MS now admits GP causes decline in sales

*UPDATE*

MS responds - https://www.eurogamer.net/microsoft-seeks-to-explain-its-own-admission-xbox-game-pass-lowers-base-game-sales

On mobile and I don’t know how to properly post this stuff but here it is…

After Phil told the media in Nov 2018 that GP was good for sales, MS now says that’s not true, it’s hurting sales.

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-admits-game-pass-cannibalizes-sales

https://youtu.be/XJDLKQ_4zSE

Why would consumers buy games if they are on GamePass

But that would mean that Phil and Co. lied to the press… Something we were told couldn’t happen. 🤔

@ghostofgolden: I’m glad you’re back fighting the good fight!

Only delusional Xbox fanboys or fanboys in general believe that. I think in the future we will have more timed exclusive games from 3rd party on Sony consoles just because of the sales for some games

Hardware sales are way down, Game Pass is barely "growing", Infinite fizzled, software is tanking, major game output is at a trickle.

I think it's time to phire Phil

Well, no shit. Anyone with a brain knew this from the start.

Why do you think their flagship title was/is in such poor state? There is no chance of it launching like that pre GP days. All the resources went to cover millions of dollars lost on GP and sales. By next year, the price will increase by a ton, or they will end the service in 2025.

Well no shit Sherlock! If you get the game for free (well not really free free but you'll get my point) on Game Pass, then you don't need to buy the game on phyiscal/digital. How many people at MS did it take to figure that shit out? Come on!!!

Mmm I doubt they'll end the service in 2025 but a price increase is a definite thing. I felt like this was stated before in the past but can't recall...

It wasn't serious until a bunch of billionaires lost a few pennies.

Makes sense. I’m a Game Pass subscriber so why would I also buy them when I’m paying for the service and playing them there.

You should see ResetEra. Folks are coming out of the woodwork with the “well no shit” posts, acting like folks weren’t being banned for “console warring” for questioning Phil Spencer’s statements. The NPD guy is catching some heat too, because this means he’s been running interference for Xbox on Twitter since 2018…

@ghostofgolden: Never been to ResetEra but I heard it’s an absolute mess over there. Inmates running the asylum.

I personally think that yes it hurt traditional sales but I am sure MS has method to pay for games that is downloaded. Pretty stupid from devs to get payment upfront without other incentives.

Its not that bad, he is in there on daily basis😁

Well duh

Of course it results in a decline of sales. I think it's pretty obvious that was going to be a result.

The question is whether or not it caused a decline in profit, specifically for developers.

Right?!

Why is this such a scandal?

I think Sony did it the right way... Get sales from games for a while and then drop them on PS Plus. It's much cheaper then Gamepass if you sub for a year. More games(not gonna say better because that's subjective). The biggest advantage I see with Gamepass is on the PC side. Don't think Sony will ever have an answer for that.

They need to be thrown out of the video game industry and returned to their ufo in the sky. They keep showing they don't know anything about video games.

The pertinent point here isn't whether direct sales would drop, because of course it would, but whether the consistent revenue associated with Game Pass subsriptions outweights the seasonal revenue from game sales if Game Pass wasn't a thing.

Paraphrasing here, but it boils down to "$10 x 1 mil users per month consistently" or "$100 mil only some months" kinda scenario. I assume Microsoft would have done their calculations and concluded that Game Pass would be more profitable long term. If it is indeed more profitable, then the point of whether Game Pass cannibalises traditional sales is moot. If it isn't, then MS dropped the ball big time.

i mean it seems people supporting false ad for games and pe order.

i saved money by playing some of this games. that pr made it look good.

but was a crap game

Not surprising, it would defeat the point of Gamepass if people didn't changed their consumer habits.

Though I can see how in specific cases it could help sales.

I'm shocked. Thought people would play games with the sub and then buy it for no reason other than they hate money.

What's interesting is if developers earn less or not.

No shit 🤣

I've never bought a Xbox first party game since.....and all the 3rd party day one releases too...thank you gamepass

well Purple forum is just the same as this one(just more subtle about console warring), except the Sony fannies there are day and night serious, they'd take a bullet for Jimbo

@BenjaminBanklin: Why would they fire Phill?

Performance would be down while games aren’t coming out.

Outside of Halo multiplayer, game quality has gone up because of Phill, because he’s stopped rushing games.

They need to get to the point where they can have constant releases like PlayStation. That takes time.

It’s a long term strategy. MS has been slowly moving that way since the launch of the Xbox one failed.

