Xbox held an internal town hall on Tuesday where Spencer said they don’t plan to stop making consoles
Where I work, it's open season for Q&A from staff to leadership during these sessions so definitely not email stuff.
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Timed exclusivity, perhaps?
I don't see how it's 'ineptitude' for them to keep selling a console.
Topher
Identifies as young
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S0ULZB0URNE
Member
No it's what MS said.
HeisenbergFX4
Member
I still think much sooner than people expect but I have been saying that for 5 months now?Yeah......that's been repeated multiple times by some of us.HeisenbergFX4 has been preaching that for a while now.
The speculation from some is that Microsoft going multiplat will cause the demise of the console, not that Microsoft plans on killing the console.
Topher
Identifies as young
I'm just hoping they can come up with something compelling. Handheld or hybrid, something....anything different at this point is a good thing. If they are just going to bump up the APU to the next iteration of RDNA then that tells me they are just going to play it safe and let the Xbox console die by attrition.
MScarpa
Member
And "All hands on deck " ughhhh
MarkMe2525
Banned
Agreed, MS has to shake it up. My Series X is losing serious play time to my Gen 7 consoles and VR.
Bulletbrain
Member
As a simple lover of games, the faster exclusives becomes a thing of the past, the better. IMO exclusives are just pure business gatekeeping nowadays as there are no material technological differences between current consoles and PCs aside from a few frames here and there or a few seconds of load times. There is no technological merit to exclusives: it's purely a business decision.
As long as there are no technological limitations, every game should be available everywhere.
As per Xbox as a business, clearly they have lots of problems to solve. The most pressing being the quality of their output. In terms of growth and margin uplift potential, it might be good strategy: hardware themselves are either loss making or have razor thin margins. Getting the relevant capacity to make them will be more and more difficult given the absurd demand increase for chips from other industries. In the end, if their projections show that possible upside from catering to a far larger market outweighs the downside of lower "eco system" benefits, it's a win-win for both the business and consumers.
As long as there are no technological limitations, every game should be available everywhere.
As per Xbox as a business, clearly they have lots of problems to solve. The most pressing being the quality of their output. In terms of growth and margin uplift potential, it might be good strategy: hardware themselves are either loss making or have razor thin margins. Getting the relevant capacity to make them will be more and more difficult given the absurd demand increase for chips from other industries. In the end, if their projections show that possible upside from catering to a far larger market outweighs the downside of lower "eco system" benefits, it's a win-win for both the business and consumers.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
2026 for the SeXBoX sounds like a plan!
DryvBy
Member
I don't see the reason they'd want to continue making consoles. Hardware is a loss for half+ of the life of the console if it sells enough. Xbox can't sell enough and if they go third party on just the Halo game, they're finished. No one is going to look at the Xbox anymore as a product that'll last. They'd see it as soon to be abandoned hardware and not want to invest in the ecosystem. These ecosystems are key to success as it drives more sales to their product.
If they kept just the Bethesda and Activision stuff as a 3rd party thing but kept their flagship games exclusive, they may survive as a hardware company but eventually some accountant is going to crunch the numbers (we know Phil doesn't understand math) and they're going to say Xbox sales in hardware are down and everyone's buying the games on other platforms.
It doesn't make any sense that they'd continue with hardware outside of a stream dongle or controllers. MS has always put out good controllers, starting with the Sidewinder.
If they kept just the Bethesda and Activision stuff as a 3rd party thing but kept their flagship games exclusive, they may survive as a hardware company but eventually some accountant is going to crunch the numbers (we know Phil doesn't understand math) and they're going to say Xbox sales in hardware are down and everyone's buying the games on other platforms.
It doesn't make any sense that they'd continue with hardware outside of a stream dongle or controllers. MS has always put out good controllers, starting with the Sidewinder.
