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A large majority of the 100 million sales happened before MS even owned Minecraft.

Heck, MS has very obviously not recouped anywhere close to the amount of money they spent on Minecraft yet.

Microsoft bought Minecraft in September 2014, and in June 2014, Minecraft was about to hit 54m. Since then, Minecraft has almost doubled.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Minecraft and W10 are below expectations? Was Square Enix in charge of setting expectations?

 

[Ricky Ricardo]

Minecraft has done well.

Microsoft's Minecraft (aka what MS wanted Minecraft to do upon acquisition ) hasn't according to their internal targets.

But it appears to be doing just fine... Unless their data says otherwise, which is entirely possible. Like what are they expecting out of it?

Exactly. Are the projections Microsoft is even putting on these IPs reasonable? Doesn't anyone take a look at goodwill and deliberate on possible market power?

I find it hard to believe that after Halo 4, the MCC debacle, Destiny/COD/Battlefield market share growth, and the tepid response to the Xbox One that no one sat down and said "Look, Halo 5 probably won't light the world on fire, but we can use it to begin building back up" instead of "Well, I'm thinking 2 million in the first 7 days sounds reasonable!"

 

[Nightengale]

In 2016 Minecraft is selling 50k copies *per day*. If that's underperforming expectations their expectations were crazy.

Minecraft is not just a regular game. It's a phenomena,

If GTA 6 sells 50 million, that game will underperform. Because GTA is set to a whole different spectrum of expectations than most games. Minecraft is in that echelon of games.

 

[mrklaw]

Plan a free to play game that relies on scale to work financially

Restrict it to Windows store on PC

Cancel it rather than expand the market by releasing on steam




Not sure what their expectations were for minecraft?

 

[StoOgE]

I don't know if I'm inclined to entirely believe this.

I don't doubt that MS isn't happy with performance, but this sounds like people who were fired looking for reasons other than "no one wanted Fable Legends"

 

[PrivateRyan]

After all the mistakes with the Halo franchise in the last few years is it a surprise that 5 didn't do so well. Especially when you barely play as the character people want to play as. It doesn't help that MC's story really should be done. Plus you got the Halo collection being a disaster really did not help.

I agree with this (although you mean it isn't a surprise that 5 didn't do so well, right?). The franchise as a whole just feels weirdly watered down. I'm sure Microsoft was counting on Halo 5 to be an 'event' launch but it just didn't feel like that at all.

I have a feeling Gears 4 is going to go the same way. Microsoft needs big new IPs.

 

[ethomaz]

I can't imagine the mental gymnastics required to look at Minecraft and say it underperformed. They recently announced they've sold over one hundred million copies.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-06-02-minecraft-sales-pass-the-astonishing-100m-milestone

Most part of these sales come before MS purchase.

MS expectations only based in sales after MS started to manage Minecraft's company.

 

[D4Danger]

nvm

 

[Jebusman]

I can't imagine the mental gymnastics required to look at Minecraft and say it underperformed. They recently announced they've sold over one hundred million copies.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-06-02-minecraft-sales-pass-the-astonishing-100m-milestone

Not all of those copies were sold after Microsoft bought it.

I just looked it up and MC was at 54 million before the sale. That's not a large majority

We should note they bought it for what, $2 billion dollars?

They're not going to recoup that money for years, if at all, so they need as much as they can squeeze out of the existing product.

Considering Minecraft is what, $30 on PC right now? Even in the most literal best case scenario (100% of that sale go towards recouping the cost of the franchise) that would take upwards of 60 million sales. Since someone mentioned MC being at 54M before the acquisition, they're not even at that point yet.

I have to wonder if internally Microsoft thought they could in fact recoup the full cost via just selling Minecraft within a certain timeframe, because if so, then it's definitely below expectations.

 

[Chris1]

Could the Minecraft stuff be referring to story mode? That came out after MS bought them.

Am I missing something here or people forgetting about this?

Minecraft Story Mode didn't exactly set the charts on fire, maybe MS expected more out of the Minecraft name?

 

[OnionPowder]

But it appears to be doing just fine... Unless their data says otherwise, which is entirely possible. Like what are they expecting out of it?

They are obviously just expecting more. As somebody said earlier, Disney paid $4 billion for Star Wars vs the 2.5 billion MS paid for Minecraft. You expect quite a bit with a purchase like that.

 

[darkwing]

I wouldn't worry too much about it with Scorpio coming out, it maybe the W10 box

 

[Bulby]

Jesus MS. I dont know why its taken all this drama and cost to realise the consumer doesnt like being told what it wants, and what to do. Any idiot could have told you that most of the shit you pulled those years ago was an awful awful plan. But it took a boardroom of overpaid idiots to utterly fuck it up.

 

[Bitch Pudding]

Again, they are not dissatisfied with Minecraft's overall sales, just with the sales channel distribution on PC.

