Probably because they will still end up manufacturing those Xbox One S and Scorpio consoles hoping to sell them. It will still cost them to manufacture those consoles, and it's bad business for them to sit on shelves or in a warehouse. Selling them at a supposed loss is still better than eating a complete loss of sale. The third-party software they sell on the console comes with a licensing fee from publishers. Third-party developers will still sell their games on Steam, Origin, GOG, etc, on the PC. Microsoft doesn't have enough exclusives to sell on Windows to make up for any loss of sales of third-party games on the console if people choose the PC over an Xbox One.

That said, I still think there will be a demand for Xbox consoles. This move will eat some of those sales, but not enough to make a big dent. The official announcement of Scorpio is likely to hamper sales of Xbox One S consoles for those that have a PC or PS4 still looking to pick up an Xbox One, as they're better off waiting now.

It's definitely friendly for consumers, as they can wait and see how things play out. Great for Microsoft? We'll see.

Out of my group of friends, maybe four people regularly play games on the PC. All the rest are on consoles. As PC sales keep declining, I totally see a future for an Xbox console even if every game comes out on the PC as well.

Personally I think what they're doing is sort of genius.

Just a casual gamer? They have the Xbox One S at 300. PC player with no interest in consoles? Their games are also coming to Windows 10. Dedicated console gamer but no interest in PC but still want the latest high end experience? That's were the Xbox Scorpio comes in.

They are covering all the bases in a really smart way.

Microsoft also have a major reason to get games to go head first into Windows 10. For someone like me who doesn't have an X-Box One and didn't plan on getting one any time soon I will be buying multiple games they announced to be playable on PC.

then you should do that. why is that a bad thing?

Something people seem to forget about is the growing number of semi-casual gamers, like myself, that abandons stationary computers in favor of laptops, but still wants to play modern games. Microsoft is doing a smart thing here trying to merge the platforms and Gears/Forza being on PC won't even affect my purchasing decisions because I'm not a crazy fanboy nor am I going to buy a powerful gaming PC.

People need to realize that the new Microsoft isn't about "xbox one exclusives", its about PC/Xbox because turns out, both are Microsoft platforms.

And no, its not butchering the Xbox audience moving games to PC, the people that have powerful gaming PC's are not very likely to buy Xbox to begin with.

The move to unify the platforms is fantastic, because it means that people with Xbox can still play with PC users, and you can play with your friends without having to put down on an expensive gaming PC.

exactly haha. And you get the exclusives that Microsoft have on PC. There is not a negative.

The Verge has a lot of exclusive-ish features up on their site surrounding the Xbox. One interesting tidbit is what Mike Ybarra had to say about the added Bluetooth feature of the new controller. It seems like Bluetooth is designed to let them bring the Xbox "experience" on iOS and Android platforms like tablets and hypothetically TV-boxes as well. So it seems like Microsoft are already thinking of ways to offer Xbox game experiences across even more platforms than just the console and PC. Maybe not standalone games, but maybe game streaming like The Verge suggests in their story.

I don't think it's sabotaging so much as it is putting less focus on Xbox being "the gaming console" and more on the Xbox being "A Windows 10 platform" that plays big budget games. I don't think its a bad thing, and in a lot of ways it's smart, but I also think there will be less emphasis on the Xbox brand over the years as it becomes more and more a Windows 10 machine.

If they start advertising Nvidia cards at E3 or something, then that's the time to start actually worrying about the console.

Microsoft understands that the PC market is separate from the console one. No one that cares about the best possible visual fidelity is ever going to buy a console because a console can never outperform top of the line PC parts, and the hundreds of dollars they could spend to buy a console for a handful of exclusives would be better spent on upgrading their PC. Microsoft realizes that it's better for them to make what money they can selling their exclusive titles on the PC, allowing them to still make money on these games from an audience they otherwise couldn't tap into, as well as expanding the Xbox Live userbase through crossplay which makes the Xbox user experience better as well.

There is still a large market of people that don't want to deal with PC gaming due to whatever particular hangups they have about it and will buy an Xbox One or a Scorpio either because they want the best possible console experience or because the games available on Microsoft's platform but not the PS4 are appealing to them. I think it's basically the smartest way they could handle the whole situation.

On one hand Microsoft has stopped me from buying a $300 Xbox. But in order for me to buy one, they needed more games that interested me - which to date has been Dead Rising and Gears 4. Now those weren't going to get me to buy an Xbox. But now that I know I can get both games on my PC, they'll get $120 from me when DR4 and GoW4 come out.

@bigboss1911: I can't disagree more. I'm a programmer and develop on PC everyday and what I don't want to do when I come home is to tweak another PC for playing game. I love my consoles and especially my XBox One (even if it doesn't always reciprocate) and I like that when I play a game I don't have to think what or how I should configure my device to make the game run better. I really don't care about resolution or frame rate, I just like to play and enjoy my games. To be honest I grow a bit tired of hearing Brad Shoemaker (though I really appreciate him) saying that a game is unplayable on console because it's not running at 120 fps. I know, I'm exaggerating a lot, but 1) he really sounds like a snob when he says that and 2) I must be an idiot or a sub gamer/human because I can play and appreciate said game without any trouble.

