How to sell next-gen consoles, Marketing, Positioning, and Pricing [2020]

[iroboto]

I think Xbox will definitely do better this generation over the last. The price value is something that cannot be ignored especially when money is tight. This will be a factor to come. PS4 was cheaper and more powerful and had better games. Xbox will go into this generation, cheaper, more powerful and ultimatly have much cheaper methods to play games. The value aspect will eventually swing in their favour in MS favour if Sony cannot find a way to lower the cost for their customers. I have found talking to the people in line, they have no clue what's happening on MS side of thing. A few people PS people knew what game pass was, most had no clue. Once I told them the value of gamepass they looked at me like it wasn't possible. There was just confusion that it could be so cheap.

End of the day, there is only so much money people have, if money was unlimited it would be another discussion. Sony will have a great start here, but I think in the long run, if Sony can't ratchet down something cheaper for their customers and improve messaging around gaming value on their ecosystem then Xbox will appeal the price sensitive and cause a switch.

 

[PSman1700]

I think Xbox will definitely do better this generation over the last. The price value is something that cannot be ignored especially when money is tight. This will be a factor to come. PS4 was cheaper and more powerful and had better games. Xbox will go into this generation, cheaper, more powerful and ultimatly have much cheaper methods to play games. The value aspect will eventually swing in their favour in MS favour if Sony cannot find a way to lower the cost for their customers. I have found talking to the people in line, they have no clue what's happening on MS side of thing. A few people PS people knew what game pass was, most had no clue. Once I told them the value of gamepass they looked at me like it wasn't possible. There was just confusion that it could be so cheap.

End of the day, there is only so much money people have, if money was unlimited it would be another discussion. Sony will have a great start here, but I think in the long run, if Sony can't ratchet down something cheaper for their customers and improve messaging around gaming value on their ecosystem then Xbox will appeal the price sensitive and cause a switch.

Sony has the brand loyality also, in special here in eurasia. When you say 'console/tv games' here people thinkoff Playstation. Its like with 'tablets', its automatically an Ipad.
No matter what Sony does, people will be impressed anyway. They have such a strong brand name in the video gaming industry.
But i could see things shifting in the long run like you explained. Hardware boxes and 7 year generations are becoming a thing of the past, and theres where Sony needs to invest (they seem to be doing that).

 

[Jay]

I think Xbox will definitely do better this generation over the last. The price value is something that cannot be ignored especially when money is tight. This will be a factor to come. PS4 was cheaper and more powerful and had better games. Xbox will go into this generation, cheaper, more powerful and ultimatly have much cheaper methods to play games. The value aspect will eventually swing in their favour in MS favour if Sony cannot find a way to lower the cost for their customers. I have found talking to the people in line, they have no clue what's happening on MS side of thing. A few people PS people knew what game pass was, most had no clue. Once I told them the value of gamepass they looked at me like it wasn't possible. There was just confusion that it could be so cheap.

End of the day, there is only so much money people have, if money was unlimited it would be another discussion. Sony will have a great start here, but I think in the long run, if Sony can't ratchet down something cheaper for their customers and improve messaging around gaming value on their ecosystem then Xbox will appeal the price sensitive and cause a switch.

You've articulated what is really the end result of my view.
MS has compelling products, but their not getting that message out enough.
Once again marketing.

People will say it's still early days, trouble is that implies that they will ramp up and do more/better.
I'm not so confident in that.

 

[RDGoodla]

It seems XSS is going to be another WiiU failure. Lowest preorder (even less than 10% market share) in main western markets.

 

[Jay]

It seems XSS is going to be another WiiU failure. Lowest preorder (even less than 10% market share) in main western markets.

Given the kind of people who pre order and buy in the intial wave, I'm more surprised your suprised.

Let's wait until after the initial launch window and when joe bloggs of the world hear etc.
People haven't even seen what the xsx can do in terms of next gen games much less the xss.

 

[iroboto]

It seems XSS is going to be another WiiU failure. Lowest preorder (even less than 10% market share) in main western markets.

at the very least, please wait until after Christmas to get a picture of where things stand, you couldn't have a worse take on data then a sample that is 1/100 or 1/150 of the total cumulative sales.
Pre-orders represent the population of gamers that are the early adopters and xbox series s target market is for mainstream population.

 

[Tkumpathenurpahl]

It seems XSS is going to be another WiiU failure. Lowest preorder (even less than 10% market share) in main western markets.

Not for the moment, but it'll take time to educate the wider populace of a two tier ecosystem, meaning the XSS will fly under the radar for a little while. I don't think it'll take much time, as people are used to smartphones and they'll be able to transpose.

Maybe I'm biased, as I've long been a proponent of a two tier launch, but I think the XSS will do quite well in time.

