All purpose Sales and Sales Rumours and Anecdotes [2022 Edition]

[Deleted member 11852]

You can think of it another way. For indie developers that can't afford a large advertising campaign in multiple countries in multiple languages each being tailored to the cultural differences in each country (important as a advertisement in one country that works may be viewed as offensive in another country) GamePass is like an incredibly cheap advertising avenue (leverage GamePass subscribers to proselytize your game to friends, family and social media) where not only is there no cost out of pocket but they also earn some revenue by it being on GamePass.

My only experience of GamePass is my Xbox Series X but I'm not seeing much varied promotion of games in GamePass other than being included for those who want to dig through the library. I don't know if the experience is different in other regions but I think Microsoft could make some fairly low-effort changes that tweak the dashboard for GamePass subscribers.

Sideline the general advertising, which is a pet peeve. I bought the box and pay for a GamePass subscription so shoving ads at me on my TV screen really grates. In it's place insert a timed carousel promote lesser-known (not AA/AAA) games. Microsoft can be smart about it, e.g. promoting games of genres that I as a customer play a lot but which I have not played on GamePass - or even viewed in GamePass. Microsoft know what I've games I've viewed in GamePass as I've scrolled down the entries.

I learned about Vampire Survivors (which is in GamePass) not from my Xbox but social media. I do think Devs and publishers need to have to have reasonable expectations from Microsoft because with 300+ games, in terms of marketing you can either advertise all for a very little, at which point you question the effectiveness, or you advertise few for longer periods.

For every Vampire Survivors there will be 100+ games that never receive much attention.

 

[BRiT]

I don't know if the experience is different in other regions but I think Microsoft could make some fairly low-effort changes that tweak the dashboard for GamePass subscribers.

That's what the advanced insider dashboard build is all about. The current dashboard has a GamePass section you can add, but I don't recall what actual content they show in it or if the "default" setup has it added already.

The new preview dashboard currently has little to no customization options. It's why everyone that has it hates it. It's all focused on various aspects of Games and GamePass. It wouldn't be a bad "default" setup for new setups. They need to give us the ability to customize it as much as we can the current dashboard.

All I want on my dashboard is Section 1 and then however many Sections 3 as I have "Pin Groups". Let me individually opt to include or not include the other sections and let me control the order they are in.

This is how it was over 3 weeks ago:

Here is the various sections as I scroll down from top to bottom, and I’ll note the 1 single customization I was able to do [Section 3].

1. Home Screen with 6 larger tiles of recently loaded games and apps.
2. 4 medium tiles underneath of various widths, includes [My Games and Apps], [Microsoft Store, Upcoming Achievement (2x width), Game Pass (2x width), Promoted Content for Fall Guys Season 2 (2x width)
3. The single Pin group I was able to add. My group is “Staples” where I have all the games I play consistently.
4. Recently add - Game Pass. This is Tall thin tiles for games recently added to game pass
5. The Game Awards 2022 - Game Pass. This is a shorter but wider tile for what I assume are games nominated for awards to the show focused more on advertising than actual games and awards.
6. A section of multi-media apps, including many apps I will never ever use or install like VUDU Fandango.
7. Top Free Games. This is a Tall thin tiles for games.
8. Coming to Game Pass. This is large square tiles like from Section 1
9. Watch & Listen. This is 2 huge square tiles on top for Cyber Monday stuff and content for Disney+ with 3 tiles underneath for trending movies or such.
10. Games coming Soon. It’s another Tall and Thin tile section for games.
11. Games with Gold section.
12. EA Play brings the best of EA to Game Pass
13. Trending Games
14. Nostalgia. Older games like Cuphead and Narita Boy and Castlevania Collection
15. Leaving Soon - Game Pass. List of games leaving Game Pass, using 1 unit high and double width.
16. EA Play Titles. Tall and Thin Tiles

Section 6 is absolutely stupid because I already have my own custom Pin Group that I call “Media” that has all the apps in it that I actually use. I would much rather be able to PIN that than to see anything like Section 6.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

My only experience of GamePass is my Xbox Series X but I'm not seeing much varied promotion of games in GamePass other than being included for those who want to dig through the library. I don't know if the experience is different in other regions but I think Microsoft could make some fairly low-effort changes that tweak the dashboard for GamePass subscribers.

