Greenberg: Xbox Userbase Is Composed of More Hardcore Players, They've Always Been on Our Side

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg said that the Xbox userbase is composed of more hardcore players when compared to other console competitors and that shows in the much higher attach rate.

[ziggurcat]

more hyperbolic silliness from Greenberg...

[KaiPow]

It's not that strange. You see brand loyalty in any industry. It's like a lifelong Ford owner that finds out that Honda has a much more powerful truck at a lower cost but they don't want to change over.

[uptownsoul]

The entire bases for Mr. Greenberg's overall claim seems to be down to this statement here:

"Looking at the numbers and results of the competition, we have a smaller installed base, but the attach rate and sales data for many games are much higher on Xbox."

That is a pretty bold claim seeing as though Xbox won't release data (hardware & software sales) to prove that the attach rate is higher than the PS4 attach rate.

(for reference the last time Sony released hardware & software sales **IN THE SAME DOCUMENT**…the PS4 had a 8.76 games sold per console (Source: http://www.sie.com/en/corpo... - bullet point 2 & 3))

[ziggurcat]

@uptown:

If, say, you compare 1 million sales of a game on a console with a user base of 40 million to 1 million sales of a game on a console with a user base of 80 million it's going to appear as though one community buys more games than the other. It doesn't mean that the smaller user base is more "hardcore", and Greenberg is just skewing the data in order to make it seem like their community is somehow better.

[TheMuffDiver]

U take that back! Lol Jk.

[Babadook7]

You would need to be pretty hard core to pay for the OG xbone at $500 for lower quality versions of games. But hardcore gamers love Kinect so it all makes sense.

[uptownsoul]

@ziggurcat

Even if he's using attach rate on a game by game basis (which is highly subjective as to what games he's counting)…I'm just saying he should be asked to prove his claim.

If he did prove his statement we would be able to see if he's going by the more objective based: console-wide attach rate…or if he's going on the more subjective based: game by game attach rate

[ziggurcat]

@uptown

I don't think it much matters whether you go game-by-game or console-wide - the data is being skewed to present a false narrative regardless of which pool of data he's referencing.

[uptownsoul]

@ziggurcat

While I believe the data is probably being skewed, we don't know that b/c we haven't seen it…

So the only thing I'm saying is that he should prove his claim…Then & only then, will we be able to see if (and how much) he is skewing his data

[yomfweeee]

Brand loyalty != hardcore.

[nucky64]

or a lifelong honda owner with delusions on honda trucks?

[bouzebbal]

Thanks for participating Mr Greenberg

[RacerX]

Xbox PR team... Stop, just stop. Fanning the flame to a "console war" is one thing when it's a close competition.... But when Sony is 2:1 or even 3:1 sales, it's not a War.
Humbly accept your user base.

[Old_Prodigy]

Fortunately for me my truck has wheels(games) and a player base. Your trucks running on donuts(multiplats) and it’s constantly blasting the radio on crossplay fm because it’s tired of getting stomped.

[ARESWARLORD]

KaiPow

Honda does not make a work truck. Their pos is not in the same league as Sierra Silverado Ram or F150.

[Muzikguy]

I wonder if he means before or after people left. If it’s after, then it’s nothing to be proud of. Really though, the statement itself isn’t something to be proud of. He should be happy with the players in general and not be worried about labeling them. Hardcore players would buy games so what he’s saying sounds ironic.

[rainslacker]

Much higher attach rate? The difference between the two at any given time has been about .1-.2 and it flips back and forth.

If attach rate is the measure of the hardcore, then psvr must be as hard as they come. It's a whole two points above the consoles themselves.

[showtimefolks]

Real hard core gamers don't buy finished games they buy games as service that launch unfinished and with plenty of bugs and glitches

Ms cares so much about hard-core gamers that they only release highest quality exclusives but wait. Learn from this me learn from this embarrassment instead of trying to defend what Xbox has become this Gen

[Babadook7]

lol

[crazyCoconuts]

I agree. I find it funny that he leaves out the Xbox One from the list of consoles with the best gaming experience, yet the hardcore gamers still stuck with them "always". At least be honest and accept that you lost some during that period...
"Hardcore players, those who prefer the best gaming experience, have always been on our side, from the first Xbox to Xbox 360 and now with the Xbox One X."

[rainslacker]

I think we can say most of us here are hardcore. For the most part, I see a lot more ps fans than ms fans, and the only ones I saw really talking up and saying they're getting the x1x were those that already had a ogx1. I'm sure some converted for the x1x, but to say the hardcore gamer has always been on their side is just plain false. Ms had had plenty of hardcore gamers come down hard on them this gen.

Their extremely loyal fanboy fan base has been loyal to them.....although they have even lost some of them this gen, everyone else doesn't care or dislikes ms.

