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

[Deleted member 11852]

The more I think about the Zenimax acquisition, the more insane it gets. Other than the studios now part of THQ Nordic (the Gothic/Risen/Arcana) and Larian (Divinity, and the New Baldur's Gate) and CDPR, MS has the lion's share of the western RPG market. Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Pillars, Wasteland, Torment, Outer Worlds, Tyranny... Not sure who owns Bard's Tale. But, MS has like half the market and it's mostly the top half.

Yeah. Microsoft's recent studio acquisitions are very RPG heavy, but there's a broad spectrum of RPGs. Fallout and Elders Scrolls are very accessible RPGs, they typically look and feel like other first person games whereas games like Wasteland and Pillars of eternity do not. The former two sell crazy numbers, the latter two did - Obsidian said Pillars II sold below expectations sold below expectations. It'll be interesting to see if Obsidian adjutant for this with their next RPG.

 

[HBRU]

Yeah. Microsoft's recent studio acquisitions are very RPG heavy, but there's a broad spectrum of RPGs. Fallout and Elders Scrolls are very accessible RPGs, they typically look and feel like other first person games whereas games like Wasteland and Pillars of eternity do not. The former two sell crazy numbers, the latter two did - Obsidian said Pillars II sold below expectations sold below expectations. It'll be interesting to see if Obsidian adjutant for this with their next RPG.

I think RPG fits really good with Gamepass (even at day one) because are very long game to play (months)... also maybe someone like one and not another to play... So a "free" try is nice to be done. I see trouble for Sony as RPG will be sold full price on Ps5/Ps4... Also I suspect ps5 upgrades from ps4 disks for this companies are not going to be free.... just a suspect. Will see [emoji16]

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I think RPG fits really good with Gamepass (even at day one) because are very long game to play (months)... also maybe someone like one and not another to play... So a "free" try is nice to be done. I see trouble for Sony as RPG will be sold full price on Ps5/Ps4... Also I suspect ps5 upgrades from ps4 disks for this companies are not going to be free.... just a suspect. Will see [emoji16]

Regardless of Bethesda's Todd Howard's statement about not caring about "what you play on", I would absolutely stunned if Microsoft continued to publish new games on PlayStation. Perhaps games that are deep in development already like Starfield, but games years and years out? Why buy Zenimax, these games were coming to Xbox anyway. If the goal was to have all these studios content in GamePass forever then just do that - it would have been much, much cheaper than outright buying Zenimax for 7.5 billion dollars.

 

[HBRU]

Opening

 

[AzBat]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1308069800883621891

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ethesda-studios-for-7-5-billion-to-boost-xbox

Tommy McClain

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Amazon UK tantalisingly show the Series X, but are apologetic about letting me buying one.

We're sorry
An error occurred when we tried to process your request.
We're working on the problem and expect to resolve it shortly. Please note that if you were trying to place an order, it will not have been processed at this time. Please try again later.

We apologise for the inconvenience.

* Click here to return to the Amazon.co.uk home page
​

I expect this crap from Amazon France, not Amazon UK.

edit1: Currys is no better:

Your queue number: 34016
Number of users in queue ahead of you: 32630
Expected arrival time on the website: more than an hour
Your estimated wait time is: more than an hour
​

edit2: Amazon sorted their problem out. Day one pre-order confirmed!

 

[HBRU]

Done [emoji16][emoji16][emoji16]

 

[Nisaaru]

Managed to preorder my XSX on Amazon. Official sales was 26 mins ago in Europe and you can only find the real webpage through search (17mins later) and not by the xbox series x link in the dock or the console front pages.

If somebody else is looking desperately...

 

[Deleted member 86764]

Reassuringly it looks like Microsoft are running out of stock just as quickly here in the UK.

There are some still available at Argos, Microsoft, and Very. All others are out of stock.

https://www.stockinformer.co.uk/checker-xbox-series-x

 

[PSman1700]

People hungry after RTX, xsx and ps5.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Reassuringly it looks like Microsoft are running out of stock just as quickly here in the UK. There are some still available at Argos, Microsoft, and Very. All others are out of stock.

I've never pre-ordered an Xbox before but I'm sure Microsoft's distributor fulfilment system is similar to Sony and that more stock will become available every week or two.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

I've never pre-ordered an Xbox before but I'm sure Microsoft's distributor fulfilment system is similar to Sony and that more stock will become available every week or two.

I have to admit being tempted by the Series X, I'm quite interested in all of their incredible BC work. I'll likely wait until they've got more games available.

Looks like all of the initial stock for Xbox Series X is now gone in the UK. A few retailers still carrying Series S stock (including Amazon).

Edit: Very have bundles available for Series X now. It's all shifting so quickly.

 

[HBRU]

I've never pre-ordered an Xbox before but I'm sure Microsoft's distributor fulfilment system is similar to Sony and that more stock will become available every week or two.

Will see. Amount available are tiny. Here in Italy each Gamestop shop has just 9 available to preorder...

 

[zed]

FWIW I saw the prices in NZ (from NZ's largest retailer, its walmart if you will)

numbers in NZ dollars
Xbox Series S 512GB Console $549.00 (365us)
PS5 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition $649.00 (432us)
Xbox Series X 1TB Console $799.00 (532us)
PS5 Console $819.00 (545us)

 

[Rangers]

So there's a lot of reports of XSS preorders taking much longer to sell out in markets that have had preorders so far, despite also reports of much less XSS stock (examples like 10 X, 2 S at a particular Gamestop)

Called it!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1308339224219922432

 

[HBRU]

So there's a lot of reports of XSS preorders taking much longer to sell out in markets that have had preorders so far, despite also reports of much less XSS stock (examples like 10 X, 2 S at a particular Gamestop)

Called it!

XSS fits little to the day one buyers... that's normal. People wants either ps5 or XSX day one.

 

[Silenti]

Here I sit. All alone. 5 hours early. So be it. I turn 47 in a month and am sitting outside a Gamestop at 5am. Don't know what that says.

 

[PSman1700]

Here I sit. All alone. 5 hours early. So be it. I turn 47 in a month and am sitting outside a Gamestop at 5am. Don't know what that says.

Well, people are doing this to get an RTX gpu, playstation or an xbox in insane amounts.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

Here I sit. All alone. 5 hours early. So be it. I turn 47 in a month and am sitting outside a Gamestop at 5am. Don't know what that says.

Do you get preorder queues in the US?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Here I sit. All alone. 5 hours early. So be it. I turn 47 in a month and am sitting outside a Gamestop at 5am. Don't know what that says.

That you really want a Series X? I'm 49, mate, age means nothing. The number of people who think games are for kids is dwindling and I find it's generally a view held by old people who remember Pacman and Space Invaders and don't know the medium has moved on.