Microsoft self-sabotaging the Xbox?

As if it hasn't become evident over the past couple months, they really did it with today's conference. Not a single major exclusive will be Xbox only, leaving virtually no reason to pick up the One. On the flip side this is great for current and especially newcomers of PC gaming, however not even remotely close to being a smart move on Microsofts part seeing how far ahead the PS4 is in sales.

The slim version of the One was an expected move, and we all knew about them making an all new, more powerful system, but Sony is up to the same game. The best thing they could have done was to buy some big third-party exclusives, which they really didn't do.

I think this is still a great time for gaming however I believe we are currently witnessing the downfall of Microsoft being a major player in the console market. A powerful system and big exclusives are what sells, neither of which Microsoft has right now.

Except for the people who want to play those games and don't want to buy or build a computer that can run those games. While within the enthusiast circle, PCs are growing more and more popular, it is still a weird territory for casuals.

I don't see it. The best selling games are all multiplatform and somehow an extra Windows 10 version will make-or-break the console? This makes an Xbox console less valuable for people like me but I'm able to think outisde of myself. I don't see it being a problem to the people who buy consoles overall.

Power & Exclusive's don't sell hardware COD does, XB1 has been down/flat YOY what do they have to loose? Next year will be worse they have to do something.

I disagree totally - they're realigning their strategy sure, but what could they have done to make it a home run? I felt like their conference was solid overall, and they addressed the things they needed to including Scorpio and the slim. A powerful system is on the way, and exclusives by themselves don't sell the console but they do help a shit load that's true. If the specs are true on Scorpio Vs. Neo it's going to shake out a little different. We still don't know what PS has up their sleeve, but if they've got to turn around and start trying to get an even more powerful unit we're going to have a back and forth of power that will really come down to install base. I think it's a bit premature to say we're seeing the downfall/exit of Microsoft from the console space - they've got way too much invested and they're too much of a force to just drop it. And don't forget that even though the PS4 is crushing the Xbox One, the Xbox One is still beating the Xbox 360 sales pace currently.

They are being extremely smart with their Xbox stuff. They're not sabotaging anything. People who want a console will get an Xbox that is as powerful as a PC and people who want more will get a PC. There's no such thing as people just buying a PC because it has the same games as Xbox. Console people will still prefer it.

It's a brilliant strategy, honestly, because Microsoft is now the company with a market option for every entry level. "No one left behind" comes off as the most consumer-friendly messaging any of the major hands have used in years.

In a single fell swoop Microsoft is accommodating:

- Console gamers already invested in the first generation Xbox One.

- Prospective gamers who still haven't purchased a current generation console or built a PC.

- Console gamers who don't want to build a PC but desire PC-level horsepower.

- PC gamers who don't want to commit to a console but want to play Xbox exclusives.

Essentially, they're making it as easy as possible to get people connected to their ecosystem. And that's the real endgame here. It isn't about the box anymore. It's about the service.

I think the way they're realigning their PC and Xbox efforts could actually work out pretty well and expand the audience on both platforms. We'll have to see how it all pans out, but at the very least I'd say it's far too early to call any of it a failure.

the only way they're sabotaging is if you assume the console cycle is going to remain the same forever. it isn't. and microsoft are being smart to adapt this early.

I for one like to see that they are throwing out the rule book and trying just about anything and working to build up some good will with their customers.

I think Microsoft have quietly set up the foundations of the new gaming market. Seems smart to me, a drastic shift in the way they handle their business model was needed as they were losing ground fast

@bigboss1911: i also think saying Microsoft have no exclusives is kind of disingenuous. they absolutely _do_ have exclusives, they're just across two different Microsoft platforms. you have to remember that the PC stuff is going exclusively to the Microsoft Windows 10 store, it's not like valve or another service will be taking a cut. the majority of console manufacturers profit comes from software sales, so if anything Microsoft are putting themselves in a position to sell more than ever

@inevpatoria said:

I think these plans will work out brilliantly if and only if the PC ports are good and signing into the Xbox whatever app is easy and hassle free. They haven't managed to do that yet with any of their prior PC-focused efforts. I do really hope they pull it off this time though.

i honestly think their approach is good for everyone. offer a more powerful machine that's still easily accessible and fairly priced (i would assume and admittely remains to be seen) for those who want it, having a slicker version of their lower tier system for the masses and still supporting the original xbone, while giving access to their hot schloosies for those with powerful PCs to make them look great.

