Support NeoGAF

[ZombieFred]

Thanks to the incredible support from our fans, Gears 5 kicked off the Holiday season strong – attracting over three million players in its opening weekend and setting new records for Xbox Game Pass with the biggest launch week of any Xbox Game Studios title this generation. The performance easily doubled the first week’s debut of Gears of War 4 and made Gears 5 the most-played Xbox Game Studios title in its first week since 2012’s Halo 4. First week performance includes the four-day early access period beginning Friday, September 6, which was exclusive to Gears 5 Ultimate Edition and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. On the PC, Gears 5 has nearly tripled the performance of its predecessor, becoming the biggest-ever launch for Xbox Game Pass for PC, and Xbox Game Studios’ best-ever debut on Steam.
Read more at https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2019/09...ios-game-this-generation/#X8xfAkXQJKTSlMCV.99

Link here

Great and well earned success if you say to me. Gears 5 has been some of the purest gun play I've had out of this generation yet, especially in this cycle with how much lacking third person/action shooters have been sparingly.

Congratulations to Rod and the rest of the team at The Coalition!

 

[CRAIG667]

Loving it!

 

[Vawn]

How many copies sold? That's the meaningful statistic.

 

[Caffeine]

Sounds good can't wait to get to it but I gotta play 4 first.

 

[pr0cs]

The only way someone could enjoy the game is by buying it.. Or so I've been told

 

[jshackles]

How many copies sold? That's the meaningful statistic.

This argument is going to come up every time Microsoft releases a first party game on Game Pass, isn't it?

Microsoft benefits more from selling subscriptions than it does selling individual games.

 

[Caffeine]

actually maybe I should replay all of them its been awhile.

 

[mejin]

Xbox Game Studios’ best-ever debut on Steam

hahahaha you gotta love MS PR

 

[ZombieFred]

This argument is going to come up every time Microsoft releases a first party game on Game Pass, isn't it?

Microsoft benefits more from selling subscriptions than it does selling individual games.

You only got to have two months of ultimate more or less to touching a standard retail unit. Game Pass has been great for me as a cosumer on the console market.

 

[Caffeine]

Xbox Game Studios’ best-ever debut on Steam

hahahaha you gotta love MS PR

outside of a bunch of age of empires games its their first biggest release. https://store.steampowered.com/curator/3090835-Xbox-Game-Studios/list/40152

 

[rofif]

How many copies sold? That's the meaningful statistic.

gamepass... 1. EURO. GAME. PASS.
Which means they sold nothing and earned nothing

 

[Evilms]

With game pass 1 euro, It doesn't mean much.

 

[Kacho]

Xbox Game Studios’ best-ever debut on Steam

hahahaha you gotta love MS PR

Aaron Greenberg is a god damn genius

 

[Roufianos]

This argument is going to come up every time Microsoft releases a first party game on Game Pass, isn't it?

Microsoft benefits more from selling subscriptions than it does selling individual games.

I'm sure they'd have benefited more from my £45 and month of Gold than £2 for Gamepass which I've already cancelled.

Really don't see how this recent promotion benefits them.

 

[GHG]

Xbox Game Studios’ best-ever debut on Steam

hahahaha you gotta love MS PR

Isn't this the first major first party game that they've put on Steam on launch day?

Anyway, it's good that that many people have had the chance to play it, looks like a good game. It remains to be seen however what this means for the future of the franchise and the studio behind it.

 

[rofif]

Put Gears of war 1,2 and 3 on steam. Don't put them in 1 euro gamepass and I will buy the shit out of it. All that keeps my 360 connected it replaying Gears and the Darkness 2007

 

[mejin]

Isn't this the first major first party game that they've put on Steam on launch day?

Anyway, it's good that that many people have had the chance to play it, looks like a good game. It remains to be seen however what this means for the future of the franchise and the studio behind it.

That's what make this PR fun for me. Sales are on the low side on steam for all we know.

But, there is no doubt Gears 5 is a great game.

 

[Vawn]

This argument is going to come up every time Microsoft releases a first party game on Game Pass, isn't it?

Microsoft benefits more from selling subscriptions than it does selling individual games.

Only when people list the number of people played a basically free game for even one minute as a meaningful statistic.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

I'm curious if the game is profitable yet, I doubt it is.

