Talking Point: Do You Think Xbox Will Ever Stop Making Consoles?

I hope Xbox start succeeding more and continue to make hardware.

The series x is the best console and in a recent DF breakdown gives more RAM and CPU cores to the developers than PS5 and is capable of 12tflop, we just need an Xbox studio and few exclusives that use this power and show us this.
Console features like quick resume are great and I prefer the Xbox controller thumb stick positions and the triggers.

So to me they produced the best hardware with the series x and also the xbox360 and Xbox one x.

But as the whole world keeps telling them it’s games that count, brand recognition and brand momentum and very good PR advertising.

Xbox have missed so many simple beats during the firsts three years of series x, had a little try 2023 with some games but nothing that screams get an Xbox or game pass.

Hopefully these four games being shown next week will release to full AAA critical acclaim and get gamers and the public more on board with must have Xbox games.

@themightyant
That’s a good point, I took my series x round a friends over Christmas. Showed them some games and went to show off cloud gaming, especially as they have 200mb/sec internet.
Went to play a game it said your wait is five minutes or over.

What the hell is going on there, that certainly didn’t warm them to Xbox cloud gaming and I looked dam daft after giving Xbox a good demonstration.

No they will make a consoles until the entire industry moves on from home consoles.

Worst case scenario there is an xbox os that you can install on a pc but even then they will sell a prebuild as the official xbox.

Gamepass is only 15% of xbox's revenue. Phil Spencer admitted that it is unlikely to ever get much higher than that. There is no reason to abandon the other 85% that have rejected gamepass. Xbox makes roughly 30% of every 3rd party digital sale there. People are still paying for online access. Xbox needs a physical console but that is not their sole focus anymore.

@themightyant
If that is cloud gaming, wait five minutes and also for an inferior product over a full download game with higher resolution etc.

They can take cloud gaming and totally stick it where the sun don’t shine. There is no way I’m waiting 5 minutes or more to play a game, let alone an inferior version.

Consoles all the way for me please.

Internet would need to be more readily available at faster speeds. The GForce app is a solid look at what MS could become. They would need to reduce wait times to get online for sure. Even now there can be significant delays getting an xCloud game running during peak hours.

I doubt they'll try to go software only for the immediate future though. Sony isn't likey to let MS eat at their PSNow revenue stream by allowing GP on the PS.

I would guess that the ultimate aim (once it becomes practical) is to divorce ‘Xbox’ entirely from physical hardware and make it something that you can just subscribe to through your telly, like Netflix.

I honestly don't believe anyone will have any actual hardware in 20 years. It's just going to be an app on anything with a screen with the option to use M&K or a controller with touch controls being the default for phones You see 2 year olds handle a phone ever... we're not the market of the future.

@BacklogBrad they could just create a VM and embed it on the Xbox windows app. Something like Fission on XB1 (to emulate the X360).

I've been a console user all my life. I like what Xbox is doing in terms of access and usabilty. Then, I hope they continue with Xbox hardware, and I hope they expand it (portable console).

As soon as they possibly could they would stop. they are aiming to be a streaming games service, when (if) the tech is good enough and when (if) they convince enough younsters (that don't know any better) to play games that way then they will have finished their mission in the gaming space.

No and here’s why.

We all know just how astronomically large the gaming market is even after you factor out whatever percent is dominated by Steam. Microsoft probably has a little under a third of the console market and IMO has the best tech and just needs to lock in a killer IP like its own Mario.

Maybe that’s WoW or CoD, maybe they still need to buy a big name like Square or Capcom, but Microsoft has a user experience Nintendo and Sony can’t/won’t offer.

Until xCloud is available for the majority of smart TVs, gaming operating systems (eg: Batocera, ChimeraOS, etc.), smart phones, tablets, etc. and high-speed internet is commonly available everywhere (which is underway thanks to various legislation), then I think Microsoft will need a "Game Pass machine" and that's Xbox consoles.

Hopefully they'll keep making hardware for a long, long time.
I don't want only Sony as a high end console maker, that, and definitely don’t feel like paying £1000 for a PlayStation due to lack of competition.

