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MS: "90 million active Xbox Live Users (up from 64 last quarter); more than 10 million GamePass subs"

Elios83

Member
Oct 28, 2017
976
If you give away the service at 1$ it's obvious that tons of people will want to give it a try.
The issue for GamePass is and has always been how long it will be feasible to keep the service in the promotional phase with those deals?
How many people will continue to stay subscribed at full price? Will third parties ever be convinced to put their new games on this kind of service? Can they afford the fact that all their premium first party titles might not see a huge return from full price sales anymore (see what happened with Gears 5)?
If Microsoft wants to pay the bill forever that's cool, who cares about it they're rich enough, but is that going to happen?
The fact that some people want to celebrate certain numbers pretending they don't know the context behind them is absurd (GamePass and even more the 90m Live active users).

Btw they reported -1% overall gaming related revenues and -20% hardware revenues:
twinfinite.net

Xbox Services & Content Revenue Grows 2% Year On Year; Microsoft Gaming Revenue Down 1%

Today, Microsoft announced its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2020, , related to the period between January 1 and March 31.
twinfinite.net twinfinite.net
 
Poimandres

Poimandres

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,920
Soliloquy of a Dogge said:
Some of the takes in this thread are something. You think the developers are putting their games on the service for free?

What is it with anything Microsoft related that draws people to lose their crap and spout off fallacies and concern trolling on this forum. You think people would be happy and celebrating consumer friendly practices but apparently when it's a certain company offering them it's the worst thing in the world.
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I think the conclusion that "anything Microsoft related" cops more flack is inaccurate. Plenty of criticism and concern gets levelled at Sony and Nintendo as well, and different publishers etc. It's fine. Totally normal for a gaming forum to have different opinions on any given topic.

Personally I do wonder about how financially viable Game Pass is, but I also see it as a great service and very much the way forward for the industry. You can have a mixed view on things, and honestly it's not surprising that some people have knee jerk reactions to the traditional way of buying games being "threatened". The same thing happened with music and video streaming services. I'm not really concerned about that myself, but I don't think that everyone with that stance has some anti-Microsoft bias.

Long term I think I will dip in and out of Game Pass on PC. Get a month when there's a title I really want to play. Sadly I don't have enough free time to justify an ongoing subscription, which is why I gave PSN and XBL subs the boot years ago and a major factor in primarily moving to PC as my main gaming platform.
 
Dr. Lucien Sanchez

Dr. Lucien Sanchez

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,478
Elios83 said:
If you give away the service at 1$ it's obvious that tons of people will want to give it a try.
The issue for GamePass is and has always been how long it will be feasible to keep the service in the promotional phase with those deals?
How many people will continue to stay subscribed at full price? Will third parties ever be convinced to put their new games on this kind of service? Can they afford the fact that all their premium first party titles might not see a huge return from full price sales anymore (see what happened with Gears 5)?
If Microsoft wants to pay the bill forever that's cool, who cares about it they're rich enough, but is that going to happen?
The fact that some people want to celebrate certain numbers pretending they don't know the context behind them is absurd (GamePass and even more the 90m Live active users).

Btw they reported -1% overall gaming related revenues and -20% hardware revenues:
twinfinite.net

Xbox Services & Content Revenue Grows 2% Year On Year; Microsoft Gaming Revenue Down 1%

Today, Microsoft announced its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2020, , related to the period between January 1 and March 31.
twinfinite.net twinfinite.net
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I would LOVE to see retention and churn numbers. I mean, we never will, but that would be so fascinating.
 
PianoBlack

PianoBlack

Member
May 24, 2018
6,727
United States
Impressive numbers.
Elios83 said:
If you give away the service at 1$ it's obvious that tons of people will want to give it a try.
The issue for GamePass is and has always been how long it will be feasible to keep the service in the promotional phase with those deals?
How many people will continue to stay subscribed at full price? Will third parties ever be convinced to put their new games on this kind of service? Can they afford the fact that all their premium first party titles might not see a huge return from full price sales anymore (see what happened with Gears 5)?
If Microsoft wants to pay the bill forever that's cool, who cares about it they're rich enough, but is that going to happen?
The fact that some people want to celebrate certain numbers pretending they don't know the context behind them is absurd (GamePass and even more the 90m Live active users).