Heck, as long as Microsoft don't try to buy half of the gaming industry, it's the one I'll buy.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Not for the moment, but it'll take time to educate the wider populace of a two tier ecosystem, meaning the XSS will fly under the radar for a little while. I don't think it'll take much time, as people are used to smartphones and they'll be able to transpose..

Yup. Series S will appeal most to casuals and those on a budget. Casuals aren't tuning into gaming news every week or even every month. If they caught any console news in the past six moths they probably caught wind of anticipated high prices of PS5 and XSX and tuned out.

 

[mpg1]

I'm not sure how the Series S will sell but I don't really get these "it's just another Wii U" takes...apples to oranges....

 

[Deleted member 7537]

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...unts-for-72-percent-of-us-next-gen-pre-orders

A study by VGM showd that 72% of next gen consoles preorders in US were for PS5. 29% of the people couldn't preorder one next gen consoles.

72%-68% is aligned with the 2:1 leadership they currently have. Having a 100$ cheaper console is sure going to help them become more dominant this time around.

 

[see colon]

72%-68% is aligned with the 2:1 leadership they currently have. Having a 100$ cheaper console is sure going to help them become more dominant this time around.

$100 cheaper is only important if you can actually buy one.

 

[AzBat]

Maybe they saved the majority of them for launch day & their All Access program. Will definitely be interesting to see people's experiences at launch.

Tommy McClain

 

[Deleted member 11852]

A study by VGM showd that 72% of next gen consoles preorders in US were for PS5. 29% of the people couldn't preorder one next gen consoles.

I also couldn't preorder one next gen console. I just to preorder two!

 

[goonergaz]

I can see the XSS being massive at launch and Xmas with the XSX being so hard to get and parents buying that rather than nothing for little Johnny...might even be bought in error

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I can see the XSS being massive at launch and Xmas

How many digital-only home consoles have been "massive sellers" so far?

IIRC, the XBone SAD didn't sell very well even when it sold for 120€ during the last couple of Black Fridays. We've been seeing breakdowns of PS5 sales and it seems the Digital Edition is getting only 10% of the sales, despite actually having the same hardware and storage capacity. There's no shortage of youtubers / influencers telling people to keep away from the PS5 Digital edition because it gives people less choice and access to retailer promotions.

I get that the SeriesS exists to provide a cheaper alternative to get an expanded audience, but Microsoft hasn't been putting that much of their marketing focus on the console. Most of the talk, demos, features, etc. have been shown for the SeriesX, not the SeriesS.
They know their main audience wants the SeriesX, not the SeriesS.

There's really no indication whatsoever that the SeriesS will be massive at launch.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

How many digital-only home consoles have been "massive sellers" so far?

I'm going to miss those analogue tapes, CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Everybody knows analogue sounds better.

 

[eastmen]

How many digital-only home consoles have been "massive sellers" so far?

IIRC, the XBone SAD didn't sell very well even when it sold for 120€ during the last couple of Black Fridays. We've been seeing breakdowns of PS5 sales and it seems the Digital Edition is getting only 10% of the sales, despite actually having the same hardware and storage capacity. There's no shortage of youtubers / influencers telling people to keep away from the PS5 Digital edition because it gives people less choice and access to retailer promotions.

I get that the SeriesS exists to provide a cheaper alternative to get an expanded audience, but Microsoft hasn't been putting that much of their marketing focus on the console. Most of the talk, demos, features, etc. have been shown for the SeriesX, not the SeriesS.
They know their main audience wants the SeriesX, not the SeriesS.

There's really no indication whatsoever that the SeriesS will be massive at launch.

With ps5 we don't know demand because sony is selling all it can make which means they only produced that many units as digital. So they likely did that for the headlines of the price.

The digital xbox one sold well. The main issue is the pricing of it. It was only a $50 savings . The real test is how the xbox series s will do with its $200 price diffrence from the series x

 

[Jay]

The digital xbox one sold well. The main issue is the pricing of it. It was only a $50 savings . The real test is how the xbox series s will do with its $200 price diffrence from the series x

The biggest problem was at launch it was essentially the same price as the 1S.
So most people remember it's initial bad impression.
Even though it did actually pick up once there was a price differential from most accounts.

 

[eastmen]

The biggest problem was at launch it was essentially the same price as the 1S.
So most people remember it's initial bad impression.
Even though it did actually pick up once there was a price differential from most accounts.

also lets not forget that it didn't offer a size savings. IT was just the xbox one s with no optical drive. If they redesigned the board and layout of the box and made it half the size or 75% of the size of the xbox one s i think it would have done better. The xbox series s will be interesting to watch because its $300 which is what the one x and ps4 costs and its tiny.

 

[VitaminB6]

It seems XSS is going to be another WiiU failure. Lowest preorder (even less than 10% market share) in main western markets.

? I've been checking pretty much everywhere you could possibly pre-order a XSS for the last few weeks and you can't get one because they're all sold out...