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Microsoft FY 2023 Q2: Gaming revenue -13%, Xbox content & services -12%, Xbox hardware -13%

KodiakGTS

KodiakGTS

Member
Jun 4, 2018
1,112
robinium7 said:
They have been on this buying spree for several years now yet the output has been very low. I'm sure Satya Nadella did not expect that every studio would take 4, 5 + years *from acquisition date* to output a game. Many should have been part way through projects when they were acquired.
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You can read this article for some details, but basically here is the XGS output for the last 5 years and when the studio was founded/acquired.

1. 343i (2007) - Halo Infinite (2021)
2. Alpha Dog Games (Mobile Dev - 2021) - Mighty Doom (2021)
3. Arkane Studios (2021) - Deathloop (2021), Redfall (H1 2023)
4. Bethesda (2021) - Starfield (H1 2023)
5. Compulsion (2018) - No releases
6. Double Fine (2019) - Psychonauts 2 (2021)
7. Id Software (2020) - Doom Eternal (2020)
8. InXile (2018) - Wasteland 3 (2020)
9. MachineGames (2021) - No releases
10. Mojang (2014) - Minecraft (live service), Minecraft Dungeons (2020), Minecraft Legends (H1 2023)
11. Ninja Theory (2018) - No releases
12. Obsidian (2018) - The Outer Worlds (2019), Grounded v1.0 (2022), Pentiment (2022)
13. Playground Games (2018) - Forza Horizon 4 (2018), Forza Horizon 5 (2021)
14. Rare (2002) - Sea of Thieves (2018, live service)
15. RoundHouse Studios (2021) - Studio Started in 2019
16. Tango Gameworks (2021) - Ghostwire Tokyo (2022)
17. The Coalition (2010) - Gears 5 (2019), Gears 5 Hivebusters (2020)
18. The Initiative (2018) - No releases
19. Turn 10 (2001) - Forza Motorsport (H1 2023)
20. Undead Labs (2018) - No releases
21. Worlds Edge (2019) - Age of Empires 4 (2021)
22. Zenimax Online Studios (2021) - ESO (live service), Fallout 76 (2018, live service)

There are 6/22 studios that are MIA in terms of games released since acquisition (Compulsion, MachineGames, Ninja Theory, RoundHouse Studios, The Initiative, Undead Labs). The longest of those has been owned since 2018.

Every other studio has released at least one game in the last 5 years, or has a game slated for H1 of this year.

I'd say that Compulsion, The Initiative, and Undead Labs could be considered mismanaged relative to expectations, and obviously everyone is familiar with the situation of 343i. The others seem fine to me, but obviously room for improvement on MSFTs part.
 

plan9

Member
Nov 22, 2017
572
I have a suspicion that due to the Ps5 stock issues many people who were going to get Ps5 went with Xbox instead and that's not something we're really seeing anymore now that the stock situation has improved. Otherwise the situation may have been dire to MS even earlier. Now they need to deliver on the software front this year instead of just cruising on autopilot expecting hardware sales.
 
NediarPT88

NediarPT88

Member
Oct 29, 2017
15,331
Hardware dropping isn't surprising, when you see Xbox only selling 700k in November on their best market while heavily discounting Series S, you know things are bad.

Let's see if Starfield can give them a boost, assuming it's good this will most likely be their biggest game in the foreseeable future. They should also try to produce more Series X instead of S.
 
YaBish

YaBish

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,368
KodiakGTS said:
You can read this article for some details, but basically here is the XGS output for the last 5 years and when the studio was founded/acquired.

1. 343i (2007) - Halo Infinite (2021)
2. Alpha Dog Games (Mobile Dev - 2021) - Mighty Doom (2021)
3. Arkane Studios (2021) - Deathloop (2021), Redfall (H1 2023)
4. Bethesda (2021) - Starfield (H1 2023)
5. Compulsion (2018) - No releases
6. Double Fine (2019) - Psychonauts 2 (2021)
7. Id Software (2020) - Doom Eternal (2020)
8. InXile (2018) - Wasteland 3 (2020)
9. MachineGames (2021) - No releases
10. Mojang (2014) - Minecraft (live service), Minecraft Dungeons (2020), Minecraft Legends (H1 2023)
11. Ninja Theory (2018) - No releases
12. Obsidian (2018) - The Outer Worlds (2019), Grounded v1.0 (2022), Pentiment (2022)
13. Playground Games (2018) - Forza Horizon 4 (2018), Forza Horizon 5 (2021)
14. Rare (2002) - Sea of Thieves (2018, live service)
15. RoundHouse Studios (2021) - Studio Started in 2019
16. Tango Gameworks (2021) - Ghostwire Tokyo (2022)
17. The Coalition (2010) - Gears 5 (2019), Gears 5 Hivebusters (2020)
18. The Initiative (2018) - No releases
19. Turn 10 (2001) - Forza Motorsport (H1 2023)
20. Undead Labs (2018) - No releases
21. Worlds Edge (2019) - Age of Empires 4 (2021)
22. Zenimax Online Studios (2021) - ESO (live service), Fallout 76 (2018, live service)

There are 6/22 studios that are MIA in terms of games released since acquisition (Compulsion, MachineGames, Ninja Theory, RoundHouse Studios, The Initiative, Undead Labs). The longest of those has been owned since 2018.

