My thoughts on the way that Series X is launching

Let me first say that I don’t agree with this doom and gloom sentiment at all. In fact, I’m finding the premise of this thread more than a little bit sensationalistic, and the title makes me roll my eyes hard. With that out of the way, let’s get into details.

Yes, Xbox launching without a strong launch title that Halo Infinite was supposed to be will be a significant setback. However, MS have been readying themselves for the possibility for a good while. In one of the interviews earlier this year Spencer was asked about the potential effects of the virus pandemic, and he said that they were talking about that a lot. At the time he was sure that the hardware would be ready in time, but Infinite was up in the air. However, they were so confident in their overall proposition that they were considering launching even without Halo. In the following months Infinite was seemingly back on track, but then the showcase happened, and we all know the rest of the story. The bottom line is, while launching without Halo will be a setback, it’s not something that would put MS in panic mode, because they’ve been toying with the possibility for quite a while.

Others have pointed it out already, but both consoles will be supply constrained at first, and they are both likely to have reasonably strong launches. Even Xbox One had a good launch, and that console had a lot going against it. People already invested in the ecosystem would be keeping things going for a while no matter what, 2021 was always going to be more important, and by then we should have Gears Tactics, Flight Simulator, Halo Infinite, and who knows what else (at the very least I’m expecting a couple of new games from the publishing team).

Also, while GamePass alone might not be a system seller (it’s debatable), it’s far from everything that Xbox has going for it. It will also have the best versions of most multiplatform games, likely the best BC enhancements of current gen games (and by default the best enhancements of older BC titles), timed console exclusives, and a sizeable amount of promising first party games coming down the line. Overall, it should be a platform attractive to many people, even without the big hitters at launch. And of course, the pricing will be crucial for both consoles. That’s why neither company has revealed their price points, that’s why Microsoft has Series S still to be officially confirmed (and it could upset the market balance in a big way, depending on what it is, how it’s priced, and how effectively it’s marketed), and that’s why they’re expanding the Xbox All Access program substantially.

I’d also like to add that I get the impression that OP believes that MS are not sincere when they say that selling their new hardware quickly is of less importance to them than keeping people invested in their ecosystem regardless of what hardware they’re using. MS had every capability - and certainly the resources - to approach things differently had they still believed in the prime importance of the traditional model, yet they’re taking their own approach, one that will not see the overall Xbox business “in real trouble” even if one of its core pillars - Xbox Series X|S - falters at first.

TL;DR - there’s an exciting year and an exciting battle of industry giants ahead of us, but I believe the OP is way off the mark with their concerns.

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Thank you.

They haven’t even announced it. 2 months before it might be on sale? They’ve been preparing people for Series X for more than a year now and you think they’re going to put a whole other console out with 2 months notice? I can’t see it.

your stuck in an oold mode of thinking and i cant blame you. most of the gaming hardcore is but its not going to stunt microsofts growth. everyone kicked up a stink about horse armor and how that would kill elder scrolls. everyone shit on destiny and said that it was a blow too bungie but the market adapted and moved and shifted. Microsoft has access to more data than youll ever be able to fathom, if they have reliable insight that they can launch by being price sompetitive and with gamepass and they can meet their metrics then theyll do it. sure they wont win the toxic fanboy wars but who the fuck really wants that mantle?

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blockbuster and video ezy used to fight for exclusive rental rights too until netflix came along and wiped them out. convenience is king

i have to buy every game on console a for tens of dollars a game vs i get to play over 100 games on console b for the price of a coffee a week.

No it didn’t! Here in the UK, it never sold out and for weeks (definitely weeks, may longer) PS4 was sold out.

Will it? At launch, as I’ve said I think the defining part of most of the software is that multiplatform stuff will be cross gen and that software will be optimised for the biggest market, and that’s the current gen of consoles.

I just can’t get over the idea that people think that will drive sales.

I think this is a bit of a reach, tbh. It’s one thing for Microsoft to say that they want people to stay with their ecosystem and I think that’s true, but I think it underplays the significance of the revenue that the console model represents and how much cost is sunk in putting a new system on the market.

In short, I can well believe that Microsoft do want subscribers and are somewhat platform agnostic but there’s not much evidence at this time that A) the games market that exists today wants to drop hardware and move to streaming and B) that Xbox are half heartedly releasing hardware unconcerned about how well it sells. They may well say that they’re transitioning to a platform approach, and I believe them, but I think they still want to sell hardware and not in small numbers. If this generation has proved anything the momentum Sony built at launch had a significant effect on their fortunes. I’d love to see Microsoft redress the balance, but at this point, I’m dismayed that they’re kinda blowing the launch.

Sure, but here’s the rub, every game isn’t on Gamepass and they need those big headline grabbing details to get people onto the service and what I think will happen is that the games on Gamepass will not be seductive enough vs the competition who will be trying to make Spiderman and Ratchet and Clank seem like the best games ever and ones that you need a PS5 to play.

That’s why I think they’re in trouble, I’ve got gamepass too, I think it’s great. I don’t think it’s convincing enough without some big first party games to help sell the system and the service.

Some of my favourite games- Astroneer, Dead Cells are on gamepass and yet I didn’t sign up to play those games and I definitely am not buying hardware for them.

That’s why I am saying that Microsoft need something else.

I can. I think that the industry is looking too much into the past as the defining rules on how to announce or launch devices.

Look at how Apple and Samsung announce new devices. They announce one big flagship piece of hardware and at the same conference, they also announce and show off the base models. two weeks to a month later, they are on store shelves to buy.

Even Sony and Microsoft have done it. Everyone knew the PS4 Pro was being announced in September 2016, they also included and showed off the PS4 Slim, 4 weeks later, PS4 slim was on store shelves. Another month after that, PS4 Pro was available.