[gravedigger]

"Looking at the numbers and results of the competition, we have a smaller installed base, but the attach rate and sales data for many games are much higher on Xbox."

Really, it isn't. In UK ( where Xbone is strong too ), PS4 version of Shenmue 1&2 is 75% of total sales at retail. 75%!!! What about Monster Hunter World??? In UK at launch it was almost 4:1 in PS4 favor.

Remember Witcher 3, Greenberg? MS had a marketing deal with CDProject?

Look at the sales on Xbone :

https://imagescdn.tweaktown...

[ziggurcat]

This is precisely why these attach rate stats aren't particularly valid in assessing how "hardcore" one community is compared to another.

You could release a console, and only have 1 game available for it - if everyone who buys that console also buys the one game that is available, its 100% attach rate != that that community is more hardcore than a larger community of gamers on a competing system that might have more games available.

[P_Bomb]

I’ve had...hmm...four PS3s iirc. 5 if you count the refurb I got for my OG BC 80gb grill.

I only buy games once. I have exactly one copy of TLOU among four systems.

So...its my fault. I’ve single handedly destroyed Sony’s attach rate by buying multiple consoles lol. I’m sure they’re devastated.

Point is, it’s a flawed metric. Soon as I buy a PSPro, the attach ratio for PS4 software in my house will drop from 1:1 to 1:2 as well. 100% attach rate to 50%. It doesn’t mean anything.

[Aceman18]

Greenturd is a frigging idiot. Everytime he speaks lies come out

[Sophisticated_Chap]

Well he is paid to represent Xbox, so what would you expect?

[Nu]

Gears of War is pretty hard core it's basically Mortal Kombat with guns

[ccgr]

I like the PS4 and my Xbox One but in honesty I use the PS4 more

[81BX]

I use my xbox more

[Gunstar75]

How can anyone disagree with this comment? You say you use it more, then you use it more.

This was the first gen that I didn't buy both as i don't have the time.

I went with xbox as I love halo, gears and Forza

Shoot me

[Razmiran]

*shoots at you*

[Razzer]

shocker

[JesusBuiltmyHotrod]

Says a lot about poor game tastes.

[81BX]

Razzor ask what game is my favorite this gen. Then I'll give you the shocker

[Razzer]

@81BX

no...you won't. It will be a PS4 game and I'm supposed to be shocked? You sound like Kribwalker now.

[81BX]

You can go back and check. Prefer my xbox over my ps4. Ps4 has provided better single player this gen and xbox better mp (for me). The best game.... again I love uncharted but because it was a new ip, until dawn has to be my favorite game this gen. Now about that shocker

Also, what in the hell is a kribwalker?

[Razzer]

"what in the hell is a kribwalker? "

Stealth troll confirmed.

[snoopgg]

I use my ps4 pro most cause thats all i own.

[DarXyde]

Gunstar75,

It's interesting that you question how people can disagree... but not how anyone can agree.

But to answer, it's simple:

"I use my PS4 more"
- yeah, me too.

"I use my xbox more"
-I don't.

[micdagoat19]

Me too only thing I have on PS4 is exclusives and some Limited Run games

[lxeasy]

I play most of my multiplayer games on my Xbox and my single player ones on my PS

[tdogg]

Same here. I love 90% of PS4 exclusives but when it comes to multiplayer...Xbox just feels much better in that department. Im just blessed to have both systems so i dont miss out on anything. And will be the same next gen (true gamer)

[Rimeskeem]

The Xbox has SP games?

[crazyCoconuts]

I'm sorry, ccgr, but that's clearly because you're not a hard core gamer. Perhaps you qualify for the "soft core" label? ;-)

[THC CELL]

This doughnut again. And again and again

[DigitalRaptor]

More meaningless drivel from Greenberg... the biggest bag of hot air in the industry. This supposed professional, who presented nothing but toxic diatribe against Sony last generation when things were seemingly in Xbox's favor and he thought it was above everything. https://kotaku.com/388781/a...

He's the head of marketing and we all know how, when it comes to Microsoft, they only let you see what they want you to see or worse, they manipulate the information to present something more favorable than reality.

All this is, is a man too big for his boots sharing obscure PR details that he's not going on to verify. Just you wait. He'll be bad-mouthing Sony all of next-gen if Xbox gets off to a positive start.

[SierraGuy]

He's fat.

[slate91]

This should get the comment section wild.

[Kribwalker]

yeah, some folks won’t want to hear it. But if they have the attach rate numbers and they can see that it’s true, then there isn’t much else to argue. it would be nice for them to let those numbers out there for comparison

[Razzer]

"it would be nice for them to let those numbers out there for comparison "

yes it would

[gangsta_red]

A Greenberg article on N4G!?!