Every other studio has released at least one game in the last 5 years, or has a game slated for H1 of this year.

I'd say that Compulsion, The Initiative, and Undead Labs could be considered mismanaged relative to expectations, and obviously everyone is familiar with the situation of 343i. The others seem fine to me, but obviously room for improvement on MSFTs part.
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How could you forget Bleeding Edge for Ninja Theory?
 
Disco Infernal

Disco Infernal

Banned
May 14, 2021
16,731
When you release more employees than games, shit happens. Can't say I'm all that upset about them struggling considering their wounds are self inflicted. Treat your employees better.
 
Renna Hazel

Renna Hazel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,753
I'm not surprised. I'm honestly not sure why everyone acted like Xbox Series was turning things around from Xbox One. As a consumer, they look like the same exact thing to me. Incredibly unappealing. Hopefully they put some games out on it that make people want to buy the console.
 
TrojanAg

TrojanAg

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,568
Hopefully this gives them a sense of urgency. It is alarming to see a decline in hardware sales at this point even with the lack of big releases because Game Pass is still a really good deal.
 
AM_LIGHT

AM_LIGHT

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,730
Is the hardware because of supply issues with the series X ? Series S is already available everywhere.
 
vixolus

vixolus

Prophet of Truth
Member
Sep 22, 2020
56,096
Prob should make the title hardware revenue to not be confused with units
 
Funkelpop

Funkelpop

Banned
Sep 2, 2022
5,312
Betty said:
All available on previous gen systems, and as far as i'm aware to get the real major next gen improvements on these titles you'd have to opt for the Series X.

It's just not a compelling enough reason to buy into Series S with what's on offer for most people yet.
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I thought gamepass on a cheap system was the compelling reason?
 
Killer

Killer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,352
No 1st part titles. Halo is a dud. they are acquiring more studios when they struggle to put out title with 20+ studios
 
Mr.Deadshot

Mr.Deadshot

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,285
Agree with everyone saying that they need system sellers. Gears, Forza and Halo aren't cutting it anymore. Both Gears and Halo are beyond their prime and Forza, well it's a racing game and it feels like racing games as system sellers is a PS1/2 era thing.

Guess all hope lies in Starfield right now. For better or worse.
 
Witchcraft

Witchcraft

"This guy are sick"
Member
Oct 9, 2022
1,259
The series S was heralded as some genius move for a long while but it looks to have backfired? It doesn't seem that appealing a product and is potentially hampering how many SX's they're able to get on the shelves.
 
Poldino

Poldino

Member
Oct 27, 2020
3,347
Well, those hardware figures surely aren't looking good so early in the gen, Microsoft really needs to step up when it comes to big quality games if they want to draw more people into buying their system.
 
Lant_War

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
The Fallen
Jul 14, 2018
23,606
Mr.Deadshot said:
Agree with everyone saying that they need system sellers. Gears, Forza and Halo aren't cutting it anymore. Both Gears and Halo are beyond their prime and Forza, well it's a racing game and it feels like racing games as system sellers is a PS1/2 era thing.

Guess all hope lies in Starfield right now. For better or worse.
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Forza (Horizon) in particular is one of the only racing games left that still does big numbers though. FH5 is at over 24m players.
 
robinium7

robinium7

Member
Jul 25, 2020
991
Ireland
KodiakGTS said:
You can read this article for some details, but basically here is the XGS output for the last 5 years and when the studio was founded/acquired.

