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jason1637 on 14 August 2023
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shikamaru317 said:
jason1637 said:

Xbox is about to have one of the biggest games of the generation but there are barely any Series X consoles out there. Huge missed opportunity.

I legit can't figure out Xbox's hardware strategy this gen, it's completely baffling:

  • Nearly 3 years into the generation and we have had 1 limited edition console (Halo Infinite) and only 2 standard bundles with games (Forza Horizon 5 and Diablo 4 earlier this year), and so far at least it looks like they have neither a limited nor a standard bundle planned for Starfield, their biggest exclusive in their entire history as a console maker. By the 3 year mark last gen there had been 6 limited edition consoles (Titanfall, Halo 5, CoD AW, Sunset Overdrive, Forza Motorsport 6, Quantum Break) and 12 standard bundles with games. 
  • Not a single permanent price cut for S or X as of yet, almost 3 years into the generation. By the 3 year mark last gen Xbox One had fallen from $500 to $300 by comparison. Not only have there been no price cuts, but Xbox has even raised pricing in some countries, a move which completely murdered S sales in Japan for instance. Even Sony has been doing temporary price cuts on PS5, it is selling for $450 right now, but nothing of the sort for either S or X since last Holiday as I recall. S pricing has been so poor now for so long that every time I have checked Amazon US' bestsellers chart for about the last 6 months, the top Series S SKU has been used, refurbished Series S consoles, which Xbox of course gets nothing from since they are resells.
  • PS5 stock has been better since about February, whereas Xbox is still having major Series X production issues. There had been some hope that the slow X shipments for most of this year had been because they were storing them up in warehouses for Starfield's launch, but as Starfield's launch nears and no bundles whatsoever have been announced, that theory is looking increasingly unlikely, which just means that Xbox's X production numbers are absolutely pathetic
  • Continued moves from Xbox that show they are more PC friendly than Xbox console friendly. Gamepass PC is cheaper than the equivalent console tier now and includes multiplayer whereas you will have to pay a whopping $7 a month more for Gamepass Ultimate to get multiplayer on console. Console versions of their games lacking major features available on PC at launch like 60 fps capability.

I just can't figure it out. They do realize they need to actually try and compete this gen, right? If they let Sony completely walk away with this gen with the gap between PS5/Xbox Series at the end of the generation being even larger than the gap between PS4 and Xbox One, they are going to struggle to sell the next-gen Xbox console as well. Clean resets and fresh starts don't exist, the dominant platform the previous gen has a huge advantage early gen, developers are more likely to partner with them for 2nd party exclusives or sell them timed hat deals due to higher marketshare, PS users won't want to abandon their friends lists and trophy lists on PS to switch to Xbox no matter how strong Xbox's first party grows. 

Honestly it just feels like Xbox is trying to push us to abandon Xbox consoles and switch to PC these days. And honestly, that is probably exactly what I'm going to do next gen, why in the world would I buy the next Xbox console if it feels like a 2nd class citizen experience compared to 1st class PC experience? Why would I pay more to get the same game experience on console? It just wouldn't make any sense for me to do that.

I'd attribute it more to supply chain issues than them trying to abandon the console. They've spent a lot recently and MS probably wants to make some of that back. MS still has some ground to make up with PC gamers so that could explain their pricing strategy on PC.

I do agree with everything else, especially this year their stock levels have been terrible. They did a decent job at keeping up from launch up til last holiday but now they're struggling to get Series X stock out. A Starfield console should have been a no brainer. Maybe it will be at gamescom.