"Grrrrrrrr!!!"

[Muzikguy]

Attach rates of what, FPS games? COD and GTA? They’re manipulating the information

[uptownsoul]

@Kribwalker - "yeah, some folks won’t want to hear it. But if they have the attach rate numbers and they can see that it’s true, then there isn’t much else to argue"

Usually when an executive makes a provable claim…we ask them to show their proof. Until such proof is shown, the legitimacy of his claim is very much…up for debate & argument.

[yomfweeee]

They can say what they want, but until they release numbers... it is all talk.

[rainslacker]

It's a stupid comment from him. Maybe X box has a higher percentage of hardcore gamers, however that may be qualified is beyond me, but ps4 certainly has more hardcore players just based on common sense and actual sales numbers. The forums alone easily show this, as anything that has both sites represented easily has a higher ratio of ps players. That ratio is probably more than the actual ratio in console sales.

As far as attach rates....what exactly are those numbers again? Sony's attach rate is about .1-.2 lower, but with twice the console sales, they're actually selling a lot more software. If ps had a higher ratio of casuals, you'd expect the attach rate to be significantly lower in comparison. This would mean by the laws of percentages, and greenburgs metrics, that ps4 actually has a higher percentage of hardcore vs casual gamers on its own system than ms does.

[MasterCornholio]

Well some people lack common business sense so they will believe that attach rates matters more than revenue does. Which is why they refuse to accept the importance of having such a large install base. As a multiplatform gamer I know this to be true.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

He's a slimeball - always has been always will be. He also never has anything constructive to say, a smart move would be to remove him from the public eye.

What am I saying, he's a perfect fit for MS and their public image.

[Trez1234]

Almost all multiplayer games sell more on ps4. you guys keep spinning but anyone with any sense know that the ps4 is leading not only because of western games even though those sell more on the platform.

11 million in japan alone, Greenberg and his gang should check the attach rate of japanese games from those 11 mill alone vs the whole xbox one install base. I'm sure they wont do that because it wouldn't be a good sight.

once again trying to blind their own userbase but what's funny some are buying this bs. unlike xbox the PlayStation is truly worldwide ALOT bought it only to be able to play their niche games that Xbox dont offer. it's been like that for years.

I find a crazy that some can't see what's right in front of their eyes but instead believe this rather idiotic spin. attach rate don't matter at all when almost every single game from east to west sell more on the platform and more importantly, theirs an audience for those games.

[generic-user-name]

PSVR has a really high attach rate too. I guess it has more hardcore gamers than Xbox?

[Kribwalker]

@genericusername

Well, the PSVR is like the scorpio, it’s mostly the more hardcore fans that have been buying them. And the PSVR you can tell that based off the numbers sold, 3 million in almost 2 years, with a install base of 82 million

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

When will people learn that comparing attach rates only matter when the install base is similar across consoles?

When the install base gap is as significant as it is with the PS4 and XB1, you're literally penalizing the larger install base for not breaking all-time sales records for every games sold, which is what it would require for the attach rate to be similar to the smaller install base.

[elazz]

I sold a 1000 consoles and released 5 games. Every person buys a copy. I sold 5000 copies of games having 100% attach rate for every game.

My friend sold 3000 consoles and released 7 games.
Each game sold 1500 copies. With 7 games that's 10500 copies total games sold with 50% attach rate.

I prefer the scenario with the lower attach rate in this case.

All these statistics tell you one thing but never the whole picture and that will remain the case. All numbers matter and with the slightly lower attach rate for competition playstation and Nintendo are still doing far better business in the gaming sector.

[Ding]

.

[Chaosdreams]

I see the bait and I want nothing of it.

*Happily continues to play video games.

[_LarZen_]

Software sale attach rates dont lie.

[UCForce]

But where is hardware rate ? Are they not that important anymore ?

[Kribwalker]

not to there measures of success. They explained it a few years ago. Hardware sales don’t mean anything if people aren’t continuing to engage on your platform, so they switch to a MAU system to judge success. The Mau system works with monthly active users, and they use that as well as attach rates to see how well their platform is performing and if your monthly active users are high and your attach rates are high then your platform is succeeding and making money

[Razzer]

MS went to the MAU "system" exclusively because their hardware sales were not PR worthy. If MS were leading in hardware sales, they would be bragging about and revealing hardware numbers. Period.

[UCForce]

@Kribwalker It’s like you want MS to forget hardware business model.

[rainslacker]

@Krib

And what are the MAU's for MS? The last I remember them saying such numbers, they don't talk about Xbox users, they talk about Xbox Live users. Live users aren't necessarily Xbox players anymore, and it can include anyone that logs on through their phone app. It may even include me when I have to log on through work to test code, or the thousands of other developers that have to do the same thing.

