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

[Rangers]

That said, there is at least some evidence that MS are getting close to meeting demand for XBS consoles in some sales regions.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a time S WASNT available in the west at MSRP. Even initially!

Edit: If by XBS you meant Series meaning both ok I get it. Yes that I've paid attention X has been fairly freely available at MSRP the last few weeks in the USA it seems AFAIK. Best Buy has repeatedly been in stock.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a time S WASNT available in the west at MSRP. Even initially!

Edit: If by XBS you meant Series meaning both ok I get it. Yes that I've paid attention X has been fairly freely available at MSRP the last few weeks in the USA it seems AFAIK. Best Buy has repeatedly been in stock.

At launch in the US the XBS-S was selling out almost instantly and then 3rd party sellers were selling it for ~500 USD for the first few months.

I even suggested for some people in Europe to buy one there and sell it in the US to make a profit.

Regards,
SB

 

[Rangers]

At launch in the US the XBS-S was selling out almost instantly and then 3rd party sellers were selling it for ~500 USD for the first few months.

I even suggested for some people in Europe to buy one there and sell it in the US to make a profit.

Regards,
SB

I'm not sure of the exactly details but I seem to recall it more as the S hit MSRP pretty quickly. I did resell a couple PS5 and One X and I wouldn't have bothered trying to profit off an S even at launch.

According to Stock X the S peaked at $452 and dipped under $400 by December 12 2020. But more damningly, S sales on stock x are very few to nil, <7k for the last 12 months, vs 36K for Series X and 104k for PS5 Disc and another 51k PS5 DE (most profitable by far, $100 less MSRP but fetches almost as much as PS5 Disc on the street)). Which is about what I'd suggest, S long ago wasnt worth reselling, X is basically done being worth reselling, and even PS5 is a struggle nowdays. But understand you probably need to be able to sell for at least $150 over MSRP to be worth the trouble or high fees Stock X and Ebay charge.

 

[eastmen]

That would be an interesting twist if Xbox were to eventually outsell the PS5 this generation due to continuing supply constraints (both in terms of manufacturing and in terms of competition for component supplies among various industries) and MS being able to outmaneuver Sony WRT to acquiring the necessary components for their respective consoles.

I don't think it'll happen since I hope that at some point supply constraints will ease. However, there is increasing competition for tech components which could keep things constrained even while manufacturing of those components increase.

It also makes me wonder if MS has increased how much they are willing to spend on the manufacture of each console in order to secure increased supply of necessary components.

Now, before anyone misinterprets that I'm saying, Sony is still manufacturing more PS5s than MS is making XBS consoles. However, the gap is getting really close with PS5 moving an estimated 155k units in the week of May 7th while XBS moved an estimated 137k units.

That's far closer than it was a year ago, and significantly closer than the current hardware install gap between the consoles which continues to narrow due to MS being able to increase the number of consoles it can supply compared to Sony.

• Week 78 (current) lifetime hardware sales gap. PS5 ahead 1.35 : 1.
• For comparison, Week 25 (May 14, 2021) lifetime hardware sales gap. PS5 ahead 1.51 : 1.
• Most recent weekly global unit sales gap estimate. PS5 ahead 1.13 : 1.

Probably just me, but I'm just fascinated by how global component supply constraints continue to dictate to such a large degree how many consoles are sold. Basically 1.5 years into this console generation, demand has had zero impact on how many PS5 and XBS consoles are sold outside of being enough to ensure that all consoles that are manufactured are sold. It's been completely determined by supply. That said, there is at least some evidence that MS are getting close to meeting demand for XBS consoles in some sales regions.

Regards,
SB

MS will always be able to make more series s's than x or sony of either of the playstation 5s.

