From reading this it sounds like the core Xbox that we have isn’t changing.
We’re going to keep meeting players where they are — the world continues to evolve and change. We’re going to make sure Xbox is a great place for developers and players. We want to invest in reducing the artificial divide between different types of devices that they want to use with us. I think that’s going to mean a lot more investment in breaking down the barriers, in helping developers build once and show up across different hardware experiences. For me, I believe Xbox starts with its fans, and we’ll grow from there. That’s what I wanted to signal with the “return” to Xbox."
In general neither Booty nor Sharma really said anything new - that console hardware isn’t going away, that they won’t force AI (it’s a tool), that they aren’t turning into a third party publisher, that they are committed to respecting gamer’s library, etc - , but the problem is that Microsoft and Xbox have continously said this stuff and the internet refuses to believe them because reasons. My thinking is that the new CEO being someone completely new and someone with more of a marketing background is intentional. I think Xbox is set in its larger platform strategy and that’s future proofed, but they want to change how they market it. Xbox does (Microsoft really) does have a major marketing problem and is very poorly perceived no matter what. It’s echoed so often on this forum but yeah, Sony and Nintendo get away with anything while every little thing means Xbox is dying or dead (for the billionth time).
It doesn’t sound like they’re moving away from plans to push “Xbox everywhere” but more that they want to change how the public views “Xbox everywhere”. What Sharma described as the “return to Xbox” is just what Xbox has been doing and signaling for the longest but with different messaging.
I’m not for exclusive games however OS exclusivity I think is better. Much like Android and iPhone. I think it’s also much simpler and easier to deal with. I think saying these games are all available on windows is much better just like you don’t say this game is available on Samsung galaxy rather you say it’s available on Android at the Play store or the App store. In the same way it’s better to say this movie is available on DVD or Blu-ray and so on.
They pretty much said nothing. The way I see it nextgen with the hybrid console was where they were going towards from the start, but someone needed to play the intermediate leading to the transition, which fell on Phill and Sarah. Phil and Sarah are the ones that went multiplat and being blamed for the console direction while it was the top (Satya and Amy Hood) pushing for cloud integration and higher returns. now Asha is being put in as someone that leads everything back even though it seems that’s not really the case.
To me it seems with all that is going on there seems to be an interest in Microsoft having an everywhere like phone device which might be a reason to push for consoles especially if they are still doing the handheld.
Doesn’t at all seem like they’re sunsetting Xbox as of right now at least and I understand that it is way too early to really grasp at what the future of the brand will be but I do wonder if there’s suits within Microsoft who wouldn’t allow a shutdown of Xbox simply because it is really their only “cool” product and maybe even a soulless corporation such as themselves understands the value of that, I don’t understand why Seamus threw that quote out there even if he feels that way, maybe he could’ve kept that to himself and wait and see how the first few months go at least, because the amount of headlines that created is crazy, obviously grifting off of Xbox is a job to some content creators but that threw more fuel to the fire and more content for those people. The Act Man makes another “Xbox is dead but for real now guys I swear” even though this guy has been making Xbox death videos for years now lol, like I have to imagine they just want it to happen at this point so they can say they were right.
Hopefully Xbox finds a way to make a viable handheld console that is at least equivalent to Series S with whatever the next high end next gen system is, even if all games won’t be exclusive again I think it would be great for Xbox hardware to regain significant market share is to make a handheld that can play all 3rd party games out there, sure the Switch 2 is great but it won’t play GTA6 for example or the next Elder Scrolls or any demanding 3rd party game, I’m sure Xbox can make a handheld system that can do all of that.
I also don’t think they’re sunsetting Xbox but there seems to be some big reason for all this now. Many are hailing these as a move Satya made based on the almost 1 trillion dollars wiped off their market cap. This might be for them the only viable place for AI to make sense now. Seeing as the bubble is bursting and some of the real places that AI makes sense now seems more like in Robotics. The AI that I see gaining traction are the ones I see on YouTube used for recreating movie experiences like the Jackie Chan one and that display at the Chinese festival of robots performing martial arts and dancing which seemed straight out of iRobot sent the world in awe. I imagine seeing China doing all this must have a lot of investors second guessing if they put their investment in the right place.
In any case it’s what makes me think Microsoft wants their own tech like a handheld that shows they are still in the race and have not been left behind and Xbox to me seems like the best place to showcase this. Recommitting to hardware seems like a good gesture to garner fans and public interest.
They’ve certainly gained a lot of viewers even if it isn’t to favor them, but it certainly puts a whole lot more eyes on Xbox.
Ms has all these businesses. They all don’t need hyper growth. Ai, data centers, cloud are their hyper growth segments. Is office growing? I’ll just assume it stays pretty static but its cashflow fuels reinvestment into the growth businesses. Xbox can be similar but with an upside since Xbox market share has plenty of room to grow. Just let it and the current strategies incubate for a while.
It’s felt like Microsoft has pulled back a lot on their previous warhawk push for AI in everything. I actually might dare to say it feels like they’ve acknowledged the bubble, and are trying to build out something more sustainable. At the very least they seem to have pulled back on the forced AI in everything features people didn’t like. It could also just be that because Microsoft doesn’t have a mobile device to serve as a gateway for their AI push that they’re just having to refocus.
"I think we’ve got one of the best portfolios out there, even in the entertainment industry more broadly in terms of that range…”
They aren’t wrong in this statement and I love that they specifically called out how good it is to have both massive blockbuster cookie cutters like COD and highly creative smaller adventures like South of Midnight. I have no idea if Microsoft actually believes and sees the value in that, but I think Microsoft is starting to (hopefully) catch on to the value in a front facing consumer business people actually feel attached toward.