MS went with the MAU system because it provides big numbers.

If the sales of the console aren't as important as the MAU's, then there should be no problem also talking about the sales numbers for the console. But talking about those numbers makes them look bad, because its what most people care about. The investors care about both numbers, but MS even obfuscates hardware sales to them as well, and lumps it into the total revenue of the gaming brand itself.

But you are right that MS is making money, but success is based on metrics that only MS can determine. For the purposes of what we mostly talk about, MS success is roughly half that of Sony's as Sony has more MAU's, more paying members for what makes up MAU's, more software sales, more support across the board, more high profile successful games from their own studios, and more console sales.

[_LarZen_]

Sure. And I wish Microsoft would just tell us the numbers. But in the end it's in software they earn the most from. And higher attach rate on software on Xbox vs PlayStation that have millions more console's in circulation says allot. And we see it with the exclusives on PlayStation also.

One example is Horizon Zero Dawn. A fantastic game that has sold a spectacular 7.6 million copies as of Feb 2018. But with over 80 million PS4 in the hands of costumers its not really that a good attach rate.

Ubisoft also reported that Xbox users spend more money on their games. They earn more money on Xbox then on PlayStation. A higher attach rate on software. Even when they are selling more games for the PS4.

It's like with Apple and their App Store. Apple costumers have a higher attach rate then Android. Even tho Android are in hands of millions more people. Apple users just use more money. Thus a higher attach rate. Thus again more money earned.

[Muzikguy]

What are they comparing it to? Which software titles? How many consoles? Numbers lie because they’re not giving us all the information

[Fist4achin]

This just in. Greenberg actually doubled the money in his pocket. He pulled it out, folded it, and then put it back into his pocket. He's hardcore!

[Chevalier]

Yeah, but, people do lie though. Its ridiculously easy to skew numbers and the general public wouldn't be smart enough to compare numbers or even ask for them.

For example lets say on PS4 Fifa sold 12 million copies on PS4 and half that on Xbox then yeah 12 million to 80 million PS4 owners is ONLY 15% while 6 million to 35 million is 17% you could say that Xbox has a higher attach by a whopping 2%. Flip it around though its not like Xbox will say PS4 sold 100% more than us even if its factually true that PS4 sales are double. So only dumb people would agree without looking at the underlying numbers.

Ubisoft has released their stats every year and PS4 has outsold Xbox comparison.

https://www.statista.com/st...

So Xbox only accounts for 23% of Ubisoft sales whereas PS4 is 42% overall. So yeah attach for Xbox might be slightly higher, but, if a game sold 20 million copies for Ubisoft PS4 would be 8.4 million versus Xbox at 4.6 million. You think Ubisoft cares about percentages when PS4 sold an extra 3.8 million copies? Nope. 3.8 million at say $50 per game would close to $200 million extra revenue on PS4 versus Xbox for that single game. 6 games would mean over $1 billion extra revenue from PS4 over Xbox.

[MasterCornholio]

Bingo

Simple P*Q formula is what matters.

Don't know why people are focusing on attach rates when developers really care about the quantity sold more than anything.

And that's why having a large install base matters.

[rainslacker]

Too bad ms does. Or at least stretches the truth with qualifications that don't actually represent reality. Greenburg is famous for such things.

[AmUnRa]

Than show me the attach rate of the Xbox One. O you have no proof??
And even Microsoft has no proof? But whe know Microsoft hides the numbers. If they had a better attach rate they would be spouting the numbers over the internet.😉

[DigitalRaptor]

Where can I see this stuff verified?

They've stopped sharing hardware numbers, but if they want to make claims like this, at least provide the proof. He happily tweeted of how Halo 3 outsold various PS3 exclusives last-gen, which could be verified. Where is his proof about this (which at the moment is nothing but a breath of hot air)?

[Aenea]

"Ubisoft also reported that Xbox users spend more money on their games."

Okay, cool, how much more tho?

"They earn more money on Xbox then on PlayStation."

Ehh, no, they sell a heck of a lot more of their games on PlayStation so they earn more money on PlayStation. Don't confuse the 2 things!

The first is that Xbox players spend more money PER game, you know, DLC, microtransactions, that sorta thing, OR that the attach rate is higher. So if 50% of Xbox owners buy their games and only 45% of PS owners the attach rate is higher on Xbox but since PS4 has twice the install base it still sells more games total. Same goes for DLC and MT's...

If you look at the 2018 numbers of Ubisoft then you'll see that 23% of all their sales has been on Xbox One, 42% was on PS4. If there's an exact 2 to 1 ratio of consoles sold then it indeed seems that Xbox One owners buy more Ubisoft games than PS4 owners do but the difference is only 2% more and I think they like the 19% more total sales of the PS4 even better ;)

Link: https://www.statista.com/st...

