*Typing this on a mobile device
The tide is turning. I am seeing record high sales for Xbox , record high engagement for Xbox, and record high tweets about Xbox. The gamepass strategy is working, and what a phenomenal one two punch was the release of Forza and Halo Infinite . All day one on gamepass.
back in 2014 Sony heavily invested in cloud gaming with Gaica. Releasing PS NOW with over 100 (now around 800) PlayStation games spanning from tbe ps3 and PS4 era. They have improved the platform by adding downloads, 1080p streaming, a better interface. But the content is abysmal still to this day. While gamepass happily adds GTA SAN, FORZA, HALO, THE MEDIUM, and more incredibly high budget games. Sony continues its trickle of game releases with FF ps1 era games, maybe a game or two that’s a budget title nowadays like Mafia or Nier. Although ps5 is sold out, Xbox is also sold out, in fact it’s not that much of a gap. Gamepass has from what I’ve last heard over 20 million subs. And gaining rapidly. Ps now is barely over 3 million. What is most important here is that forza launched as the most successful Xbox game launch because of gamepass . Despite being a niche racing game. While Jim Ryan mentioned he hates that some iconic games are limited to the console user base of PS (all 116 million of them.) games like ratchet and returnal together have only seen 2 million units vs Forza which has been played by over 6 million people. Will Xbox start pushing money to 3rd parties to release ASSASSINS, COD, and more day 1 on gamepass ? Why even own a console at $500 when you can x cloud these games?
xbox and Bethesda are looking prime to dominating the gaming landscape with AAA ip. Deathloop although currently ps5 console exclusive, will receive a sequel. And is currently the front runner for GOTY. Psychobauts as well. These are all Xbox first party. With them being available day one on gamepass and $70 on PS (maybe because the next games will likely be Xbox exclusive) the value of owning an Xbox is growing.
in fact with XCLOUD, you can now stream series x games onto the Xbox one from 2013. And getting a series S seems to be paying off. For 299 you get a platform that can stream the best Xbox games. This is turning into a shift in my opinion. Will gamer A buy a ps5 and spend $70 on the same game or will they buy an Xbox and get the game for free with gamepass? Honestly it’s turning into a situation that Sony has to respond with something. It looked like they were doing something with the PS PLUS collection but I’m not sure if that’s going to be enough to take any attention away from the shifting of momentum towards the Xbox side. Any thoughts?
Last edited by leo-j - on 17 November 2021
