Microsoft's Xbox boss Don Mattrick has spoken out to defend the Xbox One's $500 price point, saying the company is in fact over-delivering value with the next-generation system.
"It's a lower number than some of the analysts had forecasted," Mattrick said on Bloomberg TV. "We're over-delivering value against other choices I think consumers can get. Any modern product these days you look at it [and] $499 isn't a ridiculous price point. We're delivering thousands of dollars of value to people, so I think they're going to love it when they use it."
Competitor Sony will offer its PlayStation 4 at $400 this holiday season, but Mattrick believes consumers will choose Xbox One for its suite of exclusive services and applications like an improved Xbox Live, as well as Skype, Twitch TV, SmartGlass, and Kinect.
"We're really making the living room your center of fun for your family," Mattrick said.
Every Xbox One will include a Kinect 2.0 sensor, while PS4 gamers will need to pay $60 to purchase a PlayStation Eye camera.
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.
God how arrogant, they make Sony in 2006 look normal.
they do love to throw that word around value. how can it be value when you are forcing users how are not interested in parts of the console and and being forced to pay and call it value
MS pr protocol, Put foot in mouth.