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[iamvin22]

47%?!? How's that even possible???

 

[Jaybe]

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Yeah that was the final nail in the coffin. Short sighted strategy like nothing else.

Not at all. It was only logical. The only people who didn't see this coming were blinded by bias.

Microsoft can't spend 100-200 million on a game only for it to be "given" away for "free" on GamePass and limited to sales potential on Xbox Series. Even PC wasn't enough to save that model, especially with PC GamePass existing.

That is what was shortsighted. GamePass killed the Xbox brand because it made game sales untenable. This resulted in a lack of software sales, which resulted in a lack of software investment both 1st and 3rd party. This resulted in a lack of hardware sales.

Microsoft now has to recoup software development sales on PlayStation and Switch, but the lions hare of which is going to come from PlayStation.

Whatever plans Microsoft has for new hardware is going to be considerably more niche. High end, high margin devices, streaming devices, maybe a handheld... that's it.

 

[Kerotan]

Ps5 and switch drops are really healthy. Xbox better hurry up with those playstation releases.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

47%?!? How's that even possible???

 

[Luminoth-4545]

It looks like Xbox Series will have a sub one million quarter and will start falling away from Xbox One launch aligned, it may not get to 50 million if these declines continue. Xbox platforms are at the bottom of the chart.

Global Shipments (millions of units)

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Holy fuck, Xbox is a zombie, and it could even get worse the next months, my man Phil did it lmao, i just hope Gamepass will stay for some more years.

Helldivers 2 PC sales being higher than PS5's on Playstation's mainland is pretty crazy too, so much stuff going on that we could never have expected 5-10 years ago.

FF7 Rebirth deserved more, but at least it did better than FF16, and i am sure the word of mouth will help the game, my GOTY most likely.

PC has a much larger userbase than PlayStation 5 which is just entering year 4. If Helldivers 2 was on PS4 this might actually have been more surprising.

A couple of things will happen as the PS5 userbase grows. Helldivers 2 userbase will grow as a percentage and the game will eventually hit PS+ before it goes free to play. It'll probably receive a PS6 version as well.

Now that i think about it...no wonder MS started porting their games.
Xbox main Gamepass driver has been Xbox consoles...if hardware doesn't move and with a lack of games right now...i can only imagine how those numbers are falling as we speak.

I actually also think a new console next year or 2026 will back fire on them tremendously and won't make a mark on the market but that's just me.

Microsoft had to make a decision whether to take Activision games exclusive and if they weren't able to manage that financially, the question becomes why keep Bethesda games exclusive... which then leads to the question of why have Microsoft games exclusive?

I think they can release a high end Xbox console for like 700-800 dollars, keep Xbox Live alive, and it'll sell 5-15 million units and they can keep developing their software for it and still get 3rd party revenue.

They can also release a streaming device and focus on getting on more screens.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

It looks like Xbox Series will have a sub one million quarter and will start falling away from Xbox One launch aligned, it may not get to 50 million if these declines continue. Xbox platforms are at the bottom of the char

50 million?

They'll be lucky to hit 40 million.

35 million is a much more realistic target.

 

[Flabagast]

Rebirth 23% down on Remake but 4% up on 16. People can doom and gloom all they want but this is a pretty good result considering its a direct sequel to a game released during Covid. Considering its a better game than remake, it should have some decent legs once discounts happen.

what's funny is that people doom and gloom whereas Rebirth most probably already sold more copies than any Xbox "exclusive" game since Halo Infinite, that should put things back into perspective

 

[SlimySnake]

This has been a weird day for gaming news. On Sony's end I started the day reading about PSVR2 underperforming (again) and the pro specs targeting less than native 4k60. I end the day reading they are only down 2% in Europe (despite no Hogwarts this year) and that Helldivers 2 is doing crazy numbers. On MS end I started the day reading about a new devkit in Korea. I end the day reading they are down 47% in Europe. Based on how the day started for each, I'd forgive someone if they thought the two endings were reversed.

Sony has had some misfires but overall their ps business is very strong. And it will only get stronger as MS effectively forfeits and Nintendo misses their new console launch in 2024. They will essentially have no competition for the rest of the year.

Their only problem would a relatively slow Spring and Summer in terms of AAA releases. They shouldve had GTA6 or Death Stranding 2 or some other major exclusive lined up for the summer, but i suspect FF7, Dragons Dogma, Helldivers and Rise of Ronin will have legs.