The series S has an apu that is almost half the size of the series x and over a 100mm2 smaller than the ps5
The series S is 197.05mm2
The series x is 360.45mm
PS5 is 308m

It also has only 10GB of ram vs 16gb of ram in the xbox series x and 16gb +512MB of ram in the ps5. The ram is slower and on smaller buses also (128/32 vs 320/192 and 256 for ps5)


So I don't see series s's being in supply constraints anymore this generation. I also think once we see it come down to $250 MSRP it will start selling even faster in the majority of territories. My guess is black friday deals this holiday and then maybe spring of 2023 it will get an official price drop

 

[Johnny Awesome]

We're getting pretty close to that day. What day? Why, the day that Rangers finally admits that the S was a good idea.

 

[iroboto]

I'm not sure of the exactly details but I seem to recall it more as the S hit MSRP pretty quickly. I did resell a couple PS5 and One X and I wouldn't have bothered trying to profit off an S even at launch.

According to Stock X the S peaked at $452 and dipped under $400 by December 12 2020. But more damningly, S sales on stock x are very few to nil, <7k for the last 12 months, vs 36K for Series X and 104k for PS5 Disc and another 51k PS5 DE (most profitable by far, $100 less MSRP but fetches almost as much as PS5 Disc on the street)). Which is about what I'd suggest, S long ago wasnt worth reselling, X is basically done being worth reselling, and even PS5 is a struggle nowdays. But understand you probably need to be able to sell for at least $150 over MSRP to be worth the trouble or high fees Stock X and Ebay charge.

Stock X is not an indication of units sold.
Again whenever supply drops below demand for any reason the price can go up absurdly quick especially whenever FOMO is involved. Using price and units sold on a reselling website as a proxy for units sold at retail is very far from ideal.

 

[PSman1700]

MS will always be able to make more series s's than x or sony of either of the playstation 5s.

The series S has an apu that is almost half the size of the series x and over a 100mm2 smaller than the ps5
The series S is 197.05mm2
The series x is 360.45mm
PS5 is 308m

It also has only 10GB of ram vs 16gb of ram in the xbox series x and 16gb +512MB of ram in the ps5. The ram is slower and on smaller buses also (128/32 vs 320/192 and 256 for ps5)


So I don't see series s's being in supply constraints anymore this generation. I also think once we see it come down to $250 MSRP it will start selling even faster in the majority of territories. My guess is black friday deals this holiday and then maybe spring of 2023 it will get an official price drop

MS couldnt have looked into the future, but the series s was a very good SKU to launch aside from the XSX, mainly due to supply shortage/corona which made the series s even more of a good market choice. There's enough 1080p tv users out there for this device to matter for a long time to come, enough for this entire generation. Upscaling/reconstruction technologies help the console too, but thats something MS could have predicted perhaps.

 

[eastmen]

MS couldnt have looked into the future, but the series s was a very good SKU to launch aside from the XSX, mainly due to supply shortage/corona which made the series s even more of a good market choice. There's enough 1080p tv users out there for this device to matter for a long time to come, enough for this entire generation. Upscaling/reconstruction technologies help the console too, but thats something MS could have predicted perhaps.

Did they look to the future or look to the past ?

The xbox 360 did very well for them at $300-$400 while the xbox one did poorly at $500.

I think MS wanted to have a way of keeping the power crown while also hitting a $300 price point and that is where the series s / x came into play. They would have done even better if Sony only released a $400 playstation sku.

But yea the series S will hit every milestone price point before the playstation will and it takes pressure off the series x from having to drop to low.

Also while a $250 drop and Starfield would have done really well this holiday , I think it could still work really well in spring 2023 as a combination to boost post holiday sales.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I'm starting to think that problems with Halo aren't purely due to the engine but partially due to tensions within 343i WRT the direction that Halo (the game) will go.

After seeing more of the TV show, I get the feeling that someone or some group in 343i with a position of power wants Halo to change into the vision of the TV show. You can see how elements of the show are similar to the direction they tried to take Halo in with Halo 4 and 5. I believe that due to lackluster and greatly diminishing sales of Halo over the course of 4 and 5 that the traditionalists in 343i that wanted Halo to be more aligned with the original vision ended up winning out, likely due to pushback from Microsoft that they needed to get their shit together.

