Satya Nadella is killing the Xbox Brand!

https://www.gamefile.news/p/satya-nadella-xbox-fans-microsoft

Title says it all! Microsoft's overall goal has always been pushing Windows as a Service, and so the Xbox brand has to follow the same. I believe Satya Nadella has done great with restoring Windows after Windows 8 blunder and fixing the mistakes from Steve Ballmer, however, Windows as a Service is horrible and it seems that the Xbox Brand is suffering under his leadership with the push for releasing Xbox Exclusives to other platforms. Phil Spencer cannot do anything but to go with what Satya wants.

Buying big publishers such as Bethesda and Activision/Blizzard may have costed them to recoup the purchasing, and pushing Gamepass as a priority has taken the Xbox Series console as well to release all their first parties to other consoles. They might as well drop their Xbox Console division and focus on publishing because it feels very useless to own an Xbox console.

What will it take to fix the Xbox Brand? Either Microsoft sells the brand, spins it off as its own company, or Satya steps down maybe the only solution. They will continue pushing gamepass and publish their games on other consoles. Halo for the PS5 is not too far off. "This is an Xbox" marketing is nothing more than a cover up that they're going full 3rd party. Whatever will happen to Next Gen maybe the last time we see MS making Xbox hardware.

Microsoft is abandoning console gaming? 🤔

It's already dead. We've all agreed that Microsoft is a 3rd party publisher now. It's like supporting Capcom or Square or whatever. Cool 👍

So, expanding the brand to many devices and ways for people to access their games is killing the brand? That is some fucked up logic.

Buddy Xbox brand is expanding to take over all the plastic box!!!!

He and Phil. Can't stand either greasy... person.

@thatforumuser: that’s not expanding the brand, that is an excuse for them going 3rd party fully. If it is, then we would see people buyimg an Xbox to play Xbox games

The console market is stagnant and the cost to produce games are increasing. They are obviously going to find ways to make more money and expand their userbase. PC and mobile devices are the only gaming devices that are really growing right now. MS does need to provide more value for their console though but they can do that at the same time as tapping into other markets.

lol….no. Ms are doing the only logical thing by offering games to as many gamers as possible. Sony squeezing out remake after remaster after sequel only on one console at full price is why their games are not selling what they used to…..times have changed.

Good. A middle finger ode to Xbox fandom.

Yet sony copy them.

Nutella and the Spencer can both talk a long walk off of a short pier.

I fail to see why this thread was made. We already know about their latest campaign. Nothing in your thread or link is news.

Microsoft's goal is to make their games playable everywhere. I fail to see why a new person would push for something else.

You guys want Xbox to be what it was 15 years ago? Well, too bad. It isn't.

Microsoft is first and foremost a software company.

Making their games playable on every platform makes a LOT of sense.

Yup, when you can play their games on other systems, less incentives to get an Xbox. Hence, killing the brand.

Imagine calling yourself a gamer and being “concerned” when a company doesn’t lock their games to a singular piece of plastic. Imagine giving actual gamers options on where they can play and enjoy their games. Horrible.

Hardware is just a means to run and access software. There is nothing special about any console and the hardware is more homogenized than ever. What matters are the games and services. The sooner you realize this, the better.

Playstation is an xbox

The xbox brand has never been more profitable. Money is all that matters, not console sales. Plus, I don't get the whole brand loyalty to a multinational corporation thing anyway. I just go where the games go.

What a dumb take.

MS has a platform where it has customers, buying their hardware, games, Gamepass, gold subscriptions etc.

By putting your games on other platforms, you **** over your regular customers because you devalue your own brand to the point sales tank (which they are) and give people an excuse to stop buying your hardware, and when people stop buying your hardware then developers stop releasing games on your platform, and thus MS will stop selling consoles and force their customers to start all over again on another platform. So, you're happy that MS is fucking over its regular customers who actually support MS in favour of MS making a quick buck, interesting.

Sony makes a console and games for those people who chose that platform, Nintendo make a console and games for people who chose that platform.

So, as a "gamer" who pretends to like to have options to where you play your games, I have NEVER seen you once shit on Nintendo for gatekeeping its games.

