All purpose Sales and Sales Rumours and Anecdotes [2023 Edition]

[eastmen]

Shut who up about what? I can't follow your implied argument.

Who knows what he is talking about.

However I think if MS can continue to release at a minimum 1 first party title a quarter and hopefully 2 or more a quarter they can actually start growing market share. That and a drop in price for the series s

 

[Sonic]

Agreed. With consistent releases of some big titles they should be able to have the year covered. And with the amount of teams they now have it should give them breathing room in ensuring that each title is well optimized. If anything it should allow them to see sustained growth of Gamepass subs.

A well priced Series S this holiday season and maybe some amazing bundle for the Series X would be gangbusters for sales this holiday season. MS is well positioned to growth their revenue in gaming.

Still hoping for a Series S of sorts. I can see a decent sized market for it even if only selling 20 million units.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Series S is available for £189 in UK. Should do well as the only 'next gen' console at a reasonable price these days. MS has the entry-level product. They just need to market it properly.

 

[eastmen]

Agreed. With consistent releases of some big titles they should be able to have the year covered. And with the amount of teams they now have it should give them breathing room in ensuring that each title is well optimized. If anything it should allow them to see sustained growth of Gamepass subs.

A well priced Series S this holiday season and maybe some amazing bundle for the Series X would be gangbusters for sales this holiday season. MS is well positioned to growth their revenue in gaming.

Still hoping for a Series S of sorts. I can see a decent sized market for it even if only selling 20 million units.

Series S is available for £189 in UK. Should do well as the only 'next gen' console at a reasonable price these days. MS has the entry-level product. They just need to market it properly.

On my dash here in the USA they are showing a new series s bundle with game pass and other things. Is that showing up for anyone else?

THe series s is still $300/$350 here so I am guessing black friday we will see the 512 gig drop to $200-$250. That can be a huge win for MS esp if sony doesn't touch their prices for black friday on the slim. It could be $200-$250 less for a series s than a ps5 slim . Please note that last year the series s was $200 on woot (part of amazon) and was at other places for $220-250 on sale.

 

[RobertR1]

Series S is available for £189 in UK. Should do well as the only 'next gen' console at a reasonable price these days. MS has the entry-level product. They just need to market it properly.

I bet it won’t. As time goes on, general awareness builds up. And the general consensus on the series s is that it’s bad. We will see.

 

[eastmen]

I bet it won’t. As time goes on, general awareness builds up. And the general consensus on the series s is that it’s bad. We will see.

There is a huge segment of gamers who want to play the newest games as cheaply as possible. There were still people buying the xbox one and ps4 after the x and pro came out. For the ps4 to pro was only $100.

For a bunch of gamers their xbox one /s/x and ps4 / pro wont play the newer games coming out anymore while the Series S will and will do so at a price point likely less than they bought their previous console at if there are sales of it on black friday at $200-$250.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

There is a huge segment of gamers who want to play the newest games as cheaply as possible. There were still people buying the xbox one and ps4 after the x and pro came out. For the ps4 to pro was only $100.

And thanks to the leaks, we know the raito of Series S : Series X sales is similar to what Sony reported initially for PS4 : PS4 Pro. For every higher tier console sold, three cheaper variants were sold.

Hardly surprising that Microsoft have no interest in mid-cycle 'Pro' model.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

And thanks to the leaks, we know the raito of Series S : Series X sales is similar to what Sony reported initially for PS4 : PS4 Pro. For every higher tier console sold, three cheaper variants were sold.

Hardly surprising that Microsoft have no interest in mid-cycle 'Pro' model.

Interestingly, NA is closer to a 50:50 split while worldwide it's closer to 75:25 (XBS-S: XBS-X). That to me indicates in less well-off countries the Series S price point makes it even more compelling. Alternatively, in countries dominated by PS5, the Series S makes for a low price point if someone wants to dive into the Xbox exclusives and either can't afford to get a gaming PC or is completely uninterested in PC gaming.

I can imagine that without XBS-S, the PlayStation:Xbox split would be anywhere from 3:1 to 5:1 instead of the current 2:1.

Regards,
SB

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I can imagine that without XBS-S, the PlayStation:Xbox split would be anywhere from 3:1 to 5:1 instead of the current 2:1.

What makes you think that a massive proportion of people would have bought a more expensive PlayStation 5 rather than a more expensive Series X? If Game Pass is the draw that many believe, and the key to Xbox's future, then only year did Sony have anything remotely like it - and it is indeed, only remotely like it.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

What makes you think that a massive proportion of people would have bought a more expensive PlayStation 5 rather than a more expensive Series X? If Game Pass is the draw that many believe, and the key to Xbox's future, then only year did Sony have anything remotely like it - and it is indeed, only remotely like it.

I think it reasonable to think that currently people are prioritising price. If that option isn't available, they'd then be more concerned about prioritising brand. If you want entry-level next-gen gaming, there's only one option. If you want a £500 console, there are now two to choose from and one has as stronger brand and marketing.

I'm not sure GP is the driving factor. Silent_Buddha never proposed it as one either.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I think it reasonable to think that currently people are prioritising price. If that option isn't available, they'd then be more concerned about prioritising brand. If you want entry-level next-gen gaming, there's only one option. If you want a £500 console, there are now two to choose from and one has as stronger brand and marketing. I'm not sure GP is the driving factor. Silent_Buddha never proposed it as one either.

If there is no budget-friendly option then you're paying more for your hardware, period. But for those people who remain on a tight gaming budget, and who I presume are most drawn to Series S. Whilst you may have to save longer to get your hardware, once you do they're still in the position that Game Pass is easily the vest value in gaming.