Sony's CEO's retarded comments is what fucked them. They had a great holiday season and shipped 22 million fucking units in a year. Third most all time in their history. For whatever reason, the fucker threw his PS team under the bus. maybe because he wanted to be more profitable than they already were, but sony's revenues and profits are higher than they have ever been. The bungie deal is the only reason why their profits were halved but if you take out that $3.6 billion invest, they are still up there with their best years during covid.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Now that i think about it...no wonder MS started porting their games.
Xbox main Gamepass driver has been Xbox consoles...if hardware doesn't move and with a lack of games right now...i can only imagine how those numbers are falling as we speak.

I actually also think a new console next year or 2026 will back fire on them tremendously and won't make a mark on the market but that's just me.

At this point I am not so sure that their next console is a bad idea. They are basically fucked no matter what. So at least if they focus on their hardcore fans it will give them some time to regroup and find a solution. If they manage to fix their pipeline and make great games (if) then I can see them becoming more competitive by leveraging their strengths. But they need the halo effect of great games like Halo, Gears, Forza. If they do, great. If not, they will abandon ship and hopefully Sony will continue as always and not get too bad if they do get monopoly of the "high end console market".

 

[Fess]

Not at all. It was only logical. The only people who didn't see this coming were blinded by bias.

Microsoft can't spend 100-200 million on a game only for it to be "given" away for "free" on GamePass and limited to sales potential on Xbox Series. Even PC wasn't enough to save that model, especially with PC GamePass existing.

That is what was shortsighted. GamePass killed the Xbox brand because it made game sales untenable. This resulted in a lack of software sales, which resulted in a lack of software investment both 1st and 3rd party. This resulted in a lack of hardware sales.

Microsoft now has to recoup software development sales on PlayStation and Switch, but the lions hare of which is going to come from PlayStation.

Whatever plans Microsoft has for new hardware is going to be considerably more niche. High end, high margin devices, streaming devices, maybe a handheld... that's it.

Nah I don’t agree. I just think Playstation is the bigger more popular brand and have more exclusive games more people want.
But releasing games on a competitor’s platform is pure stupidity, they get extra software sales but they teach the market that their console isn’t needed if you can wait a bit. And PC games is risky business too, turn the console into a subpar experience. Sony’s PC strategy is bad enough, I’m a living proof how bad that is since I’ve retired my PS5 now. But there I have to wait at least. Only reason to have a Xbox for me at this point is if I want to play last gen titles.

 

[Three]

I do have to wonder if the PS5 sales wouldve increased had Helldivers been a PS5 exclusive. Losing 56% of the sales are surely some lost sales. Maybe not the full 56% but for a game that went viral like this, i assume at least 5% of the people interested in the game wouldve purchased a console for it.

At the same time you could attribute the fact that it went viral to it releasing on more than just PS5 though.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

But releasing games on a competitor’s platform is pure stupidity

It’s not stupid when it’s an existential reason to do so.

Xbox isn’t just failing a little bit here. They are almost entirely irrelevant in many major markets, and trending in the wrong direction despite all their efforts with GamePass and Bethesda.

 

[Sanepar]

Wait for Hellblade 2 and u guys gonna see it...

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Nah I don’t agree. I just think Playstation is the bigger more popular brand and have more exclusive games more people want.
But releasing games on a competitor’s platform is pure stupidity, they get extra software sales but they teach the market that their console isn’t needed if you can wait a bit. And PC games is risky business too, turn the console into a subpar experience. Sony’s PC strategy is bad enough, I’m a living proof how bad that is since I’ve retired my PS5 now. But there I have to wait at least. Only reason to have a Xbox for me at this point is if I want to play last gen titles.

Again, only people who were biased didn't realize that their hardware sales were already dead.

They can't sell in Europe and Asia. North America is in steep decline.

You focus too much on the anecdotal. Most people don't want PC gaming. You're not the average gamer. Most people don't have a PC, Xbox Series, and a PS5. That should have clued you in.

PlayStation as a platform will exist on PC, Console, and Handheld. That's Sony's strategy. They can make higher margin with a PC Storefront than they can on a console storefront.

 

[Krieger]

Xbox has become irrelevant in Europe. The last time I went to Gamestop and MediaMarkt/Saturn there were 2 big aisles for Playstation and Nintendo stuff. Meanwhile Xbox got a small piece of space that isn't even half their size.
When there are sales the order goes Playstation, then Nintendo, then PC, then Xbox.
This is how the Gamestop.de site looks right now:

Notice which brand is missing?

