Microsoft has a problem with Xbox that it can't buy its way out of..

[Max Payne]

MS still gets punished for that bullshit called always online DRM they were trying to force on their loyal fanbase and all the other consumers. And that's totally fine, they deserve als the criticism they still get til today.
I don't wish them to totally fail and disappear with their Xbox brand, because that would leave Sony without competition, and we all know that wouldn't benefit consumers in any way, but they should never repeat such anti-consumer action again.

 

[Podge293]

That's pretty interesting.

Do you know if Microsoft made a profit in the last fiscal year, specifically with the Xbox/gaming division, or is it still not profitable despite increases digital and service revenue?

Click to shrink...

In the previous 6 months, at a GAAP level, they've made a profit of about 280mil. Would have been 17bn but they provided massively for a tax bill incoming

They don't split out Xbox separately (insiders may have more info) but they did report an increase in revenue from Xbox hardware sales. 8% yoy

 

[nib95]

In the previous 6 months, at a GAAP level, they've made a profit of about 280mil. Would have been 17bn but they provided massively for a tax bill incoming

They don't split out Xbox separately (insiders may have more info) but they did report an increase in revenue from Xbox hardware sales. 8% yoy

Click to shrink...

Presumably the Xbox Division still isn't profitable then. All I could find on it was this.

One of the dirty little secrets of Microsoft's Xbox/gaming business is that it has never actually turned a profit. So I was curious to hear Mr. Nadella utter these contorted words last night: "Our gaming business is now more than $9 billion, and growing profitably." So. $9 billion is revenues, not profits. So growing means that revenues are growing. And growing profitably means ... what? That the business is "becoming profitable"? Or is it just growing revenues positively? Was this a misstatement? What does that mean? Here's my guess. He means usage and engagement are growing. Because I can state this with certainty: Microsoft's gaming business is not profitable. In fact, it's undergoing a digital transformation of its own.

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https://www.petri.com/paul-thurrotts-short-takes-microsoft-earnings-special-edition-7

 

[Dr. Caroll]

They have just released a new console and there are literally no exclusives, and like one interesting coming up.

Click to shrink...

PUBG was released just a month or two ago. Subnautica is also making waves, and is console exclusive for Xbox. edit: There are some really hot/popular games where the only way to play them is on PC or Xbox, and that's kinda the plan for MS.

 

[Spades]

No matter what they do, they are harshly criticized.

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Yeah, this feels true across the board.

 

[CptPusheen]

I don't get why some people just want Xbox to fail. All three key players compliment each other:

1. Sony = Big budget single player experiences.
2. Nintendo = Mario & Co. + Indies
3. MS = Multiplats

I have all three consoles and think they are equally great. We really live in a golden era of gaming.

 

[Spades]

but they don't get EAs games as exclusives just because they buy them

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Just like Minecraft isn't Xbox-exclusive.

 

[octiny]

Eh, nearly all my buddies including myself have moved on from PS4 to the 1X. They've made all the right moves since that DRM/Kinect fiasco. Microsoft is positioning itself perfectly for next generation.

 

[Ge0force]

MS still gets punished for that bullshit called always online DRM they were trying to force on their loyal fanbase and all the other consumers. And that's totally fine, they deserve als the criticism they still get til today.
I don't wish them to totally fail and disappear with their Xbox brand, because that would leave Sony without competition, and we all know that wouldn't benefit consumers in any way, but they should never repeat such anti-consumer action again.

Click to shrink...

I agree with this. Microsoft has proven that they can be a terrible company when they are doing great. Not only with the release of the Xbox One, but also during the 2nd half of the x360 era when they had plenty of anti-consumer and anti-dev policies.

This being said, Microsoft has been doing some great things since they are being outsold by both of their competitors. Yet these things don't seem to be enough to turn around the mindshare of a significant portion of the gamers. In my opinion, this is because they didn't focus on what it's all about: games. don't agree with people saying that Microsoft doesn't have exclusives - because they have - but imo they don't have enough exclusives that are remarkable enough to convince people into buying an Xbox One. At least not compared to Sony and Nintendo.

Another issue is Microsofts terrible attempt to push pc gaming into a uwp driven console-like walled garden, thereby ignoring many of the perks that makes pc gaming so awesome. It seems that they don't have learned anything from GFWL, which is a shame for the company that created Windows.