I think they will continue to have some type of console for the foreseeable future, but I argue they are venturing into uncharted territory. Game Pass is an amazing value, and having the ability to play that library with the graphics a series S/X can provide has to be cheaper and less intimidating than on a PC. Cloud gaming is a nice feature, but I don’t see that being a mainstream way of playing games anytime soon. The wait time alone that I frequently get is aggravating.

With that said, why not have some more games on other platforms to try and increase your exposure where it makes sense, and make a little extra money doing so?

Absolutely. Not next Gen. But one of the two after that they're gonna dip out of the console market.

By then they'll have deals to have Gamepass on Nintendo and Sony. Expanding their audience by orders while not having to deal with console R&D, productions, and distribution.

Gamepass is already available on phones, VR, TVs, browsers, etc. Make a dongle and they're set for any screen ala fire stick.

Gamepass has been touted as the Netflix of gaming. And I see that being the way they go.

I'm sure there will always be a market for the console, but it's definitely not the future. Sony will always make a console and will always be the best selling console, which really isn't saying much in 2023. A lot of people still don't understand that, including Sony. Microsoft will always promote Game Pass and will always have the best selling subscription based service. That's the future. Nintendo can do whatever they want and still succeed.

@themightyant
Totally agree, we seem absolutely miles off cloud gaming for the masses, I’m including Xbox, Sony and Nintendo let alone all other devices.

Right now it’s a massive step backwards from my consoles with instant gaming and full game effects and specification. The general public would never go for this cloud gaming on its current performance.

And I’m not joking I would leave gaming if I was made to cloud game in its current wait time and game quality performance, sounds like a total shambles to me.

Keep the consoles coming for the next 20 years at least please.

Wait will happen in the future, one company will make the jump to cloud gaming. The other two will use this in advertising to their advantage, showing instant gaming with full effects on their consoles.

By the way some great topics on Pure Xbox today
Well done all. 😊.

Microsoft has its services on Mobile, Mac & Chromebooks but it hasn't killed Windows or Microsofts Surface PCs. So can't see Xbox hardware being killed off if Microsoft does the same with Xbox services.

Cloud gaming, sounds like need to get my Commodore 64 out the loft 😂😂😂

I think Microsoft is going third party. It's Sega all over again.

For as much as people point out the Phil quote of xbox lost the console war, its important to note that the console war was in the past. If you talk about any sort of future videogame war I would say microsoft is light years ahead of both Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft has a massive lead in subscription service, cloud streaming, mobile gaming, pc presence, a much more diverse developer portfolio, etc.

As the industry shifts and the largest growth continues to be in pc and mobile xbox is in a much better position than Sony. It makes sense to keep making the box because of the ease of use, couch comfort, etc they offer but that no longer represents the videogame market anymore. There is much more to it now and microsoft is way ahead in my opinion. They will remain in the console space but that is not a valid measuring stick for success as microsoft is about to pass Sony in yearly gaming revenue.

Potentially because they aren’t going to keep throwing money at it to develop it, market it and so on if it’s not giving them the return.

But this all depends on infrastructure, because in 90%+ of the world broadband is not good enough, nether is cloud.

Also Sony/Nintendo will not allow a full 3rd party filled GP on their system. They just won’t. An app that contains Xbox studios stuff only?! Yep I can see that.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner
But this all depends on infrastructure, because in 90%+ of the world broadband is not good enough, nether is cloud.

You are spot on there, sounds this Cloud gaming delivering anything to today’s console gaming standards and PC is decades away, even if ever at all.
Think I will be dead and buried before we lose consoles to the cloud, and thank god for that as well 😂

I'm in the who knows camp. I think they can hang in for a couple more gens (say, 10 years or so), and by then things may be very different, the game landscape changes quickly.

I like the idea of them putting older games on other systems. At this point, throwing Gears 1 -3 or Banjo on PS or Switch is probably not cannibalizing console sales, and they make some more money as a publisher to fund more AAA first party (or smaller games from smaller teams within their stufios, like Pentiment) which they can keep exclusive for as long as it makes financial sense and the console owners don't feel ripped off.

