130°

Microsoft: Is Their Failure Inevitable? Probably Not...

While you’d think we all eagerly await the announcement of the next Xbox from Microsoft (MS), it seems some parties have a somewhat different view on what the future holds. Forbes analyst Adam Hartung recently delivered what can only be described as an utterly damning verdict of MS’s future chances, suggesting that the company’s failure may already be inevitable, and their entertainment section could be sold to Sony!

Anything said by an analyst with a grain of salt as their every statement seems to be intended to get their name into the press but is there any cause for concern?

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thisismyjoystick.com
TheLyonKing4469d ago

To one word: Money

Even if they fail it won't stop them

NastyLeftHook04469d ago

gotta have that street cred tho. when i skateboard i know alot of people who have mongoose decks and there crap(break and snap easy (too heavy) and you can get them anywhere, point is that money can only get you so far. and thats why i am sticking with a certain company i want.

and ps: i want to buy that doll.

dedicatedtogamers4469d ago

Well, what does "fail" really mean? A lot of idiots called the PSP a failure, yet it sold nearly 80 million and had a gigantic library of awesome JRPGs, puzzle games, action games, etc. (stuff that wasn't available or possible on the DS).

I guess some people just want everything except their favorite to be a failure.

StrongMan4469d ago

It will fail if the rumors about always online, used games blocked, Kinect required, and Kinect spying on you are true. MS employees are already defending always requiring an online connection to play so that the next Xbox always requiring an online connection must be true.

steve30x4469d ago

When the normal joe soap brings home their shiny new console , connects it up and BAM!!!! they cant play their games without online connection then thats when the hurt will start hitting. I know a few people with PS3's and Xbox 360's that dont have their consoles connected to the internet and they dont want to do so either. Microsoft is thinking inside their own box and not venturing outside the box if they think always online is a good thing.

shutUpAndTakeMyMoney4469d ago (Edited 4469d ago )

this proves xbox online rumor is not true!!

Xbox fans stand up!!
http://n4g.com/news/1225655...

then

http://n4g.com/news/1225873...

xbox ftl!

DivineAssault 4469d ago

if rumors are true, they will fail.. Im sure their media options will be better than PS4 as well as their camera but that always online, & required install for games will kill it.. Not to mention if they continue catering to casuals with camera games & not stepping up their exclusives.. They will dig their own grave but who knows? This can all be false but i for one will buy PS4 day 1... Not doing that with nx box regardless what cool things illumiroom kinect 2.0 or media apps it has.. Games are all i care about & installing all of em isnt something i want to do

baldulf4469d ago (Edited 4469d ago )

Microsoft was able to sold Kinect by simply throwing a bazillion dollars in marketing.

They would do the same with Durango. Maybe some EA exclusive to sweet the deal and people would even eat a mandatory Gold live service. Yeah, consumers are that dumb.

mcstorm4469d ago

@baldulf this is not true. Just because money is thrown at something's dose not mean it will be a success.

The Original Xbox had a load of money thrown at it yet it was outsold by the PS3. WP7 has just as much money as Kinect put into it yet it was not a success its only now starting to get a grip of the market due to Nokia pushing the hardware and it now getting the Apps it was missing.

For a product to sell it has to have hype and also work. Kinect did work and worked very well for games like Kinect Sports and Dance central. This is the Market that MS wanted to get into and this is where it sold. Yes it was a flop in terms of Core games but was better than Move and Wii Mote for games like this.

I work in the IT industry and ive been following Google, Apple and Microsoft over the past 10 years and seen Apple and Google over take Microsoft in a lot of areas that Microsoft had a grip on and Microsoft deserved to lose out in some of the Markets like Phone and Tablets because they were just looking in one direction but now MS have woken up and the start of having one eco system could see MS over take Google and Apple again on the next 10 years as they are now making very good products. WP8 is a very stable and fast growing OS and Nokia to push it. The surface is imo the best tablet on the market at the moment and offers more than Android tablets and IOS and then adding that to the rise in touch screens over the next few years Windows 8 is ahead of OSX and Chrome. MS will also have the xbox to sit in the middle of WP and Windows that will connect everything together form Games, Music & videos to work Skype ect.

I think in the games industry Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will have a good gen this up and coming gen though and I don't think there will be a clear winner like in the last 3 gens come the end of it.

4469d ago
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240°

‘I think Xbox hardware is dead’, says Microsoft gaming veteran

One of the founding members of the Xbox team has questioned Microsoft’s multiplatform gaming strategy, and said they believe the Xbox hardware business is effectively “dead"

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videogameschronicle.com
1d 8h ago Replies(3)
Goodguy011d 6h ago

Think that rumor that they'll still make a new console but at a profit at $1000 will be true though. The series consoles will remain their cheap alternative throughout next gen I would say. Keep in mind that game pass and pretty much going 3rd party is their main focus. They want to bring xbox everywhere.

