digital thread that the digital ratio might be in the neighborhood of 30% which make it pretty high given the industry average of ~20%. I was thinking it would be somewhere around 25% personally. Hard to believe MS wouldnt find some way to brag about a digital ratio that high. Even with 30% though it obviously isnt anywhere close to offsetting the retail sales decline.

Edit: LOL just saw your post directly above mine Cosmic. So yea looks like you're thinking around 30% then I guess.

70:30 ratio makes sense for the first week (most sensible option), but it falling afterwards still lines up with what the Gamestop CEO said.

Also, would ~30% digital be a good enough statistic to brag about in the PR? Still on the lower side. ~40% would be something to bring up.

 

[Kill3r7]

Well if nothing else Halo 5 has certainly kept us entertained for a while.

 

[Elandyll]

Cosmic seems to be dropping some hints in the Halo 5 digital thread that the digital ratio might be in the neighborhood of 30% which make it pretty high given the industry average of ~20%. I was thinking it would be somewhere around 25% personally. Hard to believe MS wouldnt find some way to brag about a digital ratio that high. Even with 30% though it obviously isnt anywhere close to offsetting the retail sales decline.

Edit: LOL just saw your post directly above mine Cosmic. So yea looks like you're thinking around 30% then I guess.

30% for the first few days is relatively reasonable, and has been reported before on some AAA If memory serves. You have the pre-orders with pre-load who want to play the second servers open, and the people attracted by the convenience.

But once the launch window is done, logically, this number would fall back to around 20% imo.

 

[RexNovis]

70:30 ratio makes sense for the first week (most sensible option), but it falling afterwards still lines up with what the Gamestop CEO said.

Also, would ~30% digital be a good enough statistic to brag about in the PR? Still on the lower side. ~40% would be something to bring up.

30% for the first few days is relatively reasonable, and has been reported before on some AAA If memory serves. You have the pre-orders with pre-load who want to play the second servers open, and the people attracted by the convenience.

But once the launch window is done, logically, this number would fall back to around 20% imo.

Ahh yea ok that makes sense. but given Nightengales methods for his table I doubt it was even that high for launch

Well, there's a few factors in my calculation of the overall picture:

- personally I think my numbers are conservative, looking at how aggressive MS is willing to be with big titles that they're very confident in. Like I said, I put 1.3 for US+ Canada, but my own gut feel is 1.5 for US alone. Of course, I can't justify that since it's tales from the arse.

- my numbers don't account for higher revenue contributions from Europe, where the exchange rate increases the overall revenue per SKU.

Personally I think 22-25% in the launch week is where I'd peg it.

I agree with his personal estimation of 22-25%.

 

[CosmicQueso]

30% for the first few days is relatively reasonable, and has been reported before on some AAA If memory serves. You have the pre-orders with pre-load who want to play the second servers open, and the people attracted by the convenience.

But once the launch window is done, logically, this number would fall back to around 20% imo.

Agreed.

Would not be the first time a title got .3 in week 1 btw. But would not be surprised if x>.3. Also would not be surprised to see some numbers pop up tomorrow o_0

Or not. What do I know.

 

[Welfare]

Agreed.

Would not be the first time a title got .3 in week 1 btw. But would not be surprised if x>.3. Also would not be surprised to see some numbers pop up tomorrow o_0

What's tomorrow?

Edit: What do you know?!

 

[Blanquito]

IIIIIINNNNNNteresting.

Or something.

 

[Regiruler]

If I was a betting man I'd say lifetime H5 won't even break lifetime splatoon 2:1.

 

[noshten]

If I was a betting man I'd say lifetime H5 won't even break lifetime splatoon 2:1.

I feel it's going to be a lot closer than 2:1
Do you think Halo is going to do over 8 million life time and this is based on a conservative Splatoon estimate doing minimum of 4 million lifetime(if you are talking WW Sales).
In the US 2:1 is somewhat more realistic, but I don't know how much legs Halo will have

 

[RexNovis]

Agreed.

Would not be the first time a title got .3 in week 1 btw. But would not be surprised if x>.3.

Fair enough. But

Also would not be surprised to see some numbers pop up tomorrow o_0

Or not. What do I know.