Sure it makes sense. The fact there’s currently a bit of a disaster in the RAM & GPU market due to AI lends towards shoring up what they’ve already got as well. Which means perhaps injecting some life into the Series consoles, by any means necessary.
It’s great hardware and a real shame it’s fallen off a cliff. The Series X is the best place to play Xbox… because it’s an Xbox. It sounds stupid typing that but it’s been overlooked for too long.
I wouldn’t say they said nothing, but there’s certainly no bombshells here. They said all the right things, but all those things have been said before. It does feel like a game of smoke and mirrors in that I don’t think anything is actually changing (it doesn’t even sound like they want to really change the strategy everyone supposedly hates), but that they are trying to change how that strategy is perceived. I think Sharma was brought on to do the marketing first and foremost. It could even be that she was brought on because they feel safe in their current plans and direction. Unlike following Mattricks era, Xbox doesn’t need to have this massive big strategy shift and realignment, but it does need to make people think it did and get them onboard. We’ve ripped off a lot of bandages this gen allowing next gen to probably feel more accepted. Changing CEOs makes it feel more like a blank slate, even if it isn’t, and Sharma’s job will be in selling the future of Xbox to gamers.
Agreed the Series consoles are awesome and easy to use, but there’s no reason a hybrid console wouldn’t be too.
For example I’ve swapped between my PC and XSX multiple times for games over the last few years, both first party (Avowed for example) and third party (Powerwash Simulator 2 and others) - it was seamless, with install / update / play all pretty much identical whether using the Xbox PC app or my XSX, both using an Xbox controller to play without any setup and with no settings needing to be changed - and save games automatically being there.
Xbox is already built on Windows, so if the hybrid has a slimmed down gaming Windows behind it and allows everything to be accessed via a controller plus has backwards compatibility, no one will be able to tell the difference unless they want to go tinkering - or because other stores may be there too.
The few people I’ve talked to who are fearful of Xbox’s future generally haven’t seen how seamless it now is across platforms - and PC gamers I know are willing to consider a hybrid Xbox for GTA6 etc and some are even giving the Xbox app a try now, which was unthinkable a few years back given Steam’s dominance
That’s why it’s pretty much nothing. Nothing new. She came in saying what many wanted to hear just like a politician. Only time will tell what she really is about, and you can bet social media will be on her like a hawk.
I don’t think Xbox was lost I just think the messaging and definition was not rock solid. In my opinion Xbox ought to just be an OS or a gaming format just like with movies. If it is an OS, it will fall more into the categories of iPhone and android or a format like VHS, DVD or Blu-ray.
I see these changes, initially, as positive. Spencer did a good job on bringing gaming in a financially relevant position in MS. However, the late campaign of everything is a Xbox, in my opinion, was desastrous and confuse. Seeing return o Xbox on her speech, as much as it seems like smoke and mirrors right now, at least acknowledge that they got they went too far in that campaign. Xbox is a videogame console that you plug in the TV, connect it to a controller, relax and play the games we like. Yes, you can play it’s games on other devices, however, my mobile, because I can play some xbox games on it, is not a godamn Xbox. Time will tell, hope for the best.
I’d equally say that the Series X|S shouldn’t be treated as the WiiU or dying Sega consoles for that matter. They’re financially mediocre. The most critical I can be is seeing them as “lame duck” consoles having dealt with everything (long cross Gen, COVID delay, AI shortages, economic inflation, etc).
Guys I disagree. Big changes are coming for Xbox. If Microsoft was happy with how Xbox was working Sarah Bond would be the CEO of Xbox. If Microsoft wanted to leave the console business they would have hired Matt Booty to just run the studios. The future of gaming is Xbox! They have 40 studios. Matt Booty said they are a 1st party developer, well it’s time for you to go back to making 1st party games reflect the consoles you are selling. I have one more question for Microsoft Was it worth it to ship all those games on PlayStation, Nintendo and Switch to see those gamers bash Xbox every day and Xbox gamers? Was it worth it for the gaming media and content creators to say Xbox is dead every day? I personally want Microsoft to take market share from PlayStation, Nintendo and Steam. How they do that I’ll wait for Asha
I mean just financially speaking, yes, yes it was worth it to Microsoft. The biggest games that went over like Forza Horizon and Sea of Theives did GANGBUSTERS. Gaming media had already been saying Xbox is dead for years. Gamers have been basing the platform for eons. I really raise an eyebrow at the idea of Microsoft putting the genie back in the bottle because what have they ever cared about exclusivity or for that matter what people online are saying when profits are on the line. I’m not even sure how well exclusive games can even sustain themselves anymore. Just look at Sony’s output and how many of their partners have dropped exclusivity. Nintendo is only different because they’re allowed (by their fans) to charge higher prices for less expensive to make games.
If exclusivity (to an extent that matters and isn’t just like an exclusive Keeper) and a really aggressive strategy against Nintendo and PlayStation to steal market share are what Microsoft want then I’d be really surprised. The entire console market seems to small for Microsoft and they as a company have always pursued open ecosystems and putting their software everywhere. They’ve been successful putting their games everywhere as well. Xbox now dominates the Playstation storefront, new audiences have boosted engagement across all platforms for the online games, and the most expensive highest quality first party games have sold really really well on Playstation and Switch (of available) which again would be all I’d think Microsoft cares about. Especially with the rising costs of development I don’t see them making those huge AAA games that turn heads exclusive and then the creative AA games aren’t really stealing market share (even AAA exclusives struggle to do that now with how fixed gamers are). I’d sooner believe that there’s internal pushback against Microsoft wanting to put all games everywhere and maximize revenue than that Microsoft is mad at Phil and Sarah for doing that and now looking for new leadership that’ll reverse course and double down on exclusives.
