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Mat Piscatella (NPD Group) : "Data still suggests that subscription services like Game Pass are helping grow the overall market..."
- Thread starter JINX
- Start date
But the UK boxed retail sales said FH5 was a massive step down from FH4 🤣.
Awesome to see PG continue to get rewarded with FH5.
Of course subs can help sales lol. Having a millions of people talk about and praise your game is WOM marketing companies strive for.
Awesome to see PG continue to get rewarded with FH5.
Of course subs can help sales lol. Having a millions of people talk about and praise your game is WOM marketing companies strive for.
That's awesome to hear. Only thing I'm tired of is being told this but not actually seeing the data.
Pretty much. The Netflix approach is a great way to ease people into the market.
Gamepass saves me money so that I can spend it elsewhere. So it makes sense. My only issue then becomes time.
Yeah I played a bunch of shit I wouldn't have normally thanks to Gamepass.
I've bought
I'm sure the right people in the right places know.
First post on point. I actually buy more games due to Game Pass (and it's discount perk), ironically. Can't imagine going back to pre-Game Pass days, lol.
I mean, NPD just came out with Forza Horizon 5 beating all records of the franchise (Motorsport/Horizon) in it's launch month dollar sales.
Yeah, I'd say outside of the Xbox first party stuff this year, everything I played on Gamepass I would never have paid for, and a lot of it I loved enough to convince some friends to get it. Even Psychonauts, which ended up being my GOTY, I don't think I'd have played the first in anticipation of the second if I didn't know I'd get to play it day one as part of my sub.
Really do think Game Pass is lowering the barrier to more niche content for a lot of people. Hopefully it continues to grow but who knows, maybe in 10-15 years people who grew up with Game Pass will have a much more diverse preference for games than current gamers who play COD and sports games.
I mean, show me the numbers.
I don't wanna come off that way, but FH5 is a big hit, we knwo that. But I'd like to see numbers more, like Nintendo does.
I can relate. With the increasing gaming prices and the fact the some countries are doing poorly than others (mine included on the 'really poorly'), Game Pass is a way to maintain the hobby with responsability.
I believe all you have to do is subscribe to NPD and they publish numbers, iirc.
I remember when people laughed at the notion that Game Pass could help sales on all platforms, not just Xbox.
He literally runs an industry-focused website and has access to data that you don't. Calling him a hater because he doesn't say what you want to hear it's completely stupid on your part.
You're right. I retracted the comment. But he does have bias. But it was uncalled for. 🥸
Of course they are. Who ever thought differently is stuck in the stone ages, or just straight hating.
I think I also saw a thread with the concurrent online playing the new Forza or something? And it was in the millions right?
SteamDB has Forza Horizon 5 between 1 and 2.5 million users based on their review estimate.
That's a lot of $60 day-one customers on Steam compared to Forza Horizon 4 which didn't launch on Steam day one. So not surprised it beat the last entry when you add that to Xbox purchases.
That's a lot of $60 day-one customers on Steam compared to Forza Horizon 4 which didn't launch on Steam day one. So not surprised it beat the last entry when you add that to Xbox purchases.
But is it a dead meme beaten into the ground that lost any kind of humor a long time ago? That's a good question too.
But seriously, it does very well and it's a good alternative to others. It's a good thing to have in the market and not everyone needs to do it either. This works for MS and the people that pay into it. I'm someone who will still more than likely buy games on Steam, but that's also because the Xbox App/WinStore is straight shit.
We have Sony trying to throw something together to get in on this for a reason. MS had a hunch on where the industry may go and invested hard, none of it follows conventional thinking and seems to be paying off. I do think the age of console exclusivity is coming to an end and we'll be looking at eco systems moving forward (sub services cannot grow on consoles alone).
You can see them if you have access to NPD, the data is available. Matt is reporting on what these companies are seeing on their screens (NPD report). MS rarely speak about numbers even when they're superb. We got an update about FH5 unique player count but they haven't broadcast sales numbers despite setting new sales record for the franchise. I take this as sales numbers not being the metric they seem to prioritise like other companies.
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Still not sure I fully understand the dynamics at play here to be honest. I get the idea that the low barrier for entry creates "water coolers" (urgh) around specific releases which amplifies interest, but I just can't compute the idea that, say, Sony put Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on PS Plus or Nintendo put Breath of the Wild 2 on NSO, the idea that these games would sell more at full-price as a result just doesn't make sense to me.
I think a big differentiator in effecting sales will be 1st vs 3rd party for one. 3rd party being temporary is going to spur discounted buying at some point on GP. Or a discounted purchase over on Steam if you're a PC user most of the time since many do not like the current GP application.
However, 1st party can still get a boost by GP subs just playing and talking about it. "Trending" is still a powerful marketing tool to have people check a game out, be it from friends, twitch, media, etc... I do agree though that the already "must have" hits for any platform are probably a more challenging discussion, but you at the same time cannot leave it off the Game Pass platform. In short, take a hit on the sales of your big heavy hitters with increased sales on your 2nd tier games, 3rd party, and most importantly that wonderful re-occurring subscription revenue that investors love more than anything. Most likely that is a big net positive.
If the majority of users in a system are on the subscription service, then no, it probably doesn't add up. Especially with true console exclusives. But Game Pass is nowhere near that point yet.
Nintendo only cares about sales and report as such. Microsoft cares about players because at the end of the day, every one of them is paying for it somehow. They routinely give updates to those numbers.
It was like pulling teeth to get a few I know to pay $15 for Deaths door… And not being on gamepass was the excuse for why they wouldn't purchase it. Amazing reviews be damned. I've seen a few people here be the same way. I'm just glad the data shows this isn't an overall sentiment.
I wouldn't really call the industry pre-GP stagnant..It's been growing more and more each year for at least a decade..