Support NeoGAF

[Hawking Radiation]

Starfield was always going to sell the most on PC with longer legs thanks to the modding community. Microsoft is wrong about it selling spiderman numbers on the playstation. It is a PC game through and through

PS userbase is north of 120 million users last I heard. That's more than double compared to Xbox (it could be more right now) and you're willing to tell me that this game won't sell on that platform?

Cyberpunk sold 4.3 million copies in 2021 on PlayStation. No idea how much it is at now.
The Witcher 3 hit 10 million copies sold on PS4. Xbox One only managed less than half of that at 4.3 million.

This notion that PC games don't sell well on PlayStation is the biggest load of horeshit on this forum.

 

[UniformDeliverance]

Yep. I’m sure god of war would do amazing numbers on Xbox too. This is the nature of exclusives, get people into the platform, but at the cost of less overall sales due to the restricted platforms.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Good luck even selling 1 million on Xbox with it being day one on GP.

 

[Metnut]

Have a feeling Baldur’s Gate 3 will be the better RPG released that day.

 

[MatrixReloaded101]

Good luck even selling 1 million on Xbox with it being day one on GP.

Units sold isn't the main goal, they want more people to join the Xbox ecosystem/game pass because they will make more money on the backend that way.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

Good luck even selling 1 million on Xbox with it being day one on GP.

They probably won't mention the specific financials but more with engagement.

 

[Captain Toad]

Good luck even selling 1 million on Xbox with it being day one on GP.

I'll buy it day one. Screw subscription rentals.

$204 per year. Probably around $1,400 for the generation. And at the end you have zero games (except the ones you had to buy, because they aren't part of your sub).

I'll gladly pay the $70 for the game and be able to play for as long as I'd like without paying every month.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

I'll buy it day one. Screw subscription rentals.

$204 per year. Probably around $1,400 for the generation. And at the end you have zero games (except the ones you had to buy, because they aren't part of your sub).

I'll gladly pay the $70 for the game and be able to play for as long as I'd like without paying every month.

I give zero fucks about owning games. It's extremely rare to me to ever touch the game again after beating it, even new DLC's take some time to stomach and drag my legs through for a day or two before getting in the mode.

$204/yo though is a complete joke though, and I would buy games while this sub shit can bring some nice games I missed or fillers for the kid. Collecting games after beating them is like collecting condoms after each sex.

 

[RickMasters]

I don’t mean to sound insesitve or anything like that…. But who give a flying fuck? MS bought Bethesda’s to grow their business and satisfy their consumers. You can’t knock them for that. You wanna make an omelette you gotta break a few eggs. So if you gotta miss out on the PlayStations sales to grow your Xbox sales so be it.


And I’m not even sayin this game is gonna sell a million Xbox’s. One gets you fast money…. One grows your platform. They chose wisely.


Aside from that…. Take your pick…. Are you playing on Xbox or PC? Both benefit Microsoft. The don’t need to seell the game on other platforms. They need to sell it in their own and use it to maybe….. just maybe…. Sell a few extra consoles and gamepass subs….. which I’m sure it will do. In their shoes…. That’s better than selling PS versions and giving those people no reason to invest in your platform.

And if you won’t buy it because it’s not on PS….. them lemmme say this in my native Jamaican patois tounge …. ‘it’s your bum buh rass claat loss’

 

[Umbasaborne]

Let me play you my tiny violin

 

[RickMasters]

wrong. MS is all in on subscriptions.

People say this….. but they still have sales every week…. New games are still available…. And I still buy digital downloads inspire of being a gamepass subscriber.


Xbox owners do both. We sub and we buy. MS knows this too. It’s not subs or nothing.this narrative really needs to die. Speaking as an Xbox owner who still buys games and dn sure knows I’m not the only one.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

People say this….. but they still have sales every week…. New games are still available…. And I still buy digital downloads inspire of being a gamepass subscriber.


Xbox owners do both. We sub and we buy. MS knows this too. It’s not subs or nothing.this narrative really needs to die. Speaking as an Xbox owner who still buys games and dn sure knows I’m not the only one.

I said MS. MS is daddy. and they have been all in in subscription for a long time now. is their primary business model.

 

[RickMasters]

I said MS. MS is daddy. and they have been all in in subscription for a long time now. is their primary business model.

Perhaps but no reason to not do both as a consumer. Or for MS to not recognise that. And not everything will be on gamepass. Infact a lot of the good stuff is not in gamepass (cyberpunk, justice, etc.)