 

[mckmas8808]

Year over year performance in Europe (Uk and Germany not included):

2024	PS5	XBS	NSW
JAN	+20%	-2%	-30%
FEB	-2%	-47%	-17%

Thanks for keeping up with these data points for GSD in Europe. Is it smart to add up these numbers? Like is the PS5 up 18% vs this point last year? And is the XBS down 49% vs. this point last year? Or do numbers not work that way?

This has been a weird day for gaming news. On Sony's end I started the day reading about PSVR2 underperforming (again) and the pro specs targeting less than native 4k60. I end the day reading they are only down 2% in Europe (despite no Hogwarts this year) and that Helldivers 2 is doing crazy numbers. On MS end I started the day reading about a new devkit in Korea. I end the day reading they are down 47% in Europe. Based on how the day started for each, I'd forgive someone if they thought the two endings were reversed.

Amazing how a story can make people feel something about these companies. Then the data drops and we are like.......... O_O

Now that i think about it...no wonder MS started porting their games.
Xbox main Gamepass driver has been Xbox consoles...if hardware doesn't move and with a lack of games right now...i can only imagine how those numbers are falling as we speak.

I actually also think a new console next year or 2026 will back fire on them tremendously and won't make a mark on the market but that's just me.

It will be the BIGGEST bomb of all time for consoles. It'll make the Wii-U look like a success.

 

[mckmas8808]

It looks like Xbox Series will have a sub one million quarter and will start falling away from Xbox One launch aligned, it may not get to 50 million if these declines continue. Xbox platforms are at the bottom of the chart.

Global Shipments (millions of units)

So XB|S is 13% behind Xbox One so far without counting the current quarter. That's just bad mad.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

At this point I am not so sure that their next console is a bad idea. They are basically fucked no matter what. So at least if they focus on their hardcore fans it will give them some time to regroup and find a solution. If they manage to fix their pipeline and make great games (if) then I can see them becoming more competitive by leveraging their strengths. But they need the halo effect of great games like Halo, Gears, Forza. If they do, great. If not, they will abandon ship and hopefully Sony will continue as always and not get too bad if they do get monopoly of the "high end console market".

Wishfull thinking.

Most likely they will release a nextbox for a small installbase and pull the plug on hardware after that.

There is no regrouping now that they release games on Playstation and Nintendo.
No sane person would buy Xbox instead of Playstation, Nintendo or PC.

 

[Denorion]

Wait for Hellblade 2 and u guys gonna see it...

I find funny how the news of "It's 40 dollars and has the same lenght of the first game" effectively killed its hype

Some were hoping that hellblade 2 would be a competitor to the new god of war games

 

[Woopah]

Sony has had some misfires but overall their ps business is very strong. And it will only get stronger as MS effectively forfeits and Nintendo misses their new console launch in 2024. They will essentially have no competition for the rest of the year.

Their only problem would a relatively slow Spring and Summer in terms of AAA releases. They shouldve had GTA6 or Death Stranding 2 or some other major exclusive lined up for the summer, but i suspect FF7, Dragons Dogma, Helldivers and Rise of Ronin will have legs.

Sony's CEO's retarded comments is what fucked them. They had a great holiday season and shipped 22 million fucking units in a year. Third most all time in their history. For whatever reason, the fucker threw his PS team under the bus. maybe because he wanted to be more profitable than they already were, but sony's revenues and profits are higher than they have ever been. The bungie deal is the only reason why their profits were halved but if you take out that $3.6 billion invest, they are still up there with their best years during covid.

This Autumn would have been the perfect time for Switch 2, but looks like Nintendo's loss will be Sony's gain.

Do we have % for UK Feb on consoles? UK and Germany aren't included in Europe hardware numbers.
Hopefully we'll get some Germany news soon (or did they stop doing that?).
Edit: Found UK:

We sometimes we get annual Germany hardware data, but not monthly.

Wait, so FF Rebirth is 4% up on FF16, with only 1 day of tracking vs 9 days for FF16?

It's comparing launch sales, so the first 4 days for both games.

Thanks for keeping up with these data points for GSD in Europe. Is it smart to add up these numbers? Like is the PS5 up 18% vs this point last year? And is the XBS down 49% vs. this point last year? Or do numbers not work that way?