1d 6h ago
GamerRN9h ago

If they don't maintain some kind of console presence, I think they will lose gamepass subscribers and just become a 3rd party publisher who eventually sells everything off

Cacabunga8h ago

Xbox games are releasing on all platforms. Who needs this hardware? PS or PC is all you need

Flewid6387h ago

I've never owned an Xbox in my life and I have GamePass.

thorstein6h ago

The only Xbox I owned was the 360. I have gamepass for my PC.

GamerRN1h ago

Majority of Gamepass users are currently on console...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1h ago
crazyCoconuts8h ago

Even if they could get it down to $800 for a box that can run with comparable performance to a PS6 (at, say $200 cheaper) the population of people willing to buy such a thing would be so limited.
It would be the worst of both worlds.

1d 4h ago
Futureshark18h ago

A slow, painful and public death too.

Show all comments (62)
300°

Looming Xbox layoffs threaten Microsoft's reputation

Even as the company sets out to overhaul the very definition of Xbox, cuts at its studios risk creating a negative image reminiscent of EA's worst era

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gamesindustry.biz
Jingsing3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

I appreciate the article but this guy must be living in a delayed universe, The reputation was ruined 10+ years ago and hasn't recovered since. As such people have voted with their wallets and stopped buying Xbox products in large amounts.

YourMommySpoils2d ago

Their reputation was lost way before that. From the moment Microsoft said they entering the console business, we all knew it would be a downgrade.

Bathyj1d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

That's not true at all the OG Xbox had drive and they had hunger and they wanted to accomplish something. It was a great console.

they didn't quite reach their goals and they gave up prematurely because they couldn't win. It was halfway through the Xbox 360 when kinect released and that was when they lost their way and we're a rudderless ship ever since

Agent751d 12h ago

In all fairness, Xbox had some great games with online play, Xbox 360 even better. Xbox consoles started to die with the Xbox One. Ditch consoles for the PC and PS.

YourMommySpoils1d 4h ago

@Bathyj hard to compute ay. Xbox was never better than a PC and that's all they ever were. A demo box. Doesn't get more true than that.

3d ago Replies(1)
isarai3d ago

What reputation is this threatening exactly? 😂

Lightning773d ago

Rumors of Turn 10 being either shut down or hit with massive lay offs is on the horizon.

The issue is MS will do something right only to do something very, very wrong. And they do this what seems calculative at this point. Doesn't matter what they do the Investors and leadership want more and more money an endless bottomless pit of purr insatiable greed. A company that acts like it's broke or hurting is what really, really infuriates me. They've surpassed apple again well over 3 trillion who acts like they're a million dollar company is fk stupid. Pivots and changes for no reason and can't do things for more than a year with out a pivot or changing their metrics.

Christopher2d ago

That would be really bad since Phil just hyped up next year as a big Forza year at Summer Game Fest.

1Victor2d ago

@christopher: “ That would be really bad since Phil just hyped up next year as a big Forza year at Summer Game Fest”
The key word big can be ether good or bad 🤷🏿only time can tell

DarXyde2d ago

First Forza being generated entirely via AI?

If any company would do it, it'd be them.

Nacho_Z1d 20h ago

Isn't the point that it's irrelevant how profitable MS is, the suits have decided it's time that the Xbox division started making them money. Hence the layoffs, the pivots.

hennessey861d 15h ago

That wouldn't surprise me, as motorsport has been heading down hill since the great number 4. Where as playground have consistently put out better games. I think the two studios will be merged under playground games banner.

2d ago Replies(2)
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660°

Microsoft planning “major” Xbox layoffs next week

The cuts are expected to be announced next week.

Microsoft is also planning thousands of job cuts that will impact other parts of it businesses

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theverge.com
6d ago Replies(1)
6d ago Replies(1)
Obscure_Observer6d ago

MFs has been beating their chests over great quarterly results and big profits to shareholders while firing people by the thousands just like Sony.

I wonder if at the top of those rumored layoffs they´ll also cancel upcoming or unannounced games while shutting down more studios as well.

6d ago
pwnmaster30006d ago

Always got to throw shade at Sony smh.
Yes we get it,
MS good Sony bad
MS bad Sony is also bad lmao

6d ago
Obscure_Observer6d ago

F* them both!

Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares.

blacktiger6d ago

He was talking about both. Why you getting offended when he's using both names

pwnmaster30006d ago (Edited 6d ago )

@Blacktiger

Im not offended , that’s just his formula lol
He can’t help help himself, he needs to bring Sony down when the topic involves MS.
Whether is good news for MS or bad, it some how leads to Sony doing bad lmao.
It’s actually hilarious.