It's actually kind of funny that some people are suggesting that Microsoft should focus on pc next generation. They would have much more competition on pc from Steam, GoG and the publishers own stores than they would have in console space from Sony and Nintendo.

 

[C4lukin]

That article seems like it could have been written by the majority of Resetera users.

Only we would get a little closer to statistics such as 30 to 50 million sold for the Xbox One. We could probably narrow it down into a range of maybe three million give or take of the actual number. I will leave that up to the Resetera numbers people who create spreadsheets and the such.

I think we should look at the MS gaming division, as are they failing?

Last gen, Wii outsold the competition, and as far as I recall 360 and PS3. Ended up around 90 million. Did anyone really lose?

This gen, Sony is running away with it. MS is pretty consistent number wise with 360 up to this point, and Switch is freakin dynamite. Selling like crazy and kicking ass.

But you have to remember the Wii U. Between the Wii and the Switch they had a dreadful failure. But did they lose money? Does it matter at the end of the day that this bad selling console failed? Being number three, was it actually a failure, or simply a product that underperformed.

You cannot look at Nintendo, MS, and Sony as winners or losers based on overall sales. The film Get Out can make 30% of the new Star Wars, it does not make it a failure.

As long as everyone is making money, and creating new and creative content for us alll, all three console makers can be successful, even if they are not number one.

 

[Lurkyseas]

They should buy big publishers for their legacy.

Sega and Capcom are much more affordable than EA, and Xbox could use some earth shattering acquisitions to generate hype for the industry. Come on, Microsoft. Extend, Embrace...

Click to shrink...

No. Please, no.

 

[Arebours]

MS is the least trustworthy company whose products I interact with on a daily basis(windows) so it's an ongoing mission in my life to shrink the area of contact between them, and me in order to reduce any further disappointment and frustration. Doesn't help that their branding always have felt infantile and tasteless either.
Not that Sony is that much better - paid online was the last drop for me personally.

 

[Beer Monkey]

MS still gets punished for that bullshit called always online DRM they were trying to force on their loyal fanbase and all the other consumers. And that's totally fine, they deserve als the criticism they still get til today.
I don't wish them to totally fail and disappear with their Xbox brand, because that would leave Sony without competition, and we all know that wouldn't benefit consumers in any way, but they should never repeat such anti-consumer action again.

Click to shrink...

They're killing Sony on anti-consumer measures.

Every BC game they roll out for playing OG Xbox games or 360 games on X1, if you already own it, you still own it on X1. You can still play it, even if you just owned the original disc.

Sony, sells you the same games with terrible lag and no improvement on framerate or graphics.

 

[Lyng]

If microsoft do buy EA it would mean ALOT of FIFA players going X-box. Getting the newest FIFA and other sports games as part of a 10$ sub instead of 60$ a pop.
Also with EA they could make Mass Effect and Anthem exclusive to Xbox and pc.

 

[daniel77733]

Nah.

Build internal studios and run them properly.

As a fan of both Sega and Capcom I'd hate if Microsoft bought them. Their track record of running the game companies they acquire speaks for itself.

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Pretty much agree with this but I don't see Microsoft building internal studios. And the only publisher I put ahead of Microsoft in regards to being worse is Electronic Arts.

Just stating facts . This gen of consoles consisted of PS4 , Wii U and the Xbox one. The Wii U is not being sold anymore so no way the Wii U can overtake the Xbox one. Xbox one will never catch the PS4 so its safe to say that the Xbox one will be in second place for the 8th gen . Not trying to prove anything and I'm not sure why you think I would be trying to

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Actually, I think that Xbox One ends up in third place as I see Switch surpassing it by March 31st, 2020. Let's say that Xbox One hits 38m by March 31st 2018 while Switch hits their 17m target by the same date. I can easily see Switch selling at a pace that is much greater than that of Xbox One and if Pokémon actually releases in the Fall, forget about it. I could easily see Switch at 35m by the end of March 2019 with them eventually surpassing Xbox One within a year later.

The main reason why is that while Xbox One does have a good amount of exclusives, the problem is the quality. Microsoft's exclusives quite simply and quite honestly aren't even close to Sony's and Nintendo's. A lot of people may think that this doesn't matter but it does. Microsoft is said to have an influx of cash or whatever which is why the rumors of them buying EA, Valve and PUBG started in the first place. What Microsoft and Phil Spencer should do is startup a few new internal studios, hire some veterans to run those studios and go on a big hiring spree. Get everything up and running by April 2019 and start having those studios develop new IP's for their next gen console. This gen is lost. Stick a fork in Microsoft, they're done.