???
What's happening tomorrow?

 

[Primethius]

Maybe Battlefront related PR?

 

[lightning2k3]

Things just got interesting...

 

[Neuromancer]

Maybe Battlefront related PR?

I thought CQ was talking about the Halo.

 

[RexNovis]

Maybe Battlefront related PR?

I mean it was mentioned in conjunction with talk of Halo digital splits so logically one would assume it was also in reference to Halo but maybe not.

 

[Obliterator]

Maybe Battlefront related PR?

I'm guessing he means this, it would be a full week of Battlefront sales today, so they may be dropping PR tomorrow.

 

[Steverulez]

Agreed.

Would not be the first time a title got .3 in week 1 btw. But would not be surprised if x>.3. Also would not be surprised to see some numbers pop up tomorrow o_0

Or not. What do I know.

Wouldn't you expect that number to tilt towards digital having a larger share of overall sales once you go further down the line? EA said something about that iirc didn't they? (or someone did I thought) Obviously the price is going down in that instance although a sale is a sale generally to me.

Perhaps MS will put it on sale early in the new year or something

 

[Primethius]

I mean it was mentioned in conjunction with talk of Halo digital splits so logically one would assume it was also in reference to Halo but maybe not.

Oh yea, doh. I don't know how I got disconnected from the two so quickly there.

 

[Welfare]

Wouldn't you expect that number to tilt towards digital having a larger share of overall sales once you go further down the line? EA said something about that iirc didn't they? (or someone did I thought) Obviously the price is going down in that instance although a sale is a sale generally to me.

Perhaps MS will put it on sale early in the new year or something

Physical prices drop much faster than digital so I wouldn't expect digital to gain a larger ratio down the road. Digital launches will probably get a bigger share thanks to preloading, but still the price drops will favor retail more.

 

[hawk2025]

Wouldn't you expect that number to tilt towards digital having a larger share of overall sales once you go further down the line? EA said something about that iirc didn't they? (or someone did I thought) Obviously the price is going down in that instance although a sale is a sale generally to me.

Perhaps MS will put it on sale early in the new year or something

I really don't think so, I'd love to see that EA quote.

I think digital is largely more invested, day one buyers at a high price, while physical soaks up the rest of the market -- especially since retail prices drop much faster than digital sales catch up on consoles.

I'd suspect that casual players are a disproportionately larger share of physical buyers, and naturally also a disproportionately larger share of people that don't buy on the first week. That would all lead to a decreasing digital share over time.

 

[lightning2k3]

Do console bundled digital download codes count toward the digital % during launch? That could skew the numbers significantly.

 

[hawk2025]

Do console bundled digital download codes count toward the digital % during launch? That could skew the numbers significantly.

hhmmmm.

That might help explain this being the Xbox Store's largest digital launch ever. Even if the typical non-bundle split is close to 20%, that would certainly push it close or even significantly past 30% since the physical sales were so low. I assume everyone here has discussed this scenario to death already?

 

[RexNovis]

I'm guessing he means this, it would be a full week of Battlefront sales today, so they may be dropping PR tomorrow.

Oh yea, doh. I don't know how I got disconnected from the two so quickly there.

Well either way....

Spoiler

You're welcome for the nightmares

 

[wastedyears]

Hairstyles change.

Interest rates fluctuate.

My eternal respect to anyone who knows what I'm referencing.

Keeping this Secret is a Top priority.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSZwlMDSOvY

 

[CosmicQueso]

I wouldn't be surprised to see some tweets or statements from people on social media tomorrow regarding H5 digital share. Might not happen, but don't be surprised if it does. I know nothing at all on BF.

Wouldn't you expect that number to tilt towards digital having a larger share of overall sales once you go further down the line?

It all depends on how much the title participates in the big Digital sales on the Consoles, and whether or not you consider a GWG/PS+ download as a "sale" (can have a huge impact, obviously).

What I've seen is digital share being highest day 1, then retreating down towards what EA was saying, where it stays for a while until it becomes deep catalog. Once that happens, and if the pub decides to push it via promotion, growing digital share can happen. The big digital sales on PSN and XBL are relatively new phenomena though, so this hasn't happened a lot yet.

