I will always argue that leadership was not thinking in the ways it needed to back in 2020 and that this multiplatform move is reactionary.
Back in 2018, the goal was easily to move consoles and Game Pass for the next generation. Xbox had just built One X, were in the plans to deliver not only the most powerful console next gen, but also the cheapest. They were starting an acquisition spree of multiple developers to fill out Game Pass, which everyone knew would take years to realize.
Then, Xbox goes a step further to make sure the next gen was a true global launch, releasing in nearly every territory XB1 was in, Day 1. They even built up the All Access plan to further push Game Pass with the console and getting the barrier to entry theoretically lower by going with monthly installments as opposed to upfront charges.
All of the above screams "we want to sell more consoles"
Then in late 2020, Phil Spencer does the most bonkers play imaginable. He pivots away from console to cloud. Per his own words in a leaked email:
In the pursuit of hypothetical potential in cloud, the console segment they were spending 2+ years on growing was shafted. Phil's own thought process was they could sell millions more if they had the supply, but that it wasn't the "right thing".
I say this is bonkers because this one single move cost Xbox millions of new users during the pandemic that would either give up on buying a console due to lack of availability or bought a PS5 because that was more available. Then in 2023, we find out xcloud was a failure in attracting new users, its primary use being to play games on Xbox consoles. Instead of the hypothetical millions of users they might have gotten from the cloud over a 3 year span, they instead got none? And instead of millions of near guaranteed pandemic console sales in late 2020/2021, they got none. That one single play by Phil lost out on both fronts, an absolute fail. I'd even argue it's worse than the 2013 debacle because it was such an unforced error. Imagine 2017 Xbox saying no to an immediate +10M console sales. How many game sales, sub sales, accessory sales, MTX sales were lost because of that blunder. At least 2013 Xbox had an excuse, they were arrogant on Xbox 360 ego. 2020 Phil Spencer was on one.
Then you have Starfield. A single game that did actually move consoles and Game Pass subs at launch. This ONE GAME they released didn't help reverse momentum 3 years into the generation, a generation Xbox had more or less sat out of, and because of that release, leadership panics into multiplatform releases? The idea that the low point Xbox was in back in 2022/2023 would be reversed immediately because of Starfield was never realistic. They screwed up 2 years, they would need at least that many to recover within the same generation.
But I guess that's the problem at the end of the day. The speed of recovery. Microsoft are not going to let Xbox take big financial hits for years like in the XB1 days, with drastic price cuts, insane bundles, insane third party deals with the biggest IP, and do not want to wait even more years for software exclusives to make a return on investment. Instead, they are taking the easiest route possible to make more money in the short term, which is releasing games on competing platforms. And once they've rationalized that move, the next is obvious. Long term, every game needs to be multiplatform. Maximize the money.
It's a transition because of another unforced error by leadership that needs to responded to in the most "we give up" way possible. Why spend resources on fixing issues with your platform/brand when you can offload them onto other platforms. Just had to vent a bit about Xbox.
Shinobi, thanks for giving your opinion/read of Xbox today, it's appreciated.
