Microsoft have just announced that they are releasing the One in Europe with FIFA 14 free. It is fantastic yet odd move. Why has Microsoft gone for a sports game when sports games are a hard sell for a new system. I will explain
FIFA is a big franchise in Europe (I would now I live in the UK) and FIFA always sell well despite a lot of the time FIFA is a rehash of an old game. Everyone loves to get their mates together and play against each other. They also like acting out their childhood dream of playing and managing their favourite team. It seems, on the surface, that the FIFA addition was a good move for the One. But deeper down it doesn't make that big of a difference.
The big important factor is the One's release date. The effect FIFA will have for the One really depends on Microsoft releasing this bundle when FIFA ships in late September. At the moment signs are pointing to a November release date with no clue how far into November it is. With news that the One will not release, until 2014, in some key European markets(1) and the fact Microsoft didn't even announce a release date at their Gamescom conference(2) suggests a mid to late November release date.
Another important factor is what really sells FIFA. The big sell for these games is the fact you can play with friends. It is so apart of FIFA that without it FIFA just wouldn't sell. Obviously, FIFA 14 has this but there is another part to consider; controllers are not cheap which is even more important when the One isn't exactly cheap right now. The majority of FIFA owners already have a 360 or PS3 which they can play with friends and are more than likely have two controllers already (if they bought FIFA before). Next generation version are always going to suffer for this reason. A controller is usually £50 ish but on Amazon they are priced at £89(3) which I assume will decrease near launch. This added cost makes this, and all next generation versions, so expensive it isn't worth the price. FIFA 14 will launch on current systems and I can, pretty much, guarantee a lot will go for that version as they can play it with their mates at a lower cost.
The third point is the "while stocks last bit" (4) in the tweet. That wording could be taken in multiple ways but the way I look at it is they have a limited amount of stock available for this bundle. I may be wrong but considering Microsoft pre-orders are already starting to sell out (5); how many units are being made available for this bundle to have a big impact. Combine that with a potential late November launch, they are not going to have the time to restock before the big Christmas push
It is fantastic Microsoft did this but they would have had a better chance with COD or a non sports game. Sports games are based around the idea you play with your friends. Sure the Xbox brand comes with the Ultimate Team Legends as an exclusive (6) but is that enough considering this is on the 360 as well. Microsoft console isn't cheap if you add the (necessary extra controller) on top of the price to properly play FIFA 14.
References
1. http://www.extremetech.com/...
2. http://www.thesixthaxis.com...
3. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/r...
4. https://twitter.com/majorne...
5. http://www.videogamer.com/n...
6. http://www.videogamer.com/x...
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
Fifa is bigger than Madden. It makes perfect sense. It's the only way they can compete to get some of the UK market.
Xbox and EA seem to have a very special relationship, especially right now. I know that when I need saving I turn to my best friend. Heck they have swapped so mant staff members in the past I'm sure they all have each other on speed dial
It's free for XbO pre-orders only.
It's...genius.
People in Europe love Fifa. I really didn't care much for Fifa 13 but I did enjoy playing with my online pro. Would it be enough for me to go out and purchase a Xbox One? I dunno. It's something to chew over I guess.
It's not that odd given Microsfts track record of only changing to get more pre-orders.
You only have to do a brief check of EU Amazon pre-orders to see that as bad as MS is doing vs Sony in America they are literally doing 2 to 8 times less pre-orders comparatively in almost all European nations.
As little as I can understand why an American would buy a Xbox there is even less reason for a European as half the Xbox features won't even work for them. Not to mention that it's not even going to be available to half of Europe so chances are the player base will be almost nil for match making.
It all doesn't really matter though PS4 is pretty much a done deal in Europe.