InUrFoxHole6d ago

He's not wrong but im tracking what youre saying. In this case is should just be MS bad. Thats a lot of people fired

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 6d ago
Tacoboto6d ago

"just like Sony"

Gosh you're insufferable, not everything needs to be both-sides'd. Sony's had layoffs, but nothing like what Microsoft has been doing and is continuing to do.

CrimsonWing696d ago (Edited 6d ago )

I mean, no offense, but this is why you’re not some corporate business person running a major corporation. Big profits don’t mean jobs are safe. Do you understand why things like this happen:

Cutting jobs to maintain or increase profitability, especially in underperforming divisions like parts of Xbox like other gaming divisions.

Corporate restructuring and relocating resources for strategic stability in ever changing markets and consumer behaviors.

Investor expectations and optimizing operations to maintain investor confidence. Whatever boosts stock prices and improves future margins.

And there’s many other factors at play. It’s never as simple as business doing well, everyone’s safe. That’s just you not understanding at all how corporations work and have been working since the beginning. This isn’t something that’s specific to Xbox, you can bet your ass Sony and Nintendo do this and if it’s not clear by now, game development is not a stable job nor has it ever been for many. A lot of developers are contractors and guess what happens when a project is done?

Ganif6d ago

Nintendo said they have no plans for layoffs, and you can't seriously claim that the scale of Sony's layoffs most of which involved Bungie which is self managed as even close to the same scale as what Microsoft has done since they purchased Zenimax. And that significantly less layoffs would have happened if those publishers had stayed independent. Keep in mind that much of these layoffs have been due to redundancies specifically related to these buyouts.

CrimsonWing696d ago (Edited 6d ago )

@Ganif

Nintendo:

https://gamerant.com/ninten...

Sony:

https://gamerant.com/playst...

https://techxplore.com/news...

I don’t think it’s realistic to treat Sony’s layoffs as somehow outside the norm for the industry right now. Even if Bungie is self-managed, Sony’s cuts went far beyond that like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, London Studio being shut down completely, and multiple teams across the globe took hits. These weren’t just minor adjustments.

Nintendo, I had to look up and you’re right. They seem to be an outlier, but rest assured at some point it happens. And even then there’s been layoffs, albeit a smaller amount and contractors.

Would fewer layoffs have happened if studios from acquisitions stayed independent? Maybe. But even independents have been hit hard and look at what’s happened with Embracer’s fallout, or smaller devs like Digic, Roll7, or Volition. This isn’t just a “Microsoft problem” or strictly tied to acquisitions; it’s a broader correction happening across the whole industry, and unfortunately, layoffs are a big part of that process right now.

Ganif6d ago

From your article:

"According to reports, Nintendo of America restructured its testing operations, leading to layoffs of about 120 contractors, part of a strategy for global integration.

Nintendo of America, publisher of iconic franchises like Mario and Zelda, is shifting some contractors to full-time roles for better development integration."

Contractors are not employees, and even if you want to count them as that, it's 120 people vs around 7500 since Microsoft purchased Zenimax.

In an era of game industry layoffs, Nintendo is hiring more people
https://automaton-media.com...

Nintendo Announces 10 Percent Pay Raise For Devs Despite Lower Profits
https://kotaku.com/nintendo...

Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts
"Satoru Iwata took pay cuts to ensure staff didn’t have to be let go"
https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

And as for Sony you're comparing less than 1000 total jobs to an estimated7500

Has the industry faced layoffs, yes, but that still doesn't account for the mass layoffs due to redundancies that was easily predictable, or that fact that at least 1/3 of Microsoft's layoffs and studio closures happened before the industry downturn.

thorstein6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

Take the L, Crimson.

People hate Nintendo, but Ganif proved why they deserve support.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 6d ago
-Foxtrot6d ago

It's like banging your head off a wall, he just can't help himself.

Microsoft can do no wrong, Sony sucks at everything and Nintendo is bigged up because it's less hassle than trying to defend Microsoft all the time

What's going to happen when Microsoft finally turn completely third party, then what?

anast6d ago

I enjoy Obscure. Obscure does good work.

crazyCoconuts6d ago

Did you know that the first n4g was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.

Tacoboto6d ago

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if anast and osbcure were both alts for the Admin.

We know how Obscure especially drums up additional comments and clicks with his spam-worthy remarks that somehow never get moderated

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 6d ago
Profchaos6d ago

Thats business present a strong front to your shareholders while your company burns around you.

Keep shareholders happy at all costs andnif not happy keep them numb to the reality of you organisation

Angyobangyo5d ago

" Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares. "

Just for the record, you clearly you do if you have to vent this hard.

TheExecutioner5d ago

Basically you think like kids when it come to choose between candy or chocolate.

Sonic18815d ago (Edited 5d ago )

Are you and Anast the same person?

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 5d ago
6d ago
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