Video Game Market Analysis Thread

[BRiT]

Surprised that Sony lost 3 million monthly active users year over year.

[Biggzy (Hassan)]

@BRiT

Surprised that Sony lost 3 million monthly active users year over year.

Not too surprised, as hardware is likely selling to customers who are upgrading from PS4, plus with countries getting rid of restrictions the pandemic boom in mau is likely seeing a rebound.

[DARK-PARADISE]

@CallMeCraig

So they are back at below 10% profit margins in FY22 even with increased prices for games, controllers and subscriptions and infesting their games with microtransactions. Why are they so bad at making money?

I remember the meme about Sony being financially irresponsible, Kaz Hirai saving them from themselves basically

[BRiT]

@CallMeCraig

So they are back at below 10% profit margins in FY22 even with increased prices for games, controllers and subscriptions and infesting their games with microtransactions. Why are they so bad at making money?

Because their focus is on cinematic experiences which take a lot of money to produce meanwhile actual gamers are moving beyond those experiences. Its easy to see this by looking at Sony’s game franchise sales compared to the 10 million gamers playing other games like State of Decay. If those staple Sony franchises had solid player engagement they would be sharing those player numbers. They don’t. Sony isn’t making games that gamers actually play or care about.

[TheBrightestSun]

@BRiT

Surprised that Sony lost 3 million monthly active users year over year.

Well, COVID frenzy has ended

[Akosii]

@BRiT

Because their focus is on cinematic experiences which take a lot of money to produce meanwhile actual gamers are moving beyond those experiences. Its easy to see this by looking at Sony’s game franchise sales compared to the 10 million gamers playing other games like State of Decay. If those staple Sony franchises had solid player engagement they would be sharing those player numbers. They don’t. Sony isn’t making games that gamers actually play or care about.

I feel like their games are tailored to the absolutely zealous of their fanbase as well as anyone who happens by (the occasional average Joe who came to see a hype show). Their games are good, but I don’t like the fact that PS games take away player agency during their walk and talk sections.

[TheBrightestSun]

Hm, it seems PS5 was top selling console this month in UK.

[Boosted_Gear]

@TheBrightestSun

Hm, it seems PS5 was top selling console this month in UK.

Due to stocks mainly, now let’s see how some will say that stocks don’t have any importance.

[TheBrightestSun]

@Boosted_Gear

Due to stocks mainly, now let’s see how some will say that stocks don’t have any importance.

But it is funny at least that before, people were saying that nobody is buying Series S, thus it is always on shelves. Now with Xbox outselling PS, suddenly it is due to Series S being available

[rtansey]

@TheBrightestSun

Hm, it seems PS5 was top selling console this month in UK.

It will probably be the top seller in the US too (by $ amounts) and behind Switch in units in the US. Lots of drops from Sony in April similar to Xbox doing well in March from all the availability I was taking note of

[GamepadX]

@BRiT

Surprised that Sony lost 3 million monthly active users year over year.

@Biggzy

Not too surprised, as hardware is likely selling to customers who are upgrading from PS4, plus with countries getting rid of restrictions the pandemic boom in mau is likely seeing a rebound.

I can only speak for myself but I have been subscribing to both PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now since launch and I plan to cancel both services once my renewal date hits. I just don’t get enough value from PlayStation subscriptions (even at Black Friday discounts).

[Paxton]

@DARK-PARADISE

I suspect Sony counts bundled games towards overall game sales. Notice the difference in sales numbers and frequency of reporting between the three most games that were bundled especially those $199 black Friday bundles (SM, GoW, HZD) and the rest. I don’t know if this is actually how it’s normally done. I remember also Nintendo counts bundled games as sales and that inflates some of their games to ridiculous sales numbers (+30m)

I think every company does it, lots of these bundled PS4 games in cardboard sleeves are sold used in my country.

