If the biggest investors really want to know, they can find out...The investors can't question your business decisions if you consolidate things like this.
The last thing they will want is investors once again questioning the value of Xbox as a business line in the lead up to next gen.
No they look on forbes waiting news about MicrosoftIf the biggest investors really want to know, they can find out...
But the funny part is, you can STILL find out how Xbox is doing using these strange statistics... IF MS use the same criteria to measure the number of players and enemy killed, each year. It would be a rough estimate, but you could do it.They'll continue doing this by releasing misleading statistics like number of players for a basically F2P game (counting even those who played for 10 minutes and uninstalled) and other difficult to interpret numbers like total hours played or enemies killed.
That's because even MAU is showing Xbox is losing. That would be the only reason to abandon MAU.If they don't include those things how will the hardcore xbox guy tell me that they are winning somehow
The need to hide data even now makes me wonder if the top people really might order a new focus that doesn’t include hardware. A year out from launch of a new system, a recent launch with huge player counts, and still looking for smoke and mirrors to hide unflattering data? Sure does not sound like things are going as hoped to me.
[Forbes Contributor intensifies]If they don't include those things how will the hardcore xbox guy tell me that they are winning somehow
I don't think anyone should be sharing sales data, to be honest. I hope the others follow suit.
Still, historically every console manufacturer know that the year before a new console launch is where all the money get spent. And investors know this too. There are graphs out there showing massive drops in profitability before a console launch, for every company ever.My opinion:
This has been a huge period of outlay for the division with investments in xCloud, studio acquisitions, Gamepass content procurement and ongoing R&D for the next gen console(s).
All things considered, the P&L statement for the division is unlikely to look favourable at the moment. By only highlighting selected growth metrics rather than the raw financial figures you can sidestep (and even avoid) a lot of the potentially difficult questions/discussions surrounding the above.
I assume you are correct on the P&L, but I also believe a confident company would be able to defend the outlay by treating it as investment into the next few years of expected revenue stream. I suppose they might be banking on little follow ups by press on the limited information they give out, with confidence they can hide the bad situation. But that early adopter crowd who can sway the next generation sales by word of mouth has to be taking notice, as I assume the shareholders with clout who are against hardware losses will too.My opinion:
This has been a huge period of outlay for the division with investments in xCloud, studio acquisitions, Gamepass content procurement and ongoing R&D for the next gen console(s).
All things considered, the P&L statement for the division is unlikely to look favourable at the moment. By only highlighting selected growth metrics rather than the raw financial figures you can sidestep (and even avoid) a lot of the potentially difficult questions/discussions surrounding the above.
Assuming for the moment that MAU is down, what does it physically mean?Microsoft is a company that has always shouted from the top of the mountain whenever they've done good. Selling 1 million of a game in 24 hours, etc. They've cut out announcing sales figures, revenue and now MAU.
This doesn't really point to anything good, it tells me active user engagement is more than likely down. Should they get a good spike going with anything Xbox related, you can bet your house that they will let us know.
For now, F for MAU.
Microsoft is a public company and information like this is very relevant to current owners and people interested in buying shares. By keeping things like sales figures in the dark Microsoft makes people wonder if they got something to hide, something like bad sales figures. Sony did the same with Vita and I'm sure Nintendo has done so with WiiU.
Still, historically every console manufacturer know that the year before a new console launch is where all the money get spent. And investors know this too. There are graphs out there showing massive drops in profitability before a console launch, for every company ever.
It really shouldn't be too difficult to say "we are winding down our current product in preparation for upcoming new releases, and temperary drop in profitability is expected." Sure, Sony is making money from PS4 still, but MS investors should understand that they are not Sony.
MS could have been far more professional about this. They could have honestly made the argument that Xbox Division made mistakes, but that they are now going to turn over a new leaf. But this attempt to hide even more numbers than before is not promising.
Where are you seeing salt? I am personally here because I enjoy a good train wreck, observing from a safe distance. I find enjoyment in both seeing a company succeed, and seeing a company fail. Either way, it is entertaining.Great move by MS..more salt, more guessing for Sony broskis..its truly amazing how so many of them get involved in MS threads and truly, positively care about the brand..right...riiiiiight broskies??!
Yeah I bet when Xbox titles go multiplat it'll be for the broski salt. Gotem!Great move by MS..more salt, more guessing for Sony broskis..its truly amazing how so many of them get involved in MS threads and truly, positively care about the brand..right...riiiiiight broskies??!
#4TheWarriorsI don't think anyone should be sharing sales data, to be honest. I hope the others follow suit.
The only people who need this information is investors.
The only people who care are the warriors.
Come on... that's never going to happen.Yeah I bet when Xbox titles go multiplat it'll be for the broski salt. Gotem!
Do they file those reports at the same time they won’t comment to shareholders about the data directly? My guess, which may be wrong, is no. They are obviously trying to hide something at least short term IMO.Guys they will still report revenue for the division in their filings.
However the revenue will no longer be reported in the earnings reports which are targeted at investors.
They are not hiding it (they wouldn't be allowed to do so), just completely taking it out of focus.
Come on... that's never going to happen.
I meant new games coming out on a direct competitor platform (not Switch). And Minecraft games are an exception. That probably was part of the deal when Notch sold Mojang.It already is....
Not sure about it being a great move , more likely the best move they thought they had. I am sure there is going to be pages of speculation involving a lot of doom and gloom but in reality we simply do not know why they decided to change the metrics and although it doesn't point to anything good it obfuscates things enough to prevent any negative discussion taking place that is based on factual information. My guess is that numbers are down and they want to try and sail into the start of next gen with as calm a sea as possible. Let's face it, the run up to the current gen really fucked them over and caused a lot of major problems with the launch of the Xbox One that has followed them like a grey cloud for the entire generation. Some of the decisions around the focus of the console was poor leading to a massive amount of negative word of mouth and massive backlash. I am sure that they will not want to repeat that and will try their hardest to do the opposite of what happened last time around so they start next gen on at least an even footing with the competition.Great move by MS..more salt, more guessing for Sony broskis..its truly amazing how so many of them get involved in MS threads and truly, positively care about the brand..right...riiiiiight broskies??!
It seems to me that MS does not yet have a clear focus of where Xbox is going. That they are intending to let Scarlet launch, and then re-evaluate their future direction pending Scarlet's sales numbers. Since the money developing Scarlet was already spent, they were going to release it one way or another. But the lack of desire to back Scarlet whole-heartily is telling.Do they file those reports at the same time they won’t comment to shareholders about the data directly? My guess, which may be wrong, is no. They are obviously trying to hide something at least short term IMO.
If the people inside MS who believe they should focus exclusively on services prevail, I think it would happen without question. Why would MS abandon all aspects of gaming if they drop hardware? If EA can make money off access on any platform, MS certainly can too. In fact they already do with Minecraft.Come on... that's never going to happen.
To be fair, Sony also held back a bit with the PS4. They had that attitude of "ok, we can do better than with the PS3" but were more conservative. They just got lucky with the XBone TV, TV, TV shenanigans. After that reveal, then Sony went into attacking stance.It seems to me that MS does not yet have a clear focus of where Xbox is going. That they are intending to let Scarlet launch, and then re-evaluate their future direction pending Scarlet's sales numbers. Since the money developing Scarlet was already spent, they were going to release it one way or another. But the lack of desire to back Scarlet whole-heartily is telling.
Ms is, to me, definitely in "Wait and see" mode. And that is not healthy for console launch.
Who never wants to talk about d**k sizes?How the hell are we going to compare d*ck sizes without numbers?