They need to look ahead and rebound with their next console. Doing PUBG deals, putting exclusives on Game Pass, possibly adding yet another Forza franchise simply isn't going to do a damn thing unless Microsoft is content with staying in the 30-40m range. Of course, I don't see any of this happening because they're still too focused on apps, features, subscriptions, etc. and that's simply not going to make their brand better to the majority of gamers out there. Until their number one focus becomes quality exclusive games and building those internal studios to supply them with just that, I don't see Microsoft ever being number one or even number two.

Quite honestly, I think Xbox's best days and run was with Xbox 360 and I simply don't see them turning things around based on their current direction but who knows, maybe Phil Spencer will come through.

 

[nekkid]

They have just released a new console and there are literally no exclusives, and like one interesting coming up.
They need to work on games instead of already another new console.

Click to shrink...

How's that going to work, then?

No doubt you'll return to criticise them for having games and no hardware...

 

[Marble]

I don't get why some people just want Xbox to fail. All three key players compliment each other:

1. Sony = Big budget single player experiences.
2. Nintendo = Mario & Co. + Indies
3. MS = Multiplats

I have all three consoles and think they are equally great. We really live in a golden era of gaming.

Click to shrink...

Wait what? I swear I played Assassins Creed Origins on my PS4 yesterday. That's a multiplat right?

How does Xbox complement the rest then? Most mainstream people will buy the most popular console with the most and biggest exclusives. For now that is PS4 and since that console is also able to play multiplats, there is little reason to buy an Xbox.

Since a few weeks I own a 65" 4K HDR TV and I serioudly considered the X1X, but I'm not really can't think of a reason why I should. Games like AC:O have a higher dynamic resolution yes, but on 3.5 - 4 meters, you will hardly notice the difference. The game looks absolutely stunning on my Pro, but that mostly is because of HDR. And it runs at a pretty stable 30fps, as far as I can notice. I refuse to pay € 500.00 for only extra pixels which will be hardly noticable anyway.

Now there are games like Shadow of War which show bigger differences, but that game looks like ass anyway. Look at the texture quality on PS4 hardware. Compare that game to Horizon Zero Dawn or Rise of the Tomb Raider/AC:O. That's just crappy developing or MS payed them off. That said: the game could probably look way better on X1X as well.

 

[bear force one]

as far as this gen goes they already have 2nd so they already did better than the 1st try with OG xbox

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I don't see them holding that. Nintendo is on fire.

 

[II JumPeR I]

I think they're pretty much fucked. Their first party is weak, The XBOX just came out, and for five hundred dollars. Sony is going to release a PS5 for four hundred dollars which is massively better holiday '20, and MS can't ship a next-gen system any where near that soon without burning the X owners.

Valve would never sell to anyone, let alone MS. MS buying EA makes no sense to me, as all the Sports licenses require multiplatform releases.

They're going to get slaughtered.

Click to shrink...

Sry but lol
MS isnt fucked at all. in your opinion their 1st party lineup is weak, i kinda agree but at the same time i could say that the sony lineup is pretty weak too because i dont care about any of these games but i dont make such claims.

And how do you know that the PS5 will cost 399? OneX showed that people will pay good money for good hardware. You are not forced to buy a OneX. Its a OPTION for folks who want the best console experience for their games they are interested in.

A PS5 in 2020 wont have a lot of 1st party games at all... everything will be crossgen again if even that...

 

[christocolus]

How's that going to work, then?

No doubt you'll return to criticise them for having games and no hardware...

Click to shrink...

Lol

 

[CptPusheen]

Wait what? I swear I played Assassins Creed Origins on my PS4 yesterday. That's a multiplat right?

How does Xbox complement the rest then? Most mainstream people will buy the most popular console with the most and biggest exclusives. For now that is PS4 and since that console is also able to play multiplats, there is little reason to buy an Xbox.

Since a few weeks I own a 65" 4K HDR TV and I serioudly considered the X1X, but I'm not really can't think of a reason why I should. Games like AC:O have a higher dynamic resolution yes, but on 3.5 - 4 meters, you will hardly notice the difference. The game looks absolutely stunning on my Pro, but that mostly is because of HDR. And it runs at a pretty stable 30fps, as far as I can notice. I refuse to pay € 500.00 for only extra pixels which will be hardly noticable anyway.

