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| aTokenYeti said: A few things Microsoft probably needs to do to turn around console sales, if they even care to do so: |
It really does feel like Microsoft has been on autopilot since the Activision-Blizzard acquisition.
I think there are a few factors as to why the console sales are lagging behind by this much.
1. They've not had any AAA exclusives for 16 months now, AA's won't move Consoles in large numbers and while Sony hasn't had any AAA exclusives for this year either (so far), they're riding off the momentum that they've achieved in 2022/2021 and the whole of the last generation with a steady stream of high quality major releases.
Honestly even if Xbox was doing everything right, I've always been of the opinion that Sony would still easily beat them in Console sales by a large margin. Sony has incredible brand power, a strong stable of AAA's releasing consistently which haven't took a break like Xbox has, Xbox has screwed up more and is much weaker in more markets and they messed up in the worst generation, when the network effort was at its largest.
E.G. People will buy what Console their friends have and Sony has a massive lead on that thanks to last gen.
Xbox is also releasing their titles day and date on PC as well which will obviously hurt Console sales. I'm not really concerned about Sony outselling Xbox by a large margin since it's obvious to happen but I can see why people are a bit concerned about this performance on its own? Not a doom scenario yet though, a business can still be profitable even if they get massively outsold by the competition, Lol.
I know some will be concerned about games skipping the platform but as long as the install base is large enough and Xbox provides incentives, it should ensure the vast majority of major 3rd parties don't skip Xbox and honestly if they do then it just gives Microsoft even more regulator ammo to acquire more, Lol.
2. Their marketing is terrible, there is little synergy between Xbox & Bethesda, their marketing seems massively skewed towards Twitter but with barely a presence in TV advertising and such. Their bundles have been limited, their custom consoles are missing, their 1st & 3rd party marketing is often bad, Sony treats almost all their releases as a major event, 3rd party included, while Xbox barely does, especially in European markets.
Diablo IV is a true test and it should be massively promoted by Xbox, I have my doubts it will be, it should also have had a custom Xbox console.
3. The stock situation is still iffy for Xbox Series X in America, I don't know why it's so difficult for them to produce Xbox Series X.
4. I also question how much Microsoft even cares, I'm sure they still want to sell Consoles but they've clearly tried to deviate away from them, as I said, a business can still be profitable even being trounced by the competition. Their games seem to be performing very well (on Steam & Player Wise on Xbox), they're pulling in more revenue than their entire history, they're about to add the very profitable ABK into their business.
People may have concerns about Xbox hardware being dropped but I've my very strong doubts on that as well, I think it will long remain a choice for Xbox gamers. They clearly have a long term vision and it won't go anywhere if Xbox Series sells only like 50-60m as long as the business is still profitable. As I said, they're pulling in more revenue than ever before and with ABK they will be near or above Windows depending on the quarter.
xCloud is inherently linked to Xbox hardware as well, if they change that then they become like every other Cloud company (E.G. Stadia) whose Cloud platform is based on a custom build which would provide a little more difficulty in developers making their stuff work on xCloud whilst if they port for Xbox hardware, their is very little work needed to put it onto xCloud which runs off Xbox hardware.
Like you've said, there is a few things they could do which they seemingly aren't, a temporary pause on xCloud rollout, aggressive price cuts to Series S, a massive order of Xbox Series X (although that would still take months - a year as these things are ordered way in advance and Sony likely has priority) and where is that rumoured die shrink? Feels like they aren't even trying to tackle it sometimes, Lol.
Who knows, once their AAAs start releasing they may do a little turnaround, they had a strong 2020/2021 and lost it all in 2022 but Microsoft is a service company first and that is what Xbox is pivoting towards to live under Microsoft, their priority is no longer beating Sony or even coming close but I still think they will continue making Consoles, even if they get doubled by Sony.
