• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Sony FY22Q3 Earnings Report

kyliethicc

Member
prior years fyi


qRdvLuK.jpg
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
A lot of people really loved the PS4 and I fully expected the PS5 to be a massive hit, I just didn’t think it would take them 2 years to get supply issues sorted out. I think we are really going to see massive, massive PS5 numbers going forward and all Sony has to do is keep delivering games which they seem set up to do.


Games are the only thing that matter, ever. Nobody is buying one console over another because it has a few extra teraflops. It’s absolutely meaningless. I feel like this is something people re-learn every generation. Sony has games and MS does not.

That's why I've told people it's going to be a rough year for Microsoft.

Ask your nieces and nephews, sons and daughters if they've ever heard of Starfield. Now ask them if they've heard of Spider-Man.

Spider-Man 2 is going to sell units like we haven't seen in a while. Sequel to the best-selling Sony 1st party game of all time and unlike Ragnarok this is going to be a full-fledged sequel of a game and PS5 exclusive.

Starfield is going to sell mainly to Bethesda fans already on Xbox and GamePass is going to blunt its sales, especially on Xbox. Microsoft needs to shift to a one-year commitment before Starfield comes out and I doubt they do it.

Between now and the rest of the year PS5s are going to fly off the shelves
 
It's already happened.
It's like some failing you on your highschool purposely. That will have direct consequences on your future, and it won't leave you until you can pick your feet up.

That is their state now

Well Phil took over after Don left so he had plenty of time to change Xboxs image if that is the issue.

Sony stumbled with the PS3 but it didn't affect the PS4 or PS5. Don't see how the same can't apply to the competition.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
People forgetting Sony had the PS4 success at the right time, the generation when people started building digital libraries.

In fact I will argue that a sub like gamepass only makes it easier for Xbox owners to get a PS5.
This is so correct.

I was thinking about this the other day. While you can play digitally purchased 360 games on Xbox Series X/S, I think people really pivoted to digital in the following generation (I think you can still play your discs on Series X/S).

This has really locked a lot of PS4 owners into the PS5 ecosystem, but as you said GamePass doesn't really lock people in at all. Maybe via game saves, but you don't own your library and if the subscription stops being worth it, you can bail in the next generation a lot more easily without any regrets.

All that being said, I don't know how much people actually play their old games on next-gen systems especially as time goes on. Would be great telemetry to see on the PS5. I personally haven't played a PS4 game on PS5 since launch year.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Well Phil took over after Don left so he had plenty of time to change Xboxs image if that is the issue.

Sony stumbled with the PS3 but it didn't affect the PS4 or PS5. Don't see how the same can't apply to the competition.

I wouldn't say that it hasn't affected the PS4 or PS5. North American sales aren't nearly as good as they would have been had the PS3 not stumbled. Sony is going to have to spend the rest of the generation accounting for that. If the PS5 Slim releases for 400 dollars, it's probably game over for that NA advantage for Xbox. 400 dollars + Spider-Man... even in a bad economy that will be difficult to compete with. Even at 500 Microsoft is in trouble with PS5 demand and library.
 

reinking

Gold Member
Last edited:

Jemm

Member
This has really locked a lot of PS4 owners into the PS5 ecosystem, but as you said GamePass doesn't really lock people in at all. Maybe via game saves, but you don't own your library and if the subscription stops being worth it, you can bail in the next generation a lot more easily without any regrets.
On the other hand, Game Pass makes it easy to jump into Xbox, since there is immediately a huge library to play without buying anything.
I think that's why Sony offered the PS Plus Collection when PS5 launched.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
That's not necessarily true, though.

In 2021, Horizon Forbidden West was delayed, and Sony didn't have any big first-party game. Their last "big" first-party was Rift Apart that released in June 2021.

We're talking about a single calendar year with Horizon, Gran Turismo, and God Of War. Its extremely rare that any platform holder releases major entries in so many of their biggest IP's in that sort of time frame.