Console gaming is still important to a lot of people, including myself and my family. We enjoy playing games together, and that's much harder to do when it's a computer screen. Playing local co-op has been some of the best times, and I don't really want to give that up. I just realized after watching that For Honor story trailer again that the game is going to be local co-op as well, and that's just fantastic. I don't think what Microsoft is doing could be called excluding but rather including and actually trying to create these 'ecosystems' (is that the term?) where people can play together no matter what platform they have access to. Also, you only have to buy the game once. If you want to play Gears of War 4 on Xbox One at first and then later on PC, you can do that without having to buy the game again. This saves some money for anybody who wants to go that route. So that's a win too.

@inevpatoria: They're definitely hedging each and every bet and looking to potentially become all things to all people. It'll be absolutely fascinating to see how it turns out for them.

No matter which way their consumers go, be it an Xbox or a PC, they've still got them. Designing games for both systems and letting people buy them and use them cross platform is kind of genius. That person who decides to upgrade and become a PC gamer still has those old games to play and will likely remain a loyal customer because, hey, he knows the product, he's familiar with the store, and maybe he's developed a bit of love for a series or two. Honestly, I think it's great. I'm probably not ever going to be the person who invests serious money into PCs but knowing that if I do someday and have the option to bring over my library, I'm more likely to buy their games now (or realistically when they're on sale) than I would be to hold off.

@sparky_buzzsaw: It's nice to see there are people in charge again at Microsoft/Xbox who remember/realize how amazingly positioned Microsoft is in this space and are starting to make decisions that will hopefully play to those strengths. That said, right now the current console battle is Sony's to lose.

Unlike when they introduced the One, it seems like MS has their message straight and did a really good job conveying it today. I pretty much have no desire to buy an S, BUT if the Scorpio has a good price point and really is the big step forward they are saying, I'll probably look into getting one in a few years

Someone higher up at MS looked at what was going on, crunched a few numbers, compared a few markets, particularly console and PC users, compared themselves to Sony, and eventually said 'Screw it. Windows 10 and the Xbox, just make it all a big unified platform'.

Sony has 40m+ of their machines out there, they are in a position to freely secure true exclusives. MS realised that they have to give a little, and have decided to share their games with their own platform, the PC (running Windows 10).

Microsoft have been fools to not embrace their PC roots and link the Xbox brand with Windows its the best thing they ever could have done, its the strongest thing about the console they should do nothing but tighten that link.

Yes. There's no question in my mind that MS has decided to throw Xbox under a bus. This will promote Windows 10 pretty well but at the expense of Xbox One.

I was all ready to buy an Xbox One once the slim came out. And the slim looks even better than I expected. But since I already have a PS4 I'd only be buying it to play exclusives and the "exclusives" will come out on Windows 10 too, so I have no reason to buy an XBox One at all.

It's weird. I know Windows is a big money maker at MS, but this seems like giving up too much.

This is the absolute smartest thing Microsoft has done with the Xbox brand in years. As someone who's pretty invested in the Xbox ecosystem owns a gaming PC, their Play Anywhere initiative spoke directly to me.

@royalewifcheese: same here. I want to play Gears 4 on and Scalebound on my PC when they release it on Xbox One. Waiting kinda sucks. My biggest concern is the quality of the ports. I feel like they've all gotten better with patches, but Gears Anniversary and Quantum Break were borked at launch on PC.

This is how I feel. The PC doesn't live in isolation. Consoles will always be a thing because there are still a number of people who don't want to build and troubleshoot a PC. Microsoft is giving people that want more power a stronger console. If people want cutting edge then get a PC. I don't see how MS games going PC and console is a detriment. MS is actually being the smart one here by placing their bets on PC being the long term winner as a destination for gaming so it makes sense they are bringing it into the Xbox ecosystem.

So far the only people who have been poo-pooing MS's new initiative are the ones that feel this weird ownership of the xbox one console and its games like they have to be tied to one platform forever and always. It's that crazy fanboy logic at work.

I guess I kinda see where you're coming from. As someone who does not own an Xbox or a gaming PC I don't see much reason to get an Xbox over just getting a new PC that can do much more, even though I do happen prefer console gaming overall, since I already have the PS4 for that.

On the other hand this approach will probably make anyone who does care about the Xbox much happier, so maybe that doesn't really matter. Who knows, maybe if they handle this well enough and rope me into their ecosystem on the PC I may find myself getting an Xbox One someday too.

apple is the standard, a while ago my sister said "Ugh, I can't stand how slow your ipad is mom, you need a new one." for just browsing Amazon.com.

All I know is the only reason I'd want an Xbox is for the exclusives, and I can play them on PC instead. Awesome for software sales, but they sure aren't selling me a system that way.

