Xbox games have to hit 10 million players to be considered a success
This is also why Xbox isn't getting in on the VR market
An Xbox executive has said its games need to reach 10 million players in order to be considered a "big accomplishment."
That's according to head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview. When speaking about why Xbox is yet to get into the virtual/augmented reality market with new games, Booty said "it’s just a bit of wait until there’s an audience there."
"We have 10 games that have achieved over 10 million players life-to-date, which is a pretty big accomplishment, but that’s the kind of scale that we need to see success for the game and it’s just, it’s not quite there yet with AR, VR," the Xbox Game Studios head continued.
Booty seems to be indicating that Xbox-developed games need to reach 10 million users in order to be considered widely successful. Sadly, the exec stops just short of naming which Xbox games, in particular, have managed to reach the 10 million player threshold of success, but you've got to imagine the list would include blockbuster franchises like Halo and Forza.
Booty also doesn't mention whether this 10 million mark can include numbers from Xbox Game Pass. The subscription service obviously lets players play new Xbox-developed games on day one instead of shelling out roughly $60 for them, but we don't know if Xbox is pleased with a game hitting 10 million players if a chunk subvert paying retail price for it.
Earlier this month, Xbox unveiled new trailers for big releases like Fable 4, Obsidian's Avowed, Forza Motorsport, Bethesda's Starfield, and Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. Booty's new comments give us a pretty good idea of how Xbox expects these blockbuster titles to perform.
Check out our upcoming Xbox Series X games guide for a look at all the other key exclusives coming to the console in the near future.
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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.