Now there are games like Shadow of War which show bigger differences, but that game looks like ass anyway. Look at the texture quality on PS4 hardware. Compare that game to Horizon Zero Dawn or Rise of the Tomb Raider/AC:O. That's just crappy developing or MS payed them off. That said: the game could probably look way better on X1X as well.

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Better hardware(build quality, size, quiet unlike jet engine in ps4pro), more stable network infrastructure, game refunds, ea access, game pass. Xbox is just the most customer friendly right now so that's why for me this is the console to play multiplats on.

If only more people could afford all consoles, fanboyism would be pretty much dead(yes Marble, I flagged you as a fanboy as your post was unnecessarily emotional)

 

[Ge0force]

Also with EA they could make Mass Effect and Anthem exclusive to Xbox and pc.

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And how exactly would this benefit us as gamers? Xbox gamers still get the games they would get anyway, PC gamers would have to buy these games in the crappy Windows Store and PS gamers wouldn't get these games at all. Please explain to me how this would be a good thing?

 

[ForgedByGeeks]

Try to tell that to the Bing team :P

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Bing is doing great btw. It is still the only search engine to consistently take marketshare from Google since Google launched.

As of December 2017, according to ComScore, MS is up to 23.7% market share in the US. This is up from about 6.5% right before they launch Bing in 2010.

Btw, they had a huge increase in share around the time of the "Bing it on" marketing campaign in 2012 which was largely credited with turning around the image of Microsoft's search engine and convincing consumers that it was competitive with Google.

 

[HBK]

So we're gonna see physical media for a long time to come, I expect.

Click to shrink...

Physical media, not necessarily. But local computational power, definitely.

Edit: On topic: Aren't we tired of those "Nintendo is doomed", "MS will withdraw", "PC gaming is dying" threads already?

MS not selling the most consoles is irrelevant as long as games net them money. As for knowing if it does net money for them, I do not have that information. If Xbox division is consistently losing money then an argument can be had about them possibly ditching the division. But as long as it's even remotely profitable, they'll probably want to keep it.

And if anything, should they choose to kill it, we'll probably see it coming a while away. You don't shut off this kind of activity overnight.

 

[bear force one]

I don't get why some people just want Xbox to fail. All three key players compliment each other:

1. Sony = Big budget single player experiences.
2. Nintendo = Mario & Co. + Indies
3. MS = Multiplats

I have all three consoles and think they are equally great. We really live in a golden era of gaming.

Click to shrink...

Why would you give Xbox multiplats? The amount of people with an X is most likely around 10-15%.

 

[TheHunter]

Not a great article. 30-50 million units?

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"Officer I thought the speed limit was 20 to 50 mph."

 

[OG_Thrills]

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-future-of-the-xbox-one-2018-2

Yet, I slowly see how MS is turning the Xbox brand once again to a profitable position.

Click to shrink...

The problem with your counter argument is that this isn't true. XBOX numbers have been moved, combined and hidden to purposely obfuscate the health of XBOX as a brand. Not windows and gaming. Not MAU which counts 360/mobile/pc/tablets. Microsoft hasn't given us a clear idea of what XBOX is bringing into Microsoft as a whole since 2013.

Financially they're down YOY and Quarter to Quarter. Every YOY and Quarter to Quarter.

 

[Gundam]

That's just crappy developing or MS payed them off.

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I don't even know which reaction gif to use but this is absurd.

 

[TheHunter]

The problem with your counter argument is that this isn't true. XBOX numbers have been moved, combined and hidden to purposely obfuscate the health of XBOX as a brand. Not windows and gaming. Not MAU which counts 360/mobile/pc/tablets. Microsoft hasn't given us a clear idea of what XBOX is bringing into Microsoft as a whole since 2013.

Financially they're down YOY and Quarter to Quarter. Every YOY and Quarter to Quarter.

Click to shrink...

To be fair not all brands need to be massive earners.

If that was the case why is Pepsi still around.

 

[Imitation Of Life]

I don't get why some people just want Xbox to fail. All three key players compliment each other:

1. Sony = Big budget single player experiences.
2. Nintendo = Mario & Co. + Indies
3. MS = Multiplats

I have all three consoles and think they are equally great. We really live in a golden era of gaming.

Click to shrink...

Not very compelling selling point compared to the first two especially when Sony gets all the major multiplats too.

