XBOX Forbes: Microsoft's Xbox Revenue Is Plummeting, And Here's Why That's Fine

CerebralTiger · Jul 20, 2019

Microsoft saw a 10% decline in its gaming business, largely thanks to a 48% drop in hardware sales from last year. That’s a massive plunge, but I doubt it phases Satya Nadella or Phil Spencer all that much: the concept of a console generation started to change during the time of the Xbox One and PS4, but the basic framework is still intact. And that basic framework involves drumming up hype for the next generation at the expense of the current one. It’s just a tough time to get excited about buying current-generation hardware, and that large 48% figure is also likely due to the fact that last year’s hardware sales were elevated due to the peak of Fortnite fever.

So, hardware sales are down but it’s more or less to be expected. There’s one major bright spot in this data for Microsoft, however, that dovetails well with the companies plans for the entirety of Xbox going forward. While software and services declined year over year (again, blame the absence of true Fortnite fever), Microsoft noted 14% growth in active Xbox Live users as well as growth in subscription revenue. That’s good news for the company because subscriptions and online activity are central to the company’s plans going forward: over the past few years, it’s been building out its Game Pass subscription service and announced an expansion to PC at E3 this year. Not only is Game Pass becoming more and more important to the Xbox brand going forward, but it’s also assumed to be central to the company’s upcoming streaming plans. So growth there means that Redmond could be well poised to capitalize on a lot the groundwork it’s been laying since Phil Spencer took over Xbox.

Forbes

iampasha · Jul 20, 2019

I guess every Xbox gamer is either moving to PC or getting a PS4

Sent from Mobile

CerebralTiger · Jul 21, 2019

iampasha said:
I guess every Xbox gamer is either moving to PC or getting a PS4

Yup. There's little incentive to stay on Xbox, now that everything there is also on PC, including game pass. And those who had issues with the Windows store, can buy future Xbox titles on Steam. On top of that, not having to pay a subscription fee to play online.

CerebralTiger · Jul 23, 2019

Part of the reason for this decline is Xbox Live not generating the kind of revenue that Microsoft expects.

PSN alone makes more money than the entire Xbox division lol.

Chandoo · Jul 23, 2019

The X didn't turn out to be the magic bullet MS was expecting I guess. Though launching it $100 higher than the Pro was always going to be a tough sell.

manigamer · Jul 24, 2019

xbox has some great deals on gold and such and if a service like ultimate game pass pops up on sony i'd jump gun on that offer DAY ONE

CerebralTiger · Jul 24, 2019

Chandoo said:
The X didn't turn out to be the magic bullet MS was expecting I guess. Though launching it $100 higher than the Pro was always going to be a tough sell.

But @Necrokiller suggested there was a market for a more powerful console that runs multiplatform games better than the competition ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Necrokiller said:
I don’t think the X1X can sustain bigger numbers in the long run, and that not necessarily the only metric for its success. At the very least, this strong start shows the skeptics/doubters that there is a market for it. Primary consumers will be OG XB1 owners. Alot of people own both consoles and dont have a PC so anyone who sat out for the OG XB1 will find this a good deal as the go-to console for multiplats to make far better use of the 4K displays.

Necrokiller said:
Looks like the power is being put to good use, and its clearly shaping up to be the console of choice which makes the best use of 4K displays.

Necrokiller said:
I was actually pointing out the "Worlds Most Powerful Console". Which is exactly what MS is doing.
But it IS evidence. And its a legitimate marketing campaign. Whether you are naive or not, the average joe buying a console is.

Looks like the average joe is smarter than what Necrokiller would give them credit for :hah:

Necrokiller · Jul 24, 2019

^One X performed better than Ps4 Pro tho.

Xbox One X is reportedly outperforming the PS4 Pro in the US.

According to industry analyst Daniel Ahmad (aka ZhugeEX) told ResetEra forum members that NPD figures would suggest that the Xbox One X is performing better than the PS4 Pro.

Asked if the Xbox One X was outselling the PS4 Pro, he said: "In the US, when launch aligned, yes. The One X got off to a really good start."

This would tally up with earlier reports in which the Xbox One X enjoyed a better debut week than the PS4 Pro.

Microsoft's Xbox One X reportedly sold 80,000 units during its first week on sale in the UK, compared to a reported 50,000 for the PS4 Pro

Even your boy Richard wisdom prefers One X for 4K displays while pondering over using Pro with 1080p displays instead :tv:

But keep trying please. Its very amusing. Looks like debunking your rubbish theory in the Cyberpunk thread has really struck a nerve :tv:

CerebralTiger · Jul 24, 2019

Necrokiller said:
^One X performed better than Ps4 Pro tho.

The source of that article is a post from Feb 2018, which says this:

In the US, when launch aligned, yes.

The One X got off to a really good start.