 

[hawk2025]

I wouldn't be surprised to see some tweets or statements from people on social media tomorrow regarding H5 digital share. Might not happen, but don't be surprised if it does. I know nothing at all on BF.



It all depends on how much the title participates in the big Digital sales on the Consoles, and whether or not you consider a GWG/PS+ download as a "sale" (can have a huge impact, obviously).

What I've seen is digital share being highest day 1, then retreating down towards what EA was saying, where it stays for a while until it becomes deep catalog. Once that happens, and if the pub decides to push it via promotion, growing digital share can happen. The big digital sales on PSN and XBL are relatively new phenomena though, so this hasn't happened a lot yet.

Do you think that the Xbox One bundle download codes could theoretically be currently counted as part of the digital split?

 

[RexNovis]

I wouldn't be surprised to see some tweets or statements from people on social media tomorrow regarding H5 digital share. Might not happen, but don't be surprised if it does. I know nothing at all on BF.

It would pretty funny if they announced digital split numbers without giving any actual sales figures.

 

[Welfare]

It would pretty funny if they announced digital split numbers without giving any actual sales figures.

"On average, 9 friends from a player's friends list bought Halo 5 digitally."

 

[CosmicQueso]

Do you think that the Xbox One bundle download codes could theoretically be currently counted as part of the digital split?

I was assuming that was share of Packaged, excluding bundles. But not fully certain. You're right though, that would cause a big swing. The % will depend on what's in the equation of course.

Riddles wrapped in mystery. Well, we have ourselves a range I guess.

 

[Ninja Sharingan]

"On average, 9 friends from a player's friends list bought Halo 5 digitally."

I so wish they worded it like this! Lol

 

[RexNovis]

I was assuming that was share of Packaged, excluding bundles. But not fully certain. You're right though, that would cause a big swing. The % will depend on what's in the equation of course.

Riddles wrapped in mystery. Well, we have ourselves a range I guess.

Yes. Yes. It is quite the enigma.

"On average, 9 friends from a player's friends list bought Halo 5 digitally."

That is genius.

Seriously though how odd would it be to just get a "digital sales accounted for x% of Halo 5 sales since launch" without any further announcement of current sales numbers? They wouldn't do that though... would they?

 

[onQ123]

Posted?

PlayStation 4 Sales Surpass 30.2 Million Units Worldwide

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced that the PlayStation 4 (PS4) has cumulatively sold through more than 30.2 million units worldwide as of November 22. PS4 continues to demonstrate the fastest and strongest growth in PlayStation hardware history.

PS4 is a uniform system on which gamers everywhere can enjoy the same high-quality digital entertainment experiences. The rapid expansion of the PS4 platform further reinforces the foundation of delivering compelling entertainment experiences. Customers can choose from multiple offerings available on this most favored platform that ranges from games on discs or through digital download to a variety of services available on PlayStation Network, including PlayStation Plus membership service, apps for streaming video, music and TV content. The 30.2 million PS4 owners around the world are spending more time playing games and enjoying entertainment content as the company further enriches content and services.

“We are sincerely grateful that gamers across the globe have continued to choose PS4 as the best place to play since launch two years ago,” said Andrew House, President and Global CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “We are committed to bringing engaging games and entertainment services to users worldwide. Thanks to the support of our partners, PS4 continues to be the premier platform for game and interactive entertainment innovation.”

The PS4 system’s games portfolio will continue to broaden this holiday season and beyond with highly anticipated titles such as DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS (SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.), Ryu Ga Gotoku KIWAMI (SEGA Games Co., Ltd.), Bloodborne The Old Hunters Edition, Gravity Rush Remastered, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (SCE Worldwide Studios). The independent development community will also continue to deliver innovative new titles for PS4 including GALAK-Z (17-BIT) and Super Time Force Ultra (Capybara Games).

SCE will continue to expand the world of PS4 to deliver entertainment experiences that are only possible on PlayStation.