They might be all in on it but most publishers are still not and we still gotta buy a lot of the hot stuff. I don’t have a problem with that by the way. But I still like to own games believe it or not!

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Perhaps but no reason to not do both as a consumer. Or for MS to not recognise that. And not everything will be on gamepass. Infact a lot of the good stuff is not in gamepass (cyberpunk, justice, etc.)


They might be all in on it but most publishers are still not and we still gotta buy a lot of the hot stuff. I don’t have a problem with that by the way. But I still like to own games believe it or not!

is not perhaps. is a reality that goes beyond MS. Adobe is another one...and many others.

But i mean....EA, Ubisoft and GTA have subscription services.

and there has been a development in GaaS/Live games "business models" called "VIP consumer" which is a subscription service inside your game.

in the case of Adobe, you CAN NOT buy a stand-alone license....and that is scary.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

I give zero fucks about owning games. It's extremely rare to me to ever touch the game again after beating it, even new DLC's take some time to stomach and drag my legs through for a day or two before getting in the mode.

$204/yo though is a complete joke though, and I would buy games while this sub shit can bring some nice games I missed or fillers for the kid. Collecting games after beating them is like collecting condoms after each sex.

Depending on the market, you can get very high resell value.

This is espcially true in some African countries.

 

[DavJay]

Less 10 million ps gamers but I think more people will actually play this overall. People that don’t buy games at full price will be able to enjoy this day one because of game pass. Player count will be bigger for sure. As for profit , we have to wait and see

 

[In Cold Blood]

I just see a bunch of salty fanboys being mad that Xbox console exclusives are not on PlayStation, and it seems like a double standard to me, regardless of what these figure heads say, which is almost always hypercritical no matter who is claiming this or that.

Yeah these a ton of salt about this one.
I think it comes.down to the fact that until now they haven't really had to miss out on big IPs, and now they are not getting a possible game of the generation on their console.
Just remember, just because you own a PS, doesn't mean you can't play this on a PC or Xbox.
There's plenty of ways to play it.

 

[Gaiff]

Some of the greatest franchises in gaming history were born on their platforms (MGS, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, Silent Hill, Castlevania, MegaMan etc etc), I mean, if you don't get or respect that then you're also a raging hypocrite.

Those franchises were successful before the first Playstation was even released. WTF are you talking about? FF and Mega Man born on Playstation? What?

 

[Gravemind]

They'll all just play it on their high end gaming PCs. No problem. Not sure why there's so much salt in here. Just boot up the ol high end gaming PC, boys. No salt necessary.

 

[Noxxera]

Imagine if it ends up selling less than that on Xbox.

PS fanboy confirmed. Yeah lots of PS boys in this thread crying.

 

[clarky]

I'll buy it day one. Screw subscription rentals.

$204 per year. Probably around $1,400 for the generation. And at the end you have zero games (except the ones you had to buy, because they aren't part of your sub).

I'll gladly pay the $70 for the game and be able to play for as long as I'd like without paying every month.

$204 a year is still a steal. I buy games also obviously, probably quadruple that amount per year, at least. This hobby is expensive and GP makes it a little more palatable.

In my eyes Gamepass is not really much different than trading in old games back in the day once your done with them. Except cheaper.

 

[RickMasters]

Good luck even selling 1 million on Xbox with it being day one on GP.

I’d imagine they will make their money back on MTXs and non GPU subscribers.


Look….. if you want to play it, just buy it on PC seeing it’s probably gonna give you a heart attack to play it on an Xbox.

 

[Robb]

Makes sense to me, albeit a bit risky when it’s a new IP.

But this has to be the case for pretty much all big exclusives. Who knows, Zelda could’ve probably sold 25M by now if it was multiplat, but it’s obviously worth more for Nintendo as an exclusive.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Let me play you my tiny violin

 

[Shubh_C63]

Absolutely the right call.

If Starfield was on PS, that's just one more reason never to bother with GP or Xbox. Eat some loss but make people miss something for future business sake.

 

[93xfan]

Starfield is on the back burner. Not (only) because of Xbox exclusivity but rather because of a) unproven IP, b) lackluster reception last 10 years and c) competition from certain other AAA western rpgs.

All very poor points.

No RPG is like this. It doesn’t need to be a problem IP to be successful.

The buzz around this game is massive.

 

[Ozriel]

It’s not going to sell even close to a tenth of that on the XBOX alone for the obvious reasons especially since it’s on Gamepass, so I guess most of the sales will have to come from the PC.