And as you can see the sales on PS4 have more or less been the same the past 3 years and on X1 it is going down...

[Derceto]

*yawn* Ok, Aaron.

[Kabaneri]

Xbox caters a bit more to the E-sports crowd but if you prefer single player games Playstation is the way to go.

[Razzer]

"but the attach rate and sales data for many games are much higher on Xbox"

For many games? lol....sure. That is just ambiguous PR speak that he doesn't back up. And all this mess about how MS doesn't care about sales. Whoosh....out the window with that.

And attach rate isn't going to prove either console has "more hardcore players". Only per capita.

[Aenea]

Many games: Forza, Gears, Halo :)

[FTLmaster]

Ha, good gag!

[Smokehouse]

“Xbox PR guy does his job”

More news like streets of rage 4 please.

[chiefJohn117]

This is gonna rustle up some feathers

[ziggurcat]

The only feathers being rustled are the ones Greenberg is ruffling up in his attempt at posturing in the exact same way a bird would do in order to make itself look bigger to ward off other birds/appear more attractive to the opposite sex.

[Lennoxb63]

I think the Xbox user base is more competitive than PS'. But I don't know too much about attach rates.

[Vizigoth04]

That's about the only reason why I would motivate Sony to enable Cross-play. Just so you can directly see who you are playing with or against weather it's shooter, sport, MMORPG. I would like us to see platform and country someone is playing from. To statistically see who is dominating the map in factions and raids. That much would be fun.

[UCForce]

Well, we PS enjoying quality Single Player game like Bloodborne, Horizon Zero Dawn and Witcher 3 that will never shut down the servers.

@Vizigoth04 That’s up to you. I’m maybe sound hypocrites that nobody agree with and it’s fine, but I will say this anyway. MS would steal PS4 user base and Sony Market share as MS property if Sony allow to open cross play. Sure, you maybe don’t care about it, but MS want it and they will never thank to their competitors,

[Lennoxb63]

Those MP games also have SP campaigns. Plus, no dev shuts down MP servers with people still playing on them. How long has Counter Strike been around again?

[UCForce]

@Lennoxb63 True, but how long is gonna last ?

[Aenea]

"I think"

Indeed, it's an idea you have that you can't actually back up with any evidence whatsoever...

[Lennoxb63]

Multiplayer games tend to get more recognition on Xbox like PUBG and other early access MP games. While MP games tend to get thrown to side on PS like Paragon and Lawbreakers. The default choice for esports is PC or Xbox. Unless PS/Sony has a marketing deal with a company to play on its platform. Like Call of Duty. Sony literally had to buy SFV to get in the esports arena. Seeing as there's a lot more esports competitions where Xbox is the platform of choice, I don't think it's far fetched to see that Xbox has a higher skill ceiling.

[Aenea]

Well, I don't see any evidence for more esports tournaments on Xbox than PS, but even if it where the case it doesn't say anything at all about the userbase. Besides, MS could have thrown money at it to get the tournaments on their system as well but we don't know since we can't check that...

[Lennoxb63]

There are more tournaments on Xbox than PS. There are tournaments for both their exclusives (Gears, FM, Halo, KI) and 3rd party games. The people in those tournaments come from the Xbox userbase. So it's no stretch that there's a higher focus of competitive players on Xbox.

[Aenea]

"So it's no stretch"

Yes, it is a stretch. Again, if there really are more tournaments on Xbox it doesn't say anything about the userbase being more competitive, just says something about the organisers preferences or about Xbox's PR at work, etc., etc.

And honestly, if I browse around searching for tournaments I find about the same amount of them for both X1 and PS4 or actually less for X1...

European Gaming League shows the same amount for both
Glory4gamers shows 13 games with active tournaments on PS4, only 7 for X1

The PS4's firmware even has ESL Gaming's tournaments built in....

[Lennoxb63]

I'm not talking about the amount of tournaments going on right now. I'm talking about the amount of competitive games being played on each console for esports. Xbox has more. That's a fact. Those gamers didn't just start picking up an Xbox controller either. They are gamers from the Xbox userbase. A userbase that holds competitive games on a much higher pedestal than PS gamers.

It's pretty common knowledge that Xbox gamers love to compete more than PS gamers. Hell you can see it here on N4G and other gaming sites. All the bashing of MP games mainly comes from PS gamers.

[Aenea]

"It's pretty common knowledge that Xbox gamers love to compete more than PS gamers. Hell you can see it here on N4G and other gaming sites. All the bashing of MP games mainly comes from PS gamers."

LOL, sure buddy! I actually see the opposite, all the bashing of SP games comes from Xbox gamers, mainly because they have way less of them I suppose....

And nope, it's not common knowledge that Xbox gamers love to compete more than PS gamers, that's an idea you have and one that you can't back up with any evidence whatsoever.

