Microsoft Will Focus Primarily On Xbox Live Usership, Not Console Shipments

[Dr.Henry_Killinger]

aLkaLiNE said:
As far as Microsoft leaving the console race goes, I don't see it happening until either A) their PC gaming presence is substantially bigger and we'll established or B) Xbox sales all but fail.

As it stands they are very well positioned to profit off of both markets. The caveat? On the PC side they're going against steam and wont be able to touch those margins for a long time. On the console side? They're losing to Sony and have, at this point lost that battle. So while MS might not be remarkable in any of its late ventures, it still brings In a fuck ton of money and it wouldn't make sense to nuke the Xbox brand at this point. With the rise of certain technologies, and given their hardware sales, whether or not they want to invest in one more console gen remains to be seen and it will probably be a reactionary choice to how certain services are embraced.

I agree that it is unlikely this is "The End" of Xbox, but it also suggests that they have nothing else positive to tell investors. Switching to software, seems reasonable, but can MS really make a dent in PC gaming? There hardware allows for a closed platform that protects its software from competition, but not on PC.