260°

Game Pass seems to have missed its sales target for the third year running

Xbox growth continues to disappoint, and interfere with its exec's pay bonuses, as Microsoft's CEO stops counting Game Pass entirely.

-Foxtrot185d ago

Puts things into perspective when Spiderman 2 managed to sell 2.5 million copies in 24 hours only on the PS5, a single platform.

Gamingsince1981185d ago

Gamepass will never hit the growth they want, its just not a thing the majority of gamers have interest in, it goes to show a console with good games will sell well, that's all you need.

Christopher185d ago

I would honestly be careful saying 'never' when Microsoft just spent $80b more on top of their billions from before to make this happen. They'll spend over $100b more if they can control the gaming market and turn it to all digital and relying on their hardware for others to even compete.

bobtheimpaler185d ago

@Christopher they can't just burn money. Investors have been wanting them to ditch their Xbox division for years for poor performance.

It's the division destroying destroying shareholder value.

neutralgamer1992185d ago

Chris

MS have Better odds of winning the powerball than go buy another big publisher. This boat has sailed and they will buy smaller independent studios but that’s it for them publishers wise

They will literally do the complete opposite of what they were telling the regulators before the acquisition

On topic:

Gamepass isn’t sustainable no matter what the cult of Xbox fanboys will say. It will never reach 100 million and by 2030 MS will be a 3rd party publisher in gaming. They have put their eggs in the wrong basket just like when they backed HD DVD

Ms investors have been wanting them to sell Xbox brand for a while and if spending almost 100 billion won’t resolve anything than this is IT for Xbox. It is kind of funny and sad that the so called savior of Xbox Phil himself would have saved the Xbox brand (according to Xbox fans) and killed it after spending 100 billion

blitz0623185d ago

It sounds like MS set unrealistic expectations which lines up with how out of touch they are with gaming. I wonder what their targets will now be after the Activision acquisition

Godmars290185d ago (Edited 185d ago )

@neutralgamer1992:
"This boat has sailed and they will buy smaller independent studios but that’s it for them publishers wise"

MS doesn't do that. They tend to buy troubled studios with well known IPs, which should be the biggest red flag that their approach is all wrong.

For instance, their involvement with HD-DVD was more about preventing BR from continuing the dominance of physical media, to allow streaming to take over, and yet for such destructive and disruptive effort, they gained little to nothing of direct value or investment.

Well, aside from licensing fees from menu formats for BR. But again that's nothing "direct".

@blitz0623:
"It sounds like MS set unrealistic expectations which lines up with how out of touch they are with gaming."

They seem to be out of touch with reality in general.

MrBaskerville184d ago

I do think there's interest. But 100 million subscribers is a very optimistic target.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 184d ago
Ninver185d ago

Without review manipulation tactics either.

The3faces184d ago

That 2.5 million copies includes early pre orders and console bundles. Out of 45 million PS5 users 2.5 really isn't impressive. As you said just putting things in perspective.

mkis007184d ago (Edited 184d ago )

While games dont sell their whole load on day 1. It would be remarkable for any game to get a 50% or more attach rate. Heck a 30 percent attach rate is crazy. Its potential is high regardless, the spiderman series on playstation alone sold 33 million before the windows release.

Chevalier184d ago (Edited 184d ago )

Which Xbox 1st party in the last 15 years has matched Playstations records sales?! Oh right NONE. if it's so easy than how come Xbox can't even pull it off in the last 15 years or so?

Plus the first game started slower and has sold over 30 million copies. Again NO Xbox game has even come close to those numbers

MrDead185d ago

...so does this mean MS will punish gamers even more now by taking away even more multiplatform publishers to try and make this turd a viable service model? They have proven over the last two and a half generations to be totally creatively bankrupt to bring anything new to gaming and all they do now is take.

Rude-ro185d ago

Microsoft will flood gamepass with the ips from their acquisitions to see if there is growth due to their investment first.
They will also want to see how foolish said players will be with seasons and micro transactions in games inside said subscription service.
This will take a solid year to incorporate and digest the info.

darthv72185d ago

Missed the goal but still showed growth.
Dom: It dont matter if you grow by a point or a percent... growing is growing.

Jin_Sakai185d ago

Except revenue was down from last year.

gold_drake184d ago (Edited 184d ago )

so by your analogy, less loss, is a plus lol

Hofstaderman185d ago

Imagine theres still miniscule growth after call of duty is on gamepass? That would be hilarious.

185d ago Replies(3)
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90°

The Epic Games Store Has Two More Freebies this Week

It's time to add two more games to your library for free from the Epic Games Store.

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terminalgamer.com
290°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

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.

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theverge.com
darthv721d 14h ago

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.

solideagle1d 1h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic188122h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio22h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning7717h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga1d ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

darthv7210h ago

to you it may seem like the minority... but your bubble is shrinking because more and more are following suit. convenience is a hell of a drug and its also why physical sales only amount to 30% of overall game sales. times are changing, you either get with them or you get left behind.

neutralgamer19925h ago

Darth

30% physical sales: yet Phil and xbox division are in a rush go give up on that 30%. they don't have any right to give up any piece of the pie since the control such a little of the pie to begin with

also, the market is clearly speaking that the model Xbox is pushing isn't working right now the keyword being right now. you are right about freedom to play anywhere so i hope they put their games on steam

shinoff218323h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga22h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan18h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

S2Killinit11h ago

MS is after diminishing consoles as a medium. They want to destroy this market because they couldnt win. MS’s vision is to dissolve console gaming.

romulus2317h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv7217h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

TheEroica11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

Perfectly reasonable post down voted by insecure corporation friendly folk.... But not gamers. Real gamer want accessibility and ease of acquisition for all.... Company shills are the only ones still telling us that hardware locking people from games is good for us.

Chevalier5h ago

@Darth

You should stop parroting metrics like an idiot without context.

"Xbox content and services revenue grew 62% in Q3 from a year earlier, “driven by 61 points of net impact” from the purchase of the third-party video game giant, Microsoft said."

61 of the 62% was from their merger so net increase is ONLY 1%

https://www.mesaonline.org/...

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 5h ago
purple1011d 3h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos1d 2h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-16h ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac1d 2h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad1d 1h ago (Edited 1d 1h ago )

"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.

purple1011d 1h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos1d 1h ago (Edited 1d 1h ago )

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic23h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead16h ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 16h ago
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60°

EGX and MCM Comic Con combine for the UK's biggest pop culture weekend

You'll know of EGX. You'll know of MCM Comic Con. Today the two events have confirmed that they'll be coming together under one roof

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thexboxhub.com