During GameSpot’s quarterly financial conference call hosted today, Chief Executive Officer Paul Raines, Chief Operating Officer Tony Bartel and Chief Financial Officer Robert Lloyd talked about the performance and expectations for PS4 and Xbox One.
Raines explained that on top of the “massively successful” launch of the Nintendo Switch, the company believes that “all consoles have an opportunities for growth.” Sony, specifically “has also been strong this year.”
Later in the call, we heard from Lloyd that Xbox One “underperformed” again the PS4 in both new and pre-owned sales, but the retailer believes that this is due to the coming Xbox One X launch. Basically, people are buying less Xbox One units now, because they’re waiting to get an Xbox One X.
Bartel followed up by mentioning that following the opening of pre-orders of Xbox One X – while it’s still early – GameStop is “pleased” with the consumer response to the new console.
Speaking of games, pre-orders are up 19% year-in-year. Erlier in the call, Lloyd explained that sales in the third quarter of the fiscal year (between July 1st and September 30th) are expected to grow between 5 and 10% due to the upcoming release of “strong” AAA titles like Assassin’s Creed Origins, Destiny 2, and Gran Turismo Sport.
Speaking of Xbox One X, we learned just yesterday from Xbox Games Marketing General Manager Aaron Greenberg that Microsoft is trying to manufacture as many units as possible to meet high demand.