News Game Compared to Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft wins an incredible bet
Published on 06/16/2023 at 20:24
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Since the launch of the PS4/One generation, manufacturers have taken quite different paths. Beaten by Sony in this generation, Xbox focused its efforts on a “Play Anywhere” strategy centered around Game Pass. And just recently we were gifted with new numbers that seem to prove the success of this strategy.
Xbox: the “play anywhere” strategy
We won’t repeat the whole story but go back ten years in a few lines. In 2013, Microsoft introduced the Xbox One and fails from a communicative point of view by announcing a mandatory connection and then having Don Mattrick say there’s 360 if that feature doesn’t please you. Sony, whose conference took place a few hours later, jumps at the chancerewrites its conference and systematically destroys its rival with a lower price, the possibility of renting its games and the lack of a mandatory connection.
In the following years, Microsoft no longer announced sales figures for its console became interested in services. To differentiate without giving up the console and drawing a line under the design of the X and S series, Microsoft introduced Game Passa subscription-based service offering an extensive catalog of PC and console games, and in which we’ll find first-party games as soon as they hit the market. This service has continued to grow ever since, attracting more and more players.
The idea is no longer to make players necessarily buy an Xbox, but to offer them different access options. Since 2020, players have therefore had the choice between the Xbox Series X and S, the PC and now also the cloud to access compatible titles from their smartphone or tablet. On his side, Sony recently introduced multiple PlayStation Plus subscription tiers, giving access to games of the month, demos, retro games or streaming games. The Japanese company has also launched a strategy for PC ports of its exclusives, which are coming after a first tour of the PS4/PS5.
More revenue, more players, better retention… Xbox is flexing its muscles
The acquisition of Activision-Blizzard King and is in full swing soon face-to-face with the CMA and the FTCMicrosoft made a point on his blog to give numbers and reveal his intentions for the future. Initial information, the number of people playing on PC via Game Pass would have increased by 46% compared to the previous year, and subscription revenue was reportedly nearly $1 billion in its most recent quarter. Xbox then clearly shows its ambition at least publish it “four major games a year,” even if that number “must take into account the needs of each project.” But where Xbox falls short is for player engagementi.e. its ability to keep players in one or more titles over a long period of time.
This is in addition to the work our teams are doing to grow the existing communities we have supported for many years on titles like The Elder Scrolls Online, Sea of Thieves, Minecraft, Forza Horizon 5 and more. Over the past five years, our teams at Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda have brought you 10 games with over 10 million players to date, from new franchises like Sea of Thieves and Grounded to titles from major licenses like Minecraft Legends and Elder Scrolls Online we can read in the blog.
Still, according to Microsoft, According to reports, Microsoft games have 150 million monthly active users. However, one has to be careful with this data since a title like Minecraft is counted. The overall progress of the services and the KPI (Key Performance Indicator) are not affected by this. After a limited 2022 in terms of exclusive game releases, Microsoft will pick up significant momentum with Starfield on September 6th, followed by Forza Motorsport on October 10th. The year 2024 also promises to be quite rich, especially with Avowed (Obsidian), Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 or even Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II.
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