The TV show was then the outlet for that other faction within 343i to push their vision of what they believe Halo should be. Perhaps also viewing it as a way to show Microsoft management that their vision was the way the game should be if it were able to generated mass interest, views, and critical acclaim.

If that was the case, it's backfiring hugely, IMO. I know some people who have played every Halo since the first game who are now questioning whether they will continue to play Halo due to the stupidity exhibited in the TV series with them basically turning Master Chief into a war criminal (having sex with a prisoner of war). Halo: Infinite brought some people back to Halo. The TV show is having the exact opposite effect of pushing people away from Halo. Basically many fans of the Halo games and books and comics are losing faith that 343i has the capability to continue to make good Halo games due to the stupidity on display with the TV show AND the fact that it was greenlit for a 2nd season.

I can't believe the management of 343i is allowed to stay with how they are absolutely destroying the franchise. Bleh.

Regards,
SB

 

[mr magoo]

Well both halo 4 and 5 sold at almost 10 mln copies. I wouldn’t really call it “greatly diminishing sales”. But I agree with everything else you said

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Well both halo 4 and 5 sold at almost 10 mln copies. I wouldn’t really call it “greatly diminishing sales”. But I agree with everything else you said

For the mainline Halo games not counting MCC or PC releases.

• Halo 1 - ~5 million
• Halo 2 - ~8.46 million
• Halo 3 - ~14.5 million
• Halo 4 - ~9.75 million
• Halo 5 - ~5 million

OK, so maybe I was a little hyperbolic. Still it should be noted that Halo: Reach, a non-mainline title in the series sold ~9.87 million units outselling both 4 and 5.

Also consider that Halo 3 sold near the start of the X360 generation when the install base was small while Halo 4 sold near the end of the generation when the install base was large. People were hyped and pre-orders were huge. It set record launch sales for Xbox. Then sales fell off a cliff, unlike previous Halo games, once people saw how bad it was. Had the game actually been as good as previous Halo games, I have no doubt it would likely have easily sold well over 15 million copies.

Also, I just realized what thread this is in, so last post on it.

Regards,
SB

 

[mr magoo]

For the mainline Halo games not counting MCC or PC releases.

• Halo 1 - ~5 million
• Halo 2 - ~8.46 million
• Halo 3 - ~14.5 million
• Halo 4 - ~9.75 million
• Halo 5 - ~5 million

OK, so maybe I was a little hyperbolic. Still it should be noted that Halo: Reach, a non-mainline title in the series sold ~9.87 million units outselling both 4 and 5.

Also consider that Halo 3 sold near the start of the X360 generation when the install base was small while Halo 4 sold near the end of the generation when the install base was large. People were hyped and pre-orders were huge. It set record launch sales for Xbox. Then sales fell off a cliff, unlike previous Halo games, once people saw how bad it was. Had the game actually been as good as previous Halo games, I have no doubt it would likely have easily sold well over 15 million copies.

Also, I just realized what thread this is in, so last post on it.

Regards,
SB

https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Halo

Either my source or yours is wrong about halo 5. This says h5 9.5 mln and

“One week after launching worldwide on October 27th, 2015, Halo 5: Guardians made history as the biggest Halo launch and fastest-selling Xbox One exclusive game to-date, with more than $400 million in global sales”

I am not arguing with you. I fully agree that halo is not the same franchise it used to be for various reasons. For once there is much better competition.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Halo. Either my source or yours is wrong about halo 5. This says h5 9.5 mln and

If you look at the source for the 9.5m figure in the table of sales numbers, it has a number small 5. At the bottom is the list of sources and number five links to this tweet from @ZhugeEX

https://twitter.com/x/status/741046367221604352

 

[Parrish]

MS will always be able to make more series s's than x or sony of either of the playstation 5s.