There has been talk lately (post Insomniac hack) as to whether AAA development is sustainable, and maybe turning 1st party to timed exclusive helps make it so?

Zero chance of consoles disappearing. People tend to forget that you can't just use a blanket term 'gamer' to encompass all people who play games.
There's the dedicated gamer who will always want best looking, best response, zero lag in games.
Casual gamers, or 1 finger players who may play a few hrs a week on whatever is available, most notably smart phones etc and only occasionally console game.
Also there's the homebrew market. Gamers who continually tinker and take apart, reassemble their own consoles.
Don't forget the PSX, PS2, PS3 and soon PS4 and OG Xbox 360, Xbone are all systems not produced anymore. Some for over 20 years and still people game on those systems.
If this somehow was the last gen of consoles I can easily see me playing on my XsX or PS5 in a few decades time (if I live that long 😆).

Yes, I do think they'll stop making consoles. It's feeling like Microsoft are purposely trying to push people away from Xbox consoles so that when they do pull the plug, there's less of a backlash. So like a similar path to what they're doing with Microsoft Rewards, with that they're nerfing rewards to the point people won't care about it when they shut it down. The dashboard prioritizing ads over being able to access the games you want to play also pushes people away.

Given that Phil Spencer revealed that Microsoft considered pulling out of the console market during the Xbox One days and he had to convince them to remain you can never say never. It seems more unlikely these days though but they do seem to be on a major push towards cloud gaming so I think that they may end up going all in on cloud once the tech and infrastructure is stable enough.

Uncle Phil said himself Xbox will remain in tbe console space.

@Grumblevolcano
Well if they take away Xbox consoles and only produce games through Cloud on other consoles
And not full downloads, unfortunately they won’t be selling any games or cloud based game pass to me.
They will lose so many customers that way if it’s cloud based only. Maybe in 20 years but not anytime soon.
The one time I tried it, had to wait 5 minutes and over and gave up and it would have been an inferior game, not full 4K etc with all bells and whistles. What a waste of time.

@themightyant
Well I hope you are correct I need my consoles not cloud for sure.

I have a new Samsung QD-OLED and it has Xbox built in app, but I go now where near it with my 6mb/sec internet and I want to play in 4K etc.

Yes I have a Switch and playing TOTK at whatever resolution, but I don’t have to wait to play and also for me Nintendo get off the hook a little because some of their games are almost second to none.

@themightyant
Totally agree with you, I think Nintendo will keep the same format with Switch 2 with probably some 4K and slightly better graphics.

Mario 3D will release with the new console and that’s me preordering the night they showcase 😂😂😂.

As for their 2023 performance, they put the other two to shame really.

@BacklogBrad Wish lot more rejected game pass. It is very overpriced for what it offers.

@somnambulance
To give me confidence is simple
They have to produce the full console experience in cloud.
Zero wait times
Same game quality
No lag

And not for Xbox but the infrastructure has to be there, I’m on 6mb/sec and can’t improve this.
And I’m outer London in a busy ish area, so what does that tell you about infrastructure.

@Tasuki "using dics" is VERY, VERY, VERY IMPORTANT to me. All digital is a disaster waiting to happen. See signs of the danger all the time today.

I really hope they never stop making consoles. I really am not a fan of PC gaming and will never be a PC gamer. PC gaming is for gamers who hate couch co op. That's not me I grew up playing games with my cousins and friends. Console gaming is the best in my opinion.

@GuyinPA75 I don't really see the logic in wishing people who enjoy something would not enjoy that thing. If it's not for you that's fine but why not just let others enjoy it?

That's part of what is great about the xbox strategy. There is something for everyone. If you want the "pro" model xbox buy or build a pc. You want a portable Xbox, there are plenty of steam deck like devices now and you can get gamepass on them or purchase the 1st party games on steam. Or you can just rock the home consoles because they will always have those too.

i dont see how buying and maintaining servers FOR EVERYONE would be cheaper than selling consoles. quit selling consoles at a lost and it cost ms nothing to have a console out.

