[Megathread] XBOX Series X (and S)

[Jtbrig7390]

They have 18M subscribers, they're absolutely making a killing off of it. What they're paying third parties to host their games likely doesn't come close to the annual revenue it generates.

Highly doubt it makes a profit right now.

Lets say all 18million subscribers are paying for the years worth of membership. That is $120 a year, That is 2.1 billion yearly. Now that is a lot of money until you factor in server cost, deals they make with developers and of course the cost of developing their own games.

Now there is no chance that all 18million people are paying that much. Its likely not even half since they run the $1 for 4 months stuff a lot and of course being able to do the deal right now where you can buy 4 months of EA Access and convert it to Gamepass. There is so many ways to get Gamepass much cheaper.

If they are making a profit its very little at best but that isn't surprising. Netflix was operating at a loss for years and I would expect this to do the same.

Offtopic: Got my hands on a Series X looking forward to playing it

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I would imagine there is a soft performance metric in there somewhere that determines their payout too, so if their game doesn't get played, I would guess they get paid far less(the 3rd parties).

Likely something like.

We give you X now and you get Y if your game hits Z Performance Metric.

[Edge-]

Lets say all 18million subscribers are paying for the years worth of membership. That is $120 a year, That is 2.1 billion yearly. Now that is a lot of money until you factor in server cost, deals they make with developers and of course the cost of developing their own games.

Server costs? It's the basic download servers used for everything else, that's hardly much of an added cost.

Deals with developers? Yeah, that's what I mentioned. There's likely at least a minimum guarantee, and the potential for added bonuses based on the number of people who played the game during its time on GP.

But is that eating up billions a year? I'm skeptical, honestly. And placing this in the context of what Epic has spent on free game giveaways over the past year, I think we have some data to reference for that.

There is so many ways to get Gamepass much cheaper.

Sure, not assuming full-price for them all but IIRC the Game Pass you get for free is for a single month with the console (it's what came with my One X when I got it). Considering the 18M is from January, months after the Series X first launched, it seems that the subscription is pretty sticky and a fair number of folks are maintaining it. I know if I was going to get back into gaming on my One X (it mostly just sits there looking pretty since I'm not gaming on any console atm) I'd likely pick it up since it's a fantastic bloody deal.

[xmirrors]

I think it's pretty clear that Microsoft is moving forward with profiting from its services, not hardware. If I had to guess, I would also be more willing to believe that GamePass is profitable even now, even with some of the deals they run. They have a lot of subscriptions...

If not, then I would expect GamePass to continue to grow and become profitable by the end of this year anyway. With the studios Microsoft has obtained, and what we know is coming to GamePass in the future, I really think it's going to pick up substantial subs. It's such a good deal.

As it so happens, I was finally able to pick up a Series X with the help of 4 friends frantically clicking the Add to Cart button on Gamestop. Unfortunately I was kinda forced into getting a bundle but most of the stuff was useful (a controller and gift card) and the stuff that wasn't (MLB The Show '21 CE) can be sold on eBay relatively easily. Fuck you, scalpers!

The console may not have any real killer apps for it yet, but the amount of stuff I am going to be able to play on GamePass well makes up for it. Especially the ones with the next gen treatment. I am playing through the Hivebusters DLC for Gears 5 right now and it might be the most beautiful game I've ever seen while remaining buttery smooth. My PC can't even compete, and when you have that performance on a 4K TV with HDR...

[Jtbrig7390]

Server costs? It's the basic download servers used for everything else, that's hardly much of an added cost.

GamePass is also X-Cloud and streaming isn't cheap.

Game Pass you get for free is for a single month with the console

Yes but they also run the deal where you get like 3 months for $1, I've done it twice.

Also there is this.
https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1377975835186012162

That I'm sure a lot of people are abusing. I would say its out of the realm of possibility they are making a profit, I just doubt it currently. If it isn't making a profit right now I'm sure it will in the near future.

