Xbox’s games need to reach 10 million players to be successful

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has suggested that for a game to be considered "successful" for the platform, it must have at least 10 million players, which is why the company has decided not to pursue virtual reality (VR).

The details:

• Booty was asked in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter why Xbox had yet to enter the VR market like its rival, PlayStation, which released an updated version of its VR platform earlier this year. In response, he stated that the company is waiting "until there's an audience there" and that, despite 10 of its titles reaching over 10 million players individually, the player base to achieve comparable numbers is "not quite there yet.”
• Booty went on to say that while reaching 10 million players is a "big accomplishment," it's the "kind of scale that we need to see success for the game." In the interview, he does not elaborate on which 10 games have reached the milestone, but it is expected that the list will include its most popular franchises, Halo and Forza. It's also unclear whether the player counts of games featured on Xbox's Game Pass subscription service, which allows subscribers to play a variety of first-party and third-party titles for significantly less than full price, with Xbox releasing its games on day one of the service.
• Sony's CEO, Jim Ryan, revealed in May 2023 that the PlayStation VR 2 outperformed its predecessor in terms of unit sales within the first six weeks of its release, selling over 600,000 units worldwide. According to Meta, its Quest VR platform has reportedly sold over 20 million units since the first model was introduced in 2019, with the third iteration set to arrive later this year alongside a price cut for the Quest 2 expected to move even more headsets.
• Xbox CEO Phil Spencer faced backlash in 2019 after stating in an interview that the company's focus was not on virtual reality. Many interpreted his remarks as dismissive of the technology, as he stated that he believed it ignored the "communal" elements of gaming and was instead relatively niche and "isolating," and that "nobody's asking for VR." He later clarified that while he "loves" that the industry is expanding into new areas, he was simply stating that Xbox was not ready to go that route at the time.

More Xbox news:

• Xbox has revealed that it intends to release four first-party titles per year, with 2024 being the year when production "really kicks into gear." So far, we know that Avowed and Hellblade 2 will be released next year, with more details to follow.
• Starfield will be limited to 30 frames per second on the Xbox Series X/S for "consistency." The Series X will sport a 4K resolution, while the Series S will have a 1440p resolution, and it appears that a 1080p performance mode will be absent.