 

[pswii60]

With regards to the OP, it's clear that Xbox is being positioned in the future as a convenience device to access/play games on Microsoft's store and to access Microsoft's services. This store and the services will obviously also be available on Windows, and possibly other devices in future. The exclusive content will be exclusive to their store and services, and not necessarily the plastic box itself - the plastic box becoming merely an entry to this and not the centre of attention. You can see this already with Play Anywhere - exclusives are now exclusive to the Windows 10 and Xbox store, not the plastic box. We've already seen Spencer alluding to this way of thinking in recent interviews, and it makes sense with Game Pass now becoming a major focus in their strategy. Think of Xbox as a Surface TV.

I'm convinced the next Xbox will be fully digital (a good thing in my book), and we may even see a small, drive-less digital-only XBO launch this year specifically to take advantage of Game Pass.

 

[Max Payne]

They're killing Sony on anti-consumer measures.

Every BC game they roll out for playing OG Xbox games or 360 games on X1, if you already own it, you still own it on X1. You can still play it, even if you just owned the original disc.

Sony, sells you the same games with terrible lag and no improvement on framerate or graphics.

Click to shrink...

Xbox One BC wouldn't be a thing if Xbox One would be as successful as PS4 is now. It's just a desperate attempt to try to catch up with the competition, in a fight that was already lost on that very special E3.

I agree with you that MS seems to be a lot consumer-friendlier in that regard, and it's a good example of why a market without a strong competition is a bad thing.

I don't get why some people just want Xbox to fail. All three key players compliment each other:

1. Sony = Big budget single player experiences.
2. Nintendo = Mario & Co. + Indies
3. MS = Multiplats

I have all three consoles and think they are equally great. We really live in a golden era of gaming.

Click to shrink...

lol you must be trolling. I think at some point, it will become a burden for developers/publishers to justify wasting ressources on an Xbox One port, since the majority is either on the PS4 or on the PC. The technical advantage of the Xbox One X won't help to solve that matter.

With regards to the OP, it's clear that Xbox is being positioned in the future as a convenience device to access/play games on Microsoft's store and to access Microsoft's services. This store and the services will obviously also be available on Windows, and possibly other devices in future. The exclusive content will be exclusive to their store and services, and not necessarily the plastic box itself - the plastic box becoming merely an entry to this and not the centre of attention. You can see this already with Play Anywhere - exclusives are now exclusive to the Windows 10 and Xbox store, not the plastic box. We've already seen Spencer alluding to this way of thinking in recent interviews, and it makes sense with Game Pass now becoming a major focus in their strategy. Think of Xbox as a Surface TV.

I'm convinced the next Xbox will be fully digital (a good thing in my book), and we may even see a small, drive-less digital-only XBO launch this year specifically to take advantage of Game Pass.

Click to shrink...

While I believe it may happen, it think this would be the death of the Xbox brand. The Nokia of game consoles market.

 

[Marble]

Better hardware(build quality, size, quiet unlike jet engine in ps4pro), more stable network infrastructure, game refunds, ea access, game pass. Xbox is just the most customer friendly right now so that's why for me this is the console to play multiplats on.

If only more people could afford all consoles, fanboyism would be pretty much dead(yes Marble, I flagged you as a fanboy as your post was unnecessarily emotional)

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Like the mainstream will walk in a store wanting to buy the console with the best build quality. There are also numerous reports of loud X1X units and on the opposite quiet PS4 Pro units.

PSN is more stable then ever and again: the people walking into a toy store asking for the console with the most stable network, will also be in the minority. That also counts for the rest of your arguments.

You are on ResetERA and hence you are probably not mainstream.

My point is the PS4 also plays multiplatform games (that is why they are called "multiplatform"), so that's not really a good argument.

 

[Amnixia]

Microsoft f'ed up with E3 2013 and I'll take them a long time to come back just with Sony and PS3

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Well, they need exclusives for that and with them cancelling games people wanted (Scalebound, Phantom Dust) they won't get what is needed.
Sea of Thieves looks nice, but I imagine it endup up as not very successful.

I really wonder what they're planning behind the scenes, because the current cycle of Forza/Halo/Gears doesn't seem to be working out too well for them.

 

[OG_Thrills]

To be fair not all brands need to be massive earners.

If that was the case why is Pepsi still around.

Click to shrink...

This is true.

But the opening gambit of this thread is predicated on totally false info. XBOX making a profit? They've been making a loss every single year and every single quarter. There's an article upon article from insiders and analysts which state that xbox has never turned a profit and looses billions each year. But according to OP XB is slowly making a profit.