"When launch aligned" is a different story. Besides, it's July 2019 now, not Feb 2018. Neither side has released sales figures for their mid-gen refresh machine. As a matter of fact, MS hasn't released xbox one sales figures at all, but we do know overall ps4 sales via Sony, which isn't limited to the US. But get this - since you've enjoyed reading about ratios today, here's another one to ponder over:

As of March 2018, the ps4 (incl. pro) to xbox one (incl. one x) sales ratio was 2.17 : 1.
As of January 2019, the ps4 (incl. pro) to xbox one (incl. one x) sales ratio was 2.23 : 1.

There's absolutely nothing to indicate that the one x has led to an improvement for xbox or has been considered the console of choice for multiplatform games. Moreover, a survey conducted by Nielson in June 2108 found that while the xbox one x gathered more awareness than ps4 pro back then, the liklihood of a household actually buying one is equal to that of the pro.

Lastly, a quick look at the revenue generated by psn alone, which dwarfs the entire xbox games division, indicates where people are playing multiplatform games.

Necrokiller said:
Even your boy Richard wisdom prefers One X for 4K displays while pondering over using Pro with 1080p displays instead :tv:

Ma' boy Rich ain't no sales expert, and in the video you linked, they discuss that the Pro delivers Xbox One X beating performance in several games when forced to run at 1080p, which the Xbox One OS doesn't support. Even the xbox one x would be termed as a better 1080p machine if it could be made to run at 1080p. Moreover, 2 of the multiplatform games discussed (Rage 2 and Ace Combat 7) run at 1080p and target the same frame rate on both ps4 pro and xbox one x, and one of them (Ace Combat 7) still runs better on the pro lol.

Also, why on earth am I being asked to watch a video of John Linemann answering his doorbell :lol:

Necrokiller said:
Looks like debunking your rubbish theory in the Cyberpunk thread has really struck a nerve :tv:

But you failed to debunk it, and even if you had, no nerves would've been struck. In fact, you made it more accurate by pointing out a minor error in my calculation. So, thanks for that. From this day forth, I shall be posting about the gameplay to cutscene ratio in addition to already posting PowerPyx's platinum difficulty rating for every game I play :hah:

golabucha · Jul 24, 2019

Necrokiller said:
^One X performed better than Ps4 Pro tho.

Even your boy Richard wisdom prefers One X for 4K displays while pondering over using Pro with 1080p displays instead :tv:

But keep trying please. Its very amusing. Looks like debunking your rubbish theory in the Cyberpunk thread has really struck a nerve :tv:

Same . I play most games on my Xbox one x and only ps4 exclusives on my ps4.plus the fact that I would be able to play majority of my Xbox one games through backward compatibility on new Xbox console is a big big plus.

Necrokiller · Jul 24, 2019

CerebralTiger said:
Lastly, a quick look at the revenue generated by psn alone, which dwarfs the entire xbox games division

Proves their console audience is more gullible than Microsoft's :hah:

CerebralTiger said:
But you failed to debunk it

You failed to prove your "around half time spent" theory. Nothing you posted supports that claim. Congratulations, you failed yourself :lol:

Chandoo · Jul 24, 2019

Necrokiller said:
^One X performed better than Ps4 Pro tho.

The article you're quoting and didn't source is from Feb 2018, that's a long time ago and doesn't reflect much for the overall units sold on average since then. The PS4 has consistently sold more pretty much everywhere worldwide and you can imagine the Pro consequently does as well.

edit: CT already mentioned this.

Even your boy Richard wisdom prefers One X for 4K displays while pondering over using Pro with 1080p displays instead :tv:

Some games offering 'hidden' 1080p modes actually works reasonably well in favor for the Pro, a bunch of games releasing now perform the best on the Pro (eg Rage 2, Bloodstained etc) and most major multi-platform games (RE2, DMC) are neigh indistinguishable between X and Pro, almost every exclusive is getting the top-end '4K' treatment CB or otherwise

Proves their console audience is more gullible than Microsoft's :hah:

So it's important if Xbox X sold more back in Feb 2018, but gullible if it's the other way in 2019, got it :laugh1:

Necrokiller · Jul 24, 2019

Chandoo said:
The PS4 has consistently sold more pretty much everywhere worldwide and you can imagine the Pro consequently does as well.

Post numbers instead of imagining things. The only thing Sony revealed was 1 out of 5 PS4 being sold being a Pro. Thats a terrible turn around. Guess they didnt expect anyone to buy it? lol

Chandoo said:
So it's important if Xbox X sold more back in Feb 2018, but gullible if it's the other way in 2019, got it :laugh1:

First is hardware sales the other is talking about PSN revenue.

And why are you offended? You werent gullible enough to spend money on a subscription atleast :lol:

Chandoo · Jul 24, 2019

Post numbers instead of imagining things. The only thing Sony revealed was 1 out of 5 PS4 being sold being a Pro. Thats a terrible turn around. Guess they didnt expect anyone to buy it? lol

Did ... did you actually read the article you just linked yourself ?

