All purpose Sales and Sales Rumours and Anecdotes [2024 edition]

[Charlietus]

Psvr 2 is an absolute failure, they should have canceled it. If you aren't going to support it in any way, why even try?

 

[Nesh]

Really interesting talk from Mat Piscatella on why the PC platform is the "biggest".

It's not the Elden rings or the Hogwarts legacy's, the big graphically advanced games, but the small, cheap games that can run on a toaster. A kid who got a 200$ Chromebook for school can play most of the F2P popular games, and that's where the numbers are. As Mat says, accessibility trumps all.

Ah, my tongue grew hair pointing this a shitload of times when comparing PCs to consoles.

 

[Inuhanyou]

What I would say is that PlayStations situation is unfortunate because of how technically avoidable it is. We are years into the gen with a slow slate of hw pushing games and no price cuts. Had that been possible, the hw would be doing much better not that it isn't now of course

 

[Charlietus]

What I would say is that PlayStations situation is unfortunate because of how technically avoidable it is. We are years into the gen with a slow slate of hw pushing games and no price cuts. Had that been possible, the hw would be doing much better not that it isn't now of course

Anytime that there are temporary price cuts (like in November of 2023) consoles fly out of the shelves. It's not like games don't help, but it's more like 80% a price problem and 20% a games problem.

As sad as that is, they should probably make a console like the last PS3. That console was a piece sh*t, it was so cheap in materials, construction, thermals and noise. But a PS5 like that could probably be cost cut to 400$/€ and maintain that price.

Meanwhile Xbox hasn't cost reduced they're console even once. What are they doing?

 

[Inuhanyou]

Anytime that there are temporary price cuts (like in November of 2023) consoles fly out of the shelves. It's not like games don't help, but it's more like 80% a price problem and 20% a games problem.

As sad as that is, they should probably make a console like the last PS3. That console was a piece sh*t, it was so cheap in materials, construction, thermals and noise. But a PS5 like that could probably be cost cut to 400$/€ and maintain that price.

Meanwhile Xbox hasn't cost reduced they're console even once. What are they doing?

You mean cut it down to the bone? I could see that being a viable strategy actually. If they could even get it down to ps4s launch price it would be a real boon and push them notably beyond PS4.

I think Xbox just over engineered their machine because they believed the series S would be their cheap option which...to be fair does sell but it's not making up the sales in any meaningful way. I have a series S for a handful of Xbox exclusives and as a backwards compatible machine but that's about it

 

[Charlietus]

You mean cut it down to the bone? I could see that being a viable strategy actually. If they could even get it down to ps4s launch price it would be a real boon and push them notably beyond PS4.

Make it a rectangle box with some blue leds, reduce the quality of the materials and the construction, put in the cheapest fan possible. A true potato console, like the PS4

At least that's what I would do.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Make it a rectangle box with some blue leds, reduce the quality of the materials and the construction, put in the cheapest fan possible. A true potato console, like the PS4

At least that's what I would do.

As long as it's smaller

 

[pharma]

June 17, 2024

Starfield has gained 2 million more players in the past 6 months - KitGuru

Starfield has had an interesting trajectory. Following an extensive and lengthy marketing strategy,

www.kitguru.net

In an interview conducted by Bethesda-focused YouTuber MrMattyPlays, Todd Howard offered an update on the current status of Bethesda Game Studios’ various franchises, in particular Starfield, saying:

“We now have three big franchises [Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Starfield]. Starfield with 14+ Million players, average play time of over 40 hours per player. We have our hands full taking care of all of these players & franchises.”
...
While 14 million players is nothing to sniff at, it does indicate a rather rapid and significant drop in interest. As mentioned, Starfield amassed more than 10 million players within the first month following its September release.
...
Again, these are big numbers, but considering the fact this stat pertains to all players and not just copies sold – and that Starfield had a major Game Pass push – it’s safe to say assume sales have been relatively low.

 

[see colon]

Again, these are big numbers, but considering the fact this stat pertains to all players and not just copies sold – and that Starfield had a major Game Pass push – it’s safe to say assume sales have been relatively low.

If everyone just binged Starfield using 1 paid month of Gamepass (14 million @ $17), Starfield would have generated the same revenue as 3.4M units sold at retail. If everyone played for 2 months, 6.8m units, so on and so forth. It would take 4.11 months of paid Gamepass to equal the revenue from 1 full price sale, though according to SteamDB it's been on sale as cheap as $46.89, which would only take 2.75 months of Gamepass to reach.

"Sales" can remain relatively low as long as subscriptions (quantified by player engagement) remain high and grow. Microsoft doesn't care how it gets your money as long as it gets your money. Starfield had a rumored budget of $200M+, right? 14M players at $17 each would be $238M, so I suspect they are at or near the break even mark bare minimum.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

LOL. The article is garbage. Only gaming journalists could spin the 14 million players at 40 hour per as a negative.