Heck, you even say there are more competitive games on Xbox, sure the console exclusives from MS themselves all have MP, doesn't necessarily mean Xbox gamers are more competitive, again, you're assuming things you can't prove.

[Lennoxb63]

You're delusional. By your logic then. PS aren't bigger fans of SP games even though they Sony makes more of them. Are you really going to sit here and tell me that Xbox gamers are bigger fans of SP games on average than PS gamers? Sony wouldn't keep making them if their fans weren't playing them. I have back my case up with a lot more evidence than you have. All you have to retort with is "nope." I'm done bro. You're probably about 12 anyway.

[Aenea]

"I have back my case up with a lot more evidence than you have."

What evidence? Where are the links to articles that back up your claims? I haven't seen them. All you spout is things that "you think" which isn't evidence.

And awww, calling me 12 years old because he can't win an argument, such maturity, well figures, the Xbox fanbase is generally much younger and less sophisticated than the PS fans are, the proof is right in front of your face, they play more SP games with a story than Xbox fans do....

See, that's the type of silly evidence you have been giving us....

[Lennoxb63]

I gave you the number of competitive titles played in the esports arena and the exclusives which are mainly competitive. Xbox is more prevalent in the esports arena. Fact. Xbox has more MP exclusives than PS. Fact. I'm not giving you any links to anything. You can look it up for yourself and see that what I'm saying checks out.

I think its hilarious that you think any group of gamers are more sophisticated than the others. That confirms your age there.

[Aenea]

"I think its hilarious that you think any group of gamers are more sophisticated than the others. That confirms your age there."

It makes as much sense as thinking one group is more competitive ;)

That you didn't see that, well, you can fill in the rest ;)

[Lennoxb63]

More esports players comes from the Xbox group. More MP games are made to cater to the Xbox userbase. As those types of games get a better response than most SP games. You're just denying the obvious. I can flip the same logic on you and say that I don't think the PS fan base are more interested in SP games. That would obviously be a lie though.

[Razmiran]

"We have the data we know the truth. No sheep, we are not gonna let you see it, just trust us, K?"

[XabiDaChosenOne]

*Hardcore apologist

[MasterCornholio]

So where are your numbers so we can compare them?

[blitz0623]

lol

[Rude-ro]

It’s a shame when a business has such little to offer, that they have to do pr spin articles like this just to stay in the public’s eye due to not having any interest consumer wise.
They are just praying that they keep a strong enough core to make next gen not be their last.

[Chris12]

'due to not having any interest consumer wise'

Your spin is actually worse than Greenburgs

[UCForce]

Well, he is right. Greenberg is very predictable person.

[StormSnooper]

I would love it if Microsoft focused on game news instead of PR, it’s really sad to hear more and more Meritless PR talk from Xbox instead of having articles about upcoming games. It’s been like this all generation and it’s a really worrying trend imo.

[cellypower]

Greenberg marketing strategy has always been about stroking the console wars. Rather than letting the games speak for themselves.

[thornh]

Alternate reality. It must be nice to be so oblivious to what is really going on in the world of video games.

[Doabarrelroll]

Yeah okay lets believe the company thats known for PR fluff and hides numbers, that they’re telling the truth about numbers, attach rates, etc because they said so. They wont release the numbers but we should believe them anyway cause thats what the average intelligent person does. When someone tells them something without proof they just believe them without question.

And people here wonder why MS suits are disliked in general. Can’t wait for the loyal fanbase he speaks off to spin this into another MS lie cause gullibility and stupidity is a powerful thing in this world

[JesusBuiltmyHotrod]

lol...MS PR continues to be awful...Greenberg is pretty terrible, so is Major Nelson.

[AmUnRa]

Jesus you missed one; Phil-the talking head-Spencer.

[JesusBuiltmyHotrod]

This is Nonsense....more popular a system is the more casual fanbase it attracts..this has nothing to do with the "Hardcore" being on MS Side....

[rainslacker]

Ms would probably want that casual market if they could get it. There's more money overall from that market, as it comprises about 90% of the actual market base.

If we take ms at face value, he's pretty much saying that they primarily only appeal to the smallest portion of the entire market. And if its still scrutinized, they don't even appeal to the largest percentage of that niche

[Dark_Knightmare2]

Man Greenberg will literally say anything smh he’s pathetic. He would lie to his own mother if it would get him some extra dessert at dinner

[thexmanone]

Yea, sham on him for supporting the company he works for.

[Dark_Knightmare2]

Do you see anyone from the other big two spout the absolute nonsense Greenberg does on a consistent basis?