And Xbox launched 2 of its biggest IPs unopposed in an open field: Halo and Forza.

Halo's been in steady decline as a franchise for many years, and Forza's been overexposed with 5 entries since 2015. Hell, the Horizon sub-brand's even been on a bi-annual release schedule since its inception a decade ago, so a new entry barely qualifies as an event.

Sure, these are big deals within "Xbox history" but what does that really mean when they're tied to a platform that's been in a competitive slump for the entirety of the last console generation?

This strong PS5 performance isn't just about God of War (although it helps a lot). It is a culmination of decades of goodwill and high-quality games. Also, if someone is not into God of War, there's a big lineup of other games with a lot of variety to dip into.

That's what I wrote! I'm just pointing out that even though Playstation has consistently been in a strong position for many years there are a lot of specific contributing factors in the last quarter that should by any reasonable expectation have caused a spike in sales and profitability.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
On the other hand, Game Pass makes it easy to jump into Xbox, since there is immediately a huge library to play without buying anything.
I think that's why Sony offered the PS Plus Collection when PS5 launched.

Yeah, and notice that Sony is shuttering that in May.

It's extremely costly and Sony doesn't need a service that has a high operating cost and low margin if at all profitable. Microsoft is desperate and that is the only reason why GamePass still exists today. We're all going to see how long that lasts.

And the day they do cancel GamePass, everyone is going to say it was never profitable and people who easily convinced themselves that it was are going to be in for a bit of a rude awakening.

And when I say profitable, I mean consistently profitable.

Microsoft refuses to release any actual financials around xbox so nothing they say should be taken at face value other than the realities of the numbers that they do release.
 

Sanepar

Member
Yeah, and notice that Sony is shuttering that in May.

It's extremely costly and Sony doesn't need a service that has a high operating cost and low margin if at all profitable. Microsoft is desperate and that is the only reason why GamePass still exists today. We're all going to see how long that lasts.

And the day they do cancel GamePass, everyone is going to say it was never profitable and people who easily convinced themselves that it was are going to be in for a bit of a rude awakening.

And when I say profitable, I mean consistently profitable.

Microsoft refuses to release any actual financials around xbox so nothing they say should be taken at face value other than the realities of the numbers that they do release.
They will never shutdown gamepass until xbox business is on.

But when they have enough content(abk and more) price will go heavily up.

I think microsoft longterm deal is to charge 50-60% of a full game every month.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
They will never shutdown gamepass until xbox business is on.

But when they have enough content(abk and more) price will go heavily up.

I think microsoft longterm deal is to charge 50-60% of a full game every month.

You're presuming here that the ABK M&A goes through and it might not.

What is the path forward with ABK and the path forward without?
 

Deerock71

Member
I'm a bit reticent to just believe they're going to snap their fingers and erase the 5 million deficit to the PS4, but good software numbers!
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
On the other hand, Game Pass makes it easy to jump into Xbox, since there is immediately a huge library to play without buying anything.
I think that's why Sony offered the PS Plus Collection when PS5 launched.
Has that bore fruit?
 

sachos

Member
Gaming revenue comparison:
  • Xbox = -13%
  • PS = +53%
Hardware revenue comparison:
  • Xbox = -13%
  • PS = +119%
First-party content revenue comparison:
  • Xbox = -12% (first- and third-party)
  • PS = +22.7% (third party)
  • PS = +43.45% (first-party)

R reksveks - Is this correct? I think we may create a new thread comparing the two company's quarters. But please verify if my numbers are accurate first.
This is brutal.
 

sainraja

Member
This is so correct.

I was thinking about this the other day. While you can play digitally purchased 360 games on Xbox Series X/S, I think people really pivoted to digital in the following generation (I think you can still play your discs on Series X/S).