As much as I like physical media, Gamepass is a great deal. Even tho I collect physical media I still plan to have gamepass for my series x just for the indies alone.

[Tech614]

When you factor in their own first party development, acquisitions and marketing no there is no way in hell game pass has been profitable for them thus far even before accounting what they're paying 3rd parties.

It's to make money in the future, not immediately. Bethesda acquisition alone likely wiped out 1.5-2 years of gamepass revenue. And yes, you have to factor that in even Phil Spencer himself said they bought Bethesda to bring more games to gamepass.

[ati87]

They have 18M subscribers, they're absolutely making a killing off of it. What they're paying third parties to host their games likely doesn't come close to the annual revenue it generates.

This was last year, sure it's pandemic year right now but that would kind of hurt the profitablity of Gamepass. More people playing games the more Microsoft needs to pay developers.

https://www.pcgamer.com/xbox-game-pa...ays-microsoft/

Gamepass is probably going to follow the gym membership model where people that don't show up make up the difference.

In the end it's fine, Microsoft has allot of money this may be a nice way for certain older games to achieve new live benefiting developers.

[Zenfoldor]

Is there a Starfield megathread?

[Jtbrig7390]

Is there a Starfield megathread?

Why would there be a megathread on a game that all we know is the title?

[Next Gen What]

Starfield is an Xbox exclusive? Oh, wait, nope. PC release means I still have no incentive to buy one.

And that’s a bad thing how?

MS is being very consumer friendly by allowing you to buy their games on PC as well. You should be happy about that.

Meanwhile, Sony is still forcing you to buy a PS5 AND THEN pay $70+ to get their games.

I’ll take the MS PC releases (that are also sold on Steam) please.

[Zenfoldor]

Starfield delayed - https://twitter.com/bethesda/status/1524721132720566272

Starfield may not be good yet, and needed to be delayed, supposedly - https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/st...5Es1_&ref_url=

I'm not mad, just disappointed. Kinda wish I didn't buy this Xbox Series X when I did. I have yet to use it for anything. I'm a fan of delays, they make games better, but I'm not a fans MS' output so far this gen. Was really hyped about Starfield this year...oh well.

So what does MS have for this year now? Anything? Is Nintendo really gonna win this holiday with a Zelda double pack, a pokemon game, Metroid Prime remake, and Advance Wars 1+2? Maybe God of War Ragnarok won't be delayed, at least. Heck, maybe Silksong will come out. I'll give XSX one thing. It can play Elden Ring. How do you buy all the developers but still have a release schedule like this, I just don't know....they need to stop putting out games like Grounded and Sea of Thieves and start putting out games like New Vegas 2 and Starfield. I do NOT want all my gaming companies bought up so they can make b tier e for everyone games that I can identify as gamepass games by the generic title created by marketers, and the fortnite ripoff cartoon graphics.

Eventually old games will run out, and gamepass will only have to rely on modern games. I'm sure the MAU is through the roof though, ugh.

[everydaygamer]

It's hard to say, I imagine we'll see some more solid release dates for the fall as we head into June. I believe that's when Microsoft is doing their presentation.

[Edge-]

Starfield delayed - https://twitter.com/bethesda/status/1524721132720566272

Starfield may not be good yet, and needed to be delayed, supposedly - https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/st...5Es1_&ref_url=

I'm not mad, just disappointed.

Disappointed, but honestly for the best. Bethesda's quality is uh...erm...uneven to say the least with their RPG's, and since this is the first RPG under Microsoft it makes sense that they'd push it out if it's a buggy, broken mess as is standard for Bethesda titles.

But man, that's a big hit to their lineup of uh...not much this year so far. Spencer might be good at buying up huge publishers like Bethesda and ATVI (once that deal clears), but despite being in charge of the Xbox division for a whole generation and getting a fancy new title, they sure still haven't sorted out their software pipeline.

Game Pass is really carrying the division on its fuckin back.