 

[phil_t98]

kinda funny people saying gamepass and will get cancelled after a month, this is a huge multiplayer game and always will be. Subs will keep coming for this who want to play it. there will be in game purchases to, so that will make money. Nobody comments on fortnights game sales, Microsoft going gamepass is a win for gamers who want it. the other model to buy the games is there if people want that to

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

kinda funny people saying gamepass and will get cancelled after a month, this is a huge multiplayer game and always will be. Subs will keep coming for this who want to play it. there will be in game purchases to, so that will make money. Nobody comments on fortnights game sales, Microsoft going gamepass is a win for gamers who want it. the other model to buy the games is there if people want that to

Sounds like straight chump change and nowhere near enough to make up for all the full game prices and gold subscription money that they lost.

 

[Vasto]

This is impressive.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

Three million players is very deceiving when most of the people I know who own XBOX consoles game share.

 

[Sosokrates]

Lol

 

[ResilientBanana]

Xbox Game Studios’ best-ever debut on Steam

hahahaha you gotta love MS PR

Considering how many games that were released on Steam through XBGS, it may actually be the case.

Steam Curator: Xbox Game Studios

Xbox Game Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Steam and Windows Store platforms.

store.steampowered.com

Lol

Boxed Sales vs Digital Sales vs Subscription Sales? Let's consider those are not the same thing.

 

[Digity]

Three million players is very deceiving when most of the people I know who own XBOX consoles game share.

Game share and now Game Pass. Would love to see some real numbers.

 

[demigod]

Over a million players played Crackdown 3 too, we all know how that went.

 

[phil_t98]

Sounds like straight chump change and nowhere near enough to make up for all the full game prices and gold subscription money that they lost.

again isn't fortnight making a ton of cash? that's a free game. with game pass they are getting the subscription money and the money from in game purchases.

 

[Fuz]

They're talking about "players", not "buyers".

 

[jshackles]

Guys I heard the newest Tool album really bombed and only sold 1/100th of the CDs that Undertow did

 

[Birdo]

How many copies sold? That's the meaningful statistic.

There's really no way to tell these days. There's Game Pass, Physical, and Digital.

And with streaming coming, it's going to get even more complicated to guage how well a game has done.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

again isn't fortnight making a ton of cash? that's a free game. with game pass they are getting the subscription money and the money from in game purchases.

How are you comparing Gears 5 to probably the most profitable game of all time? They will make nowhere near that much in microtransactions and the people that bought the $2 deal and renew will be minimal, probably not even enough to recoup the money they lost in gold subscriptions let alone the cost to make the game.
Giving away the game + gold for a crackhead price was a straight desperation play to get more subscribers, this game was pretty much written off as a loss.

 

[Kagey K]

Anyone know how many Blu Ray copies of Stranger Things Netflix sold?

 

[Digity]

again isn't fortnight making a ton of cash? that's a free game. with game pass they are getting the subscription money and the money from in game purchases.

Yep all those subs they are selling for $1 just for people to cancel after they played what they wanted.

 

[demigod]

How are you comparing Gears 5 to probably the most profitable game of all time? They will make nowhere near that much in microtransactions and the people that bought the $2 deal and renew will be minimal, probably not even enough to recoup the money they lost in gold subscriptions let alone the cost to make the game.
Giving away the game + gold for a crackhead price was a straight desperation play to get more subscribers, this game was pretty much written off as a loss.

I like how xbox fans think MS gets the whole dollar from the gamepass sub.

 

[GymWolf]

so basically 6 million dollars from game pass subscriptions?

some childrens working on shoe factories in indonesia make more money than that...

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

I like how xbox fans think MS gets the whole dollar from the gamepass sub.

It's more that people seriously think money is just coming out of thin air and the game is magically somehow gonna make up all the full game prices and lost gold subscription money somehow. The game WILL make less money because they gave it away for $2, Microsoft obviously knew that and was willing to write the game off as a loss to push gamepass.

 

[Insane Metal]

This argument is going to come up every time Microsoft releases a first party game on Game Pass, isn't it?

Microsoft benefits more from selling subscriptions than it does selling individual games.

jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced Game Pass service. XBox Game Pass will be that service. Better than it was before.

 

[Riven326]

Over a million players played Crackdown 3 too, we all know how that went.

Just wait for the power of the cloud. It's coming.

 

[fastest finger]

3m doesn’t feel like a particularly impressive figure considering it’s on GamePass.
Didn’t Spider-Man and God Of War SELL comparable numbers during a similar period?
If they are beating their internal figures and expectations for services/subscriptions then that’s obviously good for them, but it feels like a weird PR flex.