#keepthesameenergy

Then as a software company they shouldn't have created hardware, so MS is also a hardware company who has millions of customers and has so for over 2 decades, and instead of fighting for more, they're trying to wiggle their way out of console manufacturing by putting their games on everything.

Releasing Xbox exclusives is about appeasing all the regulators who tried to block the ABK buyout.

Microsoft might soon buy another publisher, then regulators won’t be able to block it since they cannot prove Microsoft will withhold the games.

@Maroxad: re-read what you just type, it screams they’re 3rd party software

@pcgamerlaszlo: Yeah, they’re profitable now because owners of PS5 and PC are buying Call of Duty, give thanks for spending billions on Activision and Bethesda.

another "Xbox is doomed" thread..

Says the guy who buys high end PCs to play games 🤣

@super600: Gosh you are drinking the MS koolaid with the "console market is stagnant" crap. That's corporate speak for "We don't want to actually try and compete....so we are going to enter another market that is easier to compete or there isn't a big player yet"

Do you think Toyota thinks that way? Or any car maker? Automotive sales have been stagnate for years and the only thing they can do is GUESS WHAT!?!?!?! Compete with each other for Market share. What a concept! Actually having to make a good product and COMPETING! Taking Market share?!?!? Who would have thought!?!?

They need to just complete the rebranding to Microsoft Gaming. Xbox makes less sense when games are played on a competitors box, or there’s no actual box involved at all. What brand recognition are they really gaining here?

I also find it quite humorous that after failing to gain a meaningful number of new Xbox fans, the Xbox execs are saying they are “redefining” what it means to be an Xbox fan. Counting PlayStation, Nintendo or Steam consumers as Xbox fans for playing Call of Duty is silly. When consumers are telling then they’d rather spend hundreds of dollars on a competitors platform and pay full price for games, instead of whatever value proposition Xbox is peddling, that doesn’t exactly portray “fan” behavior. 😂

Agreed, Microsoft Gaming makes sense, just like when it used to be Microsoft Studios

so what should they call the new Xbox hardware that's already confirmed to be releasing?.. "Microsoft Gaming box"?..

Yes, because PC offers the best quality for those games. However, those same PC games can also be played on console for gamers that don't care about quality and just want the basic bitch experience. I enjoy Game Pass and MS games on PC just like people enjoy them on console. I am not asking for PC games to be exclusive and I am not shilling for a company like a dumb fanboy. If there is a good game out, I want as many people as possible to play it, regardless of what hardware they are playing on... because it is about the game.

I am a gamer, not a hardwarer.

@Archangel3371: Console gamers have been conditioned for decades to celebrate games being locked to hardware, so a shift like this is a bit troubling for some as you can see. Eventually, some gamers would have to accept the reality that the traditional console gaming model is dying. That is not to say consoles are dead, just the traditional model. Now we just have to deal with phases of grief over the next ~3 years.

when it comes to Xbox, timed exclusives = the Xbox brand is dead

when it comes to PlayStation, timed exclusives = 🤷‍♂️

this what the shift in the gaming landscape has done to these people's brains.. both companies have a mix of Day One multiplats and timed exclusives for their 1st party titles.. both companies are expanding on PC and cloud with those titles.. and both companies are remaining in the hardware business..

yet, one company is dead and needs to rebrand.. 🙄

@Antwan3K: Some folks were hoping for Xbox to rise out of the underdog status and engage in the traditional console war with access to MS funds. MS however, read the tea leaves ages ago and made shifts to their strategy about 6 years prior. While it felt obvious to me from the messaging, gamers and journalists have been citing mix messaging from Xbox when it was really a message they didn't like.

Anyway. Xbox making the hard decisions of changing the existing market is only possible due to their financial backing. They are in the best situation for pioneering this shift with the ruse of benevolence and care for gamers access to games. But, don't believe for a second that this is not a strategy for dominance in the new model of accessing and playing games.

oh, for sure.. Xbox lost the "console war" and they're currently getting a head start in the "ecosystem war"..

yet, as you stated, gamers and game journalists act like "This is an Xbox" is brand new or mixed messaging when "Xbox Play Anywhere" has already been a thing for over 8 years..

