With the purchase of ABK, I think this could be the beginning of a change of direction for MS?
Is it possible that Gamepass and publishing is more important than having a console?
If Microsoft wants to get GP on PS5, and they do, then in all reality there is absolutely no reason to get an xbox, none at all. Why would MS invest in the hardware development to sell a handful of consoles at a loss and have all the third party games sold on PC and PS?
Would this be a possibility that MS would embrace?
They are coming out with smart TV apps and a usb streaming stick, they are investing in cloud gaming and then game pass. The fact that MS backed Epic in the Apple lawsuit tends to indicate they want GP on Apple and Android devices as well.
Then you have MS allowing Ubi to run their app on xbox and as a result bypassing having to buy Ubi games on Xbox to play it on xbox.
The future I could see from MS is development tools like DX12U, creating an engine to go against Epic, becoming the major publisher on the planet and selling games and GP on any and every platform. All of this together is bigger fish than having a console.
In my even longer term outlook I could see Sony also follow that same formula and we would see AMD, Nvidia and Intel be the ones creating consoles based on PC parts, but able to slide under your TV. All games will be made for PC, which means they would run on any of the boxes they create.
In the words of the great man Ross Lyon “Let the cobblers cobble”
You can read it anyway you like. I absolutely could see a time where Nvidia, AMD and Intel create gaming consoles, and Sony and MS becoming publishers and creators. Does Netflix or Disney make the smart TV’S that are used to stream their movie? Does Paramount or Warner Bros make the DVD player that you play their movie on?
There are metric fucktons of quality of life improvements for gaming experiences as to why to remain on the Xbox Platform from a consumer perspective.
Also, your future vision is way off. The future is customized Microsoft OS with Microsoft specified hardware in datacenters streaming the game to VR/AR headsets.
Nothing I am saying is to say that what MS is going to do with COD is wrong or right. It’s not saying “fuck MS they should get out of the console buisness”, it looking at where the industry will go. AMD are basically making the PS5 and XSX, so why wouldn’t they just make the hardware to play all games on? It’s their core buisness, they are better suited for it.
In the future I could see it be Nvidia vs Intel and AMD in the console wars. 30 years ago I would never have thought Sega would have been a publisher only, and that Microsoft would makes consoles, and that Nintendo would be making underpowered hand helds only.
But yet, here we are.
I mean MS said a few times they are trying to put Gamepass on Playstation, and if that happens i don’t think their console would survive, so it’s not a terrible take.
One could say Gamepass would be their new platform.
I think Xbox has as much potential as Gamepas, at least short-mid term, but it looks like their main focus is GP, we’ll see, it doesn’t depend just on them either so.
All those PlayStation Exclusive games will come to a Microsoft OS (PC) in five years time, which is the shortest time frame I took the OP to be referring to. So I’ll take those QOL in addition to all the games.
Xbox makes 8 billion a year in ecosystem revenues. It’s part of the Game Pass calculus. The only way they go third party is if the full Xbox experience goes along. Which frankly isn’t a bad thing. Hardware is a loss, ecosystems are the game. A PC like market where you only have to buy one system and have multiple launchers would be great.
The full Xbox experience includes hardware though. Without it you lose what makes it special, for fans anyway. I don’t see many Netflix fans out there with awesome communities.
That’s a fair point, but I think ultimately, if there was a universal box you accessed with an Xbox controller and clicked an app to be in the Xbox UI for Xbox games, it’d basically be an Xbox.
Hell, I think MS will always make Xboxes. They standardize XCloud.
All I mean is, ultimately, Xbox on PlayStation or PC or whatever would not be clicking on CoD or Halo and starting it. It’d be a virtual Xbox. Because it would make no economic sense otherwise unless it highly influences Microsoft’s other holdings (which is why they allow their stuff on Steam. It forces players onto Windows).