1. 343i (2007) - Halo Infinite (2021)
2. Alpha Dog Games (Mobile Dev - 2021) - Mighty Doom (2021)
3. Arkane Studios (2021) - Deathloop (2021), Redfall (H1 2023)
4. Bethesda (2021) - Starfield (H1 2023)
5. Compulsion (2018) - No releases
6. Double Fine (2019) - Psychonauts 2 (2021)
7. Id Software (2020) - Doom Eternal (2020)
8. InXile (2018) - Wasteland 3 (2020)
9. MachineGames (2021) - No releases
10. Mojang (2014) - Minecraft (live service), Minecraft Dungeons (2020), Minecraft Legends (H1 2023)
11. Ninja Theory (2018) - No releases
12. Obsidian (2018) - The Outer Worlds (2019), Grounded v1.0 (2022), Pentiment (2022)
13. Playground Games (2018) - Forza Horizon 4 (2018), Forza Horizon 5 (2021)
14. Rare (2002) - Sea of Thieves (2018, live service)
15. RoundHouse Studios (2021) - Studio Started in 2019
16. Tango Gameworks (2021) - Ghostwire Tokyo (2022)
17. The Coalition (2010) - Gears 5 (2019), Gears 5 Hivebusters (2020)
18. The Initiative (2018) - No releases
19. Turn 10 (2001) - Forza Motorsport (H1 2023)
20. Undead Labs (2018) - No releases
21. Worlds Edge (2019) - Age of Empires 4 (2021)
22. Zenimax Online Studios (2021) - ESO (live service), Fallout 76 (2018, live service)

There are 6/22 studios that are MIA in terms of games released since acquisition (Compulsion, MachineGames, Ninja Theory, RoundHouse Studios, The Initiative, Undead Labs). The longest of those has been owned since 2018.

Every other studio has released at least one game in the last 5 years, or has a game slated for H1 of this year.

I'd say that Compulsion, The Initiative, and Undead Labs could be considered mismanaged relative to expectations, and obviously everyone is familiar with the situation of 343i. The others seem fine to me, but obviously room for improvement on MSFTs part.
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In addition to the ones with no releases, several of those are pushing 4-5 years without a release now, without looking like anything is particularly close.

Meanwhile most big studios out there are developing two or more projects in parallel and releasing a AAA game every 2-3 years on average… 4 at most.
 
mysteriousmage09

mysteriousmage09

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,866
SilverX said:
Having a $299 next gen system is suppose to be the selling point
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You've been able to get a Series S for $250 or less for a good while now.
Betty said:
You need things to play on it though.
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Tons of people on this very forum, for the first year and a half of the gen, assured us that the Series S and Gamepass was all you needed. That the Series S was some genius move that MS pulled out of their hat and the cheap price of the Series S plus cheap Gamepass subscription was the best thing you could ever ask for and the instant catalogue of games you got with it was enough.

I among many others called it what it actually was, a success only on the grounds that it was the only console out of the Series S, Series X and PS5 that you could logically get your hands on so people that were impatient and needed any next-gen system right then and there just went with the Series S instead of waiting and playing the lottery game for months hoping for a Series X or PS5. It was always a charade but many here tried going with the statements along the lines of:

"The cheapest system always sells best."

"Nobody will be looking to spend so much money for a Series X or PS5 in this economy, the Series S will be the go to console."

Only after the first half of 2022 concluded did people start making the claims of the importance of exclusives on the Xbox side of things, since we know what happened the moment Sony fixed their stock issues with PS5. With the constant claims of Series S always being on shelves in NA or Europe and not Series X, it seems MS let the early success go to their heads and over saturated the market with the wrong console.

A 13% drop in hardware this early on is bad no matter what way you try to slice it. Games like Starfield should help bump it back up, but after only 2 years on the market and dropping this much is not a good look.

I hope that Xbox showcase MS is doing tomorrow is a dynamite one because if it's a bunch of nothing but games still years out and "please be excited for Starfield later this year", then damn, man.
 
Temascos

Temascos

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,606
Seems like the Series S wasn't the best idea, I can understand the reasoning for it but in hindsight it might have been better to do what Sony did with the PS5 and have separate SKUs with Disc and Digital only at a cheaper price rather than having a less powerful model.

Also it's gotta be frustrating for Xbox fans over the past near-decade (We're coming up to 10 years from the Xbox One announcement!) where their first party was almost completely gone and they've had to spend years building it back up. They certainly have the teams now but they need a fair few heavy hitters that attract attention like Nintendo and Sony's games often do, Bethesda are the best bet with Starfield right now and if Acti-Blizz goes through they'll have Call Of Duty so no worries there.
 
jroc74

jroc74

Member
Oct 27, 2017
29,327
TheBrightestSun said:
But it does? It is mentioned that GP partially offset the revenue loss
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What I'm saying is that for a lower priced console, GP isnt doing as much as it should or could. "Gonna be flying off shelves this holiday" was a recurring theme. I get it, I got EA Access sometime between 2013 - 2016 because it and a deal on the One S was a good Christmas deal. But Series S consoles are right now easier to find ...in stores... vs the XSX and PS5.

