I’d argue that Microsoft still doesn’t have a consumer product vision outside their gaming division.
I think they’re quite content with that now though. They’re firmly developer, enterprise and gaming focused these days.
I think they’re quite content with that now though. They’re firmly developer, enterprise and gaming focused these days.
I think a lot of Xbox Series X/S buyers wish they had a PS5 or buy a PS5 as well to play Sony first party titles. And come next generation, if Xbox doesn't have anything to compete with the quality of Sony's games, then I think they're dead. We're 2.5 years into the current generation and Microsoft has almost nothing to show for it except Forza and Halo, which was a delayed mess of a game. Add in to that the fact that most third party games perform better on PS5.
They've been on a downward trajectory after Xbox One, where they refuse to state how successful it is, with analysts predicting the PS4 outsold them 2-1. Xbox One was a terrible announcement and launch.
Xbox Series X/S are great pieces of hardware but they just can't compete with PlayStation in every other aspect. They've let down developers with the Series S since developers have to target 2 separate SKUs for Xbox, increasing developer effort. And in some cases developers are withholding their games from Xbox if they can't run on the weaker Series S, as you are not allowed to launch on Series X only (see Baldur's Gate 3). If Microsoft changes the rules around this it will benefit developers but it will let down consumers. PS5 is predicted to be outselling the Xbox even more so this generation. There's practically no reason for a consumer to buy an Xbox unless you're a fan of their exclusives, which they have done an excellent job of killing interest in.
I think next generation will be when Microsoft taps out and leaves the gaming hardware market, except for maybe their controllers. They will pivot to software only and focus on selling Game Pass for PC players and game streaming for the remaining consumers. Personally, I don't think that will have a good outcome.
I think Microsoft has put Sony in an impossible spot and, with the Activision merger about to go through, Sony is going to have an even harder time. The pandemic, I believe, has masked that people are migrating more and more to PC. Migrating to PC is a win for Microsoft. Kids play Switch and then are jumping right to PC. I don’t hear about a lot of Gen Z kids talk about PlayStation and have even heard it referred to as a boomer console and anecdotally the PlayStation crowd seems to be predominately 30+.
Has "boomer" slipped into meaning "people older than me" now? There are no boomer consoles.
Yes.
Consoles are still dominant. I’d like to see statistics back up what you’re saying though.
PC gaming being a win for Microsoft doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. On console, they get a cut of every game sold. On PC they only get to profit of game pass games.
The only major win I see is preventing users from moving away from their OS.
PC gaming is predicted to grow by 1.2% a year
https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/pc-gam...
Currently, the console market share is dominated by Sony
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1044925/market-share-of-...
MS is being accused that they cant innovate themselves and have to buy other companies for their innovative product. This acquisition is just supporting that claim.
But a lot of their product line remains a mess. (Although the Xbox shouldn’t be discounted — that was a consumer success.)
Someone forgot to tell the Teams team.
Some of them recognize it, but not everyone. The company also seems to be pretty heavily invested into monetizing users to the hilt with telemetry and advertising. This is the sort of approach that will slowly drive people away from the platform, as users gradually tire of the ever-increasing intrusiveness of the ads.