This has really locked a lot of PS4 owners into the PS5 ecosystem, but as you said GamePass doesn't really lock people in at all. Maybe via game saves, but you don't own your library and if the subscription stops being worth it, you can bail in the next generation a lot more easily without any regrets.

All that being said, I don't know how much people actually play their old games on next-gen systems especially as time goes on. Would be great telemetry to see on the PS5. I personally haven't played a PS4 game on PS5 since launch year.
So, from what I recall, Sony shared information on that, stating that backwards compatibility isn't a feature that gets a lot of use (they were the ones to push it first, until the PS3 generation anyway); I believe they stated that people used it a lot during the launch window, but it wasn't as useful after that, once new releases started to arrive. I am assuming they did a survey to learn this, but I dunno.

I will always prefer having backwards compatibility over not having it, so I like that the PS5 can play PS4 games and the XSX can play most of its back catalog and Xbox One games.
 
Last edited:
Gaming revenue comparison:
  • Xbox = -13%
  • PS = +53%
Hardware revenue comparison:
  • Xbox = -13%
  • PS = +119%
First-party content revenue comparison:
  • Xbox = -12% (first- and third-party)
  • PS = +22.7% (third party)
  • PS = +43.45% (first-party)

R reksveks - Is this correct? I think we may create a new thread comparing the two company's quarters. But please verify if my numbers are accurate first.

Stuff like this will 100% be used my MS in their Activition case.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Stuff like this will 100% be used my MS in their Activition case.
They will, for sure, but I hope regulators don't get swayed by this.

Sony should not be punished for their hard work and for gaining this position on the back of producing high-quality games. They didn't get here by acquiring publishers and taking IPs off of other platforms permanently.
 
Last edited:
This is brutal.

Worst than that; it's devastating (for Microsoft/Xbox).

It really does show how much of 2021 was due to COVID lockdowns forcing people inside, relying on the stimulus checks and using services like Game Pass to save money playing games.

That, and PS5 shortages kicking in shortly after Q1 calendar. Those, and chip shortages particularly impacting PS5 (larger demand was always going to be hit harder by supply shortages) really seem like the main factors that helped Xbox sales for the back half of 2021 and into early 2022. However they were always going to be temporary, and MS failed to capitalize during the period with software strong and consistent enough to create a longer-term trend in their favor.

The worst part for them being, the window for that opportunity is pretty much gone. I don't even think getting ABK will have much an effect since the biggest of those games console-wise will be releasing on PS anyway for a few more years. They'll still have marketing rights on COD until at least 2025 if rumors are right, they're still getting Diablo IV (they might have a marketing deal on that for all we know), they'd still likely get any new Crash or Spyro, Lego games, Guitar Hero or Tony Hawk revival etc. (if MS stick to their word of keeping the biggest known games on platforms they've been at) etc.

The best they can hope for is to steadily improve the output and build up some fanbases for some of these IP coming out under their wing. HiFi Rush NEEDS a sequel; better make sure Starfield isn't a bugfest out of the gate. Get on a Conker sequel with the High on Life studio (now that Justin's stepped away from them), hell see if you can get Kojima to lead on a Halo game FFS. Use the Flight Sim engine and work with Asobo on a Crimson Skies reboot, see if you can work with From Software on a new Otogi, etc. Play into what nostalgia you have; it's not as much as Sony or Nintendo but you've got some there. Identify which of your new IPs have potential as a larger franchise and stick with them.

They do that, they can sustain a base and grow it gradually over the next few years, and maybe build some real strength back towards the brand. Maybe not enough to ever dethrone Sony or Nintendo, but enough to where we can say with confidence Xbox is doing well and not just because they're narrowly avoiding horrid results.

They will, for sure, but I hope regulators don't get swayed by this.

Sony should not be punished for their hard work and for gaining this position on the back of producing high-quality games. These didn't get here by acquiring publishers and taking IPs off of other platforms permanently.

