Xbox Series X | S

[Marlew]

That's a pretty damning indictment of my constant interior monologue. 

[PeteJ]

But the games are being made regardless and are available to buy in other ways. Netflix didn't need exclusive content until other companies started to use their model, so they needed exclusive content in order to stand out. There is nothing else out there like gamepass and another company would need massive investment to catch-up.

 

When Sony introduce PlayPass or whatever we'll start to see third parties sign exclusive deals on these SaaS platforms, but by buying up multiple studios over the past few years Microsoft can start to deliver more exclusives themselves. Plus, as we've seen with Netflix, it's the churn of new content that keeps people subscribed, rather than the rare high quality release. I'm only speculating here but I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft are not aiming to compete with Sony's single player exclusives, and are instead looking at more 'AA' games. 

 

I'm not sure how good Gamepass is for gamers in the long run, but I'm fairly confident it'll be massive for MS. 

[Alex W.]

Netflix is currently in a precarious position by all accounts, having apparently saturated the market and having no strategy for how to grow their business than adding new customers. That’s not wrong. Spotify is in a similar position IIRC. It’s just not clear where new growth will come from (podcasts?! interactive movies???) and investors are getting nervous.

 

But I’m not sure that’s relevant to streaming more broadly, and the later generations of streaming companies like Microsoft, Sony, Disney etc in particular. They’re smart enough to view streaming as part of a strategy and not as the strategy.

[Isaac]

5 minutes ago, Alex W. said:

Netflix is currently in a precarious position by all accounts, having apparently saturated the market and having no strategy for how to grow their business than adding new customers. That’s not wrong. Spotify is in a similar position IIRC. It’s just not clear where new growth will come from (podcasts?! interactive movies???) and investors are getting nervous.

 

But I’m not sure that’s relevant to streaming more broadly, and the later generations of streaming companies like Microsoft, Sony, Disney etc in particular. They’re smart enough to view streaming as part of a strategy and not as the strategy.

 

Netflix is at 57% of US market share, but only 10% abroad, with higher customer satisfaction ratings abroad.

 

It still has a load of growth ahead if it can match the US growth in international markets. They added 25.8 million subs in H1 2020 (compared to 12.3 million in H1 2019). Netflix has about 130 new non-English original programs in 18 languages slated for 2020 and beyond, three times that of Amazon.

 

I think Netflix are going to keep growing for quite some time to come.

[footle]

15 minutes ago, Isaac said:

 

This is an outdated take. Netflix is now a profit machine.

 

Netflix make large accounting profits, and have dropping free cashflow. Their accounting profits are largely to do with how they depreciate the value of their own content.

Their valuation is predicated on continuous, large-scale growth. Who knows how it'll end up?

 

Their competition is similarly screwed though - Disney's parks and movie theatre distribution channel closed etc. AT&T having loaded themselves with debt. etc.

[Steven]

On 11 August 2020 at 13:19, Stanley said:

I really, really hope they add VR compatibility this generation, have they mentioned it at all? 

 

Nah, they've got to get Halo out this gen. Doris from accounting is going to look on the internet about it all and see if it's worth doing next time.

[SeanR]

On 23/07/2020 at 19:14, djbhammer said:

Introducing the Largest, Most Creatively Diverse Games Lineup in Console History, Led by Halo Infinite

 

 

 

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2* (Paradox Interactive): Experience Seattle – a city full of alluring, dangerous characters and factions. In this sequel to the cult classic, your choices, plots and schemes will change the balance of power.

 

 

 

[Broker]

39 minutes ago, PeteJ said:

I really think so, that's why they've been offering such insane deals to get people onto gamepass so over time it becomes the 'norm', at which point the deals fade away and the price start to rise. 

 

I'm not sure the people at Microsoft are stupid though...we'll have to wait a few years to see if it worked or not! 

I don’t know what will happen, but I don’t think their strategy for office, a product that has literally no competitors and sells to millions of offices and students every year no matter how bad the updates are or how much everyone hates them, is transferable to entertainment products with serious competition. They have an absolute monopoly on office software, and a captive audience who need it for their jobs. You can have a lot of leeway in that scenario to try out whatever business model you want. 
 

Xbox isn’t in that position. Their brand is the least popular, and they’ve been selling Gamepass at what must be a massive loss to get people signed up. I know we’ve got people here who would buy an Xbox even if it spat acid in their face every fifteen minutes, but I don’t think there’s enough of them to make Gamepass profitable. They need to convince a wider audience, and unlike office they can’t rely on people buying it even if they hate it because they need it for work. 

