Xbox |OT|

[LudicrousSpeed]

The problem Xbox has isn’t GamePass, their problem is their hardware is selling a lot less than they expected. Their idea of the kind of revenue they’ll be pulling in and how much of it is affected by GamePass gets way out of whack when the pie is a lot smaller than expected. GamePass can still be profitable in that scenario, and multiple Xbox execs have said it is profitable numerous times, but what higher ups want to see is growth. And without a steady supply of new hardware owners, you don’t see growth.

Buying ABK only made this lack of growth all the more apparent to the higher ups and now they are trimming the fat. This sucks for the developers who lost their jobs, but overall it’s no different than what everyone else in the industry is doing right now.

The problem going forward for Xbox is how do they increase that revenue pool if the Series hardware is not going to sell what they expected? Well, obviously releasing more games on other platforms is the easiest route and they’ve already started taking it. But they’ll need to continue to show growth now that Nutella and the execs are keeping a close eye. Eventually they’ll have to start releasing their bigger games on other platforms as well.

Personally I’ve never given a shit about Xbox games on other consoles, because they’ve been on PC for generations now. The Xbox is NOT a console you buy if you want great exclusives, because exclusives simply don’t exist here. But the only worrying part about all of it is what happens to Xbox hardware. Papa Phil said a year or two ago that Xbox lost the most important generation because it was the generation where everyone built up their digital libraries and now people don’t want to lose access to that and I think he’s right. I don’t think there’s much of anything they can do to compete hardware wise with Sony or Nintendo so where does that leave them?

They’ve made numerous references recently to a next generation of Xbox hardware. Who knows if it will be a real dedicated successor to the Series hardware, of if it will just be something more like a PC with the Xbox UI. Something powerful for the hardware gamers. Maybe this pivot to releasing more of their games on other consoles is the only way they could make the numbers work to remain in the hardware business.

Also regarding Grubb, idk why anyone takes these “insiders” seriously anymore. Imagine walking something back like that so soon after you were so sure development was going the other way.