It makes no sense that a large body of people on a budget would pay more for a console (a PS5) where it's almost more expensive to get access to a large number games, which on Xbox includes all first party releases at launch. When your budget is that important and dictates your choices, platform exclusives are something of a luxury.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I agree, but that assumes the buyers are all well informed on the GP option and running costs. I don't think the average Joe is.

This is all pointlessly hypothetical though! Series S exists and provides a unique entry-level option. What would happen in a parallel universe without it doesn't matter.

 

[see colon]

What makes you think that a massive proportion of people would have bought a more expensive PlayStation 5 rather than a more expensive Series X? If Game Pass is the draw that many believe, and the key to Xbox's future, then only year did Sony have anything remotely like it - and it is indeed, only remotely like it.

I think it's less about more people buying PS5's. They were supply constrained for most of this generation anyway. It's more that there would be less Series sales without the S than with the S.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

It'll be interesting see how things go as the generation progresses with no supply constraints. I doubt the generation is even half over from MS perspective. They really only expect to sell 60M units (from leaked documents) and they'll be sitting at around 26M going into 2024 (Sony will be around 46M). For all we know the S exists because MS market research determined that sales would have been dismal without it. Last gen was the gen where everyone got locked into digital ecosystems and only the new entrants are up for grabs and 10 year old kids get $299 Christmas presents, not $499 Christmas presents. We tend to look at things from our own perspectives, but there's a reason why market research exists...

The interesting thing would be to find out how the demographics break down. MS might have 60% market share in the sub-12 year old market due to the S, which would probably change a lot of attitudes about the S around here.

Me: Picturing 12 year old playing CoD on their S while their 55 year old parents are playing TLoU remake on their PS5s upstairs with a speech bubble over their heads "Sony is the future of gaming". LOL

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I think it's less about more people buying PS5's. They were supply constrained for most of this generation anyway. It's more that there would be less Series sales without the S than with the S.

Fair point, I hadn't considered that!

 

[wco81]

Why do you put $ before volume figures?

What are the big games which is going to boost sales rates?

After 3-4 years, sales growth has to have flatlined?

So either big games or price cuts or both.

Or maybe a mid-generation performance boost to get people to upgrade from this generation to the half-generation.

Before the real next generation.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Corrected my "$" problems.

The market has always had a long tail. I don't know why anyone would think that the first 3 years out of 7 or 8 represent more than half of sales.

What's going to drive growth? MS' 30+ dev teams making games that will come out over the next 5 years.

The list likely includes:

Sea of Thieves GAAS content
Halo Infinite GAAS content
Diablo IV GAAS content
Forza Motorsport DLC
Grounded DLC
Starfield DLC
Hellblade 2
Avowed
5 CoD games
Forza Horizon 6
Fable
Indiana Jones
Doom
Gears 6
Perfect Dark
Everwild
State of Decay 3
South of Midnight
Clockwork Revolution
Outer Worlds 2
Elder Scrolls 6 (might not make it by 2028 though)

That's a pretty good start. I'm not even going to get into the unannounced stuff they're likely working on. If that list doesn't drive sales over the next 5 years then things are hopeless for MS.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I think it reasonable to think that currently people are prioritising price. If that option isn't available, they'd then be more concerned about prioritising brand. If you want entry-level next-gen gaming, there's only one option. If you want a £500 console, there are now two to choose from and one has as stronger brand and marketing.

I'm not sure GP is the driving factor. Silent_Buddha never proposed it as one either.

If you can afford a 500+ USD console go to the next point, if you can't there's the XBS-S.

Yes, at least up until relatively recently, if you had to choose between a PS5 and a slightly cheaper in some regions (they were the same until recently in the US) XBS-X do you go for the one with more exclusives and better rated exclusives or the one with less? Do you get the one that most of the people playing online games have or the other one? The one that currently has better brand recognition or the other one?

I think it's less about more people buying PS5's. They were supply constrained for most of this generation anyway. It's more that there would be less Series sales without the S than with the S.

If you can only manage to squeeze in a 250-300 USD console into your budget, then both of the high priced consoles aren't in the running. Doesn't matter if you want a PS5 or an XBS-X, your only choice is the XBS-S and if you don't want it, then you don't buy a console.

Additionally, if you have a PS5 but want to take a dip into the Xbox ecosystem, then the XBS-S might allow you to fit that second console into your budget where an XBS-X might be cost prohibitive for just checking out the exclusives on the other platform. Here, Game Pass could make it more affordable to check out the exclusives, but not everyone wants to basically "rent" titles but would like to own them (digitally) and alternatively they might not really know much about Game Pass or why they'd want to subscribe to a service to play games (not everyone watches Twitch or dives into gaming forums ). And XBS-S would make it easier on the budget to include a few games where with an XBS-X your budget may limit you to just one game.

Alternatively if you couldn't get a PS5 due to supply constraints, but that is the console that you want to get, you may just opt to save your money for the PS5. However, you may be able to afford an XBS-S to try newer games while still keeping enough money in the bank to buy the PS5 once you see one. There's a few people I know that did this. They all have PS5's now. One of them has sold his XBS-S but the other's have kept theirs just in case they see an Xbox exclusive they want to play. The XBS-S is also handy for some of them with families to let the kids play Minecraft on it while they use the PS5.

Regards,
SB

 

[Deleted member 11852]

If you can only manage to squeeze in a 250-300 USD console into your budget, then both of the high priced consoles aren't in the running. Doesn't matter if you want a PS5 or an XBS-X, your only choice is the XBS-S and if you don't want it, then you don't buy a console.

I don't pretend to be an authority on how people budget but in terms of consumers wanting things, if their weekly/monthly income is positive then saving over time is how you afford more expensive items.

If you can 250-300 now, but not 500 later because you cannot save any month each week/month then how would also you pay for games over time?

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Many people don't think ahead like that. Especially Grandma buying little Jimmy's present.