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
I'm just sat here assessing the risk, and my assessment can't decide if this risk of this is a sev1 or sev2 level of risk. I think if I do some more assessment of the risk, my risk assessment level will increase to the level that I can assess this risk properly..I'm currently at a sev2 level of risk assessment here...but I have been informed by a proffessional assessment of risks, who is much higher level than me, that this is infact a sev1 level of risk. So, from that assessment I have realised that I am infact at risk of not assessing the assessment of risk correctly. I will risk it all and go back to assessing the risk of not assessing the risk and how that could potentially risk my ability to assess risk.
Maybe they make the hardware make money or look at other options that reduce that impact
DAHGAMING
Member
Basically All Hands Meeting. But doesn't Town Hall sound more cozy?
Im a truck driver and the transport manager we used to have done a similar thing. Youd get in, start checking your truck and load to get out asap and avoid talking to anyone as were miserable pricks. All of a sudder youd hear the transport manager has called us all to a "toolbox" chat, that consist of some shit we already know, but that saying "toolbox chat" cringey as fuck.
Jesb
Member
I think the plan is to still have their high profile games on gamepass for limited exclusivity. Say 6-8 months. Than release those games on PlayStation. They may believe that that's enough to want to have an Xbox. For example new Indiana Jones only on Xbox/PC gamepass until 6-8 months. This could than also be the selling point of their handheld to play their games on the go and to be exclusive for a limited time.
LavitzSlambert
Member
They call it a town hall because they make us basically fucking live at work. It's a power trip and they get off on it.
Ar¢tos
Member
But... They stopped making consoles right now.
What is he going to say? They have products on the market as we speak, they'll obviously continue to produce those no matter if future plans would be to not continue with Xbox as a brand or not.
Sony halved production and MS completely stopped..
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Ar¢tos
Member
It's the rumors...
But with sales dropping every month, they wouldn't be increasing production, would they?
sankt-Antonio
Banned
Xbox was never the main focus of MS. From a business point of view it never made sense for them and MS lost billions over the decades since it's in the business. Their plan of owing the living room / media consumption failed at every step of the way.
The reason the plug was never pulled was that MS got to become a multi trillion dollar company on the back of Office/Azure/ Windows, so no one really cared about the loss Xbox generated along the way.
Sony would be fucked without PS.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
If the last 24 hours have taught us anything, unsubstantiated rumors are easily malleable.
Fess
Member
Yeah there is a reason why Nintendo can dodge all this even though their consoles are weak now. No other way to play their games. If you want to play the next Metroid then you'll need a Switch 2, so then you buy a Switch 2 without thinking much about it.
In the rumored future for Xbox, if you want to play the next Elder Scrolls you could play on Xbox Series 2, or Playstation 6 or PC. Why would you choose the Xbox? There is no pull. Time exclusivity? How many are willing to spend $600 to skip a delay? I know I won't.
I think many have realized over the last week how incredibly important exclusives actually are, probably Microsoft too if they're reversing some of these plans.
Some day when we all run games from servers on the cloud to subscription apps on TVs, then subscription exclusives will be similarly important.
Why do you subscribe to HBO now? For the exclusives.
The world that Satya Nadella wants, a world without exclusives, don't really exist. Placing everything on a competing bigger platform or service is literally killing your own. Even placing just smaller titles there is a bad idea since the competitor will then have their own exclusives plus 3rd party titles and your smaller titles while you yourself will only have your own exclusives, less 3rd party titles and none of the competitor smaller titles, making your platform a bad choice if someone only plan to own one of them.
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lh032
I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Actually Microsoft cares about Xbox and wants to grow the Xbox business, until now when the xbox no longer relevant
No one doubt about Microsoft profit, the problem now is whether Xbox itself will survive is another story.
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Robb
Gold Member
Even if that was true it'd be a result of adjusting to a short-term industry sales trend and not because they want to ditch the Xbox brand.
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Mister Wolf
Member
The only way they might pull it off is if they massively undercut the price of the system vs the PS6. Like $100 cheaper or more for the same performance or better. Would be better off with better performance.
Ar¢tos
Member
Even if they don't want to leave the hardware market, we are at mid gen and they were outsold 3:1 last year, eventually it will be the hardware market that will leave them.
