I agree it was mostly the software. There are other factors that played in as well, such as the damage done through the Don Mattrick era still casting a shadow, the series X not showing a performance advantage over the PS5, the narrative about the series S holding the industry back and so on, but the major factor in my opinion was the software situation, that being the lack of compelling first party titles.
Apart from a brief window in late 2021, there was never a time when it felt like Xbox came close to fulfilling on the promise of one big game per quarter. Of having system seller games. Instead long periods of drought and disappointing console exclusives like Redfall.
Playstation had droughts too, but they are the mindshare- and console market leader, it's Xbox that would have needed to catch up.
Going forward I don't see Xbox hardware sales being competitive again, and they also don't focus on that at all. That's over. Their app, their cloud solution, yes, those can be competitive, but not whatever last console they might come up with next.
Last edited by Bizwas - on 15 January 2025