 

[michaelius]

That pretty much shows how badly Microsoft have fallen - competition have games that sells few million copies week 1 and Microsoft has to scrap together console, pc release and game passes + whatever else is counted to hit 3 millions.

 

[DForce]

Guys I heard the newest Tool album really bombed and only sold 1/100th of the CDs that Undertow did

These are terrible comparsions. Stranger Things has a far less budget than Gears 5. Sames goes for a budget to develop a music albums.

You also have a bigger audience who buys music digitally and watch hit shows on Netflix.

We dont know everything but just because people sub for 2 bucks, that doesnt mean they plan on staying long term.

 

[Dabaus]

Theyre now including people who watched the youtube trailers in the statistics who played the game. (This is a joke)

 

[prinz_valium]

These are terrible comparsions. Stranger Things has a far less budget than Gears 5. Sames goes for a budget to develop a music albums.

You also have a bigger audience who buys music digitally and watch hit shows on Netflix.

We dont know everything but just because people sub for 2 bucks, that doesnt mean they plan on staying long term.

Stranger Things is well above $10 million production costs for one episode already.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Definitely a loss leader imo. And definitely worth it for MS in the long run.

 

[ResilientBanana]

These are terrible comparsions. Stranger Things has a far less budget than Gears 5. Sames goes for a budget to develop a music albums.

You also have a bigger audience who buys music digitally and watch hit shows on Netflix.

We dont know everything but just because people sub for 2 bucks, that doesnt mean they plan on staying long term.

That doesn't mean they won't either. Netflix gives away a month for free, the same could apply there and people stay. $9.99 for all you can play isn't all that far fetched.

 

[diffusionx]

This argument is going to come up every time Microsoft releases a first party game on Game Pass, isn't it?

Microsoft benefits more from selling subscriptions than it does selling individual games.

I'm still not convinced this is true vs. this is something they say because their videogame business collapsed this gen and they are using the famed "pivot to services" as a way to rebound.

Gears of War 2 sold 3 million copies in the first month - 3 million full priced games. You're telling me that getting people to log on with a $2 trial sub is preferable to that?

 

[DanielsM]

so basically 6 million dollars from game pass subscriptions?

some childrens working on shoe factories in indonesia make more money than that...

More or less, but they did get people to pay forward with the $1 GP deal meaning you extend further by paying for XBLG longer 1-3 years. This was booked last quarter, so now for the next say 2-3 years they have produce content at a huge loss to fund the subscription (GP) for years to come.

That doesn't mean they won't either. Netflix gives away a month for free, the same could apply there and people stay. $9.99 for all you can play isn't all that far fetched.

You don't sell something for $1 for years for which you can get $10 a month. That means there was no growth.

 

[joe_zazen]

.

I'm still not convinced this is true vs. this is something they say because their videogame business collapsed this gen and they are using the famed "pivot to services" as a way to rebound.

Gears of War 2 sold 3 million copies in the first month - 3 million full priced games. You're telling me that getting people to log on with a $2 trial sub is preferable to that?

It is when it comes time to sell your next console or steam competitor. Why’d i buy a ps5 when i’d have to actually buy games for it?

 

[ResilientBanana]

I'm still not convinced this is true vs. this is something they say because their videogame business collapsed this gen and they are using the famed "pivot to services" as a way to rebound.

Gears of War 2 sold 3 million copies in the first month - 3 million full priced games. You're telling me that getting people to log on with a $2 trial sub is preferable to that?

The chances people stay subscribed is high after they use it to play Gears 5 as Gears 5 alone will push those users to start downloading and trying other games they normally wouldn't and thus the cycle continues until they pay $9.99 a month. They sucked me in with Gears 5 quite honestly. Now I'm playing Void Bastards, Hellblade, Gears 5 and I may also download Forza Horizon 4, Metro, and maybe even try out Crackdown 3. On top of that Halo Infinite and TMCC will be on there too so it's a non-stop win in my book.

You don't sell something for $1 for years for which you can get $10 a month. That means there was no growth.

Netflix makes it's own shows and movies for what reason again? Oh that's right. RMR. If they were to sell this service to 1 person, you'd be right. But they can rake in millions or even billions a month and consistently make money on games they've created instead on relying on the first 12 months of sales and then sales beyond that. Not to mention, people can still buy the games if they chose to and in the future, stream the games they bought and/or subscribe to.