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Forums - Microsoft - Update: Microsoft claims retailers remain "committed" to Xbox

Cerebralbore101 on 13 October 2025
Cerebralbore101 said:

It's so surreal watching Xbox take 2-3 console generations to implode and disappear, when other systems managed to do it in a single gen. Xbox fans just keep holding on after 13 years of almost nothing but bad news and a slow decline. They hit their peak with 360 and have been getting worse ever since. I imagine they will take another 7 years to fully dissolve into cloud/streaming. Big companies like MS, Amazon, Google, and Facebook all need to be broken up. Someone else could have entered the console space by now and done better. Or Sony could have been broken up too and we would have Playstation vs Playstation's spinoff company. Instead we have these Zombie corporations that are just placeholders and tie up enough of the market to make entering impossible for newcomers, while encouraging their competition to do less and less. It's like watching a two man footrace where one competitor just wants to walk. And the other competitor just walks slightly faster because he knows that he doesn't need to try to win. So you wind up with this boring non-competitive duopoly that we have now. Like trying to vote Republican or Democrat when both parties fully support raising rent, lowering wages, and bombing Gaza. 

I hate to quote myself here but just imagine if everything that happened to Xbox had happened in the traditional 5 years that consoles used to occupy. 

2012: XB1 Revealed. Disastrous pricing and anti-used games.

2013: Gamepass launches at $9.99. No more console exclusives. All MS games to go PC now too. Bungie leaves Halo. This is the start of the 5 year cycle.

2014: Gamepass goes up to 14.99. Microsoft buys Bethesda, Actiblizz, etc. Multiple XB1 games only have the 360 version on the disk with a mandatory download of the XB1 content. Halo Infinite launches with no co-op and no forge.

2015: Gamepass goes up to $16.99. Most Xboxes are now Digital-Only devices. A console model weak enough to be considered 7th gen launches and plays XB1 games poorly. Sales are still down despite the cheaper "SKU". The price of XB1 goes up by $50. Dishonored 2 is a disaster and Arakane closes. Mass layoffs at MS are announced. 

2016: Gamepass goes up to $19.99. Xbox announces a handful of 1st party games will launch on PS4 but claims only a few and this won't become a trend. Xbox starts claiming that your phone is an Xbox and your fridge is an Xbox so you don't really need an actual Xbox. 

2017: Xbox retailers are pulling it from shelves. Most Xbox exclusives are well on their way to PS4. Gamepass goes up to $29.99. This is the end of the 5 year cycle.

2018: Gen 9 Xbox launches. It's a PC prebuild and $200 more than PS5. It doesn't have a disc drive. 

2019: All Xbox accessories and retail product is finally reduced from half an end-cap to nothing. 

Last edited by Cerebralbore101 - on 13 October 2025

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curl-6 on 13 October 2025
Cerebralbore101 said:
Leynos said:

I don't know who is cheering for it. To me, it's just frustrating and baffling they have been since towards the end of the 360 era. People think it began with XBO but it began around 2008-2009 when Matrick took over. Then Phil, over the long term, did more damage than Matrick. It just amazes me that Xbox makes 90s SEGA look competent in management. DC was a beloved console, but SEGA just ran out of money to keep it going. No Xbox console since the 360 has been beloved. Just bad leadership. Ruining franchises. Lies and deception. Greed like EA. I wanted to see them turn it around. I think the Series X is a great piece of hardware, and they make the best controller. Just what has happened to this brand is sad and frustrating.

I got a late model 360 last year to pair with my multiformat monitor. It's crazy how many good and underrated Xbox 360 exclusives there were. So much of what they made like Halo Wars and Viva Pinata flew under the radar. If they just went back to that level of creativity I would be happy to buy Xbox games again. 

Yeah the 360 was an incredible console, to this very year I was still digging up great games on it that I missed back in the day like Ace Combat 6, Enslaved, Stranglehold, etc.

Condemned was another top notch 360 exclusive, as well as Lost Odyssey, Shadow Complex, Project Gotham Racing 3 and 4, etc.



Leynos on 14 October 2025
Cerebralbore101 said:
Leynos said:

I don't know who is cheering for it. To me, it's just frustrating and baffling they have been since towards the end of the 360 era. People think it began with XBO but it began around 2008-2009 when Matrick took over. Then Phil, over the long term, did more damage than Matrick. It just amazes me that Xbox makes 90s SEGA look competent in management. DC was a beloved console, but SEGA just ran out of money to keep it going. No Xbox console since the 360 has been beloved. Just bad leadership. Ruining franchises. Lies and deception. Greed like EA. I wanted to see them turn it around. I think the Series X is a great piece of hardware, and they make the best controller. Just what has happened to this brand is sad and frustrating.

I got a late model 360 last year to pair with my multiformat monitor. It's crazy how many good and underrated Xbox 360 exclusives there were. So much of what they made like Halo Wars and Viva Pinata flew under the radar. If they just went back to that level of creativity I would be happy to buy Xbox games again. 

Yeah I have been playing a lot of 360 lately. B action games. Been enjoying them. I have Stranglehold and Deadpool coming in the mail. It's my fave console of the 7th gen.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!