Direct advertisement isn't what I was talking about. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I learned about Vampire Survivors (which is in GamePass) not from my Xbox but social media.

That's part of the advertising that I'm talking about. For every person that tries out a game on GamePass that isn't a game they would have bought (due to price, unknown IP or developer, their own limited budget, whatever.) they likely have lots of friends, family, and or a social media account. If they like that game, there's a pretty good chance they'll talk about it. Thus, advertising...

Now, Vampire Survivors isn't the greatest example of this because it was already pretty popular and it was a cheap title to begin with, so it had already had a large word of mouth "advertising push." However, even with that, there were still people who were unaware of the game until it came to GamePass, exposing it to even more people who then proselytized it to even more people. Kind of like what happened on this forum, there were some users who weren't aware of the game until it arrived on GP.

For other indie and AA developers that you mention that need more exposure, GP provides it without the "in your face" direct advertising push. It's why many/most Indie and AA developers can see a potential 7x increase in sales of their game after it is put onto GamePass.

For Microsoft, this means you then have indie and AA developers telling other developers that they know that they really REALLY should put their game onto GamePass, as the High on Life developer stated in an interview. They weren't sure if they should or shouldn't and asked other developers who had put their games onto GP. And the consensus from them was that he'd be stupid not to put it onto GP.

The less known a title or developer is, the more benefit GP brings, but even when those are known by people (as with Vampire Survivors), GP still ends up as a benefit further boosting sales of their title.

For me, direct advertising doesn't really work. To me it's like a door to door salesman, an unwelcome interruption when I'm likely engaged doing something important or engaged in relaxing to some entertainment. Word of mouth advertising on the other hand, that's where a lot of local businesses get my business. The same kind of applies to games for me. Direct advertisement? Meh. Word of mouth? Now I'm interested.

Regards,
SB

 

[Johnny Awesome]

A good example for me is Hades, which I never would have bothered otherwise. I played it on GP and didn't quite beat it in the time I had, so I'll buy it in the next sale that comes up.

Same thing happened for me with Witcher 3 and Alan Wake. I bought these on Black Friday.

 

[eastmen]

On my series x there is a tab for game pass and I can scroll down and it gives me different genres of games and what is popular or new in them . Is it not the same for others ?

 

[eastmen]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1605951525192617984

This is really interesting. Not only is sony buying up studios but is also including language in contracts so games can never be released on xbox. Kinda interesting how many people crying that Activision games have to stay exclusive but then Sony goes and does this.

edit - sorry meant to post this in the activision purchase thread. If any mod can move it I'd appreciate it. Thank you

 

[Dr. Nick]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1605951525192617984

This is really interesting. Not only is sony buying up studios but is also including language in contracts so games can never be released on xbox. Kinda interesting how many people crying that Activision games have to stay exclusive but then Sony goes and does this.

edit - sorry meant to post this in the activision purchase thread. If any mod can move it I'd appreciate it. Thank you

While I would have expected to find this post in the Activision thread any one who follows Japanese games will see this played out time and time again. It isn't so much that Sony has so many more exclusives than the Xbox. It's that so many games are excluding the Xbox that really hurts the brand. Not to mention that Sony has an exclusivity deal for Monster Hunter World in Asia. I mean was that really needed during the Xbox One Era. I post this picture all of the time to prove my point.


Sorry please delete my post to I will repost it if eastman repost his.

 

[chris1515]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1606158739454562304

 

[Dr. Nick]

This weeks Famitsu Numbers
Hardware Sales (followed by lifetime sales)

Switch OLED Model – 97,909 (3,488,037)
PlayStation 5 – 64,420 (2,000,593)
Switch – 47,125 (19,005,911)
Switch Lite – 28,049 (5,066,543)
PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 6,076 (307,977)
PlayStation 4 – 3,161 (7,838,883)
Xbox Series S – 875 (225,206)
New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 48 (1,189,473)
Xbox Series X – 35 (172,080)

Famitsu Sales: 12/12/22 - 12/18/22 - Gematsu

Famitsu has published its estimated physical game software and hardware sales data for Japan for the week of December 12, 2022 to December 18, 2022. Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet for Switch…

www.gematsu.com

Crisis Core did well on both the PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Selling very close on each platform for combined sales over 150,000 copies.