2016:

2021:

2024:

but they should rebrand to "Microsoft Gaming" when this has been the state of the Xbox brand for almost a decade now.. 🙄

I'm sure they're also laughing all the way to the bank while the jobless teenagers argue over which is a more viable plastic box too.

@pcgamerlaszlo: Teenagers? It is grown men. Not teenagers.

That's even more pathetic. At least teenagers have an excuse for being poor and ignorant.

@FireEmblem_Man: Sorry, but the days of console wars are coming to an end. Within a decade, every game will be available on every console, and your console of choice will be as relevant as what Blu-Ray/DVD player you have, or if you are using a Roku or FireStick.

Much like "digital first", MS is just ahead of the curve.

Sony and MS will both be PaaS - it is inevitable.

Just when I think I’ve seen the most bullshit ever crammed into one post, you up the ante.

You can continue to try to push this Xbox and PlayStation are doing the same thing nonsense all you want, but it doesn’t reflect reality.

Xbox announced Indiana Jones on PlayStation 5 before it even launched on Xbox. They went from “just these 4 games“ going to PS5, to “nothing is off limits.” How is PlayStation doing the same thing? Lemme guess, you’re gonna misrepresent MLB the Show appearing on Xbox for the 129,847th time.

The complete whirlwind defending Xbox has some of yall in is amazing. You and Pedro are on the record on this board saying, “They aren’t buying Activision to keep all these games multiplat.” Then again, when you have media personalities like Jez Corden to look up to, what should we expect ?

What a difference a year makes 😂🤣😂🤣

Xbox has not had an exclusive game since the announcement of Xbox Play Anywhere in 2016. That is 8 years ago. But, folks are surprised.😂

Releasing Blinx 3 will help save the xbox brand.

Not just buying out 15 studios and firing people.

Acquiring studio's/IP's and not/hardly using them

Red Ring of Death

Kinect

Don Mattrick

Xbox One reveal/always online/Kinect required/TV TV TV

Bungie leaving/ 343 killing Halo

Phil Spencer

Releasing games on PC day 1

Gamepass

Cancelling anticipated games

Releasing bad/unfinished games

Closing studios

Releasing more and more games on other platforms

Microsoft suits

Sony & Nintendo, etc offering more compelling products

"Everything is an Xbox"

^ These all (and other things too) have a hand in "killing" the Xbox brand. Simply put- their business strategies and leaders = too many blunders

@dabear: Maybe between the era of Sony vs Microsoft is coming to an end, but Nintendo will remain the only pure console manufacturer that will keep their first parrty locked in only playing on Nintendo consoles legally.

@templecow90999: unfortunately Sony is following the same suit as they degrade the PlayStation brand with their PC releases. They overspent on their first party games and not returning nor breaking even, like Concord. Sony, will still maintain their first party offers, by keeping Bloodborne behind the PS wall.

The challenge they face is that the branding of their studios and IP absolutely dwarf that of the Xbox brand. That's certainly not a bad thing but, it makes it much more difficult for the work to reflect Xbox as a whole.

Ex. The Xbox Game Studios logo isn't even printed on physical disc case of Indiana Jones. The reason being that it's a "Bethesda" game and not an "Xbox" game. Heck, Fallout won Best Adaptation and you wouldn't have known it's based off a game from Xbox when you saw it at The Game Awards.

They really need to work on getting their studios and IP to reflect *Xbox*.

Ex. "Fallout", the legendary video game series from Bethesda Game Studios and Xbox.

Time for some of you folks to embrace reality.

it's Sony's CEO that's pushing the fact that Sony’s Future In Games Will Be In Consoles, PC, Mobile, And Cloud.. does that strategy sound familiar?..

a multiplat is a multiplat and timed exclusives are timed exclusives.. both companies are making more money by putting their games on more than one platform..

this is the reality that you can't seem to accept because you still want to play console war..

@Pedro: yep, for your to embrace that you’re better off just being a PC gamer