Anyone who’s been following Microsoft for the past year or so knows that the company has a few issues on its hands. With Sony having a number of first and third party titles exclusive to the PS4 (even if many of the latter head to PC), the Xbox One has fallen back on their bread and butter. This means franchises like Halo and Gears of War. And while it has brought plenty of success, is such reliance really feasible in the long run, like it was in the Xbox 360 era?
GamingBolt spoke to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter about the same and asked whether relying on Gears, Forza and Halo could backfire. Pachter replied, “Backfire to the extent that of the next 50 million consoles, we’ll see Sony keep up its 2:1 advantage. So I don’t think it changes anything. I don’t think Microsoft gains any market share because of these games, but they won’t lose any either, they’ll probably maintain it.
“And Microsoft did a much better job this time with smaller and independent games, indie titles (at E3), and I don’t know how many people care, probably a million, so it’s not a big audience… but it was enough that I think they have a lot of good content.”
Of course time will also tell how these games will help the console’s fortunes, especially with this year having such a packed Holiday schedule. Which title does Pachter believe will be the most successful this season in terms of sales among the PS4, Xbox One and Switch?
“Well, Super Mario Odyssey will be the most successful first party game by a lot, it’ll have a 1:1 attach ratio. And if Nintendo merely does its 10 million forecast, so they have 10 million Switches out there, they’ll sell 12 million copies of Odyssey, so that game will be phenomenal.
“But as far as overall sales go, I think Call of Duty WWII and FIFA 18 will both outsell it…just not on the basis of single platform sales.”
FIFA 18 arrives on September 29th while Call of Duty: WWII is slated for release on November 3rd. Super Mario Odyssey will arrive on October 27th exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.