Microsoft Decides to Stop Publishing Console Sales Figures

[Qub3d]

The clickbate-y title of this techradar article is "Has Microsoft admitted defeat in the console sales war?", but it is worth a read. The gist of it is that Microsoft is no longer using console sales as a metric of success, instead looking at Xbox Live figures as the main metric for the user base. 

 

One thing that was brought up in the comments of the TechRadar article is that while Microsoft may be selling less units, it is winning on number of games sold, which is considered to be the really important metric by many. I found a brief article about that here.

[dalekphalm]

The clickbate-y title of this techradar article is "Has Microsoft admitted defeat in the console sales war?", but it is worth a read. The gist of it is that Microsoft is no longer using console sales as a metric of success, instead looking at Xbox Live figures as the main metric for the user base. 

 

One thing that was brought up in the comments of the TechRadar article is that while Microsoft may be selling less units, it is winning on number of games sold, which is considered to be the really important metric by many. I found a brief article about that here.

Yeah, when people say "PS4 won console war", it's a stupid and uninformed statement. The XBOX One hasn't "lost" the console war. This isn't VHS vs BetaMAX or HD-DVD vs BluRay. Both the PS4 and XBOX One are here to stay.

 

If Microsoft Sells 25 Million XBOX units vs 35 Million PS4's (Figures entirely made up to demonstrate a point), does that make the XBOX a failure? HELL NO! They still sold millions of consoles.

 

Besides, as you state, selling games is what matters. Microsoft and Sony both make a majority of their Console profits via Game Sales. They do, after all, get a significant cut of every game sold for their systems.

 

While I think Microsoft should continue to publish the figures, simply for transparency and curiosity, I don't think console sales necessarily mean anything, beyond a certain point. Game sales and total profit margins are significantly more important in the long run.

[Phillyphries]

Playstation Plus as a requirement for online service is still *kinda* in its infancy still and XBOX Live (I don't really care if you're a diehard PC gamer) has a reputation for being quite nicely maintained and it just works and has been for a long time.

 

Also I don't know the sales of XBOX One exclusives compared to PS4, but I assume a lot of it has to do with that for sure. The other stuff really is the same. Maybe slightly better on PS4 due to slightly higher resolution.

[CommandMan7]

From what I can tell, the Xbox live metric still includes Xbox 360 users, so those numbers are still looking bad.

[Curufinwe_wins]

LOL @Prysin... next time be more subtle... 

[Dabombinable]

Microsoft=buthurt

[TechStyle]

Haven't touched my Xbox One in a long while. Waiting for the Win10 update to see if I wanna keep it. MS dropped the ball this generation 

[Prysin]

LOL @Prysin... next time be more subtle... 

why are they so mad? i dun get it.

 

It is what it is!

[Prysin]

Microsoft=buthurt

previously in news section:

Taylor Swift is butthurt...

 

im seeing a trend here.

[XTankSlayerX]

PIll Spencer has indeed admitted defeat. 

 

TBH I can see this being done to help the console war ever so slightly.

[Dabombinable]

previously in news section:

Taylor Swift is butthurt...

 

im seeing a trend here.

Think about it, people know that the Xbone isn't selling well (more than likely due to the pre and post launch idiocy form Microsoft), and they don't want people to see it selling poorly anymore.

[Prysin]

Think about it, people know that the Xbone isn't selling well (more than likely due to the pre and post launch idiocy form Microsoft), and they don't want people to see it selling poorly anymore.

i know....

Also, PS4 has Project Morpheus going for it. And you know Sony, it may not be THE best product.. But it will be stylish, functional and perform reasonably.... Holo-lens just seems a bit half arsed so far...

 

MS did one thing properly -> kinect..

and they broke it!

[XTankSlayerX]

Think about it, people know that the Xbone isn't selling well (more than likely due to the pre and post launch idiocy form Microsoft), and they don't want people to see it selling poorly anymore.

Pre and post launch idiocy from the consumer IMO.

 

If companies didn't' want to be seen poorly selling Nintendo would've been wiped from the leader boards ages ago for the failure the Wii U is (In terms of sales and a few other things)

[Dabombinable]

Pre and post launch idiocy from the consumer IMO.

 

If companies didn't' want to be seen poorly selling Nintendo would've been wiped from the leader boards ages ago for the failure the Wii U is (In terms of sales and a few other things)

What about all of the back flips Microsoft did with DRM, and the always on Kinect?

[Derangel]

Think about it, people know that the Xbone isn't selling well (more than likely due to the pre and post launch idiocy form Microsoft), and they don't want people to see it selling poorly anymore.

 

The only people these numbers actually matter to are MS and their shareholders. The average gamer would never see them anyway or even have any clue what they mean in context.