[Steven]

To be fair Halo is leading them, just not the direction we thought.

[Clipper]

7 minutes ago, Broker said:

 I know we’ve got people here who would buy an Xbox/Playstation/Nintendo even if it spat acid in their face every fifteen minutes,

 

 

[Broker]

Sorry mate, did you want mentioning by name? 

[Pob]

9 minutes ago, Broker said:

I know we’ve got people here who would buy an Xbox even if it spat acid in their face every fifteen minutes,

[Clipper]

9 minutes ago, Broker said:

Sorry mate, did you want mentioning by name? 

just the usual antagonistic baiting bullshit posting style I see

 

I actually agree with your point but the needlessly abrasive baiting shite in the middle is just dreary

 

[Broker]

I was just trying to make a light joke about it. Obviously we have other console fans, but they’re less active at the moment because they’re not in defensive mode. People don’t feel the need to try to justify their investment in their switch or whatever because others are buying them and most of the discussion is positive. 

[Clipper]

Apologies I didn't spot it as a joke... you are sometimes aggressive/abrasive in posting style and I think it takes away from your point sometimes. I will readjust my humour detector.

[Don Wiskerando]

1 minute ago, Clipper said:

Apologies I didn't spot it as a joke... you are sometimes aggressive/abrasive in posting style and I think it takes away from your point sometimes. I will readjust my humour detector.

</content matches avatar>

[Transient Curse]

57 minutes ago, Broker said:

they’ve been selling Gamepass at what must be a massive loss to get people signed up

 

Yes, they have been running an introductory offer which some people have exploited to their maximum benefit. Even here, the brightest star on the internet, some people have not got the best out of the deal, however. 

 

Some of Gamepass' subscribers will be paying the full amount already - let's not forget that people who actually use Gamepass here almost universally* think it's the best deal in gaming and consider it a good deal - even at full price.

 

*I'm sure you can find someone saying the opposite if you look. 

 

They will not have trouble building on the 10million subscribers, imo. Right now 10 million subcribers at full fees (which we know they are not all paying now) would bring in $150,000,000 every month.  $1.8Bn a year, as long as they hold onto the same number of subscribers they announced 3 months ago.

 

That's if they don't grow the business at all, if they haven't already.

 

Halo got given an eye watering $500,000,000 for five years of development (iirc). That's about 3 and a half months of gamepass subs. I think they'll  be fine, because people like gamepass and I think it's reasonable to expect that people will transition to paying full fees. As I said earlier, I think people who use gamepass think it's a good deal. 

 

What's more, people who have had games on gamepass have said it positively effects their sales:

 

https://www.spieltimes.com/news/xbox-game-pass-helped-a-game-achieve-triple-the-sales/

 

It seems like anecdotal evidence suggests gamepass won't struggle to retain it's revenue and games do well out of being on there, so it should be good news for those who use the service, players and developers/publishers. 

 

This obviously should come at a cost of revenue for first party games, but (bafflingly to me)  it turns out it doesn't,  famously Sea of Thieves sold more than expected, despite being on Gamepass. How often that will happen, I don't  know. But it did happen, at least once. If any of those extra third party sales that are talked about in the article I linked are through microsoft stores, they get their cut there too. 

 

Obviously we don't know how many people are paying full price, how much microsoft pays people to put their game on gamepass and how many games sell more as a result and how all those numbers interact, but I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that it is and has been losing them money. 

[Boozy The Clown]

They really need that Cyberpunk patch ASAP.  Series X really needs 3rd party multi platform, cross generation titles to show the power difference of the box. Highly unlikely to happen for November so they'll be selling it on more promises of what's to come in the future. 

 

I can see myself delaying even thinking about  a series X until either Cyberpunk gets its next gen patch ( Q2,2021?) Forza Motorsport comes out (2022?) or something unexpected comes out which at least looks like a generational leap Ray traced Minecraft ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DC Lemon]

Phil Spencer has got so much right in terms of restoring goodwill since he took over but he’s totally Mattricked this console launch by putting all his eggs in a basket with a broken handle.

[Broker]

23 minutes ago, Clipper said:

Apologies I didn't spot it as a joke... you are sometimes aggressive/abrasive in posting style and I think it takes away from your point sometimes. I will readjust my humour detector.