Where as PlayStation has been moving this way for generations.

It's just that game pass should be either much more expensive or cover only indie or older games (3 years or so)

They said games that get added to Game Pass see a decline in sales over the 12 month tracking period.

One doesn't have to be a genius to know that a game's sales will decline over a 12 month period regardless of whether they're on Game Pass or not, that's pretty standard across the industry for many years. Most modestly successful games will see the the bulk of its sales in the opening weeks and after that sales start to stagnate.

MS has stated in recent past that Game Pass users on average spend more time gaming and spend more money than gamers who don't use Game Pass. This doesn't jell with what people are trying to assert with this story.

Seems those pushing this story are taking partial sentences without greater context or just quoting single words (again without context) to push this narrative. It's a hatchet job of an argument.

3y would be too long, but like 12 months would make sense.

It's a tactic to price the competition out of the market except its not working because their games aren't good enough.

They could offer free trials of games, which is kinda what I used gamepass for anyways. It would encourage sales.

I mean, why wouldn't I be? Mah MS stock is in the toilet. ;o

Oh wait, no that's my SM stock. lolol :P

Blockbuster: See, this is the shit I’ve been telling everyone about.

I thought it was common knowledge it was always the trade off they decided to go with.

We’ve been telling Lems this since Day 1 but they were too blinded by their love for Xbox.

The denial is real. I’m seeing lemmings in FB groups denying this news. “No that’s not true, it helps sales!” MS themselves literally said this. What’s the defense? Just cause you said so?

from the link:

“a [REDACTED] % decline in base game sales twelve months following their addition on Game Pass”.

in other news, water is wet..

@simple-facts: these clowns don't make sense. MS has so much money, the small profits they make from game sales doesn't matter to them in the short term. If they need to, they can always shift the business model.

Right now, its all about marketshare, growth and MAU. The cows need to be reminded their MAU numbers are a travesty, and nobody is playing the borestation5, its just collecting dust.

Are you telling me that some folks on here believe that folks subscribed to Gamepass to still purchase the games on GamePass?😂

@blaznwiipspman1: how so? PS5 is the best selling console. Sony just had its best quarter since the PS5 launched. Also, recent news report - PS5 sales increased by an eye-watering 202 per cent year-over-year across Europe in January, underlining Sony’s outrageously aggressive approach to 2023. In fact, the Japanese giant’s new-gen system was the only one to grow on the continent, as Nintendo Switch saw an 11 per cent decline during the same period, while Xbox Series X|S slumped by 32 per cent. Didn’t the new GoW sell over 11 million copies? We could go on and on about sales.

@Pedro: I think there’s some wishful thinking mixed in with “Phil said” that led people to believe that Xbox games were selling well, even considering GP.

Who are these people that believe that sales would increase for Xbox games when they can sub to play? That makes no sense. Almost everyone on this forum plays Xbox games via GamePass and those who don't buy select games.

@nnoyinghusband: sales numbers don't matter. Xbox is going platform less, we shifting to software, we're ahead of the game. The only thing that matters is MAU and our MAU numbers are skyrocketing exponential to the moon. Meanwhile people buy Playstation and don't play it, collecting dust then selling on Craigslist.

Ps5 selling hype, thats all it is. Xbox winning with gamers, heck yeah!

Its very hard to say Gamepass or any subscription improve sales when you have potential 25m - 30m users who will never pay for the game. Especially Xbox where almost 80% Series S/X users subbing to the service.

But as per original comment I think devs or publisher probably did the calculations and hopefully demand payments if downloaded game hit certain numbers.

“These people” are your boss Phil Spencer. Straight out the horses mouth:

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/phil-spencer-game-pass-leads-to-more-game-sales

I await your spin

I know you love to insert yourself when you see my name but I am talking about gamers, alt.

@nnoyinghusband: For future reference... When you are posting a comment on mobile you are only able to post and reply to specific users. If you change your Brower to desktop mode you will have all the functionality that you do on your pc including quote, links, embedding pics and video etc...

LMAO! You lead the “Game Pass will increase sales” charge here at SW… You would then parrot Phil’s quotes about game sales increasing because of Game Pass, when folks challenged you… Now we have Xboxs own internal analysis that states otherwise… And Xbox even stated they believed Activision would be against putting their newer games in a subscription service due to cannibalized B2P sales…

Your narratives are falling like dominoes

For what it is worth, I was told that game sales don't matter when your larger MAUs are driving revenue....Oh wait!😂