While Microsoft has tried to put a happy face on things, the future of Xbox – at least Xbox as a distinct brand with its own hardware and exclusives – has never been more in question. Last month Microsoft tried to calm worries with an Xbox Business Update, in which they revealed several older, smaller-scale games were going multiplatform, but that others, like Starfield, aren’t for now. Furthermore, they vowed to continue working on new hardware which will, apparently, deliver the “largest technical leap ever” (how they plan to deliver on that boast, I don’t know).
That all sounds good, but it may bump up against some rather stark realities Xbox is facing in the console space. According to GameIndustry.biz’s Christopher Dring, who’s proven to be a reliable source of industry new in the past, he’s heard from a “very prominent” publisher and another indie pub that Xbox Series X/S performance is “flatlining” in Europe. It was already not good last year, with some European retailers dropping Xbox Series X/S altogether, but it’s said to be even worse this year, to the point publishers are beginning to question why they’re bothering to support Xbox.
The possibly concerning points don’t end there – per Dring, he’s heard the “majority” of Xbox exclusives will end up on PS5 at some point, and that less focus is being put on Game Pass, which has largely plateaued in terms of popularity. Of course, take this with a grain of salt, but GamesIndustry isn’t known for pushing sensationalist headlines or sketchy rumors.
Microsoft can say they want to keep making hardware all they want, but if publishers stop being interested in putting their software on your platform, that’s where reality comes into play. That’s when things started to get scary for Nintendo during the Gamecube era. That’s what happened to Sega before they were forced to abandon hardware. “PC, PlayStation, and Xbox” being the standard platforms for all third-party games just isn’t something Microsoft can count on forever. With the purchase of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is now one of the biggest third-party publishers in the world, and it’s going to be hard to escape gravity pulling them further in that direction.
What do you think? Do you see a future where a traditional Xbox platform remains a thing or is the writing on the wall?