[Prysin]

The only people these numbers actually matter to are MS and their shareholders. The average gamer would never see them anyway or even have any clue what they mean in context.

the average gamer would think:

 

oh, so there is 15 million fagboxes and 25 million PS4s... guess the majority is right. Ill go with a PS4

[bob345]

forzaonpcforzaonpcforzaonpcforzaonpcforzaonpcforzaonpcforzaonpcforzaonpc Cmon microsoft, consoles are a lost cause

[Dabombinable]

the average gamer would think:

 

oh, so there is 15 million fagboxes and 25 million PS4s... guess the majority is right. Ill go with a PS4

Its Xbones and Pisspoors. TBH despite the older harder, the PS3 and Xbox 360 do their job of just being consoles far better than the supposedly "next gen" consoles.

 

The only people these numbers actually matter to are MS and their shareholders. The average gamer would never see them anyway or even have any clue what they mean in context.

And what context would that be? More people buy the Pisspoor, ergo, more people like it, therefore its the better choice.

[AlexGoesHigh]

i know....

Also, PS4 has Project Morpheus going for it. And you know Sony, it may not be THE best product.. But it will be stylish, functional and perform reasonably.... Holo-lens just seems a bit half arsed so far...

 

MS did one thing properly -> kinect..

and they broke it!

Hololense might look half assed, but no one has anything remotely similar and i doubt competitors would sprout as fast as VR with Oculus given that thing has a shit ton of proprietary tech on it that only them know how it works (like the lenses that give the 3D illusion, they might be similar to active glasses from TV's but this is just bluntly speculation AFAIK MS nor anyone has talked how those give the 3D illusion) and if MS has their patent game on point (which they always do like every bloody corp does) competitors won't appears even for years.

 

Also PSVR and Hololense are so different it makes no sense to compare them, one is an attachment made for a gaming console and the other is a self contained multi purpose computing device.

[AlexGoesHigh]

the average gamer would think:

 

oh, so there is 15 million fagboxes and 25 million PS4s... guess the majority is right. Ill go with a PS4

i was going to say that that's a very stupid way to factor a purchase, but then, we are talking about not so much bang for your buck gaming consoles here...

 

though i would buy a xbone just for halo alone, that thing is my crack...

[Yoinkerman]

This is silly, everyone knows nintendo already won.

[Derangel]

Its Xbones and Pisspoors. TBH despite the older harder, the PS3 and Xbox 360 do their job of just being consoles far better than the supposedly "next gen" consoles.

 

 

And what context would that be? More people buy the Pisspoor, ergo, more people like it, therefore its the better choice.

 

Most people will just buy what their friends are buying so they can play with them. The context I mean is more in comparison not only with each other but also sales trends overall and sales compared to the previous generation. I don't know if it's true anymore (numbers are a pain in the ass to find) but for a while both consoles were outselling what the previous generation did in a comparable amount of time. That's probably still the case for the PS4, but if that's still the case for the XB1 then it means despite not "winning" the system is still doing alright. Beyond that there is also the factor of month-to-month and year-over-year sales to consider when looking at numbers.

[Dabombinable]

This is silly, everyone knows nintendo already won.

Nintendo? The company that uses what are effectively overclocked Gamecube CPU in their Wii U?

[Yoinkerman]

Nintendo? The company that uses what are effectively overclocked Gamecube CPU in their Wii U?

 

Yeah the one that has outsold both sony and microsoft with their handheld.

 

EDIT:  and isn't trying to be a PC because they know it can't compete.

[LAwLz]

The reason why they use Xbox live figures instead of consoles sold is because with Xbox Live they can count people signing in from Windows 10 and the Xbox 360 as well, which ends up being a much bigger number than just Xbones alone.

Not that those numbers matter anyway. Most people who want to buy consoles will just buy whatever their friends got. They don't care if there are 10 million more players on the other side of the fence when the 10 people they want to play with are on this side.

 

 

 

 

 

While I think Microsoft should continue to publish the figures, simply for transparency and curiosity, I don't think console sales necessarily mean anything, beyond a certain point. Game sales and total profit margins are significantly more important in the long run.

I agree, but looking at the few numbers we got the Xbone is losing at those things as well. Just look at this revenue breakdown from Ubisoft:

PS4: 27%

PC: 23%

Other: 14%

Xbone: 11%
360: 11%

PS3: 11%

Wii(U): 3%

 

 

So for Ubisoft, the PS4 is more than twice as profitable as the Xbone.

The Xbone seems to be losing at all front, and losing very hard. It does not seem to be 25 million vs 35 million. The last numbers I can find are showing ~25 million vs ~13 million and the gap is getting bigger and bigger (Sony sold 3 million PS4s in the same amount of time Microsoft sound 1 million Xboxes, when combining 360 and Xbone sales).

It's hard to call something that has sold ~13 million units a failure, but it is not a success compared to the competitor either.

And the poor Wii U, which I think is the best console, is losing at everything even harder than the Xbone.