The Xbox Series S is looking for its place in your living room, and against its competitors PlayStation, Nintendo, PC, etc. – Xbox
- Six months after the launch of the next gen, the Xbox Series X and S sell less well than the PS5 but don’t panic.
- Cindy Walker, Marketing Director, discusses the strategy and the Xbox ecosystem, to reach more and more players on consoles and beyond.
- Xbox will hold its E3 conference on Sunday, a joint conference with publisher Bethesda it has just bought.
Six months after the launch of the new Xbox and PlayStation and while E3 2021 is being held (virtually) this week, the timing is perfect for taking stock, or rather a step, on the next gen. Is this the latest generation of physical consoles? Especially since the ways of playing are multiplying: streaming (Stadia, Shadow), subscriptions (Uplay +, EA Pass), media (mobile, Smart TV) … Xbox gave the impression of following this movement with the Xbox Series S model , the Xbox Cloud Gaming service, its Xbox Game Pass subscription and even the offer
Xbox All Access.
But looking at the sales figures more closely, the console, the machine, still seems to have a bright future ahead of it, with more than 8 million PS5 sold worldwide (better than the PS4 at the same time) and 6 million Xbox Series X and S (its best launch). In the first quarter of 2021, it was even selling
twice more PS5 (2.83 million) than Xbox Series (1.31 million), both eclipsed by the Nintendo Switch (5.86 million), of which a pro or premium version is expected to be announced soon.
For Cindy Walker, director of platform and console marketing at Xbox, “it was never a question of replacing physical consoles, we even have two models at the launch of this generation. Rather, it is about satisfying all the players in the world, all groups of players. Xbox has always invested as much in hardware as in software. We always want to design great consoles, but also to highlight the player experience, with more personalization, connection, freedom. This may seem like our priority today with the Xbox Game Pass subscription service and the rollout of Xbox Cloud Gaming, but it’s not a new thing, more an evolution. “
“Everything is going as planned”, we assure you at Xbox
Less large, less expensive but also less powerful and devoid of drive, the Xbox Series S is the symptom, the expression, of this strategy. However, it has sold up to three-four times less than the Xbox Series X. “Everything is going as planned,” says Cindy Walker. We knew that in the first year, the purchases would go to premium consoles, that it would be hardcore gamers. But we didn’t want to wait three or four years for a slim, more compact and more attractive version, like the Xbox One S in its day. We wanted to be ready for the second round of purchases, even to create a breath of fresh air, to reach a larger audience. casual, which still plays locally and not streaming. Xbox does not reject the idea of releasing a new Xbox Series model, but the X and S models will keep their roles.
In fact, Xbox multiplies the ways of playing, cumulates them one could even say, in order to touch the 2 and soon 3 billion players potential in the world. “If we want to reach them, adds the marketing director, it means talking to PC players, mobile players, streaming players…” This is also why Xbox is acquiring many studios, recently Bethesda, as so many future exclusive games. “We used to talk about content exclusive to Xbox consoles before, but now it’s more exclusive to Xbox Game Pass. So on Xbox, but the pass can be available elsewhere, on other devices, on other consoles as well. “
Xbox Game Pass on Switch or PlayStation? “If they call, we’ll pick up the phone,” says Cindy Walker. I’m not aware of such a conversation, if it has ever taken place, but our goal is to expand our gaming community to as many people as possible around the world. The next step could be mentioned, or started on Sunday, during the sacrosanct Xbox conference at E3, an Xbox + Bethesda show.