[whitesky]

Microsoft has a cultural insecurity in their history, it is in their blood. They don't take it very well when other companies outshine them, innovate more and especially... sell better

[StormSnooper]

@thexmanone
You have to admit Microsoft PR talk is on a whole different level, they literally can’t stop spinning the narrative. I wish they would just talk about games...

[kungfuian]

Attach rates naturally decline as the install base grows. This is well known in the industry and for him to brag about it is 100% pure marketing BS. The first 40 million customers will always be more active and purchase more games than the following 40 million.

That's like bragging that my 10 million customers are more active than your 100 million; like with the Switch attach rates. Yeah no shit they are. But what Mr. Dishonest Greenburg doesn't mention is that they would love to have those extra 40 million customers and all the software sales of those customers too.

Everything out of this guys mouth is BS. This type of dishonest marketing is designed only to obfuscate their poor position in the market. It ranks up there with "total hours played and bullets fired" and "total sales for the hour of..".

Gamers are smarter than that and Greenburg should should be called out for this kind of crap.

[Realms]

Right because Sony doesn't have their own loyal fan base otherwise why would PSX even exists. These are the types of comments that make MS look bad when they refuse to show their sales data, despite others like Nintendo doing so with the WiiU even though it did abysmal compared to it's competition it kind of makes them look like hypocrites.

[Razmiran]

Greenberg usually makes these kinds of comments, like saying that "Xbox has the best and biggest exclusives" in 2016, a year in which they had only halo wars 2. They should shut him up and let phil spencer do the pr.

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

Yeah okay, just like how having Kinect was so hardcore for your platform. Piss off greenturd

[whitesky]

I really see it as the opposite.. it seemed to be way more true in the 360 days, when Xbox was all about Halo, MLG and GameBattles etc. But now.. Xbox to me seems to be mostly older bro dudes who are more casual gamers, where the real hype and action is all going on on PlayStation

[sampsonon]

lol, funny

[P_Bomb]

What qualifies as hardcore? If you bought an XB1S but not an XB1X, can you still be hardcore? Does completion % factor in? Games purchased and completed, or is someone who rents Gamepass for a month and tries 15 games for 15 min each, more ‘core? Hyperbole.

[rainslacker]

I have a feeling over the next week, we'll see a lot of articles measuring different statistics, and either trying to prove, or disprove Greenburg as accurate. My gut tells me that we'll see more saying he's right using all sorts of crazy metrics...many of them based off speculative or assumptive data.

What'll be more fun is the forum posters who will use his comment as citation of it being true, without nothing but Greenburgs own comment as proof, even though it offers up no actual data, and is completely hyperbolic and barely even qualifies what is considered hardcore. Speaking of which, the term hardcore is very diverse, and varies between people, even on the forums. Which is why its important to qualify these terms when you're talking about them.

But, for this, Greenburg just wanted a pithy marketing line for the casuals who don't know any better. Casual buys in on this premise to think that they're now hardcore, because they don't realize that it has nothing to do with console choice.

[derek]

Spin, spin, spin... Xbox exec's talk way too much for platform holder that has performed so poorly in relation to the competition. Win a generation first b4 you run your mouth and even then.

[DaGreatOne]

Definitely an interesting take on the subject.

[drunkenspy007]

Such delusional statements!

[Vizigoth04]

Alternatively, we do NOT have a large variety of players of all walks of life gaming on our product.

[audiocafe]

false

[microgenius]

How childish

[Maddens Raiders]

Derp talk from derp face.

[LoveSpuds]

More utter bunk from an executive who should have gone with Mattrick and the rest, he is a complete joke.

If there are more games to choose from then it stands to reason spending on games will be more widely dispersed. The important thing is the amount of games sold on a given platform rather than attach rates; in the financial reports of each of the major publishing houses, they have stated that a dominant portion of their revenue is generated on PS4.

This is the problem, Greenburg and MS think the gaming communuty are stupid and so they spout this drivel. For example, just a few weeks back sales figures were released for Dark Souls Remastered and only 10% of those sales were on Xbox, do we just ignore that Greenburg you lying bellend?

[ShadowWolf712]

This is why I never buy any of Xbox's Or Phil Spencer's "gamer unity" BS so long as Greenberg is employed there. The man literally mainstreamed the Console War.

[TGGJustin]

This clown just never knows how to shut up. He can't even prove his nonsense since they are so ashamed of their numbers compared to Sony. For the past 8-9 years I've wished they would fire this guy.

[Butters360]

Sure Jan.

[DVAcme]

What a coincidence, the PS4 community has a lot of hardcore and loyal gamers too. Way more than XBox in fact XD

[AK91]

In the past that may have been true but currently I highly doubt it.

[Profchaos]

Haha yes the hard core players you always forget about while you spend years trying to pedal the kinect to family's that brought a wii instead of using that budget to find new games targeted at your core gamers.