You think it won’t sell one million copies on console?

but is ms banking on people like me 'buying' it for the price of a month's worth of game pass?...

I’m pretty sure they’re banking on most people playing a massive, expansive RPG for more than a month.

 

[RickMasters]

$204 a year is still a steal. I buy games also obviously, probably quadruple that amount per year, at least. This hobby is expensive and GP makes it a little more palatable.

In my eyes Gamepass is not really much different than trading in old games back in the day once your done with them. Except cheaper.

Or block buster, back in the day. Who never rented a game in the 90s? Why are people acting like this is new? …. And guess what so many people forget? We still buy games. We don’t hate the idea of owning games…. As much as they love to tell themselves that. My digital Xbox library and my ancient sega Saturn collection laughs At them.



I have 740 digital games in my backlog spanning back to the first Xbox. Those games didn’t disappear the moment I got gamepass. I still buy games. That won’t change. But…… having 300+ games additional is nice! I know I’ll be playing lies of P, forza, stalker 2, starfield day one on gampass. More than likely to buy DLC for forza as I always have done and same goes for star field.



And yet I’ll still be buying armoured core, MK1,lords of the fallen2, like a dragon: man who erased his name, Alan wake 2 and cyberpunk DLC!


I hate when people say we don’t buy games….. truth of the matter is…. I’m spoilt for choice even before things like the new fable, avowed and other exclusives turn up.

 

[RickMasters]

Makes sense to me, albeit a bit risky when it’s a new IP.

But this has to be the case for pretty much all big exclusives. Who knows, Zelda could’ve probably sold 25M by now if it was multiplat, but it’s obviously worth more for Nintendo as an exclusive.

This. Every exclusive would sel more if it was on more platforms but what value is that to the platform holder?…… zero. Exclusives define a platform and give a console its core user base. If a manufacturer don’t have that…. They got nothing’!

 

[LiquidJensen]

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/xbox-expected-starfield-sell-10-144156712.html


Dang, maybe this game will be big enough move some units on its own. This is indicating a much bigger launch as we get closer to release than any previous Bethesda game except maybe Skyrim.

 

[Ozriel]

Those franchises were successful before the first Playstation was even released. WTF are you talking about? FF and Mega Man born on Playstation? What?

Yeah, that’s not the sort of gaffe you’d expect to see in an enthusiast forum

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Good luck even selling 1 million on Xbox with it being day one on GP.

Out of the 50M Xbox gamers, roughly half have GP. Pretty sure it'll sell 1M copies across the 25M who arent on it.

 

[semiconscious]

I’m pretty sure they’re banking on most people playing a massive, expansive RPG for more than a month.

well, i could play the game for 3-4 months, & still beat the asking price, so there's that...

 

[Pallas]

Thankfully it’ll be on PC too and at 60fps((assuming you got the right hardware)

 

[Fredrik]

I'll buy it day one. Screw subscription rentals.

$204 per year. Probably around $1,400 for the generation. And at the end you have zero games (except the ones you had to buy, because they aren't part of your sub).

I'll gladly pay the $70 for the game and be able to play for as long as I'd like without paying every month.

Just a heads up from a cheap ass gamer. If you get a cheap sub you can keep playing games cheap day 1, no $70 needed, then at the end of the subscription period, if you don’t want to subscribe at the regular price, you can buy the games you’re still playing and want to own at a lower price just from them being older and also from the sub discount.

But Starfield is a Steam game imo because of the modding and the Windows Store/Gamepass version likely not allowing you to mess with the files. So in that case $70 is the way. Or $100 to enjoy Bethesda bugs before the day 1 patch is out.

 

[mckmas8808]

Obviously, we know Starfield isn't coming to PS5 anymore. What persuaded Microsoft to ditch these 10 million potential Starfield sales was the belief the company could recuperate these profits by launching Starfield via the Xbox Game Pass subscription service on both Xbox Series X/S and PC, not to mention increased console sales.

And some Gaffers told me MS isn't looking to increase their console sales with these recent purchases. As I said, MS is looking to pull back some of that market share from Sony that they've lost over the last 10 years.

 

[mckmas8808]

I give zero fucks about owning games. It's extremely rare to me to ever touch the game again after beating it, even new DLC's take some time to stomach and drag my legs through for a day or two before getting in the mode.

$204/yo though is a complete joke though, and I would buy games while this sub shit can bring some nice games I missed or fillers for the kid. Collecting games after beating them is like collecting condoms after each sex.

