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

 

[Deleted member 2197]

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.

 

[Deleted member 2197]

July 13, 2024

Terraria is now the 8th best-selling game of all time – surpassing Super Mario Bros - KitGuru

Terraria is a quiet titan. Ever since it was first released back in 2011 the game has not only conti

www.kitguru.net

Terraria is a quiet titan. Ever since it was first released back in 2011 the game has not only continued to sell millions of units every year, but has even entered the esteemed list of the top 10 best-selling games of all time – with over 58 million copies sold.
...
They continued, “Thanks to the support of Terrarians everywhere, we are very proud to share that Terraria has surpassed 58 million units sold – 58.7m to be more exact, with nearly 32m from PC alone!”

As referenced by the team, with 58.7 million copies sold, Terraria is now the 8th best-selling video game of all time – having officially surpassed the original and iconic Super Mario Bros. for the NES.

 

[Davros]

14M players at $17 each would be $238M

Is that how much bethesda get for each download of starfield on gamepass ?

 

[QPlayer]

Starfield is much more popular than you can tell from the hype so far. And the best proof of this is Bethesda's official website, where you can view the data of creations and mods. Just a few examples to illustrate:

- More than 1400 mods have been uploaded in a month and a half.
-The most popular mod has been downloaded by 12 million players, so far!
- There are many mods that are played by millions.
-The revenue of the official paid mods (6 pcs) is about 70 million dollars with about 8 million downloads.
-The verified creators generated about 1-2 million dollars in income with a mod.
- On average, 4-5x as many downloads on Xbox Series consoles as on PC!

The game has been extremely popular since Creations was released.

 

[Globalisateur]

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?

PSVR was always a long term shot from the old exec team. AFAIK they weren't making money neither losing money on it. From 2019 onwards the bosses weren't interested into that kind of risky venture and stopped all investment (even small as it was), hence completely killing the whole thing.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I remember when these threads were alive with updates and discussion. This gen, and the console landscape, is really different in so many ways.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

PlayStation 5 totals 61m units sold as hardware sales continue to fall

Sony has now sold over 61m PlayStation 5 consoles, but hardware unit sales have fallen by 32 percent year-on-year.

www.eurogamer.net

Needs a price drop. To $250.

 

[Charlietus]

PlayStation 5 totals 61m units sold as hardware sales continue to fall

Sony has now sold over 61m PlayStation 5 consoles, but hardware unit sales have fallen by 32 percent year-on-year.

www.eurogamer.net

Needs a price drop. To $250.

PS4 at this point was getting sold at 199$ + spiderman. I don't know what Sony is thinking, even 350$ for the digital would probably be enough. Meanwhile outside of the us the console is still 50€ more than at launch

 

[see colon]

PS4 at this point was getting sold at 199$ + spiderman. I don't know what Sony is thinking, even 350$ for the digital would probably be enough. Meanwhile outside of the us the console is still 50€ more than at launch

They are probably thinking that that the BOM hasn't come down on PS5, and may have even gone up.

I know people give Microsoft a lot of grief because of the Series S, but they called this 4 years ago. The cost of manufacturing isn't going down like it used to. They knew that to hit the $299 price tag they could never do it with the same hardware. That doesn't necessarily mean that Series S was the best thing for the generation, or for Xbox, but it does mean that without Series S, we are likely never to see a $300 console this gen.

 

[wco81]

They are probably thinking that that the BOM hasn't come down on PS5, and may have even gone up.

I know people give Microsoft a lot of grief because of the Series S, but they called this 4 years ago. The cost of manufacturing isn't going down like it used to. They knew that to hit the $299 price tag they could never do it with the same hardware. That doesn't necessarily mean that Series S was the best thing for the generation, or for Xbox, but it does mean that without Series S, we are likely never to see a $300 console this gen.

How is it that a console launched 4 years ago, with a design and tech even older, can’t get cost-reduced by now?

Sony is reporting soon or has reported. Their profitability picture should be interesting.

Could it be that the overwhelming demand in the first couple of years has led them to think that they don’t need to cut prices as they have with previous console generations?

 

[Charlietus]

They are probably thinking that that the BOM hasn't come down on PS5, and may have even gone up.

I know people give Microsoft a lot of grief because of the Series S, but they called this 4 years ago. The cost of manufacturing isn't going down like it used to. They knew that to hit the $299 price tag they could never do it with the same hardware. That doesn't necessarily mean that Series S was the best thing for the generation, or for Xbox, but it does mean that without Series S, we are likely never to see a $300 console this gen.

I know that costs are high now, but I find it short sighted for both platform holders to not subside those consoles. Especially for Sony, every user is very profitable between microtransactions, accessories and games, so selling more would lead to better financials. Are they scared to report losses in hardware to investors?

Ps: and for Microsoft, it would boost gamepass numbers, if users were receptive to series x price cuts.