[joab777]

Too bad you haven’t been on ours!

[Thundercat77]

This guy has no credibility and his statements, which he clearly knows are not serious and responsible, make more damage to the Xbox than any help at all.

If Xbox has any hopes of doing better in the future, this guy and type of management has to go.

[StormSnooper]

Terrible. This is what Microsoft has resorted to. This is what we are getting instead of game news. It’s the age of big claims and little merit.

[Silly gameAr]

Greenberg does have a point. They're definitely hardcore, but I don't know if they're hardcore for the games or for MS.

Anyway, keep up the awesome MS pr campaign. Hope it works out for you guys.

[JMyers]

Really? So Kinect, TV and Sports were for the hardcore? And the same franchises yearly? This guy is full of s#it as usual.

[Tross]

I don't think you have sufficient data on how hardcore gamers are, Greenberg, especially since your pool of players that you don't share with the competition would be limited to people who aren't at all interested in the fine selection of exclusives either of them have to offer. I'm pretty sure your more "hardcore" players generally own more than one system, but show me actual stats to prove me wrong.

[ILostMyMind]

That should be why PS4 users are begging the competitor for Cross Platform Play. 🤔

/S

[Skankinruby]

Guess you can't argue that too much, it definitely takes a 'hardcore' fan to stay loyal to xbox after how shallow they've become.

[sprinterboy]

So basically he's saying they lost 75% of the 360 crowd (casual gamer) to playstation 4 from the awful xbox one reveal.
The douce bag is very silly lol

[zodiac909]

"More hardcore players," compared to who??? Playstation? Nintendo?? LOL what a joke.

[Acecalibur]

Lol

[Spikeantestor]

"...is composed mostly of hardcore gamers."

Fixed.

The way he puts it makes it seem like the Xbox has MORE hardcore players than PS4. The truth is that hardcore gamers make up the bulk purchasers of niche consoles.

[bluebenjamin]

Why are so many ps4 fans commenting on an xbox article when they can be playing jrpg's or something?

[P_Bomb]

Because he’s talking about the competition? He literally says “looking at the numbers and results of the competition...”

DQ11 reviews are doing great today http://www.metacritic.com/g... . Thanks for the reminder!

[bluebenjamin]

What the heck is DQ11 I dont trust links from the other side you may be trying to send a virus or something who sent u Cuzz

[Rockstar]

oh really....

[TheHan]

Of course

[PCgamer98]

If attached rate is the basis then pretty sure nintendo exclusives are way higher.

[OG_TK_Cole]

If Microsoft and the Xbox division are not willing to show the numbers, then they should not talk about them, in my humble opinion.

[bigmalky]

What a load of shite.

[DivineAssault]

I would argue its composed of "core" players. The core audience that buys common games & lots of DLC. The people who buy a lot of AC, COD, Madden, etc.

[frostypants]

You know a new gen is warming up when Greenturd starts blabbering.

[normanj]

Hardcore players, those who prefer the best gaming experience, have always been on our side, from the first Xbox to Xbox 360 and now with the Xbox One X.

[JesusBuiltmyHotrod]

lol..no

[2ndhandcorn]

Hardcore love it nice one bergo .

[DrShoe]

I'm pretty sure that Greenberg is on crack again!

[GoodnessGreatness]

LOOOL

[AuraAbjure]

Pro zone on the 360 FTW

[merciless]

Greenberg belongs on youtube hosting podcast with Crap, Mooch, and Timdog. The fact that he's an XBOX exec spewing this kinda nonsense it a bad look for Microsoft. Greenberg and Nelson are a huge turn off for me as a potential XBOX customer.

[CyberRekkr]

Well you're 3rd place in the console war, So I guess you better try attracting some casual gamers.

[WickedLester]

God. STFU Greenberg!

[SethBrundlefly]

Greenberg: I like cheesy poofs.

Fixed

[gazgriff2k12]

yes we all know about the mindless, blindy loyal xbots

[Jayszen]

More silly conclusions from Greenberg. More hardcore players? You need hardcore games, at least more than the very few the Xbox has. Given the games the PS4 has, I doubt what Greenberg says.

[micdagoat19]

Ok so I have a Xbox one X and a PS4 Pro. I like Both. Only thing I have on PS4 is exclusives and Limited Run games I wanted Physical. Anything 3rd Party will play better on Xbox one X and I like Achievements. Is there an issue with that?

[FernDiggidy]

YAWN!

[Acadius]

This is the same Greenberg that mocked the Taco Bell/PS4 promotion back in 2013 and yet last year he was promoting the Taco Bell/Xbox One X deal.
He reminds me of Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons while Major Nelson is out of touch dad that tells bad jokes and gives you that ‘in this house we all laugh at my jokes’ look when you aren’t laughing.