Exactly. If the market rewarding Sony for making the right decisions and providing a product that customers choose to buy over the competition is punished, then we can talk about dismantling the regulatory system and rebooting it from scratch.

Not calling them "unconstitutional" out of frustration, simply because they're otherwise just doing their job.
 
Last edited:
That's why I've told people it's going to be a rough year for Microsoft.

Ask your nieces and nephews, sons and daughters if they've ever heard of Starfield. Now ask them if they've heard of Spider-Man.

Spider-Man 2 is going to sell units like we haven't seen in a while. Sequel to the best-selling Sony 1st party game of all time and unlike Ragnarok this is going to be a full-fledged sequel of a game and PS5 exclusive.

Starfield is going to sell mainly to Bethesda fans already on Xbox and GamePass is going to blunt its sales, especially on Xbox. Microsoft needs to shift to a one-year commitment before Starfield comes out and I doubt they do it.

Between now and the rest of the year PS5s are going to fly off the shelves

Facts. There's a slice of people overhyping and in some cases even overpromoting (Colteastwood) Starfield like it's the 2nd coming. I was surprised to find out most of Skyrim's sales were actually on console, not PC, and the same being the case for Fallout 4 IIRC. Granted, maybe PC gaming was smaller back then, and in the time since it's possible a good chunk of those players on console for Bethesda games have transitioned to PC. Very possible.

And MS/Bethesda better hope that's the case for Starfield sales, because unlike on Xbox, Game Pass is more or less a non-factor on PC. Meaning people on PC have a much larger incentive to actually buy the damn game, helping with revenue. Which they will need in large effect because on the console side, they no longer have PlayStation to sell the game on, and PS gamers are going to be well-fed in terms of big games to play throughout the year to the point they may not feel the need to buy the game (or an Xbox, if they don't already have one) to play it on.

Any such owners who still want to play the game, they'll very likely just do it through Game Pass. But MS's problem with Game Pass is that there are SO many ways to get it for way cheaper than the average price is advertised plus, as you said, you can drop it at the blink of an eye since it's month-to-month. There's going to be at least some portion of would-be Starfield players who play it through Game Pass, and use one of these methods ($1 month trail deals off a Doritos bag, MS Reward points, etc.) to play it for cheap, get their fill that month, and move on.

Honestly I don't see Starfield doing more than 14 - 15 million lifetime. That's not even a bad number; it's higher than most games actually! But some of these people thinking it'll hit Skyrim or Spiderman, or Elden Ring #s lifetime are in for a rude awakening. I think it'll probably do 3-4 million the first month, up to 8 million first year. 14 - 15 million by five years. 60% of sales on PC.

I wouldn't say that it hasn't affected the PS4 or PS5. North American sales aren't nearly as good as they would have been had the PS3 not stumbled. Sony is going to have to spend the rest of the generation accounting for that. If the PS5 Slim releases for 400 dollars, it's probably game over for that NA advantage for Xbox. 400 dollars + Spider-Man... even in a bad economy that will be difficult to compete with. Even at 500 Microsoft is in trouble with PS5 demand and library.

IIRC it's not really a "slim" so much as a discless version that's about the same size as the current system, but they you can attach that fit-to-form drive to it for physical discs.

But they'll be able to produce a lot more systems this way, meaning more digital systems and yeah, at $399 with Spiderman 2 out there, even without bundles, that's going to move a lot of volume.

They will never shutdown gamepass until xbox business is on.

But when they have enough content(abk and more) price will go heavily up.

I think microsoft longterm deal is to charge 50-60% of a full game every month.

Oh they're definitely pushing that way with the rumored tier revamps. The ad-based tier, where they'll probably only have the smaller games pop up there Day 1 but hold off on the bigger games until a few months after release. Keep the current GP & GPU tiers but restructure a bit to where they get a few more games Day 1 but, again, the big ones? They're kept months out. And maybe push a new Premium tiers at $25/month and, I think, they copy Sony's Game Trails strategy for Game Pass starting at that tier, for all 1P games.