Nobody keeps producing a product that sells less and less every month.
Robb
Gold Member
I think it's way more likely they move on to the next gen earlier than initially planned than stop production outright of their current offering without having anything new to substitute it. But that's just my two cents.
Ar¢tos
Member
They already have the most powerful console, what difference making a new gen early would make?
A console releasing in 2026 needs to have specs locked about now, what massive jump you expect to be achieved with 500$ hardware in 2026 compared to now, that is so mind blowing that it will sell a console without amazing exclusive games?
Software sells hardware, not the other way around around.
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
I think that is what people have to largely understand about Microsoft. Whether they continue to make hardware is really not up to them. Ultimately, they can "make" whatever they want, but there isn't necessarily going to be a market for it, especially not in physical retail.
The Master System sold 16 million units
The Genesis sold 31 million units
The Saturn sold 9.26 million units
The Dreamcast sold 9.13 million units
The reason why Sega discontinued the Dreamcast is because sales evaporated and they realized that even if they came out with a Dreamcast 2 at some point, it wasn't going to sell more than 10 million units.
As Microsoft starts to release their games on PlayStation and Switch 2, their consoles WILL sell less, and they're already not selling well.
Before all this happened, I projected the XBS was going to sell 5 million units or less this calendar year.
Now? I think they'll be lucky to sell 3-4 million units. In an entire calendar year... They could sell even less than that... That's zero gamepass growth.
Microsoft can do as much damage control as they want next week, but this was a DEVASTATING week for their brand.
The Master System sold 16 million units
The Genesis sold 31 million units
The Saturn sold 9.26 million units
The Dreamcast sold 9.13 million units
The reason why Sega discontinued the Dreamcast is because sales evaporated and they realized that even if they came out with a Dreamcast 2 at some point, it wasn't going to sell more than 10 million units.
As Microsoft starts to release their games on PlayStation and Switch 2, their consoles WILL sell less, and they're already not selling well.
Before all this happened, I projected the XBS was going to sell 5 million units or less this calendar year.
Now? I think they'll be lucky to sell 3-4 million units. In an entire calendar year... They could sell even less than that... That's zero gamepass growth.
Microsoft can do as much damage control as they want next week, but this was a DEVASTATING week for their brand.
Killjoy-NL
Gold Member
2027 is in reference of the GP 100M sub target by 2027 for the continuation of Xbox, set by Nadella.We must assume that those who have speculated (or have directly announced "2027") that MS will stop making consoles directly and that it becomes the same as EA and TakeTwo have not existed here??
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Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
The XSX was being sold for 350 during Christmas and was still completely outsold by the 500-dollar PS5...
150-dollar price difference...made no difference...
And the problem with trying to undercut Sony on price is that it did make a difference, Sony can match the price if they have to, knowing they can make up the difference in software sales and royalties, meaning you'd have to go even cheaper on hardware price.
This idea that Microsoft is going to heavily subsidize Xbox hardware anymore is a fantasy. When was the last time you saw a major game that was on GamePass Day 1? Last major 3rd party exclusive on Xbox Series? Microsoft is tightening the wallet.
TransTrender
Gold Member
Elysium44
Banned
We don't plan to stop, isn't the same as saying we won't stop. On their current trajectory, they will have no choice.
It is so frustrating that years of Phil Spencer's foolish decisions have compounded to lead us here. There should never have been two 'Series' consoles - that was a fatal mistake (or at least, having a digital only option like PS5 would have been okay, so long as it was the exact same specs otherwise). Also the naming of the Xbox consoles has been a dog's dinner and only serves to confuse the public. All the chickens are coming home to roost.
It is so frustrating that years of Phil Spencer's foolish decisions have compounded to lead us here. There should never have been two 'Series' consoles - that was a fatal mistake (or at least, having a digital only option like PS5 would have been okay, so long as it was the exact same specs otherwise). Also the naming of the Xbox consoles has been a dog's dinner and only serves to confuse the public. All the chickens are coming home to roost.
