Nat Brown Write: I was a founder of the original xBox project at Microsoft and gave it its name. Almost 14 years after the painful, pointless, and idiotic internal cage-match to get it started and funded, the hard selling of a compelling and lucrative living-room product to Bill (and then Steve as he began to take over), a product that consumers would want and love and demand...
But the past 5 years, and the last year in particular, have been simply painful to watch. Coasting on past momentum. Failing to innovate and failing to capitalize on innovations like Kinect. Touting strategic and market success when you’re just experiencing your competitor’s stumbling failure (yes, Sony, Nintendo – you are, I’m afraid, stumbling failures). A complete lack of tactical versus strategic understanding of the long game of the living room. It culminated for me in recent coverage of....a new LA xBox studio to create interactive content.
Microsoft has announced the Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox will be discontinued in April and has confirmed that weekly streaks will also be coming to an end.
It feels like the video game console is at a crossroads. With Xbox Series X and S floundering in the ‘console war’, Sony suggesting PlayStation 5 is approaching the second half of its life after missing sales targets, and uncertainty around the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, there is growing concern that the traditional video game console business could be under threat.
It's obvious that MS is leaving the console biz. MS may have tons of money, but that doesn't mean they want to keep losing money on the gaming division to prove a point. Thanks Phil
Good article and this is not a duplicate. The link that @Maximus Prime shared is just a small portion of the full interview. This post is the full interview.
Times are changing quick, the same ol way the industry been is changing. Where people play is changing.
“What I think Phil is doing is setting up some smoke signals that we're thinking very differently”
I’m surprised how slowly Microsoft is moving toward Xbox as a software platform. They usually don’t care so much about upsetting their customers with unpopular changes like they do with every other version of Windows.
This "console market hasn't grown narrative " is overblown. The market has grown just not as fast as say smartphones. But so what? There is still money to be made in the business and just because Microsoft has failed doesn't mean the entire industry is facing sudden collapse. Gaming will be fine, every industry has to go through periods of restructuring. AAA games are made becuase its what attracts gamers the most and is where they spend the most money. (Demand/supply) Microsoft abandoning hardware should have happened years ago, they clearly lost interest at a base level in producing games and/or paying 3rd parties to back during the tail end of the 360 generation. Tired of hearing about the future of gaming, just make great games and/or invest in one's made by other to attract people to your platform.
"All signs point to the hardware becoming less and less important to Microsoft."
Less innovation and competition. People act like if MS went away life would be better but it would just mean you have one less choice as to where to spend your money. If Sony became the defacto home console provider and Nintendo the handheld, then these companies could limit what you get and you would ultimately have very little choice but to support them if you want to play games.
I was a video that suggested that Steam could potentially get into the console market if Xbox ceases to exist. They already had the Steam Machine(?), and they have the Steam Deck for the portable market. I’m not in the pc space at all so I wouldn’t know if that would be a realistic statement.
No Xbox future I am going to guess Microsoft will go down the path Sega choose and be a publisher/game developer with their in house studios. Or sell off their in house studios and just go back to making os for PC's. I highly doubt the second part. Microsoft like any company wants to make money. So if Microsoft did say pull the plug on Xbox I see them going down the path Sega went. And utilize Xbox as a brand and not just as a console. I can see the name of XBox being mainly a brand after that. And maybe with the game you see published by or developed by Xbox studios.
Wow, the rage...so palpable.
"yes, Sony, Nintendo - you are, I'm afraid, stumbling failures".
I'm sorry, but if this dude is indeed focusing more on the past year he is SORELY mistaken with that comment.
Sony has turned things around so much these past 2-3 years. I bought a PS3 when they first launched, and even I had to admit they had basically no games and their service wasn't that great. However lately, with PS+, tons of wonderful exclusives, a re-branding and unification of its services, Sony has really done a wonderful job as opposed to when they started out this generation.
Nintendo is really picking things up as well. The Wii U launch wasn't so hot, but with titles like X, Fire Emblem/Shin Megami, Wind Waker HD, etc., it appears as though they're really starting to try appealing to hardcore fans in the near future. I may not own a Wii U, but I'm excited for those that do, and look forward to its future (which is one I'm seriously considering investing in now.)
So I'm sorry buddy, but after that comment he made, it's kind of hard to take him seriously... Obviously he isn't paying attention to what's going on lately.
He's so bitter.
Good luck getting another job in the industry.
What a nob. screaming at the moon.
This guy doesn't understand universal UI design. All those things he complains about may annoy him, but are necessary for the common person and help to inform users of changes that they may have accidentally have performed. It's a "Better Safe Than Sorry" UI design.