They're playing a long game. It won't be until at least 5 years from now that we'll even begin to see how it is panning out

I've got a feeling that most people that have a problem with what Microsoft is doing just don't like Microsoft to begin with or are a crazy fan-boy on either the Microsoft or Sony side. No one can seem to remember that consoles are extremely popular with the masses that have no interest in PC gaming or even go on these websites to read this kind of shit. Remember the fact that these companies usually sell consoles at a loss and make it up in software sales? So why is selling you a box all that important? Plenty of folks have made some great points above, they seem to get it, not sure why everyone else are having troubles understanding.
I have an Xbox and a gaming PC, most of my friends own an Xbox. Right now I typically get multiplayer games on Xbox (unless it's something I really want on PC like Battlefield or Overwatch) and anything single player I get on PC. If I can buy a game digitally on the One and play on either platform (especially with cross-play) than that's nothing but a win win situation for me.
Microsoft is making smart moves.

Well windows 10 also puts money in their pockets so why not just view the xbox like the surface or just a first party portable PC when they obvioulsy weren't going to catch sony any time soon.

@franstone: Agreed with everything you said. The price on the slim is so low as a UHD HDR blu ray player I may even buy it just for the year before getting scorpio. I only UHD player on the market only plays blu rays and is $400.00. I do have a powerful gaming PC, but use my consoles all the time as well.

People with negative reactions to this are coming across as fanboyish to me. I don't see how this isn't just a good thing. I just have a PC and it's great I can play these games and even online with friends who have an Xbox. People have more options. The Xbox, even a Scorpio version, is still a much lower entry point in price and simplicity.

I'm already thinking about how I could play games with a couple friends on Xbox. It's a positive for sure.

Yea, I'm thinking of trading mine in for that reason. Really want a 4k Blue-ray player too. Also, can't trade in digital games so MS kinda wins there as well.

Their profit doesn't come from the one-time transaction of selling you a console (that is often sold at a loss, even); it comes from software sales. Why would they care whether or not you buy an Xbox One S or Scorpio when they can still sell you the software in the Windows Store on Windows 10, get you directly integrated into their ecosystem, control the prices themselves, and make even more of a profit on it because they don't have Valve or a retailer taking a cut off the top?

It's great for Microsoft and it's friendly for consumers; you'd have to be blind or ignorant not to see it. The only concern is whether or not they get their shit together regarding the PC ports.

I absolutely agree. I think many of the people that frequent sites like ours may be losing sight that there are tons of other people that are not enthusiasts about gaming. Many of these same people are even less enthusiastic about gaming on PC. Anecdotally, my girlfriend's younger brother really wants an Xbox One.

He once asked me about where I do most of my gaming because he'd like to see if we could play something sometime. When I replied that I focus on PC, this somewhat befuddled look came across his face which basically says it all. He is aware of PC gaming, but he has no interest in it and prefers to go play games on his Xbox. I, on the other hand, will probably upgrade my PC and play many of the same games he will on that platform instead. In fact, this new initiative may actually allow us to play together some day with cross-play. So I am all for it and don't see it as detrimental to the Xbox at all.

If you own an Xbox One and a gaming PC, you may be asking yourself "Well, what's the point?". But I think Microsoft is betting those specific set of people will make the choice of either continuing to buy an Xbox or moving forward on PC because either way, Microsoft's games will be available to them. In other words, if you always bought an Xbox and also have a PC, guess what? You can stop buying the Xbox from now on because those games will be available on Windows also. But for many, many more people out there, they only buy an Xbox and stick with it until they get themselves the "next Xbox", so they can continue to play the games they like. Those people don't give a shit that the games are going to Windows.

if anyone sabotaged the brand it was don matrick in 2013, they've only been exhibiting goodwill, saving face, and making consumer friendly choices to repair their rep since. i think this is the culmination..

@myketuna: Wow you and me are in very similar situations. My PC is my gaming center and will continue to as I'm going to upgrade to a gtx 1080 but I still have a Xbox One. There's little reason for me to keep it beyond having a Rock Band console and a place to play my 360 games but the machine has found new life at my gf's house which is played a lot by her little brother. An xbox is an easier thing to wrap his mind around especially at his young age than trying to explain PC gaming to him but not only that but my gf will now be able to join me in future games.

Since you will now get both PC and console first party titles I should theoretically be able to play Gears 4 coop on my PC and my gf on my Xbox one. It's this that is actually going to push me to get an Xbox One slim since it'll be much smaller and have an internal brick but the 4k streaming and bluray is a nice bonus. Scorpio doesn't do anything for me because my PC is basically the stronger Xbox.

MS is doing some really smart moves this year.

Not even sure what you are taking about. These all seem like smart moves to me, and honestly Scorpio sounds rad to me.