Microsoft shocked everyone at E3 2010 by announcing the Xbox 360 Slim on stage and it was available that day in the US and everyone at that conference walked out with one.

I get that you can’t see this happening. I can and I see it and more being presented that will change how people see value in this. Agree to disagree I suppose.

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Well, I guess we’ll see.

You’re right that I have little faith in streaming games as the future. I tried streaming to my phone and it’s obvious to me that hardware is necessary for anything that needs reaction times. Some people will be less sensitive to this but for me, hardware-less gaming is a non-starter and they absolutely do need to sell consoles.

Maybe I’ve got it all wrong and Microsoft don’t need to do anything but put out a powerful system and do some quick loading, good quality bc and license some good but not headline grabbing titles to gamepass to be very successful.

I guess we’ll see. For me, the likelihood is that I’ll pick up a Series X, despite my misgivings and flipping between wanting one but then not being able to justify it.

It does seem to me that most of the reasons to buy a Series X are hard to quantify, as noted above by someone else, if they could show the power of the console with some footage, if I could see that it was the best version, rather than being told it probably will be that might sell it.

To me it seems like Microsoft haven’t shown me any strong reason to part with my money, buying the new system doesn’t give me anything I don’t have and that’s weird to me. That may be “oold thinking” but I kinda need something to feel excited about, and what Microsoft have shown so far isn’t it. But that’s mainly because they haven’t shown anything.

That’s fair, I have thought about this and part of the problem with the Series S is in how they explain it and I suspect that it’s going to be something that they’d release next year to try and get the messaging out there with the X - their hardware USP is that they’re the most powerful, the S muddies that. I’m not saying it’s impossible to understand as I’ve seen some people try to claim when trying to diminish xbox, but marketing two machines to different markets is a more complex feat than many give credit for.

Next year is a bigger problem for Xbox but hopefully games like Stalker 2 and Scorn will be good. I think the publishing team could have done better job.

I don’t care how many consoles Xbox will sell but I hope we don’t lose 3rd parties support.

I don’t know how it did in the UK, and there are markets where Xbox traditionally does even worse, but yes, overall they had a really good launch. The decline in sales only became an issue in 2014.

[quote=“Carpenter, post:26, topic:3162”]Will it? At launch, as I’ve said I think the defining part of most of the software is that multiplatform stuff will be cross gen and that software will be optimised for the biggest market, and that’s the current gen of consoles.

I just can’t get over the idea that people think that will drive sales.[/quote]

Um, yes, yes it will. Unless they really screw up with their dev tools, the strongest hardware is always likely to have the best versions of most games, regardless of any supposed focus on last gen versions. We’ve seen it countless times before, we’ll see it again.

And to reiterate, that’s not going to sell many consoles on its own, but it’s just one of a multitude of things that are collectively making Xbox Series X look like an attractive piece of hardware to a certain market segment.

Nobody has suggested either of those things. Of course they want their hardware to sell, hence the reluctance to reveal the price, but it’s not the most important thing to them or else they would be taking the exact same approach as Sony. The point is, even if Xbox Series X|S turns out to be an unrecoverable disaster (that even Xbox One did not turn into despite of everything that it had going against it), they would be in a much better position to bounce back than, say, Nintendo after Wii U.

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A troll thread and everyone took the bait.

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Honestly this is getting out of hand with some of those comments and threads. No problem if someone is critical at Xbox with their marketing, no gameplay reveal and so on but to post something like this is unnecessary.

No fun, no joy, no identify. Xbox has no games. If you don’t want to buy an Xbox so don’t buy it. They literally said you can keep playing on your X1 and they have no problems with it.

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Its an embarrassment to this forum that this thread is up in its current form.

Op is essentially saying he thinks the launch line up sucks, which is fine. But the thread title and xbox funeral meme need to go, pretty unrelated to the topic and are just console war fodder.

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I come to this site to escape this doom and gloom stuff you get on Twitter and Reddit -_-

I’ll admit that I didn’t look up the numbers but I remember it being freely available in the UK and USA while the PS4 was supply constrained for most of the year…

Well, we shall see. I’m fairly confident that Sony will significantly outsell Microsoft and that the power difference will not make a difference that People feel is significant at launch.

As for the market segment it appeals to, I’d wager that market segment will prove to be People like me who bought a One because of the affection I have for 360. Arguably, they’ve got us already. As I said, I’m not wishing ill on Microsoft, but even the keenest of fanboys must secretly know they’re in denial if they think this is going well.

Well, I don’t understand what point you were making when you said that they didn’t care about quickly selling their hardware. Are you suggesting they’re releasing a console but are happy for everyone to keep playing on the old one? I assumed you meant that they didn’t care if the systems didn’t sell well as long as they can get people to take up their services elsewhere.

Hey, I’m sorry.

Honestly, I signed up here because I got sick of it a too.

I felt like I could discuss with other fans how they felt about the launch, I don’t feel like I’ve been unfairly critical and I haven’t been unfair. I’ve been on xbox since the original (bought it to play Halo2 online) and am on my 7th Xbox (8 if you count a RROD exchange).

I didn’t think this would cause upset and I’m pretty sad that people think I’m attempting to troll.

I actually thought a few people might offer reasons to be optimistic, maybe that Microsoft would sign up some kind of exclusive deal for gamepass or something. A reason to cheer me up!

I didn’t mean to bring anyone down, I just wanted to have a realistic talk about the launch of Series X. Fwiw, I never said that I thought Xbox was finished or that they would lose third party support.

I won’t post about this again.

Honestly man do not worry.

I think people including myself just get enough of the negative side on other sites so we are all a bit sick of it.

I would not take it personally.

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I have never purchased a console based on the launch lineup.

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