Xbox Is Too Profitable For Microsoft To Quit The Market – Michael Pachter

@blueinheaven: I don't give a shit about Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo and WTF their console identities are. They are all shit platforms that struggle to run games properly. All I care about is games. I like to play them the best way possible and that is why I play them on PC. Phil and MS recognize that PC gamers don't give a shit about the Xbox console, but still want to play MS's games. So, they are making them available on PC and that makes me very happy. Now if only Sony and Nintendo would follow in their footsteps, then I wouldn't have to waste money on redundant consoles that I only use for exclusives. This would also be better for the environment. Anyway, I will continue to buy games that I like regardless of the developer/publisher and will always play them on PC when possible.

Right now the market is profitable enough that MS will not exit the gaming market. In the future things could change and every good corporation has to be willing to bend to market conditions or they'll just break. So yea in the future there could be a scenario where MS exits.

Fair enough - we essentially agree

They most likely will never fail, in our lifetimes at least, for they have a PC market and quite the console market. However, they will need to be careful to not compete against themselves in the future. Just a thought. :|

preach

I have nothing against any kind of gamer. I don't really understand WHY there needs to be a rivalry. I have plenty of friends that play on the PC or console.

Personally I don't understand the stigma behind the phrase "Console Peasant" (Not to tread into the domain of "Console Wars" because this is not meant to slander any side) but as a gamer, I currently can not afford the upkeep that comes along with PC gaming. It would seem to me that those that play on PCs are the "peasants" because they have to sink so much of their hard earned money into their gaming rigs to keep it up to date. I've personally done the research and to run games at the quality I would want to run them at would be out of my price range. That's why, for now, I will stick with consoles.

I like this analogy, Wendy's isn't nearly as big as McDonald's....but still makes billions.

@blueinheaven: the Xbox one X won't get any because it's not a new system

You gamers sure are fixated by this Pachter guy..

Microsoft has entered the hardware business with their PCs and it's unlikely they will exit the Xbox hardware business.

As long PC market has big CPU:small GPU ratio machine at around $399 to $499 price segment, Xbox has a market segment.

Should I be concerned now since it came from the worst fortune teller ever?

Kinda like Kaz has done with the PlayStation. Sweet, I guess they are both DOA.

Xbox is an excelent brand...the original Xbox and the 360 were simply amazing. It's a shame MS created the Xbox One with kinect in mind, though.

The original direction of the Xbox One was a disaster. I still remember them stating that the kinect would need to be connected to the Xbox One. Used the damn thing on the first day and never again after. The new direction is interesting and will hopefully pay off in the long-term. The biggest concern is still the overall first party offering though.

And the problem after selling xbox one separately from kinect was that x1 was weaker than ps4.Everyone bought ps4 because it was the better system and that's the truth.The majority buys the system that has the best specs and games run better on it.I believe that if xbox one was more powerful than ps4 ,even with the bad start,things would be different.Xbox just need a new beginning with a new gen system.This gen is lost but a new gen is coming in a few years.

@Basinboy: Fair points.

The problem for MS now other than a lack of Exclusives (Sea of thieves and State of Decay are the only ones that interest me so far).

Their timing is wrong, Sony can launch PS5 in 2019 and build a head start on the next Xbox which means by the time it comes out more games will be coming out.

I think MS took the decision not to be a games studio, to build powerful games consoles and leverage their Windows ecosystem. Unfortunately games will always be what sells consoles to a the mainstream audience which is the audience they need to hit the numbers Sony is getting.

I have friends who don't play games buying a switch for Zelda and Mario kart or Playstation for HZD or VR.

I want to buy an Xbox One X but other than the two games I mentioned I struggle to find a reason.

@timblhd:

Microsoft announce new games when they are ready to be released soon.On the other hand Sony announces games that will come after 3 years. For example days gone,last of us 2 and death stranding don't have a release date yet.They might come out in 2019 or 2020.Ms can announce more games till then.

Except they:

• Have chronically announced games well before they were due for release all generation
• Have cancelled most of the games they announced early (while Sony has a terrible habit of announcing games early, at least those games release)
• Have consistently had a poorer lineup of exclusives than PlayStation, further degrading confidence in the future state of their lineup
• Have only six major studios, and we already know what each of them is working on
• Have failed to 'announce major upcoming games' for the last two years straight now

So where exactly does this confidence in their ability to announce new games suddenly come from?

Yes Sony has better exclusives and more studios.But in the end exclusives way less than previous gen.You never know what will happen.

I mean, I don't think exclusives matter less than they did at all. At least some part of PS4's success can be attributed to its better exclusives; PS3's recovery last generation can be attributed entirely to its exclusives. The Nintendo Switch is a $300 system that is weaker than the weakest system of this generation, breaking all sorts of sales records, and running into perennial shortages, on the back of nothing but its exclusives.

Exclusives matter. Multiplatform games have risen in prominence, but exclusives still matter. Unless Microsoft can expand the appeal of its exclusives lineup, it will just be preaching to the choir with the Xbox One. Because if I was not convinced with Halo 5, Forza 6, and Gears 4, then Halo 6, Forza 7, and Gears 5 will not change my mind. And given the state of the Xbox One's sales, it looks like these games are no longer enough for the bulk of the non mobile gaming market either.

Well, we know what this means. Microsoft will announce they're leaving the console market next week.

The problem they've had is when they have backed 1st party games, they have not done well other than Forza.

Quantum Break was expensive and didn't sell ,Shutting Lionhead so they're is no fable games.

Sea of Thieves actually looks good but it fits their model which is that the industry has moved to longer term experiences.

Which I think is true for core gamers, they want to play Cod, Destiny, Anthem etc all year round.

But only casual players do that with Sports game and maybe Cod, where they can jump in and out through the year.

I want to buy an Xbox one X, I prefer the controller but without games worth playing (SoT aside) I'm also a Mac user which locks out some of the other benefits.

4K Blu rays aren't interesting, most people don't choose what film to watch days/weeks in advance, you choose in the moment so streaming will always win for the masses.

Games consoles have to be for the masses, that's why they openly acknowledge they will sell more of the Xbox one S going forward than the X, probably at best around a 70/30 split in favour of the S.

He quite literally only says things that are either completely obvious or will never happen.. lol