Btw they reported -1% overall gaming related revenues and -20% hardware revenues:
twinfinite.net

Xbox Services & Content Revenue Grows 2% Year On Year; Microsoft Gaming Revenue Down 1%

Today, Microsoft announced its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2020, , related to the period between January 1 and March 31.
twinfinite.net twinfinite.net
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I assume you have even more serious concerns about Netflix? They give 30 days free to anyone who makes a new account. At least MS asks for $1!
 
80s Old School

80s Old School

Banned
Oct 28, 2019
442
Elios83 said:
If you give away the service at 1$ it's obvious that tons of people will want to give it a try.
The issue for GamePass is and has always been how long it will be feasible to keep the service in the promotional phase with those deals?
How many people will continue to stay subscribed at full price? Will third parties ever be convinced to put their new games on this kind of service? Can they afford the fact that all their premium first party titles might not see a huge return from full price sales anymore (see what happened with Gears 5)?
If Microsoft wants to pay the bill forever that's cool, who cares about it they're rich enough, but is that going to happen?
The fact that some people want to celebrate certain numbers pretending they don't know the context behind them is absurd (GamePass and even more the 90m Live active users).

Btw they reported -1% overall gaming related revenues and -20% hardware revenues:
twinfinite.net

Xbox Services & Content Revenue Grows 2% Year On Year; Microsoft Gaming Revenue Down 1%

Today, Microsoft announced its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2020, , related to the period between January 1 and March 31.
twinfinite.net twinfinite.net
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
What about the context to the numbers you have provided. Maybe hardware revenue is down because they are about to launch a new console and people stopped buying the old one? hmmm
 
Proven

Proven

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
5,841
Elios83 said:
If you give away the service at 1$ it's obvious that tons of people will want to give it a try.
The issue for GamePass is and has always been how long it will be feasible to keep the service in the promotional phase with those deals?
How many people will continue to stay subscribed at full price? Will third parties ever be convinced to put their new games on this kind of service? Can they afford the fact that all their premium first party titles might not see a huge return from full price sales anymore (see what happened with Gears 5)?
If Microsoft wants to pay the bill forever that's cool, who cares about it they're rich enough, but is that going to happen?
The fact that some people want to celebrate certain numbers pretending they don't know the context behind them is absurd (GamePass and even more the 90m Live active users).

Btw they reported -1% overall gaming related revenues and -20% hardware revenues:
twinfinite.net

Xbox Services & Content Revenue Grows 2% Year On Year; Microsoft Gaming Revenue Down 1%

Today, Microsoft announced its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2020, , related to the period between January 1 and March 31.
twinfinite.net twinfinite.net
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Solid concern trolling.
 

predrag

Member
Oct 27, 2017
519
Elios83 said:
If you give away the service at 1$ it's obvious that tons of people will want to give it a try.
The issue for GamePass is and has always been how long it will be feasible to keep the service in the promotional phase with those deals?
How many people will continue to stay subscribed at full price? Will third parties ever be convinced to put their new games on this kind of service? Can they afford the fact that all their premium first party titles might not see a huge return from full price sales anymore (see what happened with Gears 5)?
If Microsoft wants to pay the bill forever that's cool, who cares about it they're rich enough, but is that going to happen?
The fact that some people want to celebrate certain numbers pretending they don't know the context behind them is absurd (GamePass and even more the 90m Live active users).

Btw they reported -1% overall gaming related revenues and -20% hardware revenues:
twinfinite.net

Xbox Services & Content Revenue Grows 2% Year On Year; Microsoft Gaming Revenue Down 1%

Today, Microsoft announced its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2020, , related to the period between January 1 and March 31.
twinfinite.net twinfinite.net
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You are overthinking this too much. Just play games.
 