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Robb
Gold Member
That's just assuming they'd go all in on "most powerful" again. Who knows what they have planned. For all we know they could bring out another "Kinect" or some other gimmick to try to sell it while also distancing themselves more from Sony.
I agree that software sells hardware though. They're in a pickle there.
SCB3
Member
I cannot decide between "Town Hall" and "All Hands" for which I detest seeing in my Work Calender
Killjoy-NL
Gold Member
Pretty much this.
Those "cheering" about this report are just dumb af.
It'll be the end for Xbox regardless, they'll just delay it for another gen, because of their deep pockets.
Ar¢tos
Member
That will be even worse! lol
Sony tried portable, is dabbling in VR, kinect was tried already and none of those did much.
Only Nintendo succeeded in the portable area.
It's more than proven that gimmicks don't sell high end consoles.
Unless they are going to try vibrating "insertables", gimmicks will be a hard sell.
Negotiator101
Member
It must be to quite a few here because all I've been reading is Microsoft are stopping Xbox hardware and they're going third party.
Elysium44
Banned
Microsoft not fessing up to something which looks inevitable means it won't happen?
Obviously they will never admit to it until they have no choice. If they even hinted at it now, Xbox sales would fall off a cliff overnight.
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Robb
Gold Member
Surely Kinect was a huge success for them? That accessory alone sold more than the entire Series X/S line has sold this gen.
I'm not saying they'll do Kinect again. But I could see them try something new and out of left field.
I don't think Nintendo is the only company that can "get lucky" with that kind of stuff.
I'm not sure what they got to lose at this point? Focusing on the hardcore gaming market and having "the most powerful console" is obviously not working.
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
Moving to a new generation early is not some panacea for current problems. If anything moving too early is disruptive and also signals to consumers a lack of faith and confidence in your products. People who just bought the XSX aren't going to rush to buy a brand new Xbox, so you're largely looking at new consumers who haven't upgraded from the X1 yet (even though the XSX was on sale for 350 and you could probably have traded in your X1 for 100+ at the time).
What are the top 5 XSX exclusive games of this generation? I'd go as far as to say that it doesn't have a single-generation defining game and that the X1 largely didn't either.
It's never worked out for anyone. The only time it has appeared to have worked was when the 360 released before the PS3, but it wasn't that it released early that truly helped it, it was the difficulty to develop for the PS3 as well as the price tag.
I don't see a single tangible benefit to them releasing in 2026 if GTA6 comes out in 2025. You would have to release a machine in 2025 that is significantly more powerful than the PS5 Pro in 2024, only to be sandwiched by the PS5 Pro and the eventual PS6, which would have all the time in the world to plan a machine more effective.
And as I said, none of these solves the problem with the brand.
AV
We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
I don't think many people actually expect Phil to announce a cease in hardware production next week. One step at a time here. Games coming to Playstation first with Xboxes still having the advantage of Game Pass and in some cases day one.
Mr Reasonable
Completely Unreasonable
It's a real thing, but not the exit from hardware that you might interpret it as.
Both Microsoft and Sony have more consoles on hand than they want so have paused (Microsoft) or reduced (PlayStation - 50%) while they work through their inventory.
EDMIX
Writes a lot, says very little
True, but like with different skus like slims and Pros, its not like they'll say years in advance that they are not making systems or something.Yeah......that's been repeated multiple times by some of us.
The speculation from some is that Microsoft going multiplat will cause the demise of the console, not that Microsoft plans on killing the console.
So something tells me, they'll announce their leaving of that market at the eve of that PS6 reveal or its launch or something like that as I'm sure they also want to sell as many XB systems as much as they can, until the end.
Just speculation, but I don't see them telling us a whole generation ahead of time that they are leaving that market
Mr Reasonable
Completely Unreasonable
If they're not planning future consoles it'd be leaking already - the next gen is being planned, designed and ordered now.
Negotiator101
Member
Yeah start the generation early is their best option, generations are lasting way too long anyway that's why we have these stupid Pro models that are held back by the older system anyway. 2025/26 just around the release of GTA6 a true next generation version of that would be something.