They save all Day 1 games for a $30 or $35/month tier, but they spread out availability for Game Pass perks (free DLC & MTX drops, bonuses etc.) for all the available tiers. Maybe they strike some deal with Paramount+ or Discovery (or some other streaming service) to bundle them into the higher tiers to pad out the value.
 

Imtjnotu

Member
so sony doesnt have to sell any buildings this quarter!?

also PS5 is up for sale on amazon US if anyone needs one to pad the numbers
 
That's why I've told people it's going to be a rough year for Microsoft.

Ask your nieces and nephews, sons and daughters if they've ever heard of Starfield. Now ask them if they've heard of Spider-Man.

Spider-Man 2 is going to sell units like we haven't seen in a while. Sequel to the best-selling Sony 1st party game of all time and unlike Ragnarok this is going to be a full-fledged sequel of a game and PS5 exclusive.

Starfield is going to sell mainly to Bethesda fans already on Xbox and GamePass is going to blunt its sales, especially on Xbox. Microsoft needs to shift to a one-year commitment before Starfield comes out and I doubt they do it.

Between now and the rest of the year PS5s are going to fly off the shelves

Spide-Man 2 is going to nuke whatever month/quarter it releases in. But there is another wild card which, if it were to be available before the end of the year, would also propel the console to new heights during the Holidays: The Last of Us based multiplayer project. With how well the show has been doing, and if I were to be Sony, I would do a proper unveiling via a SOP immediately after the last episode has aired...and, should the stars align, launch the title toward December, if only to take advantage of COD absence this year: SM2 in October/TLOU Factions II in December is a lethal combo, imo.
 
Last edited:
good, so they don't need activision. let microsoft buy them!

Agreed. They don't need Ubisoft and Capcom either, so by your logic, MS should acquire the remaining publishers as well! I hope that, should the AB buyout be validated, concessions would be imposed upon MS to ensure that COD remains multiplatform for the longest time, and that MS is denied the possibility of absorbing another publisher afterwards. With 30+ devs under their wing, they should have more than enough teams to be able to "compete"...
 
Last edited:

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
So, from what I recall, Sony shared information on that, stating that backwards compatibility isn't a feature that gets a lot of use (they were the ones to push it first, until the PS3 generation anyway); I believe they stated that people used it a lot during the launch window, but it wasn't as useful after that, once new releases started to arrive. I am assuming they did a survey to learn this, but I dunno.

I will always prefer having backwards compatibility over not having it, so I like that the PS5 can play PS4 games and the XSX can play most of its back catalog and Xbox One games.

Ultimately it comes at a cost.

Would you rather have BC or improved RTX?

Is the PS6 going to be stuck in the same architecture of the PS4 so people can play their PS4 games, but at a cost to more open feature sets on PS6? Think we need to be careful with what we ask for.

With telemtry, sony can say exactly how many hours and people played PS4 games on their PS5.
Facts. There's a slice of people overhyping and in some cases even overpromoting (Colteastwood) Starfield like it's the 2nd coming. I was surprised to find out most of Skyrim's sales were actually on console, not PC, and the same being the case for Fallout 4 IIRC. Granted, maybe PC gaming was smaller back then, and in the time since it's possible a good chunk of those players on console for Bethesda games have transitioned to PC. Very possible.

And MS/Bethesda better hope that's the case for Starfield sales, because unlike on Xbox, Game Pass is more or less a non-factor on PC. Meaning people on PC have a much larger incentive to actually buy the damn game, helping with revenue. Which they will need in large effect because on the console side, they no longer have PlayStation to sell the game on, and PS gamers are going to be well-fed in terms of big games to play throughout the year to the point they may not feel the need to buy the game (or an Xbox, if they don't already have one) to play it on.