I definitely am, I’m trying to be less of an abrasive twat at the moment and grow up, but it’s totally fair to assume I’m being a dick with my long history of being a dick  

[Stanley]

1 hour ago, PeteJ said:

But the games are being made regardless and are available to buy in other ways. Netflix didn't need exclusive content until other companies started to use their model, so they needed exclusive content in order to stand out. There is nothing else out there like gamepass and another company would need massive investment to catch-up.

 

When Sony introduce PlayPass or whatever we'll start to see third parties sign exclusive deals on these SaaS platforms, but by buying up multiple studios over the past few years Microsoft can start to deliver more exclusives themselves. Plus, as we've seen with Netflix, it's the churn of new content that keeps people subscribed, rather than the rare high quality release. I'm only speculating here but I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft are not aiming to compete with Sony's single player exclusives, and are instead looking at more 'AA' games. 

 

I'm not sure how good Gamepass is for gamers in the long run, but I'm fairly confident it'll be massive for MS. 

PS Now? They were actually the first. 

[Pob]

2 minutes ago, Broker said:

I definitely am, I’m trying to be less of an abrasive twat at the moment and grow up, but it’s totally fair to assume I’m being a dick with my long history of being a dick  

Don't worry, the acid-spitting comment was brilliant.

[Clipper]

5 minutes ago, Broker said:

I definitely am, I’m trying to be less of an abrasive twat at the moment and grow up, but it’s totally fair to assume I’m being a dick with my long history of being a dick  

yeah my head was on wrong regarding that comment broker, as Pob says it was funny.

 

(I didn't pos this post of yours incase you think I was possing you calling yourself an abrasive twat )

[Pob]

The whole Halo Infinite thing is a massive blow but when I think back to getting a launch PS4 - which I was delighted with - I only used for for cross-gen games (Battlefield 4, Black Flag, Metal Gear Solid V, Far Cry 4) for a good while. I mean, Resogun was decent, and I loved playing Last of Us at 60fps, but I brought it more on the promise of future delights. I think No Man's Sky was the first big boxed exclusive I bought.

 

All that said, PS5 actually has a decent launch-window lineup.

[Stanley]

1 minute ago, Pob said:

The whole Halo Infinite thing is a massive blow but when I think back to getting a launch PS4 - which I was delighted with - I only used for for cross-gen games (Battlefield 4, Black Flag, Metal Gear Solid V, Far Cry 4) for a good while. I mean, Resogun was decent, and I loved playing Last of Us at 60fps, but I brought it more on the promise of future delights. I think No Man's Sky was the first exclusive I bought.

 

All that said, PS5 actually has a decent launch-window lineup.

The bigger problem for MS with Halo is that they were using it to effectively spearhead the new Gamepass campaign. It’s all very well promising all new first party content day one on the service, but not so great when there isn’t any. 

[LeighCb]

Apologies but I've not been keeping up and for the first time I'm getting confused with all these console revisions. What is the difference between an Xbox One X and a Xbox Series S? 

[Stanley]

1 minute ago, LeighCb said:

Apologies but I've not been keeping up and for the first time I'm getting confused with all these console revisions. What is the difference between an Xbox One X and a Xbox Series S? 

Xbox Series S uses a more advanced chipset with a much improved CPU, it also uses an SSD instead of standard hard drive. So in theory it will have more advanced features such as ray tracing, and be capable or more complex simulations owing to having a better CPU, which will also assist in improving frame rate and so on. Obviously this is all speculation as it’s not been officially announced but likely according to rumours. 

[bear]

3 minutes ago, LeighCb said:

Apologies but I've not been keeping up and for the first time I'm getting confused with all these console revisions. What is the difference between an Xbox One X and a Xbox Series S? 

They haven't announced the Series S yet so nothing is full confirmed but going by the rumours and innuendo it's basically: 

 

Series X- Native 4K, $500-600 expected price

 

Series S- No optical drive, 1080p graphics, same CPU as the Series X, $300-400 expected price. 

[macosx]

I reckon Phil will have to reach deep into the bottom drawer to sweeten the August presentation as in a bad news/ good news thing; although it would have to be quite a special something to make up for the non appearance of your lead platform title on a new console launch.

[T Pot]

7 minutes ago, LeighCb said:

What is the difference between an Xbox One X and a Xbox Series S? 

 

One X is the top of the line current gen.

 

Series S will be the entry level next gen.