 

[Obliterator]

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread. Minecraft has sold 50 million copies since MS purchased it. The game didn't sell "the majority of its copies prior to the acquisition"

If selling 50 million copies is under performing I'm not sure what in the name of god they were expecting. I have to be honest I don't believe that part one bit

 

[zma1013]

Wait, why did I have it in my head the they bought Minecraft for 6 billion dollars? Where did I get that number?

 

[Nightengale]

It's sold like 50m copies since Microsoft bought it.

MS's expectations are higher. That's all there is to it.

 

[Primethius]

Maybe the Minecraft projections are for the Windows store?

 

[Cow Goes Moo]

Honestly, given what's selling today, I don't think he was really wrong.

The main miss he made is that on consoles, you sell a $60 game, and then you flood people with endless DLC and/or microtransactions along with new content for years.

oh yeah i totally agree, but it amazes me that given his long console history, he didn't have enough foresight to implement fable in a similar fashion to say something like LittleBigPlanet

He's always been that person, even at Sony.

The biggest things attributed to Harrison at Sony were Singstar & Sony London's more casual output like Buzz. He's always been more a services-kind person, especially with him championing Home.

oh yeah i know, he brought littlebigplanet for sony after all, a huge dlc machine

 

[Interfectum]

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread. Minecraft has sold 50 million copies since MS purchased it. The game didn't sell "the majority of its copies prior to the acquisition"

If selling 50 million copies is under performing I'm not sure what in the name of god they were expecting. I have to be honest I don't believe that part one bit

They could simply be talking about the other Minecraft products and/or the Win10/xbox versions. Perhaps their attempts to expand Minecraft beyond the original game have been misses.

 

[Curufinwe]

That's grist on the mill of people who think XBOX One is on track for a 40mn LT sales.

40m or less.

 

[gamz]

This article lost me. Minecraft isn't doing well? On what freaking planet! The thing is a monster.

 

[Ertai]

As far as Minecraft goes, this has to be their own W10 version underperforming which i think is pretty obvious. Almost all PC gamers buy the "regular" version on the PC, not the UWP version.

Minecraft is selling fine, the UWP W10 version of Minecraft isn't.

 

[Ricky Ricardo]

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread. Minecraft has sold 50 million copies since MS purchased it. The game didn't sell "the majority of its copies prior to the acquisition"

If selling 50 million copies is under performing I'm not sure what in the name of god they were expecting. I have to be honest I don't believe that part one bit

The truth doesn't seem to fit the narrative some posters want tho

Things a lot more nuanced than "everything is doing badly."

 

[blakep267]

Not all of those copies were sold after Microsoft bought it.




We should note they bought it for what, $2 billion dollars?

They're not going to recoup that money for years, if at all, so they need as much as they can squeeze out of the existing product.

Considering Minecraft is what, $30 on PC right now? Even in the most literal best case scenario (100% of that sale go towards recouping the cost of the franchise) that would take upwards of 60 million sales. Since someone mentioned MC being at 54M before the acquisition, they're not even at that point yet.

I have to wonder if internally Microsoft thought they could in fact recoup the full cost via just selling Minecraft, because if so, then it's definitely below expectations.

The thing is, they've doubled the games LTD sales in 2 years. thats why I'm less inclined to believe that part. How could MS expect to recoup the sale in that short a time

 

[KinofChaos]

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread. Minecraft has sold 50 million copies since MS purchased it. The game didn't sell "the majority of its copies prior to the acquisition"

If selling 50 million copies is under performing I'm not sure what in the name of god they were expecting. I have to be honest I don't believe that part one bit

?? It sold that much since MS bought it in what a year or so? I find that hard to believe. Source?

 

[Goose_Se7en]

They are obviously just expecting more. As somebody said earlier, Disney paid $4 billion for Star Wars vs the 2.5 billion MS paid for Minecraft. You expect quite a bit with a purchase like that.

Disney stole Star Wars away from Lucas. $4 billion for Star Wars was a damn steal. Bob Iger is a smart mofo

 

[shoreu]

What caused Halo 5 to be a big miss? MCC? Halo 4?

Low Xbox one sales along with MCC. I feel the Xbox ones position is hurting all of their exclusives

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

Any credibility this had went out the windows the second I read that Minecraft is performing below expectations lol.

 

[Nirolak]

I don't know if I'm inclined to entirely believe this.

I don't doubt that MS isn't happy with performance, but this sounds like people who were fired looking for reasons other than "no one wanted Fable Legends"

There is a lot of pointing blame at everything and anything but Fable Legends.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Maybe because some people grew tired of the Halo franchise.

I loved halo, but the way it's gone post bungie and how MCC was handled killed my enthusiasm.

 

[OnionPowder]

This article lost me. Minecraft isn't doing well? On what freaking planet! The thing is a monster.