Any such owners who still want to play the game, they'll very likely just do it through Game Pass. But MS's problem with Game Pass is that there are SO many ways to get it for way cheaper than the average price is advertised plus, as you said, you can drop it at the blink of an eye since it's month-to-month. There's going to be at least some portion of would-be Starfield players who play it through Game Pass, and use one of these methods ($1 month trail deals off a Doritos bag, MS Reward points, etc.) to play it for cheap, get their fill that month, and move on.

Honestly I don't see Starfield doing more than 14 - 15 million lifetime. That's not even a bad number; it's higher than most games actually! But some of these people thinking it'll hit Skyrim or Spiderman, or Elden Ring #s lifetime are in for a rude awakening. I think it'll probably do 3-4 million the first month, up to 8 million first year. 14 - 15 million by five years. 60% of sales on PC.



IIRC it's not really a "slim" so much as a discless version that's about the same size as the current system, but they you can attach that fit-to-form drive to it for physical discs.

But they'll be able to produce a lot more systems this way, meaning more digital systems and yeah, at $399 with Spiderman 2 out there, even without bundles, that's going to move a lot of volume.

Starfield could sell 40 million units, but if they sell on PC, it doesn't help microsoft ultimately.

They need people to buy XSX/S for and/or play this on GamePass and stay on GamePass afterward.

If someone gets gamepass on PC for 1 month to play starfield, it's actually a disaster.

Every unit sold on PC or even played on GamePass PC is probably an L for Microsoft. One is a Big L and the other is a small L.

I don't think Sony has even confirmed they're making a disc attachment version nor have they confirmed what it'll actually look like, but based on history, it would be a slim model.


Ultimately games like Starfield won't stay on GamePass for day 1. It's not sustainable in tandem with 3rd party day 1 titles.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Spide-Man 2 is going to nuke whatever month/quarter it releases in. But there is another wild card which, if it were to be available before the end of the year, would also propel the console to new heights during the Holidays: The Last of Us based multiplayer project. With how well the show has been doing, and if I were to be Sony, I would do a proper unveiling via a SOP immediately after the last episode has aired...and, should the stars align, launch the title toward December, if only to take advantage of COD absence this year: SM2 in October/TLOU Factions II in December is a lethal combo, imo.

TLOU MP needs to come out before the end of spring/early summer
 
At this point, Microsoft can buy Activision, EA and ubisoft and they would still be behind Sony. Its not just a meme, there really is no stopping this train. I don't see anyone stopping sonys dominance. Well, except for themselves.
 
Agreed. They don't need Ubisoft and Capcom either, so by your logic, MS should acquire the remaining publishers as well! I hope that, should the AB buyout be validated, concessions would be imposed upon MS to ensure that COD remains multiplatform for the longest time, and that MS is denied the possibility of absorbing another publisher afterwards. With 30+ devs under their wing, they should have more than enough teams to be able to "compete"...

At first I was thinking if they get ABK, maybe limit them to only doing another publisher acquisition after say 5 years and with having shown consistent results with what they already own, and only getting a smaller dev or two in the meantime.

But when you put it that way, with 30+ studios if they manage to acquire ABK, and having that many IP under their ownership..yeah, that should be MORE than enough to 'compete'. If you can't make that amount of studios and IP work well for you, maybe you don't need to be a platform holder after all. And they have enough for the Japanese/ROTW markets too if they could manage content right (Overwatch could do well for those markets if they did some spin-off action/adventure/RPG games for example), so the repeated narrative MS "need" a Japanese publisher are more or less BS.

Starfield could sell 40 million units, but if they sell on PC, it doesn't help microsoft ultimately.

They need people to buy XSX/S for and/or play this on GamePass and stay on GamePass afterward.

If someone gets gamepass on PC for 1 month to play starfield, it's actually a disaster.

Every unit sold on PC or even played on GamePass PC is probably an L for Microsoft. One is a Big L and the other is a small L.