We need to get back to reality and keep our statements based on facts before we move the conversation forward.

 

[Bojanglez]

With regards to the OP, it's clear that Xbox is being positioned in the future as a convenience device to access/play games on Microsoft's store and to access Microsoft's services. This store and the services will obviously also be available on Windows, and possibly other devices in future. The exclusive content will be exclusive to their store and services, and not necessarily the plastic box itself - the plastic box becoming merely an entry to this and not the centre of attention. You can see this already with Play Anywhere - exclusives are now exclusive to the Windows 10 and Xbox store, not the plastic box. We've already seen Spencer alluding to this way of thinking in recent interviews, and it makes sense with Game Pass now becoming a major focus in their strategy. Think of Xbox as a Surface TV.

I'm convinced the next Xbox will be fully digital (a good thing in my book), and we may even see a small, drive-less digital-only XBO launch this year specifically to take advantage of Game Pass.

Click to shrink...

As someone who is completely digital this generation, I'd welcome this. Their original plan to to force digital adoption was clearly flawed, they need to make a positive argument for it. Game Pass is the start of this and if they can release a slicker (and possibly cheaper) HDD only version it would allow consumers to opt in to that model for positive reasons. If I were them I'd definitely do that and perhaps bundle it with 6-12 months on game pass maybe even sell it at a loss, knowing that every game bought by an owner of that SKU would be going to them. I hope this then forces Sony to follow.

I'm generally more of a Sony & Nintendo guy, but this generation I have probably 'engaged' with the Xbox brand more than ever, the hardware is nice and initiatives like Game Pass are offering some level of unique value.

Another point I'd make about these kind of articles is that they see not being #1 in sales overall as a failure, but it is not a zero sum game, the pie is getting bigger and although MS have a smaller portion of the pie they can still be successful, especially if their success criteria is not simply console units sold.

 

[Deleted member 7756]

I stopped at "an estimated 30 to 50 million Xbox One consoles have been sold". What kind of ridiculous range is that?

Click to shrink...

360 was the same scenario. They don't give away many details, which is up to them. It wouldn't surprise me if the actual amount sold is probably 10+ million less than the PS3 by now.

 

[TheHunter]

This is true.

But the opening gambit of this thread is predicated on totally false info. XBOX making a profit? They've been making a loss every single year and every single quarter. There's an article upon article from insiders and analysts which state that xbox has never turned a profit and looses billions each year. But according to OP XB is slowly making a profit.

We need to get back to reality and keep our statements based on facts before we move the conversation forward.

Click to shrink...

Fair enough; you tend to get tired hearing the "Xbox is doomed" chant for the umpteenth time so a quick reminder that profit=/=brand utility helps.

 

[Prine]

Xbox One BC wouldn't be a thing if Xbox One would be as successful as PS4 is now. It's just a desperate attempt to try to catch up with the competition, in a fight that was already lost on that very special E3.

I agree with you that MS seems to be a lot consumer-friendlier in that regard, and it's a good example of why a market without a strong competition is a bad thing.



lol you must be trolling. I think at some point, it will become a burden for developers/publishers to justify wasting ressources on an Xbox One port, since the majority is either on the PS4 or on the PC. The technical advantage of the Xbox One X won't help to solve that matter.

Click to shrink...

Thats a lie, Phill Spencer and recent articles about BC have gone in depth to explain X1 was built with BC in mind as it uses old Xbox hardware as part of its delivery of BC games.

My point is the PS4 also plays multiplatform games (that is why they are called "multiplatform"), so that's not really a good argument.

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It is a strong argument if console gamers are purchasing based on superior performance/visuals and online, which alot are, especially people on forums like this.

 

[OG_Thrills]

Fair enough; you tend to get tired hearing the "Xbox is doomed" chant for the umpteenth time so a quick reminder that profit=/=brand utility helps.

Click to shrink...

XBOX isn't doomed. But I think that we can all agree that they need to make some changes.

 

[BLLYjoe25]

I stopped at "an estimated 30 to 50 million Xbox One consoles have been sold". What kind of ridiculous range is that?

Click to shrink...

it's an estimate. MS stopped giving out the sales so we can only guess. PS4 is 70 something million and I think 30 something was the last reported number so 30-50 is a reasonable guess even if it isn't quite specific.

 

[CptPusheen]

There are also numerous reports of loud X1X units and on the opposite quiet PS4 Pro units.

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I rolled my eyes so hard that I pulled a muscle. Being unable to give credit where credit is due disgust me.

 

[Max Payne]

Thats a lie, Phill Spencer and recent articles about BC have gone in depth to explain X1 was built with BC in mind as it uses old Xbox hardware as part of its delivery of BC games.

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That's not a lie, that's an assumption based on the observation of the related companies and their megalomania in their most successful times.

While the Xbox may be designed with BC in mind, it's quite certain that you would have to bravely pay for every BC game you'd like to play (since it also was designed as an always online device in mind, you remember?).

It is a strong argument if console gamers are purchasing based on superior performance/visuals and online, which alot are, especially people on forums like this.

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If everyone is on the PS4 (and actually on the PSN), I just don't see the point of calling it a "superior" online experience. The suprior online experience is actually where you can play with you friends online, which is not given in the majority of cases if it comes to the Xbox One.

 

[Joeyro]

It's kinda unfortunate that in order to be more pro consumer you have to be an underdog. PS5 is going to dominate next gen as well and we'll probably never get a refund system or game pass. I'm just praying to god that they will add backward comp but you can't really know.

 

[Prine]

I rolled my eyes so hard that I pulled a muscle. Being unable to give credit where credit is due disgust me.

Click to shrink...

Seriously. Thats some Iraqi Foreign Minister tactic being implemented

 

[Jaxar]

Just reinforces the point in the OP about negativity around Xbox.

It's been "30-35 million" since like 2015. Basically, Microsoft hasn't sold a console since 2015 apparently. It would comfortably be at 40 million by now. All reports for the longest time have had Sony outselling them at just under 2:1. With Sony being within a hair of 80 million by now, slightly over 40 million is about right.

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I'd be curious to hear what your thoughts are on this now after ZhugeEX's comment 2 posts later?

Some of you guys get too emotional over this sort of thing. You're quick to write discussion off as "oh it's just more negativity, it's not true!", instead of looking at things from a more neutral viewpoint.

Xbox will be fine as long as they continue on building digital features/services that aren't on the competition and continue on tying it with solid third party game support for a price that isn't ridiculous.

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I feel they've been doing exactly that for a while now and it doesn't seemed to have made much difference. If Xbox continues on with that same strategy into next gen then I think they're in for another very tough uphill battle.

 

[pswii60]

XBOX isn't doomed. But I think that we can all agree that they need to make some changes.

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Only two changes: 1) Significantly more compelling content not available on PS4/Switch and 2) Marketing.

They have everything else completely on point now, and between X and Game Pass now actually have advantages in other areas. But exclusives and marketing lets them down significantly. They are now clearly investing in first party content as evidenced in the other thread, but I still feel their marketing this generation is leagues behind what Sony has been doing. I mean, it's almost non-existent. I wonder if we'll see this change when SoT launches. I mean, they have a compelling game not (at least currently) available on the other two platforms (PUBG) but the marketing spend has been minuscule - they should have advertised the hell out of it.

But again, I don't think their strategy is to sell boxes, but to sell their services. And where can you access these services? By buying a Xbox or using Windows 10. This is why I think we'll see marketing ramp up when SoT hits, with its association with Game Pass. And it'll be Game Pass that'll get the marketing push, rather than the console itself.

 

[Prine]

That's not a lie, that's an assumption based on the observation of the related companies and their megalomania in their most successful times.

While the Xbox may be designed with BC in mind, it's quite certain that you would have to bravely pay for every BC game you'd like to play (since it also was designed as an always online device in mind, you remember?).

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That all conjecture. What is fact is that the Xbox BC wasnt a knee jerk reaction, it couldnt be implemented currently without forethought when designing the machine.

About it being free or not is baseless speculation, which again seems unlikely given the system in place does everything without visiting the store, so seems unlikely.

 

[ShaDowDaNca]

Well I'll always be grateful for Ori and the Blind Forest. Can't think of a metroidvania better than that on PS4 or Switch.

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You try Salt & Sanctuary?

 

[Deleted member 7756]

They should buy big publishers for their legacy.

Sega and Capcom are much more affordable than EA, and Xbox could use some earth shattering acquisitions to generate hype for the industry. Come on, Microsoft. Extend, Embrace...

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Sega are a much, much bigger company than Electronic Arts.

A considerable amount bigger.