Amazing how a story can make people feel something about these companies. Then the data drops and we are like.......... O_O



It will be the BIGGEST bomb of all time for consoles. It'll make the Wii-U look like a success.

Numbers don't work that way unfortunately.

 

[mckmas8808]

50 million?

They'll be lucky to hit 40 million.

35 million is a much more realistic target.

XB|S is at 28 million now. No way their target is 35 million units sold. They'll be at 33 or 34 million sold by the end of 2024. Easily.

Sony's CEO's retarded comments is what fucked them. They had a great holiday season and shipped 22 million fucking units in a year. Third most all time in their history. For whatever reason, the fucker threw his PS team under the bus. maybe because he wanted to be more profitable than they already were, but sony's revenues and profits are higher than they have ever been. The bungie deal is the only reason why their profits were halved but if you take out that $3.6 billion invest, they are still up there with their best years during covid.

PREACH! Truer words have never been spoken. I have no idea what this dude is doing, but he's seemingly worse than Jim Ryan. I hope it's a smoke screen of some sort.

Numbers don't work that way unfortunately.

Thanks, I didn't think so.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

47%?!? How's that even possible???

Was just going to write it. Do we have another example of a company killing their brand due to incredible mistake at a strategic level and being forced to pivot so badly? Surely within a year Phil has to be replaced, seeing as his strategy killed the brand?

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Wishfull thinking.

Most likely they will release a nextbox for a small installbase and pull the plug on hardware after that.

There is no regrouping now that they release games on Playstation and Nintendo.
No sane person would buy Xbox instead of Playstation, Nintendo or PC.

It depends on the US honestly. I don't necessarely want them to succeed, as I have been happy with Playstation since MGS2. I am just thinking that if console are getting more and more iterative then their strategy can somehow work if enough software is there to push them into relevance again. Look at Sony giving us Helldivers2, ff 7 rebirth, and soon ronin and stellar blade. If Xbox can do the same and have a great console I can see them finding their audience. I do agree that being third party should be a clear sign that they are in deep shit. But they seem to still be seen as a good alternative in the US. Can they continue to do so, like Nintendo Wii U sold better in Japan ?

 

[Denorion]

Was just going to write it. Do we have another example of a company killing their brand due to incredible mistake at a strategic level and being forced to pivot so badly? Surely within a year Phil has to be replaced, seeing as his strategy killed the brand?

To be honest, would anyone else at Microsoft want to take over the Xbox Division?
Can't see any way to revive the brand

 

[Thaimasker]

It looks like Xbox Series will have a sub one million quarter and will start falling away from Xbox One launch aligned, it may not get to 50 million if these declines continue. Xbox platforms are at the bottom of the chart.

Global Shipments (millions of units)

It's not even gonna get to 40 million

 

[mckmas8808]

It's not even gonna get to 40 million

Their next console will come out in Fall 2026 right?

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Was just going to write it. Do we have another example of a company killing their brand due to incredible mistake at a strategic level and being forced to pivot so badly? Surely within a year Phil has to be replaced, seeing as his strategy killed the brand?

In gaming? Sega maybe? But as their failure was made with Microsoft behind them I don't think that replacing Phil will help. It could get worse.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

In gaming? Sega maybe? But as their failure was made with Microsoft behind them I don't think that replacing Phil will help. It could get worse.

Someone, somewhere:

 

[DrFigs]

Their next console will come out in Fall 2026 right?

... next console?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

the Xbox numbers are not that bad. I mean, they are not WiiU levels of bad.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Press me

 

[SlimySnake]

Was just going to write it. Do we have another example of a company killing their brand due to incredible mistake at a strategic level and being forced to pivot so badly? Surely within a year Phil has to be replaced, seeing as his strategy killed the brand?

Where have you been the last 10 years? Hes failed at every turn and has been rewarded for it with blank checks and promotions.

He will be promoted instead.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

Thanks for keeping up with these data points for GSD in Europe. Is it smart to add up these numbers? Like is the PS5 up 18% vs this point last year? And is the XBS down 49% vs. this point last year? Or do numbers not work that way?

It's impossible to tell without the actual numbers because each month sells a different amount especially when some months are 5 weeks and some are 4 weeks. Even if Jan and Feb sold the same the PS5 would be up 9% and XBS down 24.5% yoy because you have to divide the total percentage difference by the number of months which in this case is 2.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

50 million?

They'll be lucky to hit 40 million.

35 million is a much more realistic target.

