Finally someone bringing up inflation instead of simpleton golden book stories of greedy CEOs and their yachts
If parts of the Xbox came through the US, then the grain->sandwich analogy would make sense. As it stands, probably none of the parts go through the US.
Like, I doubt every electronic in the EU just went up 30% because of Trump's tariffs.
It's ok to say you just don't know.
I'm not a fan of tariffs, but these prices are rising worldwide...in the EU as well. If the consoles are made in China, shipped from China to EU, what's that got to do with Trump's US import tariffs?
At the end of this road, Bethesda, Activision, etc, will still be releasing games for everyone and Xbox consoles will be no more.
If that's what you claim to have foreseen, then congratulations, you win.
I'm not a fan of subs in general, but in fairness GP has had an outstanding year and there's more ahead before the year is up. It can't continue like this imo, but holy crap 2025 (if you include late 2024) has been worth it at PC GamePass prices and if you typically buy COD annually
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised on the digital front. It may be that no one wants to be there first one to do it
@amp, they wouldn't rob Peter to pay Paul. If game costs are going up, you'll see sub costs going up too.
Companies won't "jump at any chance" to increase prices, especially when sales are already down. That's not the way economics work. There's supply/demand curves and price elasticity. If demand is low and they're still increasing price, it's because they don't want to lose money. Costs are going up.
I'm thinking the same thing. This year is kinda like a sugar high for MS. Lots of great games coming out of the pipeline, plus relatively "free" revenue by cashing in on prior opportunity costs by putting prior exclusives on PS. This year, if any, should be gangbusters for them. I can't imagine next year being as good with all these studios back in the development phase...
I'm still confused about GamePass. The revenue continues to rise but is it making up for lost sales?
PC GamePass seems like a steal - I gotta think they'd make more money just selling the games outright. And the place where you they collect the most revenue for GamePass, the Xbox consoles, seem to be in life support.
Top Secret Strategy for How to Become the Biggest Publisher in the World:
1. Buy everybody
I don't think you're reading the tea leaves here. Leadership hasn't used the word "exclusive" in quite a while, and they're now boasting about PS sales. They're probably done with consoles and exclusive at this point.
I'm with you on digital, but physics will keep local hardware relevant for the foreseeable future. Whether it's a console tied to a TV or hardware tied to something else (headsets, glasses, etc) is up for debate
Even a dead clock is right twice a day
The "lease a console in the cloud" use case for lower income families may still exist, but neither MS or PS are making that pitch. Their streaming options are only available at the highest tier which is probably out of the low income price range.
Maybe a streaming option that doesn't include any monthly games at $5/month would be a better fit for that market. Basically renting a console in the cloud.
It's a catch 22. We want something to be popular that other people generally don't want to play.
Exactly. And I think there's a trolling factor knowing how humiliating it is for the other person that was just turned into some customized death goo
"When releasing games and consoles, pricing should be based on the local economy and wages"
So companies should sell consoles at a large loss in impoverished countries?
When I look at Brazil, the increased price for PS Essential new users annually is equivalent to $61 USD, monthly is $7.50 USD. In the US it's more expensive. Just an observation that maybe they've been getting a better deal all along.
Having the windows handheld auto launch the existing Xbox Windows app will accomplish everything you mentioned, and I'm sure that's what this will be.
Fact is that MS will need to add a lot into that app to incorporate all the system level controls Steam incorporated into their handheld UI.
Even worse, chickens, for what they're doing to those egg prices!