Factoring in the recent deals and like someone said earlier...imagine how bad it would look without Game Pass.
 
Jake2byFour

Jake2byFour

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,846
The SS is a great system but consumers want the premium SX and compelling software . If the rumors of a detachable ps5 is true the SS is really gonna be stuck between a rock and hard place.
 
Killer

Killer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,352
robinium7 said:
I do genuinely think at this point there's something deeply wrong with how they manage their studios. Everything they touch seems to end up having "development hell" or repeated delays.
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Look at 343i (with their flagship IP and studio) and you can just imagine how poorly the rest are managed. The only studios with some consistency is Playground, and that's it.
 
ozumas

ozumas

Born to be Wise and Corrupted by Vengeance
Member
Dec 15, 2020
2,348
I don't think this is MS only problem, Sony would probably have similar results (maybe not that low?) and Nintendo too.
Quarentine era is now gone so market is adjusting, I don't see this unusual or that worrying.
 
Vinc

Vinc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,410
Gaming might be particularly affected by the incoming economic slowdown, given how incredibly inflated the numbers were during COVID lockdowns, massive investments in the sector and growth, and perhaps to a lesser extent the "luxury goods" status of video games in general. Though historically, gaming has been fairly recession proof in terms of consumer behaviors.
 
Kyoufu

Kyoufu

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,582
Jencks said:
It is absolutely insane the impact that the launch of One/rise of PS4 had on Xbox. They never recovered.
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The launch of XB1 was fine actually. They had a good lineup of exclusive software and launch sales were good. Their failures come from what happened after, which was lack of exclusive software which resulted in declining sales.

The problem I have with Xbox right now is that despite adding dozens of studios, and an entire publisher to their first party stable, they're still lacking exclusive software, which is resulting in subpar sales. I'm not sure if Phil Spencer and XGS management leaders are the answer. They've been failing for a decade now.
 
Bxrz

Bxrz

Banned
Dec 18, 2020
1,902
Killer said:
Look at 343i (with their flagship IP and studio) and you can just imagine how poorly the rest are managed. The only studios with some consistency is Playground, and that's it.
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This is a pretty ignorant statement. 343 is one studio. Has nothing to do with the rest of them.
 
vixolus

vixolus

Prophet of Truth
Member
Sep 22, 2020
56,096
Way too many people counting out the Series S when the generation has hardly begun from a release standpoint across the industry. Especially if the deal closes, a COD next gen only game or Starfield bundle for $199 in 2024-2025 would sell like the $199 Black Friday ps4s fr
 
Geode

Geode

Keeper of the White Materia
Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,590
No wonder Microsoft wants Activision Blizzard. Also it doesn't help that Sony is buying a lot of exclusives this generation.
 
wingkongex

wingkongex

Member
Aug 25, 2019
2,202
ozumas said:
I don't think this is MS only problem, Sony would probably have similar results (maybe not that low?) and Nintendo too.
Quarentine era is now gone so market is adjusting, I don't see this unusual or that worrying.
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Yeah, I mean look at those charts. The pandemic bump was ridiculous, and things are just normalizing and as the report says they know that. With Gamepass subs still going up, I'm sure MS isn't losing sleep over these numbers.
 
Red Kong XIX

Red Kong XIX

Member
Oct 11, 2020
8,402
vixolus said:
Way too many people counting out the Series S when the generation has hardly begun from a release standpoint across the industry. Especially if the deal closes, a COD next gen only game or Starfield bundle for $199 in 2024-2025 would sell like the $199 Black Friday ps4s fr
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Bundles with first-party games don't make sense when you have them on GamePass day 1.
 
Capt Sensib1e

Capt Sensib1e

Banned
Jun 4, 2022
3,357
MS's biggest potential problem with management, still, is they get suits from MS running things who don't know the difference between Clu Clu Land and Chu Chu Rocket.
 
Shirkelton

Shirkelton

Member
Aug 20, 2020
6,167
wingkongex said:
Yeah, I mean look at those charts. The pandemic bump was ridiculous, and things are just normalizing and as the report says they know that. With Gamepass subs still going up, I'm sure MS isn't losing sleep over these numbers.
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The pandemic is a factor, but you're kidding yourself if you think they're content with their hardware figures of late.
 
phonicjoy

phonicjoy

Banned
Jun 19, 2018
4,305
ozumas said:
I don't think this is MS only problem, Sony would probably have similar results (maybe not that low?) and Nintendo too.
Quarentine era is now gone so market is adjusting, I don't see this unusual or that worrying.
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According to the leaked NPCs data Sony did fine though. Nintendo is nearing the end of the lifecycle too, so there's an install base already and costs are way lower.
 
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