Axel Stone

Axel Stone

Member
Jan 10, 2020
2,771
gamstat said:
≈ 15 mln of Xbox Live MAU are accounts with zero gamerscore.
The most popular Xbox Live game is not a game, it's YouTube.
Top-10 most popular games includes titles like League of Legends and Microsoft Solitaire Collection.
I am not joking.
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Fair play on 15m accounts with no gamerscore, but the rest of your points are laughable.

A free app for a service which everyone with a half decent internet connection uses daily is more popular than any individual game? Shocking stuff!

A free game that a large chunk of the planet can kill some time on at work is popular? Say it ain't so!

And League of Legends is popular? Scream.emoji!
 
Antrax

Antrax

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,340
I still think this is how AA games get made again. Can they sell for $60 next to big titles like Cyberpunk, GTA, CoD, etc....? No. Can they be used to add content to a subscription service between releases of Cyberpunk, GTA, CoD, etc....? Yes.
 
Rndom Grenadez

Rndom Grenadez

Prophet of Truth
Member
Dec 7, 2017
5,668
DominicanGlory said:
Not until this translates to them winning a month of NPD sales or their revenue going up quarter over quarter. Right now it's just fluff PR.
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Embarrassing take but I'll entertain it.

I don't understand how anyone can say that when the service has clearly been beneficial to MS's numbers.

Game changer doesn't inherently mean MS has greater numbers than Sony.

Just look at the reaction to GP on era. The majority here see it as a huge deal.
 
Hybrid Rainbow

Hybrid Rainbow

Banned
Jun 23, 2019
6,446
Wasn't gaming revenue down by 2% or something or did I read the report wrong? Also, I'm really curious as to how much money they really are making with GamePass. It feels like they are going to pull the rug from people and hit them with a Netflix style price increase.
 
Cogg

Cogg

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,164
good on microsoft, best service in gaming. But lets keep downplaying and concern trolling. Some Era members are so embarrassing
 
Ushay

Ushay

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,382
CaviarMeths said:
6a6.gif


Don't even think I need to caption this.
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LMAO!
 
bcatwilly

bcatwilly

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,483
Cogg88 said:
good on microsoft, best service in gaming. But lets keep downplaying and concern trolling. Some Era members are so embarrassing
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THIS. Yeah, I am sure that consumers considering next gen launch consoles for Xbox with the insane value of Game Pass will be quite concerned with the fake armchair trolling and "analysis" by some in this thread, LOL.
 
Grazzt

Grazzt

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,545
Brisbane, Australia
Elios83 said:
If you give away the service at 1$ it's obvious that tons of people will want to give it a try.
The issue for GamePass is and has always been how long it will be feasible to keep the service in the promotional phase with those deals?
How many people will continue to stay subscribed at full price? Will third parties ever be convinced to put their new games on this kind of service? Can they afford the fact that all their premium first party titles might not see a huge return from full price sales anymore (see what happened with Gears 5)?
If Microsoft wants to pay the bill forever that's cool, who cares about it they're rich enough, but is that going to happen?
The fact that some people want to celebrate certain numbers pretending they don't know the context behind them is absurd (GamePass and even more the 90m Live active users).

Btw they reported -1% overall gaming related revenues and -20% hardware revenues:
twinfinite.net

Xbox Services & Content Revenue Grows 2% Year On Year; Microsoft Gaming Revenue Down 1%

Today, Microsoft announced its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2020, , related to the period between January 1 and March 31.
twinfinite.net twinfinite.net
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Click to shrink...
How many MS shares do you own? Genuine question.
 
Eeyore

Eeyore

User requested ban
Banned
Dec 13, 2019
9,029
PianoBlack said:
I assume you have even more serious concerns about Netflix? They give 30 days free to anyone who makes a new account. At least MS asks for $1!
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I don't know that Netflix is the best example, from what I remember they continue to borrow more and more money. Obviously their subscription numbers are beyond healthy, especially with the onset of COVID-19.
 