I don't think Sony has even confirmed they're making a disc attachment version nor have they confirmed what it'll actually look like, but based on history, it would be a slim model.


Ultimately games like Starfield won't stay on GamePass for day 1. It's not sustainable in tandem with 3rd party day 1 titles.

The main reason Sony haven't officially confirmed a disc-attachable PS5 is because it wouldn't launch until near the end of this year. But the rumors come from Tom Henderson, and he's one of the more trustworthy leakers/insiders IMO. It's also a hardware-related rumor, and it's a lot harder to BS your way with a hardware rumor than a software one.

But to the other point with Starfield, it's going to be such a test for them in multiple ways. They know in order to optimize the revenue potential, they have to shift a focus away from Game Pass, and away from Steam even. These all-in decisions they made back last decade like Day 1 PC and all 1P Day 1 on Game Pass are finally catching up to them, and biting MS in the proverbial ass. They've created an environment where their options are eating away at each other in one way or another, it's not too dissimilar from Sega's woes having so many different hardware in the mid '90s and ultimately competing with themselves, to their detriment.

In practice the ramifications look the same for MS/Xbox today as they did for Sega from 1994 - 1997. In some ways, history is repeating itself. For Microsoft, I hope ultimately it gets objectively better; at least they have enough money to absorb the losses but how long are Satya and the rest of the higher-ups going to tolerate what could be feeling like an albatross around their necks? At the very least, I seriously see them shifting Xbox to a more PC-like business model and opening up their publishing efforts to be more truly multi-platform; push come to shove I'd rather see them do that than shut Xbox down altogether.
 

Wulfer

Member
good, so they don't need activision. let microsoft buy them!
This is what I was thinking. MS just produced 9.5 Million pages ask to why the deal should go through and challenged Sony to counter why the deals shouldn't go through with proof aka documents. These Sony fiscal results won't help their case against MS! Actually, I could see MS adding more docs to the case. "Look at Sony's fiscal numbers just this year" Sony may regret this challenge in court.
 
Last edited:

yurinka

Member
Gow saved their ass. 20 million after posting two 6.6 million quarters shows just how much gow was responsible.
No, it isn't the case at all. PS5 always had a monster demand.

If during a period they weren't beating gaming history records was because of the chips shortage, which prevented them to be able to ship more consoles. They are starting to solve it in some countries, so they are back in track even if in many countries they continue to be supply constrained.
 
Last edited:
This is what I was thinking. MS just produced 9.5 Million pages ask to why the deal should go through and challenged Sony to counter why the deals shouldn't go through with proof aka documents. These Sony fiscal results won't help their case against MS! Actually, I could see MS adding more docs to the case. "Look at Sony's fiscal numbers just this year" Sony may regret this challenge in court.

So the only reason to oppose a gargantuan trasaction helping a player outmuscle the competition, and possibly paving the way for an eventual monopoly in the future, is for its rivals to be struggling financially, with their products underperforming? 🤡
 
Last edited:
And if people want to know why I draw that parallel between current MS/Xbox with multiple parts eating into themselves, and Sega from the 1994-1997 period, here's why:

During that period, Sega had several platforms they had to simultaneously support. Genesis/MegaDrive, Mega CD, 32x, Saturn, Pico, Game Gear, Nomad (although this was just a portable Genesis/MegaDrive), arcade, PC. In addition to the technical differences between a lot of these, Sega also had to decide which platforms ultimately got what 1P content, meaning they had to divide their resources between these different platforms, meaning that ultimately the platform which should have mattered the most (Saturn) was underserved for the longest time which impacted it in the market, helping contribute to their decline as a platform holder.