Well i assumed it will have another 4 years on the market but some people are saying 2026 so if Microsoft kill Xbox Series in 2026 with a successor then 40 million will probably be accurate.

 

[SneakersSO]

50 million?

They'll be lucky to hit 40 million.

35 million is a much more realistic target.

I know that 35m sold would be one of the biggest disasters for a HW platform in this industry since its inception, given how expensive it was to deliver the platform and how astronomical the costs they are eating for it are, even with so many costs reigned in.

Anyone who thinks they were counting on even selling 50m is completely wrong. They totally thought, even in early 2023, that they'd find a way to hit 100m+ this generation. Thats not a joke.

 

[SneakersSO]

Well i assumed it will have another 4 years on the market but some people are saying 2026 so if Microsoft kill Xbox series in 2026 with a successor then 40 million will probably be accurate.

No offense, but I think we have no clue just how low the sales trend for MS is gonna truly look like. I'd wait until Fall, but I also think hitting over 40m lifetime is unfeasible.

 

[MisterXDTV]

I think they can release a high end Xbox console for like 700-800 dollars, keep Xbox Live alive, and it'll sell 5-15 million units and they can keep developing their software for it and still get 3rd party revenue.

Noboby is going to keep spending money on the Xbox Store, that is a ticking bomb....

That's why you can't be a first party and a third party at the same time.

At some point they will have to pull the plug

 

[Mibu no ookami]

XB|S is at 28 million now. No way their target is 35 million units sold. They'll be at 33 or 34 million sold by the end of 2024. Easily.

You should try and do the math on that

 

[Sleepwalker]

The fact PS5 basically retained its sales this year is kind of insane. That's what happens when you keep having content like Helldivers 2 and FFVII Rebirth i guess.

Now Xbox Series...the console was hitting record lows last year. How can you decline almost 50%? How much is that at this point? 20k? I mean...Xbox Xeries sold like 54k in November last year. 20k for February is probably too much, lmao. 10k?

This article is not the clear picture though, XBOX is doing a lot better than this data portrays. You can't really take these retail sales seriously when it is well documented that Xbox users no longer buy retail and instead download their consoles from the xbox live store.

 

[Pop]

Wait for Hellblade 2 and u guys gonna see it...

I might play that for a dollar

 

[Yekshemesh]

Lmao, and there are some xbox infuencers that thnks FF 7 Rebirth would've sold more on xbox..... shit is dead. Starfield definetly coming to PS5.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Rebirth doing great with limited tracking. Helldivers to do 20m+ lifetime?

XBOX Series End-of-Life/worse than Gamecube numbers at this point

 

[balls of snow]

Pulling Japan numbers in a few months time. Press the port button Phil.

Vii Rebirth getting the sales it deserves. Of course square will say it still hasnt made them as much money as they thought it will.

 

[mayham2199]

I know that 35m sold would be one of the biggest disasters for a HW platform in this industry since its inception, given how expensive it was to deliver the platform and how astronomical the costs they are eating for it are, even with so many costs reigned in.

Anyone who thinks they were counting on even selling 50m is completely wrong. They totally thought, even in early 2023, that they'd find a way to hit 100m+ this generation. Thats not a joke.

Of course they did. We have Phil's emails that prove as much and prove they do care about consoles sales regardless of how many people want to claim they don't care anymore.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Noboby is going to keep spending money on the Xbox Store, that is a ticking bomb....

That's why you can't be a first party and a third party at the same time.

At some point they will have to pull the plug

Nobody? I think we know who will keep spending there.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Rebirth doing great with limited tracking. Helldivers to do 20m+ lifetime?

XBOX Series End-of-Life/worse than Gamecube numbers at this point

For Helldivers, depends on what you consider lifetime.

It'll hit PS+ way before it hits 20 million and it will eventually go free to play.

Xbox Series isn't selling 6-7 million units this year, and the number it will sell next year is even less, so the people thinking it will get to 40 million are kidding themselves.

 

[Panajev2001a]

-47% is fantastic news considering Europe is now salivating for the next Xbox which promises "the greatest technological leap ever"

“You see, making next generation consoles and games strategies is like making love to a beautiful woman…”

—Swiss Phill.

 

[jroc74]

This article is not the clear picture though, XBOX is doing a lot better than this data portrays. You can't really take these retail sales seriously when it is well documented that Xbox users no longer buy retail and instead download their consoles from the xbox live store.

Ok, this got me, lol.