(Business Perspective) Does MS really need Xbox Hardware?

[Pemalite]

Azzanation said:

As a buisness it makes zero sense for MS to waste resources in the Hardware market, hence why they have been thinking of exiting almost every generation.

Where have you gotten the idea that Microsoft has considered "exiting" the console market with "every generation". - From an unverified, unreliable source? Or from Microsoft themselves?

Where is your factual evidence that backs up this claim?

Azzanation said:

Epic was upsetting more people by taking games off Steam weeks before release. Valve has been doing just great as the sole major PC platform. It does not need competition. Competition breeds bad behaviours like we have seen.

Before Steam came along, PC was relying on physical distribution. - That was Steams competition before alternatives to Steam arrived.

Valve needs competition, Epic is providing pressure to reduce the revenue split.

Azzanation said:

Sega didn't kill themselves, they couldnt compete. History shows Sega and Nintendo was healthy. The moment a 3rd enters, someone ends up exiting. Just look at all the companies who left the industry. The proof shows. Only 2 can maintain enough momentum. 

Sega made a series of poor choices which resulted in their unfortunate demise.

First poor choice was with the Sega Saturn... The Dual-processor approach made the console difficult to build games for, which drove up costs and development time... Which meant financially it wasn't enough to bolster Sega's financial position... This is in stark contrast to the PS1 which was very easy and cheap to make games for. - Or the Nintendo 64 which was technically superior.

Then you had the Dreamcast, which despite being a successful launch and being the first 6th gen console also made a series of mistakes.
Screwing over 3dfx which *was* the leader in 3D graphics put them at a disadvantage.. They could have had better graphics than the PS2 if they leveraged a 3DFX Voodoo chipset.

They also dumped millions and millions into various games to try and make a must-have title... Case in point, Shenmue, this eroded Sega's financial position that could have supported the Dreamcast for many more years.

However the Dreamcast was displaced by the Playstation 2 very quickly... Before the other 6th gen consoles released. Aka. Gamecube and Xbox. - So it was only competing against the PS2, it was a 2 horse race at the time of their downfall.

Blaming the downfall of Sega on there being multiple competitors is disingenuous and you have NOT paid enough attention to history, only what you want to believe.

Azzanation said:

PC doesn't didn't need competition. Nothing suggested it needed it. 

PC has always had competition. Always. Facts are facts buddy.

Azzanation said:

The goal is subs. GP is capable of making $1b a month and more if they can get it on more devices and not be hampered down by its own hardware. Remove the hardware, eat the losses and the upset fans, and spread GP to more and more people. It's a "lose a customer, and gain 3 more scenario."

You can't get subs if you don't have hardware to sell those subscriptions to.

Will Sony allow gamepass on it's consoles? Unlikely.

Azzanation said:

Sony will most likely accept GP if they don't have to compete with Xbox hardware and MS will surely modify it to suit Sony's needs. 

Sony doesn't have to do squat. It's their platform, they dictate the terms of what is allowed and not allowed on their platform, regardless of what you dream might happen.

Azzanation said:

MS wont drop the Series consoles, they will obviously do what they can to get the most out of those consoles, but moving forward the hardware is not needed. MS know more than everyone in this thread and many times they wanted to cut Xbox out of the console industry. 

It's a "Series" of consoles. I can assure you, there will be more consoles coming.

And you are entirely correct (For once). - Microsoft does know more than everyone in this thread on what their future plans are... And that includes YOU.

You are NOT the exception to this rule.

Azzanation said:

1) GP will make more than the figures mentions. Thats the point of it. If they market GP right and make the right deals with the right companies.

There will come a point where the number of monthly Gamepass subscribers will flat line.
Has it already started to slow in momentum yet?

Azzanation said:

2) If porting is an issue than they will do it via streaming which means no porting required.

Porting is still required if the hardware on the server side is different.

Azzanation said:

4) You think Sony and Nintendo only aim to sell 100m consoles and stop there? You believe they will turn down more sales because they won't accept a modified GP with 1st party Xbox titles? Why would they turn it down? Its not weather they need it, its weather if they can make money off it and Sony and Nintendo will make money off GP.

Sony and Nintendo will only make money off Gamepass if they allow it.

Thus far, that hasn't eventuated... So your hypothetical scenarios are without basis in reality.

Azzanation said:

5) Fun fact, GP is allowed on the Steam Deck.

Steamdeck isn't selling Switch levels of units.