@colourful_hippie: Yeah, definitely. I think the Xbox could become a much higher-powered version of the Steam Link for people that have both a PC and an Xbox (with a higher price point obviously) because it could serve a similar purpose. For example, gaming PC in a bedroom, game room, living room etc. while the Xbox is in another room like the living room, bedroom, game room, etc. depending on where your "home base" PC is.

I mean, they'd already share the same game library because they connect to the same ecosystem, one would just play the "Xbox" version of a game as opposed to the higher powered PC version. I suspect going forward that line between power differences will be closer, even blurred. But I do believe the Xbox will always be the "easier" one to game on and/or serve as an extension of your library for those people that primarily game on PC.

I think what they're really trying to do is just leveraging the fact that they also sell Windows 10 and are probably willing to bet on having more and more people being in their ecosystem regardless of the device, which I feel like is a smart move considering they're currently behind in terms of console sales. They're not trying to brute force it by trying to outsell Sony's PS4 sales numbers but rather get as many people playing their games that aren't available in the Sony ecosystem regardless if it's an Xbox One or a PC. In a way, it's like they're saying that the PC market is already out there and they don't even have to build systems for those consumers, they just have to sell games to those people. The PC versions of some of their XB1 games have had problems with the Universal Windows Platform implementation but over time I think it's a gamble that they're willing to take and are probably going to clean up over time if they want this to really pay off.

That's why they've been pretty adamant about having as many of their games that also come out on PC be able to have cross platform play moving forward that is hopefully within reason (e.g. filtered matchmaking for players using KB + M to not go against pad players in shooters).

@myketuna: I have high hopes for when they introduce PC streaming to an xbox one because the steam link has mostly been a failure for me. I can't run a cable out to my router (which is AC) so I'm forced to rely on WiFi with a wall being between my PC in the bedroom and Steam Link in the living room.

Sure they may not get someone with a powerful rig to invest in an Xbox One now, but they will get them to start buying their games and using the Live Store. That's apparently a worthy enough proposition for them that they're willing to do it. There's still a significant chunk of the market that simply doesn't want to bother with building a PC or pay an obscene amount of money to get a pre-built computer capable of running these games in the long term, so they'll continue to push Xbox Ones, slims, and Scorpio. I think viewing this as self-sabotage is being extreme about it.

Here is the really smart thing and the thing I'm afraid about: they're basically doing the same thing that smartphone companies like Apple and Samsung have been doing in recent years, which is having different kinds of SKUs (e.g. a low end, a middle or a premium high-end version) that have different price points but all the games or accessories would have to work on all SKUs (which is kinda not true with phones in the accessory side but more true on the software side). My fear now is that would they in turn also follow the same trend of having a scheduled hardware refresh once every X number of years or would this be the first and the last we'll ever see this thing happen in this generation? If they do end up continuing this trend, this would eliminate the need of having to create a brand new console and instead just have to keep improving and iterating in shorter cycles and still be able to carry over their ecosystem without the consumers worrying about being completely left behind.

I don't think the margins on hardware sales are very good so I'm sure they are ok with that.

Oh this console and Sony's too are totally going the way of phone upgrade cycles. Not as frequent but they'll keep coming. That's where a PC becomes more attractive to me and will stay attractive. If there's anything I want to keep upgrading, it's my PC because having one allows me to do many things beyond just gaming. I kind of don't mind seeing consoles moving to this kind of refresh method because that means that they can gain the benefit that PC has when it comes to keeping extended game libraries that aren't locked to specific generations.

Having a guy like Spencer who literally worked his way up the company since the late 80s lead the division as opposed to Mattrick after he resigned was probably the right choice by the current MS CEO, Satya Nadella, after taking over from Ballmer.

@colourful_hippie:Yeah, especially with MS being more open to investing more on PC moving forward, I can only see it as something that can be more of a benefit in the long term.

maybe? Last Christmas I do know at least 7 friends who bought an Xbox one just to play Fallout 4. Just to know it's a box to play video games is enough for a lot of people and Xbox is still a brand people trust.

Why would I get a S or Scorpio if the games just come out on PC? I might as well just put together a gaming PC instead and have a PS4 for their exclusives.

@atomicoldman:I don't agree, I think it's absolutely sabatoging the brand especially short term for possibly no long term gain. They have released pretty mediocre pc versions that have barely sold and yes it's good you get both versions but a mediocre pc versions not going to help them at all unless they improve those with the next releases.

They are giving people even less reason to buy a slim since scorpio is next year especially if you haven't upgraded to an xbox one already and are on the fence, Maybe it will pay off for them but I am completely wary that it will.