It's inevitable that Xbox will stop making consoles they all will eventually sooner rather then later. It's not a bad thing either. Xbox will just be the first to do it. They've already shown us that they are serious about the cloud your are able to play on phones, tablets, TVs and pretty much anything else. They are no longer in a (console war) it's not about that it's about their ecosystem Phil has said that from his mouth that they've lost that battle and that is fine. It does not matter how many consoles they sell anymore it's about how many players they have playing and the time and money spent in their ecosystem. If that means putting some of their games on other platforms that just brings more money to their ecosystem. You're still getting the games in GamePass for that low price and the other platforms are paying full price I don't understand why that upsets some people. I do disagree with the statement that was made about the other major platforms would have to accept GamePass on there stuff. There is no need for GamePass to be on those platforms damn near everyone who owns those platforms also owns a smart phone, or tablet and a TV. They've said they will expand beyond just Samsung TVs in the future. I'm a Nintendo fan since the NES and I have loved Xbox since I bought my first one in 2016 The Xbox1. I'd played them since the original but never owned one personally. When I heard the things Phil was saying about backwards and forwards compatibility with games and accessories I was so glad to hear that because it was what Iwata was doing at Nintendo before he passed and they dropped all that for the most part. Xbox is in a great place right now regardless of what is reported by so called journalist and the social media warriors. Xbox is winning be happy and just play games there are tons of them out there to get into.

With all this talk of Microsoft leaving Xbox hardware behind to become third party. There is nothing stopping Microsoft partnering with manufacturers & licensing the Xbox OS to a handful of unique devices. Or Microsoft could create Surface like devices for us xbox fans.

what i wonder is when are they gonna run out of names since all the xbox names after 360 are dumb - xbox one , xbox one x , series x , etc

@themightyant nintendo is the golden child of the industry

@BacklogBrad Thank you sir that was well said.

@nomither6 one generation ago people were writing these exact same articles about nintendo becoming a software company as the Wii U was declared an utter failure.

The fact this is even a question kinda says it all. Gamepass is what MS cares about and if Sony and Nintendo allowed Gamepass then MS would be over the moon. Xbox is on its last legs, it will have a next gen but i suspect that gen will phase Xbox out and phase GamePass box in with many 1st party games hitting other consoles. Phil's admitted Xbox lost and MS have been tightening the Xbox leash pretty hard this past year.

Its sad to say it but the Xbox brand died E3 2013.

MS have been tightening the Xbox leash pretty hard this past year

If making an acquisition for $68 billion is tightening the Xbox leash, then we better hope its not getting tightened even further 😀...

@nomither6
what i wonder is when are they gonna run out of names

The next console will be named Xbox Infinity.....they'll never run out of names😁.

I don't care about consoles or not consoles... What I do care is that I have a device for me to play games in my TV and that device has a friendly UI for the TV. My love of consoles is the fact that the input device only requires a controller, the UI is designed around the entertainment experience, and the device is powerful enough (and cheap enough) to run the latest great games.

I am buying the XB experience not a console. And to me that experience also includes content, safe/performant online gaming, achievements, gamepass, and play anywhere on any device including dedicated devices and cloud.

As long as the device does all that it could be a tablet, lego bricks, tower PC, console, or whatever. I don't care. People get too attached to "this is the way we do things". And should focus more on, "this is what the thing needs to do to get me to buy it".

Yes. I think the streaming box was the start. Same with the Samsung TVs. Spreading it to other screens cloud or hardware side.

Software is what Microsoft does, so I think a service will be their future. While it will be sad to see consoles go and I do prefer consoles they are a middleware to other possibilities. I mean the PS5 having things surround it is a strategy but like Stadia or Vita you don't have to have an app stuck to 1 device aka Pixel phones and a Vita.