 

[Nesh]

Switch surpasses PS4 sales worldwide lifetime to date:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1600913105822912515

Released much later than PS4 and XBOX One yet this.
It must be blind brand loyalty. MS needs to buy more studios

 

[BRiT]

MS needs to buy more studios

Agreed. They need to acquire Nintendo.

 

[Globalisateur]

Agreed. They need to acquire Nintendo.

No. Let Nintendo do their own thing.

 

[Nesh]

Agreed. They need to acquire Nintendo.

I agree. The less the competition the better.

 

[iroboto]

Released much later than PS4 and XBOX One yet this.
It must be blind brand loyalty. MS needs to buy more studios

No. Nintendo doesn't count, they are their own market.

 

[Nesh]

No. Nintendo doesn't count, they are their own market.

MS needs to expand to that Market too. Also because Sony can do just fine becoming like Nintendo, MS needs to counter that by owning Nintendo themselves

 

[Dr. Nick]

This week's Famitsu numbers
Hardware Sales (followed by lifetime sales)

Switch OLED Model – 83,975 (3,572,012)
PlayStation 5 – 59,352 (2,059,945)
Switch – 42,430 (19,048,341)
Switch Lite – 37,151 (5,103,694)
PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 9,467 (317,444)
PlayStation 4 – 3,161 (7,842,044)
Xbox Series S – 778 (225,984)
Xbox Series X – 331 (172,411)
New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 238 (1,189,711)

Famitsu Sales: 12/19/22 - 12/25/22 [Update] - Gematsu

Famitsu has published its estimated physical game software and hardware sales data for Japan for the week of December 19, 2022 to December 25, 2022. Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet for Switch…

www.gematsu.com

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Interesting chart from a supply constrained perspective.

PS5 vs Switch Sales Comparison - November 2022

The VGChartz sales comparison series of articles are updated monthly and each one focuses on a different sales [...]

www.vgchartz.com

NSW and PS5 when launch aligned are basically neck and neck while both were supply constrained. You can see that when Nintendo finally started to make enough consoles that sales took a big jump and just started to really accelerate year over year.

It'll be curious to see how PS5 sales go once they aren't supply constrained. I don't think it'll be able to match NSW sales, but it should also have a healthy bump in yearly sales ... unless the global economy worsens even more.

Also, NSW (~118.2 million units) should overtake GB (~118.69 million units) soon for 3rd overall best selling console.

Regards,
SB

 

[techuse]

This weeks Famitsu numbers
Hardware Sales (followed by lifetime sales)

Switch OLED Model – 103,464 (3,287,166)
Switch – 28,729 (18,928,178)
PlayStation 5 – 25,379 (1,919,558)
Switch Lite – 20,091 (5,013,958)
PlayStation 4 – 4,211 (7,832,572)
PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 2,456 (299,694)
Xbox Series S – 1,575 (223,025)
Xbox Series X – 279 (171,827)
New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 111 (1,189,361)

Famitsu Sales: 11/28/22 – 12/4/22 [Update]

Famitsu has published its estimated physical game software and hardware sales data for Japan for the week of November 27, 2022 to December 4, 2022.

www.gematsu.com

Switch doing 152,284 in one week in Japan. PlayStation doing nearly 28,000 Xbox 1,854

Home consoles are really dead in Japan. Guess that explains why most JRPGs these days are all ports from switch and other Nintendo handhelds.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Home consoles are really dead in Japan. Guess that explains why most JRPGs these days are all ports from switch and other Nintendo handhelds.

Yup. Well it also makes sense because it's cheaper in terms of developer budget and easier to scale up to stronger console and PC than to try and compromise the switch to run the game

 

[techuse]

Yup. Well it also makes sense because it's cheaper in terms of developer budget and easier to scale up to stronger console and PC than to try and compromise the switch to run the game

There is no worthwhile addressable market outside of switch. Barely 10 million Playstations sold in almost 10 years is wild.