This week there were two very important news for Xbox. The first was the confirmation that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a game that was supposed to be exclusive to its consoles, will arrive on PS5 just a few months after its initial release. Which could open the door for more ports.
Then we had the news that Sea of Thievescreated by one of its studios and brought to PS5 in April, became a hit on Sony’s console. Which shows that their multi-platform strategy is paying off. The problem is that by pushing it forward they are turning their backs on both their own console and their community.
Why do we think Xbox is killing its console?
Xbox is making its consoles less and less necessary
Since the last generation, Xbox has been struggling with the sales of its consoles. In the case of the One, they started off on the wrong foot due to questionable statements by Don Mattrick, forcing the use of Kinect and also the impossibility of lending games even if they were physical.
Although One sales have strengthened over time, even Phil Spencer himself considered it a serious mistake to ‘miss’ that generation. Many opted for a PlayStation 4 to build their digital libraries there, so the Series X/S started at a disadvantage that grows more and more.
Month after month, sales of Xbox Series X/S are declining and are being surpassed by those of PS5 and even by Nintendo Switch which has already been on the market for seven years. The reasons could be several, but the most likely thing is that there is a lack of true must-have exclusives on the console.
As if this were not enough, Virtually since the beginning of this generation, Microsoft has had simultaneous releases of its ‘exclusives’ on both consoles and PCs.. Not to mention that over time they are increasingly promoting the use of mobile devices or even Amazon’s Fire TV Stick to enjoy their games. With all those options, what would be the point of buying one of their consoles?
Its multi-platform strategy only further harms console sales
In addition to Xbox itself promoting the use of other smart devices to play its games through the use of Game Pass, we have its multi-platform strategy. With this what they are doing is practically telling the users of the competition ‘Just wait a little and it will be yours‘.
It should also be added that the wait for their games to be released on other platforms is not as long as what PlayStation does with most of its PC releases. For example, in the case of Hi-Fi Rush They waited a year, but now with Indiana Jones it will only be a matter of months. Is anyone really that desperate to buy a whole new console instead of waiting a bit for games that catch their eye?
Not to mention other releases from Xbox studios that were already announced from the beginning for other platforms. Here we have the case of Doom The Dark Ages and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 which will arrive at the same time on both Microsoft and Sony consoles and on PC.
But again, due to the mistakes of the last generation, PS5 has a clear lead in sales, while PC is becoming a more viable option that gets the best of both worlds and simultaneous releases of Xbox games. Not forgetting that it also has its own Game Pass that even has better prices and offers than the console one.
With these alternative options and knowing that only with patience can you play most of these games, it is obvious which one is more suitable. It’s more viable to build a gaming PC to enjoy everything or buy a PS5 to play its true exclusives than to give an Xbox console a chance.
It’s true that exclusives no longer generate as much income, but they still serve to bring people to your console.
Following the decision to bring his games to other multiplatforms, Phil Spencer has spoken quite a bit about the goal. According to him, it is part of the business and he insists that all the big companies see this and are looking for ways to grow. The truth is that there is evidence of this and not just from Xbox.
PlayStation also changed its secrecy regarding its exclusives to try its luck with some simultaneous releases on PC with Concord and Helldivers II. In addition, it has already brought other exclusives to this platform, but after waiting between two and three years for it to attract people to its console. Not to mention that Lego Horizon will already share it with Nintendo Switch.
While exclusive games in recent years are no longer the sales behemoths they once were, they do attract audiences. They manage to make this or that console sell because only there will it be possible to play those titles that attract attention.Just look at the Nintendo Switch, the only one that still has closely guarded exclusives and that continues to be a champion in console sales despite having been on the market for seven years and with less power.
You could call Xbox visionary for anticipating market trends. But as the competition shows, there is still plenty of room to fight. It seems that they simply see the poor sales of their console and prefer to seek income elsewhere.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that they’re killing their console, but Xbox is lying to its community
Since the above points provide enough evidence that Xbox is killing its consoles, we want to talk about another very noticeable problem. Phil Spencer and company constantly lie to their community. We don’t know if it’s on purpose or if they just need a better communications department.
Let’s remember his presentation from a few months ago where they assured that they would only release four multiplatform games. In addition, Phil Spencer said at the time that Indiana Jones and Starfield would remain exclusive. Well, we already have Indiana Jones on the way for PS5 and strong rumors that Starfield will also do so shortly after its first expansion. This will surely not stop.
Another example of possible lies or lack of communication is that the entire year that Hi-Fi Rush was on Xbox, it was showered with praise. They even thanked the millions of players who gave it a chance and called it a success several times. Well, we don’t know what their definition of success is if they shut down Tango Gameworks after the game ‘failed to meet their expectations’. Didn’t they spend a whole year applauding?
There have been many times when their actions do not match their words and that should change. Especially with their most loyal fans who usually defend them tooth and nail but in the end are the ones who are most affected. With price increases and what seem to be punishments for having bought their console.
After all, they were practically beta testers for the versions of the games that came to PS5 with all the improvements of the Xbox version. Not to mention that now the cheaper tiers of Game Pass will receive their studios’ games much later than their releases on Sony’s console. Why treat the community that always supports you like this?
Is it time to embrace Xbox’s cross-platform future?
With all the acquisitions and all the big name IPs they’ve bought in the last few years, Xbox as a brand or ecosystem is sure not going to disappear. However, it seems increasingly evident that as a console it could be one of its last generations. Unless they change their strategies.
It seems that what interests them most now is to extract as much money as possible from multiple sources, which is not a bad thing. After all, we have already seen that their strategy worked. The problem is that, despite all their actions, neither they nor their fans accept that this is the case.
They even promised that they are already working on a much more powerful console that will offer the biggest graphical leap in generations. But what’s the point of releasing a more powerful console if you’re just going to let it die? In addition, power is not a factor that influences sales. The PS5 has already been shown to be inferior to the Xbox Series X and sells more. Not to mention the Nintendo Switch, which does not shine in power but is still the champion of the people.
All while assuring their community that they will always come first and are focused on giving them the best experiences. In addition to their motto of ‘when we all play, we all win.’ Except for Xbox users who have to pay more and more for Game Pass, they are left without several exclusives and even lose the opportunity to play other experiences because developers are already skipping over to Microsoft’s console.
If the company no longer has faith in its own console, perhaps it’s time to let them be multiplatform and keep those beautiful moments that it gave us in the 360 era. That was a great generation for Xbox.
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