[Jtbrig7390]

Game Pass is really carrying the division on its fuckin back.

It is but if they don't start putting out some heavy hitters then GamePass might start seeing a bleed. Their biggest (active) title on GP is a f2p title that doesn't need it.

Don't get me wrong GP is a solid deal but its slowing down on new titles (IMO) and MS hasn't really put a first party title on it that sells it. Halo Infinite only goes so far.

I'm all for dev's not crunching and taking their time, but this is going to make another year where MS first party is non-existent.

[everydaygamer]

It is but if they don't start putting out some heavy hitters then GamePass might start seeing a bleed. Their biggest (active) title on GP is a f2p title that doesn't need it.

Don't get me wrong GP is a solid deal but its slowing down on new titles (IMO) and MS hasn't really put a first party title on it that sells it. Halo Infinite only goes so far.

I'm all for dev's not crunching and taking their time, but this is going to make another year where MS first party is non-existent.

I don't know about that. They always seem to have at least one title each month that interests me that I might not have checked out otherwise. Plus with them moving to make xcloud available on TVs without the need of a console I can imagine things only getting better for them.

[xmirrors]

Bummed about Starfield but happy to see GamePass continue to thrive. 2022 has been huge for the Xbox brand. When was the last time it had a higher market share than the PlayStation?

[Edge-]

When was the last time it had a higher market share than the PlayStation?

In total sales? Because that's not true, Sony announced they're shy of 20M sales of PS5 recently while Microsoft just announced 12M total sales for X|S.

Microsoft has outsold Sony the past two quarters (and Microsoft's CEO is doing a victory lap over that), but how much of that is actual organic demand surpassing that of PS5 vs. supply chain issues and there simply being more X|S hardware available that hasn't sold-out previously and folks are picking up now, is an open question.

[xmirrors]

I am referring to 2022, specifically these charts:
Source


Also of note is that the Xbox is the only console that grew in sales from 2021-2022.

[Edge-]

For new sales this year, yes. But that's a really weird, arbitrary, and kinda meaningless metric. VG Chartz just looking for more content to post to fuel the console fandom wars and shit.



That's the meaningful data in terms of looking at hardware sales, the actual complete data. Not segmented-up "well this year they have more market share for new sales of hardware so far" which is, again, a meaningless statistic that would really only be used internally at Microsoft to impress some C-level executives.

This isn't a "PS IS BETTER" post by any means, but Sony is objectively doing much better on the hardware front. And on the software front as well, as Microsoft continues to struggle with their first party lineup despite their huge success with Game Pass.

I continue to be really unimpressed with Spencer, honestly. He seems like a super nice guy and all (it's his professional persona, at least), but Microsoft is having the same problems with first/second party titles to move hardware this generation as they had last generation, and this is even after they went on the buying spree and bought up a bunch of solid mid-sized studios (Obsidian, Ninja Theory etc.) and even picked up Bethesda just before the they shipped the latest console generation.

Despite this, they seem to be repeating the same mistakes when it comes to failing to plan/prepare properly for first-party releases.

[Video Games]

Not that im not tired of sonys generic ots action games, but ms hasnt had any games since the original xbox. I really wish theyd just leave the industry if theyre not going to prove they even deserve to be in it.

Frankly, theyve done nothing but harm the industry as the west tends to do

[Zenfoldor]

I'm just worried the best MicrosoftGameStudios game this generation will Psychonauts 2. Now, that one game, Psychonauts 2, is pretty good, but I thought it was a scummy move not making a true PS5 version, but at least the game was alright. I don't complain about Ori or Cuphead, they are pretty good, but it is unbelievable to me how lackluster this library is probably going to stay until at least 2023 or beyond....just a tad frustrated, but I really blame myself, I should not have hype-bought a console for Starfield, lol.

I think the biggest reason I am kinda upset, is I don't believe the new release date. I think it will be like end of 2023 MAYBE, because I am not just notified of a new delay, I am now worried about the game itself.