ArmGunar

ArmGunar

PlayStatistician
Member
Oct 30, 2017
6,527
DominicanGlory said:
How about their revenue being down?
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Gaming revenue down 1% because Xbox hardware down 20% (due to recent cut prices they said and probably lower sales Y/Y)
But Xbox services and content up 2% and offset by lower Fortnite revenue

For an end of generation, I think down 1% overall for the gaming segment is good, certainly subs offset the inevitable drop
I'm not sure the same quarter for PlayStation will be flat (even if they come from higher numbers)
 
Hippopuncher12

Hippopuncher12

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,360
Cincinnati
Nice, I assumed it was around there give or take, I only pay for it for Xbox exclusives as I buy anything multiplat elsewhere but even then it's still an incredible value. Will be even more so when these new studios start pumping out stuff.
 
Anno

Anno

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,989
Columbus, Ohio
That's an impressive number, and that's before a lot of big new releases in the coming year. That's also a bunch of people with a really good built-in excuse to buy a new XBOX come this fall.
 
Nessus

Nessus

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,940
CerealBro1 said:
If I had to guess, multiple accounts per console. There are two consoles in my house, and 7 accounts. That is a similar story for many of my friends as well.
But yeah, some could still be on 360 as well, seeing as how a lot of 360 games that are backwards compatible are still pretty active online (Call of Duty being the biggest I can think of)
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Yeah from the other replies it sounds like it's a combination of multiple accounts and also sign-ins on non-MS consoles, like for Minecraft, Cuphead, etc.

As far as I can tell these numbers are just counting anything that connected to Xbox Live, not necessarily paid subscriptions, etc. I think me simply turning on my Xbox 360 a couple months ago would count because it connected to wi-fi and did an update, even though I've never paid for Xbox Live.
 
CaviarMeths

CaviarMeths

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,655
Western Canada
DominicanGlory said:
Being the best selling console in their best market is not something they should be striving for?
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Not sure how investors would feel about MS remaining silent until they start outselling NIntendo, the current market leader.

Sounds like PR fluff anyway. "We're #1!" is apparently legit investor relations, but "here's a spreadsheet of our revenue breakdown and services growth" is just PR fluff.
 
Axel Stone

Axel Stone

Member
Jan 10, 2020
2,771
Nessus said:
Yeah from the other replies it sounds like it's a combination of multiple accounts and also sign-ins on non-MS consoles, like for Minecraft, Cuphead, etc.

As far as I can tell these numbers are just counting anything that connected to Xbox Live, not necessarily paid subscriptions, etc. I think me simply turning on my Xbox 360 a couple months ago would count because it connected to wi-fi and did an update, even though I've never paid for Xbox Live.
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Presumably not due to the "monthly" part, but there's no suggestion that these users are all paying for subscriptions, it's just how many are using the services.
 
Remeran

Remeran

Member
Nov 27, 2018
3,898
Wait I'm confused. I'm seeing people say that gamepass ultimate counts as 3 subs? That doesn't sound right a gamepass sub is a gamepass sub, whether it's ultimate, PC, or console. I also don't get the sharing stuff, I'm a gamepass sub but my wife uses her account to access it she's not a subscriber though I am. Correct me if I'm wrong?
 
OG_Thrills

OG_Thrills

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,655
Coda said:
I dunno. why don't you keep searching for the bad news while I hold all these games.
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Fizie said:
Yeah I think you're on to something there...
giphy.gif
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I'm not sure how or why looking beyond the PR and focusing on the actual numbers warrants these types of responses. Those numbers reported are huge increases in Live and GP, right? I wanted to see what translates to in terms of profit and/or revenue that was generated... I'm not sure how that's a negative thing?

Yes I am astonished that the huge increases only equated to a 2% increase in profit/revenue. Perhaps GIBIZ puts it more succinctly than me?

www.gamesindustry.biz

Microsoft's gaming revenues flat in Q3 2020

Between the effects of COVID-19, post-holiday lulls, and the continued waning console cycle, it was a quiet Q3 for Micr…
www.gamesindustry.biz www.gamesindustry.biz

We should be able to discuss these things without the negativity. After all these are just numbers disclosed in an earnings report. Some months are better than others. FOr the record I expect Both Sony and Nitendo's gaming divisions to be similarly flat in profit/revenue with higher engagement.

That's not a dig or a compliment on any publisher. Just the numbers during this crazy period in gaming.
 
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