I already barely use my Xbox One X as it is other than for backwards compatibility or anime blu-rays so if it's current gen games sure but I have no interest right now. If I see some AAs/Indies sure but I'm still getting them on old gen currently and not fussed. Until I see hard drive gimmicks or better AI, animations, dynamic elements in games more I'm already uninterested. My guess is if AAA do that it will be more PS6/next Xbox but I also don't have much hope for those things ever happening either.

I like the Impulse Triggers but do I expect the console to have gimmicks no. If the software OS wise gets exciting (than tons of ads, social features and more I don't use and never want to turn the console on for because I hate the current OS navigation and quality of life and miss the quality of life of the one before it and we won't get Blades or the last 360 one or others again I mean sure.......... (one of the few times I don't mind flat menus but I didn't mind Windows 8 either it's apps, the Xbox One multi app features they ditched in 2017, grrrrr) but yeah we need more tech exciting software features quick resume is nice but I use physical only on my Xbox consoles sooooooooo that doesn't help me even if it's cool) or the controller and intriguing games sure but for now not fussed either way.

I have no interest in the 'own nothing' mindset so to me unless we see Robotcache or other refunding digital PC games but on console I'm not interested in the digital future.

Not a chance, unless some unforeseen event decimates MS’s overall strategy these days, which is focusing on all sectors of the gaming market as opposed to any particular sector in the gaming market. MS is all about its overall gaming ecosystem and that includes console, PC, and mobile. Not a chance MS just abandons one of the fastest growing segments of the market with consoles.

Xbox just had a record quarter for revenue in Q1 of 2024 so even when it has struggled with hardware sales, it has seen plenty of good things in other areas of the market. Your average Xbox gamer is spending more than your average PS player. Overall hardware sales are one of the least important metrics for the console market, unless you’re talking about so few sales that it causes a company to tank and that is absolutely not happening with Xbox.

As for the streaming argument, we are still a long ways off from streaming being anywhere close to the performance it needs to be to be able to replace dedicated hardware. And once it does get to that point, we’ll be having this discussion for all 3 companies, not just Xbox.

Xbox hardware isn’t going anywhere.

There will be an xbox after the Series x/s, but after that (up to 15 years from now), the market will be massively different. Gaming will be largely digital, something you do through your phone, tv or computer. "Xbox" will essentially be an app, as will Playstation and Nintendo (actually Nintendo is so stubborn they may be still making Switch 3 lol)

@OldGamer999 I saw something about that (but haven't done that much research on it) and it makes things even more baffling that the PS5 continues to perform either equal to or better than (by a small margin) the Series X in most scenarios.

It feels like either Microsoft put too much emphasis on expecting that developers "code smarter", the split memory architecture is that much of a detriment, the more cores approach in the GPU vs higher clockspeeds isn't working as they thought, developers really only care about making performance "good enough" on Series X while focusing on PS5, or developers are focusing on Series S optimization so much that Series X isn't get as much attention.

Honestly? They could. My big worry with microsoft is always them abandoning PC gaming again but at the same time.. I can’t remember a microsoft exclusive I’ve enjoyed since the 360 era. A lot of my favourite games to play on my series x are third party. Even Bethesda’s disappointed me since 2015. Particularly with Starfield.

I’d mourn the loss of a real pioneer of backwards compatibility and I’ll always be bitter towards PlayStation for not supporting their PS3 catalogue but man, there really ain’t much. Point in the xbox for me but 360 games on an SSD.

No I don't think they will stop making Xbox anymore than Sony will stop making PlayStation,
Selling a lot of consoles isn't proving to be of any benefit to PS5 owners, they had one very short First Party AAA exclusive for 2023 and 2024 is not looking much better.

@GamingFan4Lyf
Yes the split memory pool of the series x was daft to me they should have gone a unified memory pool like the PS5.
Could be with just third party developers focusing on the highest selling console the PS5 and also pissed with having to deal with the series s.

But that doesn’t stop Xbox own studios showing us what the series x can really do and it’s about time they did.

@BacklogBrad they’re still the golden child , it doesn’t matter what kind of hardware they release . ppl were actually defending the wii back in the day when third parties were absolutely embarrassing.