Yo bro, you do have the option to sell the games too lol.

 

[CanYouFlyBobby?]

Imagine if it ends up selling less than that on Xbox.

its "free" on gamepass so it will.

 

[Godot25]

Duh?
Starfield is game from makers of Skyrim which sold more then 50 million copies and Fallout 4 which made 750 million dollars in revenue in first day. Of course it would be huge seller on PlayStation. But that's exclusivity game for you...
...It's obvious that Spider-Man, Horizon, TLOU etc. would sell 5+ million copies on Xbox each. But Sony wants to draw people into their ecosystem. Same thing Microsoft wants with Starfield and Indiana Jones on Xbox.

 

[amigastar]

All the games from Xbox coming out on PC as well. This is truly the golden age for PC. I love it.
Sooner or later i will buy Starfield on Steam though for the mods.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

You think it won’t sell one million copies on console?



I’m pretty sure they’re banking on most people playing a massive, expansive RPG for more than a month.

If it sells close to that many, I will be very surprised. If it wasn’t on Gamepass, then maybe it would sell admirably, but I just don’t know about it selling that amount when you can play it on Gamepass day one. When was the last XBOX game that lit up the sales charts especially if it’s on Gamepass? Plenty of high profile games came to XBOX that didn’t sell well, so if this doesn’t break the tradition, nothing will ever I feel.

 

[GymWolf]

So basically what happen with every big exclusive game?

Vg media re-discovering hot water once a day, you love to see it

 

[Panajev2001a]

So basically what happen with every big exclusive game?

That was already being developed for the platform they decided to cutoff?

Vg media re-discovering hot water once a day, you love to see it

No, it is just more food for the thought experiment of “would MS lose money by withholding big games from their competitors if they were able to purchase the publisher of said multiplatform games?” that had people clutching their pearls at the thought that companies having that big of an external to gaming replenishing war chest would take a hit if it helped damage their competition (if you are preparing to spend $80 Billion now, what is another $2-3 Billions you spend to pull gamers away from other platforms?).

 

[Kiraly]

This game will be a salt mine for the ages.

 

[Panajev2001a]

And some Gaffers told me MS isn't looking to increase their console sales with these recent purchases. As I said, MS is looking to pull back some of that market share from Sony that they've lost over the last 10 years.

Yep, losing money by content starving their competitors more and more is just part of the real acquisition costs (same as the wages of the employees, facilities, etc…).

 

[Team Andromeda]

This is going to sell and make millions. PS fans just buy an Xbox and stop bloody crying.

 

[GymWolf]

That was already being developed for the platform they decided to cutoff?


No, it is just more food for the thought experiment of “would MS lose money by withholding big games from their competitors if they were able to purchase the publisher of said multiplatform games?” that had people clutching their pearls at the thought that companies having that big of an external to gaming replenishing war chest would take a hit if it helped damage their competition (if you are preparing to spend $80 Billion now, what is another $2-3 Billions you spend to pull gamers away from other platforms?).

It is what happen when you buy big developers, you try to keep their big games for yourself to give a value to your console and service.

Sony always did that but for some reasons people expected M to make every bethesda\activision game for ps5 aswell.

Of fucking course they cutted the ps5 version.

 

[Panajev2001a]

It is what happen when you buy big developers, you try to keep their big games for yourself to give a value to your console and service.

Sony always did that but for some reasons people expected M to make every bethesda\activision game for ps5 aswell.

What big multiplatform publisher the size of Zenimax or Activision-Blizzard did they buy? How many developers did they buy whose biggest sales were not on PlayStation already?

I fully expected MS to cut off as many games from PS as they could and to do the same for Activision-Blizzard as some j as they legally can (yes even if they lose money, it is just part of the indirect acquisition costs they are planning for )… despite this argument being agreed upon by regulators or not (the EU did not think they would do that, you agree with me they will ).

 

[Rykan]

And some Gaffers told me MS isn't looking to increase their console sales with these recent purchases. As I said, MS is looking to pull back some of that market share from Sony that they've lost over the last 10 years.

Really? And do tell, what did these Gaffers tell you exactly? Did they really tell you that MS wasn't looking to boost console sales with the Bethesda acquisition? Because it would be a real shame if it turns out that you're pulling a strawman here by pretending as if commentary for the AB acquisitions also applies to Bethesda.

 

[Neolombax]

This is going to sell and make millions. PS fans just buy an Xbox and stop bloody crying.

Would like to but cant. Bloody shame really.