Sorry for the rant, I may have deviate a little.

Long-term this will get more people into the xbox eco-system. Short term I indeed don't see this selling many consoles. I kind of wish Sony did this, seeing they have some more interesting exclusives.
But i'll take stuff like KI.
Oh! and as I type this, potentially the Rare pirate game.

Given that the Xbox is their gaming division, I think it'll still be a big brand but now it's not just limited to one device like the console but it's their gaming platform encompassing a lot of devices. I think having it be categorized under Xbox (as opposed to just saying Windows 10 and omitting Xbox altogether) makes it easier marketing-wise for consumers in general since most people would think it's synonymous with games.

@gaspower: Yeah, I mean... The Xbox will always be the Xbox, right? It just seems like Microsoft is starting to go down the path of saying their games are "available on all Windows 10 platforms" rather than "this is an Xbox game". It's been "exclusive to Windows 10 and Xbox" instead of "coming to Xbox and PC", ya know?

I don't think the console is going anywhere any time soon, but it certainly seems like they are laying the groundwork for a big shift in the way Microsoft approaches Xbox gaming.

Microsoft sabotage PC as well with there shitty Windows store and shitty ports.

@mindbullet: They kind of have to make it clear on that front since just saying PC would kinda imply that it would also be available on the older OS's like Windows 8 or 7 and the MS 1st party games that have been made available on PC have been Win 10 only (e.g. Quantum Break, Gears Remastered) and would likely remain that way going forward.

Not eveyone wants to upgrade to Windows 10. I am keeping my gaming PC Windows 7. But I feel like they shot themselves in the foot by announcing a much more powerful console 18 months from now. People who might have gotten a XBOX One S might instead decide to wait until then, Probably should have been a E3 2017 announcement.

I think MS are happy as long as they get to sell a game be it on XBOX or on PC. They make money anyway since it will be Windows 10 store exclusives and they don't make much money on the XBOX hardware anyway. So It make sense to release games on all their platforms.

That's how I feel about Forza Horizon 3. I wasn't going to rush out and buy an Xbox One to play it, but since it is coming to PC, I'll buy it. Plus, I'm tempted to get a Xbox One S now since they are going to do the cross buy thing, and I need a new Blu-Ray player for my living room when I move.

...I get if that sounds confusing, but I haven't purchased a console this generation yet, so if I do get one, it will most likely be a Xbox One S.

Many people have to be tight with their money. I would buy an Xbox in a second if all I could afford is a console that threatened to do games truly good and a family laptop or cheap PC

Microsoft claims Windows 10 is the operating system that finally unifies all your computing devices. One Operating systems to rule them all, One OS to find them; One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. But, what does that actually look like in practice or what analogy are they trying to make in software terms?

It appears that Microsoft s idea is to treat games like 'productivity software', just as they use a universal apps for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Photos—is that runs across your laptop, phone, and tablet. Thus games SHOULD automatically be formatted to fit the screen from 7" to 70", should play across multiple control inputs, and should format its play to fit the processing power. The exact same code running within a common 'framework or app' that runs on multiple devices....so all your software running one abstraction layer above the local OS of the device.

So, as we have seen with early PC games on the Win 10 Store that means kneecapping graphical controls that PC users typically have control over. What that means is that those day one issues that PC games have when they just done work on YOUR hardware might be an issue on you Xbox and tablet too. So the worst way to make PC games, the worst way to make consoles games, and they worst way to shove code on tablets or smartphones that was meant to be played on a larger screen.

So one size fits all software, but not on productivity software that is not about reaction times, frame-rate, and input lag, but on games where that matters and should be finely tuned. Imagine the joy that your $3000 PC will run games just as well as you 2014 vintage XBox One - EXCELLENT!!! Imagine the joy of a game that simply doesn't get fixed in the same way that some PC games never get fixed...but on your console. Just imagine in your The Division online DZ game play still being full of cheaters on Xbox One in that same way it is STILL full of cheaters on PC. Imagine PC games without Mods if you buy them from Windows Store! Are you feeling the thrill yet?!

...I'm shouting into the void here but...

- Hardware does not make much money.

- Software is where it's at.

- More people able to buy the thing that makes you more money is a good thing.

- Very few people have both an XBOX and a Battlestation (raises hand) so the bonus "buy one get both" doesn't lose you much and gets you good pub (see Sony and Vita/PS3-4).

Will the kinks in Universal Apps get fully worked out? That's the only big question... Call me overly optimistic but I suspect they will...

@gaspower: That's kind of what I'm getting at in a way, I guess. The dialogue changing ever so slightly from treating the PC and Xbox as two seperate entities to a singular platform. It's a small thing, and it may not mean much beyond bringing the Xbox into the same kinds of conversations as a tablet or other non-console platforms for example, but it is.... Interesting.