Below expectations ≠ not doing well.

It's obviously doing great, it's just that Microsoft maybe expected better. If the article is true.

 

[Sulik2]

The Windows 10 migration numbers are interesting. Giving everyone a few upgrade should have worked wonders, but Microsoft has burned so many bridges with new OSes people are gun shy on it now. Plus, all the data mining crap in that OS really turned me off to it. I'll have to upgrade eventually, but Windows 7 is so solid I am in no rush.

Halo 5 is just series fatigue and the campaign was a mess coming off the awful experience of the MCC on a console most gamers don't care about. No wonder it didn't sell well.

 

[KinofChaos]

Any credibility this had went out the windows the second I read that Minecraft is performing below expectations lol.

It's regarding the win10 store version.....not Minecraft itself.

 

[Noobcraft]

I don't know if I'm inclined to entirely believe this.

I don't doubt that MS isn't happy with performance, but this sounds like people who were fired looking for reasons other than "no one wanted Fable Legends"

Yeah. Some of it sounds totally reasonable like XB1 sales and windows store performance, but the rest of it seems kind of unbelievable.

 

[kiguel182]

Please don't let them mess with Mojang and Minecraft.

 

[El Topo]

There is a lot of pointing blame at everything and anything but Fable Legends.

Was anyone ever actually excited for that title?

 

[Triggerhappytel]

How the hell did Minecraft underperform?

What am I missing here?

This is what I was going to say. Haven't they just announced that it sold 100 copies?!

 

[Zukkoyaki]

Mega companies like Microsoft aren't content with just making some to a solid amount of profit. They're about big bucks and huge profit margins that most companies can't even fathom, which is probably why this all seems absurd to us.

 

[Obliterator]

?? It sold that much since MS bought it in what a year or so? I find that hard to believe. Source?

Correct it was at almost 54 million in September of 2014 and is at 106 million now

http://fortune.com/2016/06/02/minecraft-sold-100-million/

 

[SEGAvangelist]

“Legends was an incredibly innovative game that took the franchise to new heights, but a lot of the fanbase wasn’t ready to embrace that,” reflects a source. “You can make a reasonable argument that we took the franchise to a place where Microsoft wanted to take it. But perhaps that was beyond where the fans were willing to accept.”

That's just crazy talk. The game had some things going for it, but overall it was a mess from what I played.

 

[Ghost Slayer]

They are obviously just expecting more. As somebody said earlier, Disney paid $4 billion for Star Wars vs the 2.5 billion MS paid for Minecraft. You expect quite a bit with a purchase like that.

I thought Lucas had some share in Disney in that deal, not pure $4 billion. Isn't that different from Minecraft deal?

 

[Boke1879]

I'm pretty sure its sold a lot. What are they expecting it to sell 150 million? At some point it has to slow down. There's only so many people who play games.

I'm shocked they haven't done anything major with the IP outside of gaming yet.

 

[D4Danger]

Again, they are not dissatisfied with Minecraft's overall sales, just with the sales channel distribution on PC.

well in the story they seem unhappy with being tied to the W10 store which is understandable

“Without Steam, without other platforms, it was just painful,” says another. “The Windows Store is a giant disaster. It’s on fire. 98% of PC copies of Rise of the Tomb Raider, a flagship Windows 10 game, were bought on Steam. The same is true for Minecraft. That hurt us, too. The store’s a mess; the number of people who couldn’t even install the game from the Microsoft store was… significant.”

but the bit about Minecraft is definitely not about that. It just straight up says it missed it's projection which is insane.

 

[Mooreberg]

None of this is too surprising. Between Windows Phone failing and people continuing to install PC applications as they always have, Windows Store is ignored by many (not even counting the people who revert back to Window 7 or simply ditch Windows).

Xbox One first party games seem to come and go. I wonder if Gears will have any more staying power.

 

[Nightengale]

The truth doesn't seem to fit the narrative some posters want tho

Things a lot more nuanced than "everything is doing badly."

I'm in oil & gas. The business division I'm in is making a LOT LOT LOT of money.

Everyday is a fucking disaster because every division is under-performing according to expectations. It doesn't fucking matter if we're profitable because we answer to our CEO who answer to shareholders.

Something can be very successful and still be "below expectations". Big-investment items have high expectations.

 

[gamz]

Below expectations ≠ not doing well.

It's obviously doing great, it's just that Microsoft maybe expected better. If the article is true.

And that's why I believe it's bunk.

 

[Primethius]

Peiole are looking at total Minecraft sales but given other information, it's much more likely that the Windows Store version of Minecraft is not meeting expectations.

 

[DeadOnions]

MS would need ridiculus expectations for Minecraft to under perform. We just had an announcment that it sold over 100m. Story Mode I could see but even that must have done well for them to extend the season.