The PS4 system is currently available in 124 countries and regions 3 worldwide.

http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2015/1...-surpass-30-2-million-units-worldwide/179348/

 

[Toki767]

Their actual press release.

https://www.jp.playstation.com/blog/detail/1964/20151125-ps4.html

 

[RexNovis]

Posted?



http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2015/1...-surpass-30-2-million-units-worldwide/179348/

30.2 million units SOLD THROUGH before we even get to Black Friday?!?!?! Holy shit. Well thats way beyond expectations.

 

[CosmicQueso]

Yeah, yeah Zhuge you were right all along. You're awesome, I'm scum. You're the best, I'm the worst. You're the smartest, I'm an idiot.

 

[RexNovis]

Yeah, yeah Zhuge you were right all along. You're awesome, I'm scum. You're the best, I'm the worst. You're the smartest, I'm an idiot.

Well, in your defense, I dont think anyone predicted it would break 30 million sold through before BF. It clearly blew everyone's predictions out of the water.

 

[hawk2025]

What was the number at the last update we got?

 

[RexNovis]

What was the number at the last update we got?

Last figures were 29.3 million SHIPPED by Sept 30th announced at their quarterly earnings call. That means in just over a month they managed to not only sell through their existing stock but also an additional 700k units BEFORE we even made it to Black Friday sales.

 

[Welfare]

What was the number at the last update we got?

20.2m sold through back in March (last week of February).

10 million sold though in 38 weeks.

 

[Rymuth]

Yeah, yeah Zhuge you were right all along. You're awesome, I'm scum. You're the best, I'm the worst. You're the smartest, I'm an idiot.

You need to switch that pizza with pie...humble pie.

 

[RexNovis]

Sure. Forgive me for posting all the bits and pieces, but like I mentioned earlier they haven't really delivered the strategy in one clear announcement or anything. Hopefully that comes when they're ready to push their supposed vision with something to actually show for it.



Microsoft Puts Windows and Games as the Centre of Its Strategy



From his "The Future of Gaming Across the Microsoft Ecosystem" session at GDC in March this year. Link



Why Scalebound, Crackdown 3, and Quantum Break aren't Coming to PC

There was also a very recent (like last 6 weeks) Tweet by an Xbox rep (maybe the UK one?) said the long-term goal was to have all Xbox games release on Xbox and PC, but I am having a hard time finding it. I'll keep looking, but it's essentially just saying what's already been said by Satya and Spencer outlined in the quotes in the above. He could have just been repeating what they said in response to a question on Twitter.

Microsoft CEO Breaks Down the New Soul of His Company



Satya reveals new mission statement



Microsoft splits financial results into 3 new operating groups, in line with Satya Nadella’s vision

I'll spare you more quotes and links, because these are interesting side notes. Spencer reports to Terry Myerson, EVP of the OS Group, ever since he became Head of Xbox. Additionally, Xbox hardware is now in the same group that is in charge of Surface and Lumia.

Welp fair enough. It's all there. Like I said this is all news to me so thanks for the kinks and sources. Wanted to wait to reply until I had some time to look over everything but yea it's all legit. Cheers.

They said they were happy with KI, which is why Season 2 happened (they said it was entirely dependent on how successful season 1 was) and now we have Season 3 on the way. Of course, they don't share financial info on it.

I think their captive console audience will be their most lucrative in the short term, but based on what Nadella wants in terms of more gaming engagement on Windows in terms of mobile gaming it will be interesting to see how they try to win more users across screens. If all Phil does is stick with what's easy on the console I don't think Nadella would keep him around, not when there are a number of companies finding successful models on PC, mobile, and consoles.

I think mojang brings a lot of experience to the table when it comes cross platform releases and monetization. Perhaps that was part of the reason they were purchased.

 

[slavesnyder]

Just for those who have nothing to do and want some info about the UWP (Universal Windows Platform)
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/dn894631.aspx#introduction

 

[slavesnyder]

double post

 

[slavesnyder]

Yeah, yeah Zhuge you were right all along. You're awesome, I'm scum. You're the best, I'm the worst. You're the smartest, I'm an idiot.

30,2 Million before entering the biggest months of the year. That's a lot

Spoiler

of user accounts.

 

[RexNovis]

Nvm