70°

Goldman says video-game sales have peaked

Concerns voiced about 2008 release slate; GameStop shares downgraded

Just days after a stronger-than-expected sales report for March, a Goldman Sachs analyst says it's likely that video-game sales have peaked, setting up difficult comparisons for the sector and, potentially, making stock-price appreciation problematic.

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marketwatch.com
SUP3R5848d ago (Edited 5848d ago )

"While the much anticipated release of GTA IV at the end of April is expected to produce record sales, and Wii Fit, slated for May, is also expected to be a blockbuster, the remainder of the year lacks any big releases, and comparisons get tougher throughout the year as we lap titles such as Halo 3 and Guitar Hero 3,"

LMFAO@no big releases after GTAIV.

Ok 'Higginbotham' whatever you say lol.

IntelligentAj5848d ago

Yeah okay. I don't game sales have peaked. Not on the eve of major blockbuster from both the 360 and PS3. Come back next year with that nonsense.

Danja5848d ago

Sure ..GTA4 has yet to be released

Wii Fit for the Wii....

MGS4

not to mention that the big exclusives of the fall aren't here yet..

RFOM2 + GeOW2 + KZ2 possibly

IdleLeeSiuLung5848d ago

Although this is also a good year for gaming, I think that to beat last year we will need a number of good hits on the size of Halo, CoD and GTA series. I don't see any coming this year after GTA.

The casual gaming market is probably just bounce along as Wii demand is being met. So what other catalyst do we have to top last years sales?

This is not about what great game is coming out for gamers, but what will get people to buy a lot of games on the same scale as last year? it is all about the sales. I'm certianly excited about Ninja Gaiden 2, Gears of War 2, C&C Tiberium and maybe Metal Gear Solid 4....

DevonTheDude5355847d ago

What about CoD5? Every year since the 360 came out a CoD has been released.

IdleLeeSiuLung5847d ago (Edited 5847d ago )

CoD 3 was pretty big and no doubt CoD5 probably will too, but remember even with CoD 4 developed by Infinity Ward, Activision had to lower their price 33% on all platforms to reach that level of sales.

CoD5 is WW2 and developed by Treyarch, which makes good games, but not as good as Infinity Ward on a sales and acclaim basis. Other than, MGS4 I do not see any huge releases from Sony this year (MS has Gears of War 2, but that is about it). By that I mean epic proportions, not a game you anticipate, but the kind that the masses will buy and will sell more than 1-5+ million in a 1-3 months. Not many games do this....

On top of my head, last year we had:

- Mario Galaxy
- Halo
- CoD
- Guitar Hero
- Rock Band (I think this one sold fairly well)
- Mass Effect

It is going to be hard to top last year in sales. A lot of the increase in sales were not software alone, but also hardware especially the wii. Every soccer mother and grandmother bought one. guess where they are sitting now, dusting in a corner. That is why Wii's software sale is so low even when Nintendo account for the included Wii Sports.

jinn5847d ago

fastest growing industry

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260°

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
darthv7222h 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.

solideagle9h ago

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

Sonic18817h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio6h 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:

Lightning772h ago

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

Cacabunga9h 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.

shinoff21838h 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.

Cacabunga7h 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

itsmebryan3h 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

romulus232h ago

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

darthv722h 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.

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purple10112h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos11h ago

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

DOMination-1h 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.

XBManiac11h ago

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

SimpleDad10h ago(Edited 10h 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.

purple10110h ago

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

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos9h ago(Edited 9h 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

Kornholic8h ago

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

MrDead1h 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 1h ago
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140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

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.

thorstein21h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno17h ago

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.

jwillj2k416h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson15h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu16h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson15h ago

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" -

70°

The INDIE Live Expo 2024 event is to feature over 100 game titles

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.