It's defintely what I've been thinking on the most this E3. It'll be fun to see how it all shakes out.

Microsoft as a whole is more concerned with Windows 10 than Xbox One failing. They are, afterall, a much larger company than the Xbox brand. While its hard to say Xbox One will fail completely, its hard to argue why someone would want a Xbox right now if they can get it on PC (If your in the situation of having a PC). The thing is, casual players have probably already chosen what platform they are getting, the PS4. My workplace has one guy that has a Xbox One, everyone else has a PS4. The more dedicated player probably already have a PC to run things, so they brought no interest towards anyone wanting to get a Xbox.

I also think talking about Project Scorpio wasn't the best idea either. Now that Sony knows the specs of the new Xbox, it's not totally out of the realm of possibility for them revising the Neo to continue to make it the more powerful console.

I think some are missing my point. What they're doing with allowing all future Xbox exclusives onto Windows 10 is not only a great business decision, but a very consumer friendly one. But at the same time, it's making the Xbox One look like a weaker and weaker investment, adding to that is how only 4 years into the consoles life cycle they will be releasing a BRAND NEW system.

Say someone who is looking to finally get into the current console generation and are considering either building a budget gaming PC, Xbone, or PS4. Will they go for the more powerful system with more (by number and more enticing imo) exclusives or the weaker system with considerably less exclusives, or just see how every Xbox "exclusive" will be coming to Windows 10 and decide to jump into PC Gaming realm? Now you could say sure, software is what makes the big money and Microsoft will be taking a big chunk of that since the games will be sold on the Windows 10 Store, but my point is by Microsoft doing this it makes the Xbox look like a pointless investment for the consumer in long run and will possibly eventually make the Xbox irrelevant when you have other, smarter decisions.

Now I know saying the Xbox will become irrelevant is a massive stretch buts it's totally possible seeing how far behind in sales they are compared to the PS4. I mean the same thing is happening to the Wii U. Last generation the Wii was the best selling system by FAR. Now look at their position. If they don't knock it out of the park with the NX it may be Nintendos end of making home gaming systems.

How is it pointless.

I'm deep into gaming, obviously since i'm posting on a gaming forum, however, the notion of me playing game on the PC is never going to happen. If I want to play Halo, Gears, Forza etc I have to buy a Xbox like most people, the PC option is nice for PC gamers but in the grand scheme of things the PC gaming market isn't really that big.

Honestly when you think about the market for games, not gamers, but the overall market (potential consumers). How many do you think own a Desktop PC. The majority of people (not including corporations) going by sales numbers own Macs, after that it's PC which is most likely dominated by ultrabooks or small laptops. Then you consider the people who are ditching those altogether and just using tablets as tablets become more advanced.

I prefer having a good PC over a console. Microsoft still gets my money for Killer Instinct. Their strategy is wise.

This is super weird to me. I own an Xbox One, but any exclusives are also going to be released on the PC, which I also have. They made the One redundant, and assured I wouldn't buy a slim or a Scorpio.

I'm part of the market for the One S and I'm definitely going to buy it. I still haven't bought any of the new consoles. The $300 price tag and the ever-growing backwards compatibility library are what have convinced me to purchase it once I have the funds.

My problem with this is that it's all going to go through the Windows 10 store. If it's anything like the Xbox marketplace then their prices aren't going to be competitive with the price of Steam games/used physical copies and the sales are going to be few and far between. So the only reason I would buy a game off the Windows 10 store is because it's exclusive to Microsoft. And so far none of the (few) exclusives have been remotely interesting to me.

It doesn't sound like you have much experience with the Xbox marketplace (if any). They give away games via Games with Gold and discount games on the Deals with Gold. This month, they're giving away The Crew, Super Meat Boy, Limbo, Goat Simulator, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Meanwhile, this week's discounts are Forza 5/Horizon 2/6, Star Wars Battlefront, Battlefield 4/Hardline, The Elder Scrolls Online, etc. This oft-repeated claim that sales don't exist outside of Steam is fucking ridiculous.

I'd be really surprised if they started giving away PC games for free each month via the Windows 10 store. If they did I'd be tempted to sign up for Xbox gold despite not owning an XB-one. I didn't say they didn't have sales, I said they were generally not competitive with Steam, and I stand by that statement.

I disagree with the self-sabotage point. I primarily play games on PC and haven't had any interest in picking up a console this generation, regardless of exclusives (sorry Bloodborne!) The lower price point of the One S and the fact a bunch of my XBLA purchases from last generation are playable on the current system pushes Microsoft ahead of the competition, imo. I think I would've already picked up an Xbox if I wasn't waiting to see how things shake out with the NX. Either way, I'm finding myself surprisingly interested in picking up a console now seeing as I couldn't give two pups about Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo's offerings this time last year.