Microsoft have two consoles ATM with vastly different performance profiles they have to simultaneously support, in Series S and Series X. Regardless how much easier it is for them and 3P devs to develop on them compared to say supporting a MegaDrive, arcade & Saturn back in the '90s, there are still obvious difficulties involved in that scenario and it will always have something of a strain on software optimization. They provide their content across Xbox consoles, PC storefronts like Steam, and the Game Pass subscription service (which also features xCloud). These are all differing business/content delivery models that ultimately compete with each other in some way, and MS providing their 1P content through ALL of these different options, which have wildly varying revenue flows, pricing, and long-term implications/impacts on player habits, among other things.

In a sense, there isn't much different from Microsoft providing, say, Starfield on Steam and Game Pass Day 1 alongside Xbox, than there was Sega having Virtua Fighter 1 available at the arcade on Model 1, Saturn, and 32X. But at least in Sega's case, there were clear differences in both platform availability (arcade/Model 1 had VF1 exclusively for a long while before it went to console), and technical differences that would sway one to access the content through multiple means (Model 1 version having the best visuals, Saturn & 32X versions having the widest/best availability, Saturn version having better performance than 32X one and more availability than arcade/Model 1 version, etc.).

There are, literally, NO distinguishing features for Starfield in terms of (notable) technical performance edges or convenience of availability. The only differences are in terms of the end cost to the customer: want to pay $70 on Xbox to own it, or $60 on PC to own it, or $10/month to play it in Game Pass? The fact there will be some additional resolution (and maybe framerate) options on PC plus mod support pretty much pushes that one as the best version, meaning the best version can be had for as little as $10 on PC Game Pass, or for a price where MS is only getting $42 of total revenue (since the vast majority on PC would buy it through Steam, if they're buying it)...and that's before sales discounts inevitably kick in some time later on after launch. Not to mention, a good portion of PC/Steam sales will probably come through sites like CD Keys which sell digital codes for quite a bit cheaper than even the launch price MSRP.

MS basically have a situation now where the best version of their 1P games are on a platform they don't even fully own, because if most of those sales are through Steam, they're doling out a cut to Valve for every single sale. And if some decent portion are through PC Game Pass, they have so many options to pay for cheap on PC that it doesn't do much for their revenue, like others ITT have been bringing up and alluding to. Sometimes having too many options is a bad thing: for Sega it meant spreading their money too thin and not directing limited resources to where they could've gone best (i.e instead of maybe sinking money into Model 2 & 3, and Gameworks, a lot of that could've gone into optimizing Saturn hardware & SDK support better for Day 1, and targeting Saturn & ST-V for all 1P content that generation. Still would've given them graphically impressive arcade games, potentially more powerful (& easier to develop for/optimize for) Saturn, etc.

For Microsoft, all of these availability options is cutting into their revenue bottom line. Which is why I think they're going to tighten up some of the discounts and free offers for Game Pass, close the $1 conversion loop, introduce new tiers, readjust their Day 1 strategy for Game Pass and save that for a new more expensive tier, and probably copy Sony's Game Trails concept to still "kinda" give Day 1 access to 1P releases on the current and ad-based cheaper tiers, but without impacting direct sales revenue. And these changes are probably coming sooner rather than later, IMHO.
 
Gaming revenue comparison:
  • Xbox = -13%
  • PS = +53%
Hardware revenue comparison:
  • Xbox = -13%
  • PS = +119%
First-party content revenue comparison:
  • Xbox = -12% (first- and third-party)
  • PS = +22.7% (third party)
  • PS = +43.45% (first-party)

R reksveks - Is this correct? I think we may create a new thread comparing the two company's quarters. But please verify if my numbers are accurate first.
If this is accurate, then night and day difference with sales trajectory
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
5.2 million in a non holiday quarter is absolutely huge, it would need to be touching records. The PS4's highest FYQ4 was 3.1 million and the Switch at it's height in 20/21 had a FYQ4 of 4.72 million, it will be extremely difficult.
Posted earlier in the thread - but it's been done before (at least by a Playstation).

Pent-up demand + finally getting enough stock is likely going to result in inflated quarter, but we'll see by how much.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom