gamrReview's Jake Weston: "At first, I didn’t really feel compelled to say much of anything about a recent patent by Sony that suggests they wish to cut used games playability from their next generation consoles. After all, there’s not much I could say that hasn’t been said in the plethora of articles that have arisen online in the last few days that have heavily criticize the patent, mostly arguing that the elimination of the used game market would be harmful to consumers and players. And while this is a stance I mostly agree with, I think there could possibly be a bigger issue at stake here. If Sony’s next console (and other next-generation consoles, for that matter) block out used games, it will not only be a pain in players’ sides, but detrimental to the games industry as a whole. "
Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.
Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.
Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.
"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."
That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.
As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.
And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.
They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -
INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series , will debut never-before-seen games & content updates across more than 100 titles on May 25th.
arisen online in the lastd few days < spelling error please fix for approval
Fundamentally I disagree with you. Used game sales hurt the industry. The publishers just are not getting the money from used game sales and so these developers get closed down because they do not meet the quota even though they really do but the sales are really not there because they buy used. This word of mouth bull is just that, bull. Same with people who say "I will buy the next in the series new". It just doesn't happen.
The only people who profit from used sales is retail but I wonder why does the gaming industry still relies on such an archaic system to sell games. It is software aka a digital product.
Big budgets and used games sales are the reason why so many studios have gone
If it wasn't for used games and the ability to purchase Assassins Creed 1 &2 used, I would've never got into the series and purchased AC:B, AC:R & AC3 New. Same for buying Mass Effect 1&2 used to buy ME3 new CE. Same for MGS1 used which turned me onto the series to buy every game thereafter New.
The list goes on and on. If anything, used games Help the industry.
Why is the video game industry the only place where this argument holds any weight too? I never hear this debate from car manufactures, electronics companies, furniture makers, etc. Because the universal belief is, You bought it, you Own it.