Xbox Business Update Podcast | Xbox Everywhere Direction Discussion
- Thread starter iroboto
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interesting perspectives here.
The way I see it, is this trying to get the word out that they may already be owning an xbox today with the devices that they have. So that they can jump straight into the ecosystem without needing to buy the hardware.
Considering most people want to play xbox games, or use game pass but don't want to buy a console to do that, I think that makes a lot of sense where MS is headed. That doesn't mean they are exiting the console business.
That won't happen until the console portion of their business is a meagre amount to the rest of the platform. Right now console represents the largest portion of xbox's revenues, it's not going anywhere for a long time.
The way I see it, is this trying to get the word out that they may already be owning an xbox today with the devices that they have. So that they can jump straight into the ecosystem without needing to buy the hardware.
Considering most people want to play xbox games, or use game pass but don't want to buy a console to do that, I think that makes a lot of sense where MS is headed. That doesn't mean they are exiting the console business.
That won't happen until the console portion of their business is a meagre amount to the rest of the platform. Right now console represents the largest portion of xbox's revenues, it's not going anywhere for a long time.
This strategy is a good way to eventually cement MS Gaming as a software and services business and move away from hardware. Xbox hw will be similar to the surface line and the focus now will be on pushing their software and services on as many devices as possible. Looking at the COD sales on playstation as well must be encouraging because MSFT makes money from that as a third party developer.
So these ads are the clearest indication yet that Xbox hardware is going to be very very niche if not eventually disbanded. We're possibly only going to have one more gen of hardware from MS if we're not yet on the last one. Its a good strategy. My only concern is MS may try to force its game store onto Sony and Nintendo's hardware once its hw business is no longer consequential to them.
So these ads are the clearest indication yet that Xbox hardware is going to be very very niche if not eventually disbanded. We're possibly only going to have one more gen of hardware from MS if we're not yet on the last one. Its a good strategy. My only concern is MS may try to force its game store onto Sony and Nintendo's hardware once its hw business is no longer consequential to them.
I would drive that line of thinking a little further and just see inevitability that Console hardware is going away and unless there is a massive technology switch that is super cheap and affordable. As long as there is a drive for more power and more graphical fidelity for games, these system power and cost to drive these graphics will go way above the mainstream console pricing.
From a software development perspective I dont see this. There's always going to be a case for launching day and date on multiple platforms and a case for launching on a specific platform either fully or timed exclusivity(More so the latter moving forward). Its just such a relief developing using tools that work, whose documentation and product support is good with fixed hardware/single target spec. I had to develop an Android application for work sometime this year and it wasnt the best experience considering how fragmented it is compared to iOS even though I prefer Java/Kotlin to Swift. iOS development is still superior(even though today there are also a lot of devices). The same thing is true for game development, game developers will continue gravitating to where they can make the most money as well which have the best experience, so Sony who releases one target spec at the beginning that is the base for developing over an 8 year period.
During the 360 gen MS had the best dev environment and support but under Phil they've made the business decision to step away from this and focus on being a Gaming Service company. I can see MS Gaming moving to put their focus on supporting multiplatform development instead of Xbox hw especially now with them coming out to say Xbox is not the Series X or S but even a PC running PC Gamepass store. But that comes with inherent pros and cons which are not trivial. Sony especially under Mark Cerny designs the hardware thinking about the Software developer first working backwards. With this approach even if living room console hardware goes away it will just move to the cloud. But most consumers are still going to be doing AAA gaming on console hardware either at home or in a cloud computing center. As opposed to say building a PC. As this gen stretches out we're going to see more people buy the base PS5 as its price goes down. And MS is making a clearer business move to compete as a successful third party developer that will profit from this regardless.
Again I think this is where the Software Development Cycle comes into play now that games take longer to develop, and generations lasting longer, console makers can spend more at the beginning of the gen and recoup the costs as well as make profits. Sony's PS5 has been profitable since around a year after launch and you can see with the pricing of the Pro they're pushing more aggressive margins. All this at a time when they faced severe hw bottlenecks due to a global pandemic at the start of the gen. Thats why I think the next gen playstation will release quite later than people think especially now there's a pro. By December 2028 the technological gap between the PS5/pro and the PS6 will be unfathomable and much more economical for them to do than if they release it in 2026 or 2027. Add a guaranteed cross gen period which will boost PS5/pro game sales from 2028 till 2030 and Sony can easily recoup the cost of R&D for the hw. MS is primarily going to focus on Gaming as a service during this period and its already making them good money. And they can even possibly create a great SDK for multiplatform development. In all this I think its not a zero sum game. MS Gaming will be monetarily successful as well as Sony will make more money selling hardware, cloud gaming. Console hardware even for consumers isnt going away anytime in the next 16 years
Devices not in that ad include Nintendo and Sony platforms. That's the rub, that Microsoft makes these ads and this all devices marketing, but at the same time try to say the Xbox console is relevant. They did this recently with the Indiana Jones reveal where they tried to only show it was coming to PS5 for a split second at the end of the reveal. Or how about when they started the year saying oNlY fOuR games are going to PS5, and they're not tentpole franchises (ie not Starfield), but by the end the year they're telling Bloomberg there's no red line for games releasing on other platforms. And so on.
I stated before Microsoft strings consumers along until they abandon and pivot. It should be clear now. Why buy an Xbox console when everything (including Nintendo and Sony platforms) is an Xbox? Gamepass? What about when Gamepass is on all devices to increase that MAU number they so clearly only care about?
Consider this, on every platform other than Xbox you get all the perks of that respective platform (games actually released on that system on time, lead platform development, "exclusives", etc), and you get Xbox content. It is only on Xbox where you just get Xbox. There's no and when it comes to Xbox. They're accelerating plans to make nothing exclusive and available everywhere, again in the name of the MAU. And they're no stranger to dropping consumer products, making the consumer's investment a waste.
Therefore, if a user must have a console, it should be anything but an Xbox. You still get everything Xbox (coming soon TM), in addition to everything on your chosen platform.
Spot on!! In as much as I didnt want this to be the case I think you're right but its at least good they're showing a clearer direction. They can pull it off successfully and make Xbox one of the best Gaming Services as long as they stay focused on that goal.
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