Sony: 1 in 5 PS4s Sold Are PS4 Pros; Selling Better Than Expected

According to Sony global sales chief Jim Ryan, the souped-up console is way ahead of Sony’s expectations. Ryan also notes — similarly to PSVR — Sony’s forecasting for the PS4 Pro had been poor, and thus the product had been relatively short in supply, making the one-in-five ratio even more impressive.

Selling higher than Sony's expectations near the supply-constrained launch window. Such a terrible turnaround. :laugh1:

Necrokiller · Jul 24, 2019

Chandoo said:
Selling higher than Sony's expectations near the supply-constrained launch window. Such a terrible turnaround. :laugh1:

1 in 5 Pro sold is impressive and better than expected.

One X selling better than Pro is unimportant.

Translation: We at Sony, are shocked ourselves that people fell for it (lmao)

Chandoo · Jul 24, 2019

Necrokiller said:
1 in 5 Pro sold is impressive and better than expected.

One X selling better than Pro is unimportant.

Translation: We at Sony, are shocked ourselves that people fell for it (lmao)

The X selling more than Pro in launch window is strictly an NPD thing which applies in one territory only, unless you can find a source which says it was the same worldwide, keep that excitement in check :laugh1:

Xbox One has sold 41 million as of Dec 2018 (and since they don't release numbers, we don't know the most recent accurate numbers):
https://screenrant.com/xbox-one-lifetime-sales-total-microsoft/

PS4 was at 91.6 million at roughly the same timeframe (and actually closer to 100m now):
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikka...91-6-million-sales-into-context/#686558116c50

That's a more than 2 : 1 ratio for all you ratio freaks.

It's only logical to assume the much bigger, and continuing to expand gulf, includes either company's mid-gen consoles as well.

But yes, let's debate about how a console family which is 50m plus behind and selling less units year over year might have had a better month of sales that one time :laugh1:

Necrokiller · Jul 24, 2019

Chandoo said:
for all you ratio freaks.

Ek hi ratio freak hai idhar bhai, one of the Top 10 thread starters on PG :lol:

Chandoo said:
unless you can find a source which says it was the same worldwide, keep that excitement in check :laugh1:

Can you find a source which tells us that Pro sold better than One X? oh wait, you cannot. I posted the numbers I found. For both enhanced consoles launch, One X did much better than Pro.

Chandoo said:
It's only logical

Pata nahi konsay sales expert hain aap jo logic se unknown sales define kar rahe hain :lol:

"Highly unpredictable"

So that makes just you not keeping your excitement in check, like that kid with the crayon :laugh1:

Chandoo · Jul 24, 2019

Can you find a source which tells us that Pro sold better than One X? oh wait, you cannot.

Neither can you, because neither MS nor Sony releases breakdowns like that. Please don't act like this is some 'gotcha' moment :laugh1:

Nah thats just you not keeping your excitement in check

Nah, it really is logic. Yes you won't find official PR statements form either company, but a little googling will get you a long way.

1. Let's use one of the biggest retailers as an example, which gives these statistics.

Amazon's best sellers list:
https://www.amazon.com/best-sellers-video-games/zgbs/videogames

Switch is the highest console on this list, followed by PS4 Pro, then PS4 Slim and the Xbox Slim is the only xbox variant on that list near the very end.

So, going by the world's biggest retailer, the PS4 Pro is selling more than the cheaper Slim, let alone either Xbox variants.

2. The PS4 is on track to sell 17.8m units worldwide this year, granted it's a drop from the 19m sold last year.
https://www.vg247.com/2019/04/26/playstation-4-tops-96-8-million-units-sales-worldwide/

Though, "logically", you can gauge that this is an approximate 10~11% drop. Compared to the 48% drop mentioned in the article in the OP.

I think using point 1 and putting two and two together shouldn't be that hard from here onward to figure out the Pro is doing better than the X right now.

And that my friends .. is called logic.

Necrokiller · Jul 24, 2019

Okay so an industry analyst says iterative consoles make sales "highly unpredictable". But lets all listen to this Sony pony's "logic" and call it a victory. Kamal :laugh1:

Chandoo · Jul 24, 2019

1 year old tweet of Industry insider making generic statements without giving any actual numbers, "Sony Pony" gave live example of the biggest retailer in the world and it's sales trends.

If this is the hill you choose to die on Necro, that's your call :laugh1:

Though the last thing I'll say is maybe it's time to update your go-to-sources from 2017 and 2018 to 2019 now :laugh1:

XBOX Forbes: Microsoft's Xbox Revenue Is Plummeting, And Here's Why That's Fine

Expert

Seasoned

Expert

Expert

Resi Evil 4 > Your fav game.

Respect Ma AuthoritA!!!

Expert

Expert

Expert

Intermediate

Expert

Resi Evil 4 > Your fav game.

Expert

Resi Evil 4 > Your fav game.

Expert

Resi Evil 4 > Your fav game.

Expert

Resi Evil 4 > Your fav game.

Expert

Resi Evil 4 > Your fav game.