The series S has an apu that is almost half the size of the series x and over a 100mm2 smaller than the ps5
The series S is 197.05mm2
The series x is 360.45mm
PS5 is 308m

It also has only 10GB of ram vs 16gb of ram in the xbox series x and 16gb +512MB of ram in the ps5. The ram is slower and on smaller buses also (128/32 vs 320/192 and 256 for ps5)


So I don't see series s's being in supply constraints anymore this generation. I also think once we see it come down to $250 MSRP it will start selling even faster in the majority of territories. My guess is black friday deals this holiday and then maybe spring of 2023 it will get an official price drop

It's already selling at that price in France ( Amazon) and not much higher in Italy. Spain and Germany. Doesn't really seems to have any effect on the sales.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Halo

Either my source or yours is wrong about halo 5. This says h5 9.5 mln and

“One week after launching worldwide on October 27th, 2015, Halo 5: Guardians made history as the biggest Halo launch and fastest-selling Xbox One exclusive game to-date, with more than $400 million in global sales”

I am not arguing with you. I fully agree that halo is not the same franchise it used to be for various reasons. For once there is much better competition.

If you look at the source of their number (it's linked on the page), it's only 5 million. So if the source they use says 5 million but their page says 9.5 million, then where is the 9.5 million coming from?

That page confused me because all other information I could find only mentions 5 million. So I decided to go with all of the other sources of the sales number, including the one they used, instead of the 9.5 million which only appears on that one page.

[edit] Apologies to @DSoup who answered it already. I should have read the rest of the posts before replying.

Also, it should be noted that these are all estimates and likely a lower bound as there could be residual sales past the point of the last reported sales for a title.

Regards,
SB

 

[BRiT]

https://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-says-halo-5-sold-par-previous-entries-like-halo-1-4/

In a new Q&A session between Michael Pachter and his audience, the gaming analyst recounted his conversation with Microsoft regarding the success of Halo 5. Contrary to popular belief, the analyst says that Microsoft told him that the title sold “on par” with games like Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4. This puts sales of Halo 5 in the 10 million range even if we go by conservative estimates.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

https://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-says-halo-5-sold-par-previous-entries-like-halo-1-4/

In a new Q&A session between Michael Pachter and his audience, the gaming analyst recounted his conversation with Microsoft regarding the success of Halo 5. Contrary to popular belief, the analyst says that Microsoft told him that the title sold “on par” with games like Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4. This puts sales of Halo 5 in the 10 million range even if we go by conservative estimates.

Going just by that quote that means it was anywhere between 5-14.5 million, but doesn't say where in that range it was WRT sales. Was it comparable to Halo CE? 2? 3? 4?

Also interesting that it generated more microtransactions revenue than any other Halo game. But that's only really comparable to Halo 4. Bungie Halo games didn't have microtransactions did they? I honestly can't remember.

Regards,
SB

 

[BRiT]

Bungie Halo games didn't have microtransactions did they? I honestly can't remember.

Bungie called their microtransactions "Map Packs". One example is for Halo 2 where the collective map pack in 2005 was $20 for 9 levels and in 2007 they had a $4 Map Pack for 2 levels.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Going just by that quote that means it was anywhere between 5-14.5 million, but doesn't say where in that range it was WRT sales. Was it comparable to Halo CE? 2? 3? 4?

I spotted the Pachter comment when looking for the answer, and what he says makes no sense because - as you say - the sales numbers of the earlier games are so spread.

The meaning of "on par" is 'what is normal or expected in any given circumstances', so I believe what Microsoft actually said to him was that Halo 5 sold roughly what they expected it to. I can believe that it sold less than Halo 4 because I think, for many, Halo 4 was itself disappointing and Halo 5 felt a bit of a mess in terms of marketing. Plus it was fifth main outing (but perhaps the 7th of 8th game in the franchise) so may have been suffering franchise fatigue.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Plus the old traditional caveat, PR 101 always uses the best possible representation. If it sold more, the messaging would be expected to be that. If they are being coy about the sale numbers, they are probably on the lower end of the spectrum. eg. If it sold >9 million, the PR would surely be more along the lines of the analyst says that Microsoft told him that the title sold “on par” with games like Halo:Reach, Halo 3 and Halo 4.