[TheBrightestSun]

@DARK-PARADISE

I suspect Sony counts bundled games towards overall game sales. Notice the difference in sales numbers and frequency of reporting between the three most games that were bundled especially those $199 black Friday bundles (SM, GoW, HZD) and the rest. I don’t know if this is actually how it’s normally done. I remember also Nintendo counts bundled games as sales and that inflates some of their games to ridiculous sales numbers (+30m)

Bundles are counted all the time. I think Switch especially has a lot of bundles, but I don’t remember that much Xbox bundles.

[DARK-PARADISE]

@TheBrightestSun

Bundles are counted all the time.

What a way to inflate game “sales” numbers huh. That $199 Spider-Man bundle especially sold like hot cakes. The bundles sales could have contributed at least 30% of the reported game sales numbers I’d say

[Jorge_Alexander_Acos (Jorge Alexander Acosta Duarte)]

@DARK-PARADISE

What a way to inflate game “sales” numbers huh. That $199 Spider-Man bundle especially sold like hot cakes. The bundles sales could have contributed at least 30% of the reported game sales numbers I’d say

They absolutely count and are are called “hard bundles” for example. Just in 2017 these were the bundles HZDgot:

Summary

All of those were from official PlayStation 2017 hits bundle across the globe and not from retailers bundle and it seems Horizon FW will soon received one:

PS5 Console Bundle with Horizon Forbidden West Spotted

So yeah, those numbers are inflated by the bundles.

Not to mention in horizon’s case its price got slashed in a wimp:

[BRiT]

Well now we know what they’re doing with any extraneous physical copies of that game…

[MJ_INC]

You can use a VPN to read the article for free if you’ve used up your free articles

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-10/sony-struggles-to-make-enough-playstations-as-supply-disrupted

In a conference call after earnings, Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said the lower target for the current year stems from supply-chain complications because of the Covid-19 pandemic, including lockdowns in China. The city of Shanghai, a key center for tech production, has largely been under lockdown since the beginning of April.

The 18 million figure is “our best current estimate,” Totoki said during the call. “A downside risk would be if there is a further worsening in the supply chain, including the potential widening of lockdowns in China.”

Interestingly they state that the 18m is the “best” case scenario so you could easily see only 13-16m shipped this year with the issues in China

[Biggzy (Hassan)]

@MJ_INC

…loomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-10/sony-struggles-to-make-enough-playstations-as-supply-disrupted In a conference call after earnings, Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said the lower target for the current year stems from supply-chain complications because of the Covid-19 pandemic, including lockdowns in China. The city of Shanghai, a key center for tech production, has largely been under lockdown since the beginning of April. The 18 million figure is “our best current estimate,” Totoki said during the call. “A downside risk would be if there is a further worsening in the supply chain, including the potential widening of lockdowns in China.” Interestingly they state that the 18m is the “best” case scenario so you could easily see only 13-16m shipped this year with the issues in China

I think Sony just does the best case scenario and see if they can hit it, even though the past couple they have missed it by a lot. But they don’t seem to be punished so why change it I guess.

Seeing that quote though, I think people should take that 18 million figure with a pinch of salt.

[No-1HoloLens-Fan]

I respect Sony for there decision on day one game subscription approach

Unlike Xbox, they are market leader. Xbox was doing bad that time so they approached the market differently and introduced day one subscription. Sony don’t have to do the same

As to how the market will respond in coming year is remain to be seen

[Biggzy (Hassan)]

@No-1HoloLens-Fan

I respect Sony for there decision on day one game subscription approach

Unlike Xbox, they are market leader. Xbox was doing bad that time so they approached the market differently and introduced day one subscription. Sony don’t have to do the same

As to how the market will respond in coming year is remain to be seen

It’s not about whether they have to do so or not, and more these comments will look ridiculous if they do the exact same thing.

Besides, me as a consumer don’t really care about Sony not having to do it because they are the market leader, I care more about who is providing me the better service for my money. I am not a Sony shareholder at the end of the day lol.