@Sol4ris that’s actually pretty good..it’s corny , but it fits nonetheless 😂

Quite honestly I don't ever see them recovering from the botched Xbox One launch. Between that, the fact they have the support of next to no Japanese devs or Publishers, and the constant one step forward three steps back choices, it's not lookin' great. While Nintendo will always make consoles and currently Sony's PC ports are trash making console the best experience for their games, I really can't tell you a reason to own an Xbox over a PC. Backwards compatibility gave you access to some games not on any other systems, but Microsoft ended that and doesn't do anything to preserve the ones they do have. You don't need a console for their Rewards system. All their own games generally are made better, have more options, & get more support on PC. If there's no cross-play Xbox always has the smallest player pool while PC has the biggest. Their game library is the smallest of the 4 while PC is the biggest. Game Pass is better and cheaper on PC. You don't need to pay a fee for online on PC. Even if there were a few reasons, these completely dwarf them. If anything, everything I just pointed out says they'd be better off making affordable gaming PCs over consoles.

I don't see MS quitting the console market so long as its viable at all. The day they quit, its because it all moved to PC for everyone.

@shoeses one reason to own a Xbox is if someone doesn’t want or can’t afford a PC & prefers the conveniency of consoles; but they also want a console that’s more powerful & has more features(& backwards compatibility) than their competitors - so they get a xbox . it’s the console closest to a PC.

i don’t do brand loyalty , but Xbox nowadays is underrated, and it doesn’t really make sense as to why .

The short answer is "no."

For all of the naysayers, pay attention to the long game.

XBOX will be a ROKU/APPLE TV like 4K streaming gamepass device w/ 2TB to 4TB SSD storage by 2030.

@PushButtons

Not a chance. It’s gonna be a lot longer than just 6 years before streaming can come anywhere close to matching what dedicated hardware will do. Streaming will absolutely have its day someday, but it’s gonna be well past 2030.

@nomither6 You literally read nothing but okay, thanks.

I think Xbox consoles are basically the same to Microsoft as their Surface devices. Yeah, they like to sell their own hardware for their own software and services, but no, it's not something that I can see them giving up on really. Microsoft has always been open to having their software and services on as much hardware from as many companies as possible, it's how they built their business. I think Xboxes will always be here as a relatively cheap/affordable way to play the latest games. A home TV alternative to a gaming PC really. They will always be selling them as an entry point to their games and Gamepass as long as home consoles are a thing.

Basically their entire business is centered around maximizing software and service sales, the hardware simply exists to help sell those products.

@shoeses “ I really can't tell you a reason to own an Xbox over a PC”

i told you a reason and you didn’t like it . not everyone cares about weeb games or sony exclusives or playing games at a computer desk

@nomither6 A good reason for me is that a Series X is only $500 or less and it can play the latest games very well. A nice high-end Gaming PC that can offer improvements over that would be a massive power consuming device that costs a couple grand at least. Pretty big difference there.

@nomither6 " not everyone cares about weeb games or sony exclusives or playing games at a computer desk" Well I mean clearly they do considering all the other platforms outperform Xbox and Xbox is the only one without them.

@cburg What does Xbox have going for them in the long term other than the Activision acquisition? They were so hyper focused on that they haven't done anything else to grow for what feels like years. They ended the Backwards Compatibility Program and the catalog gets smaller with each delisting, the Rewards Program gets less appealing each day, prices for things like GP are increased, they're not doing anything to get more devs Western or Eastern on the Platform, they rarely convince devs to reconsider an Xbox release before or after it's been skipped - I love my Xbox, but I'm just not seeing any positives that'll matter until the next console Gen. And so much good or bad could happen in that time.

@shoeses

What does Xbox have going for them?

1 - Game Pass, by far the most successful sub service in gaming. It’s by far the best deal in gaming I have ever had and it’s only gotten better and better. 2023 was the best year yet for Game Pass.

2 - Huge IP’s that were recently purchased including Doom, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and the list goes on and on. If you don’t think having some of the most popular game series of all time as part of MS now and coming to Game Pass day 1 is something Xbox has going for it…well, I guess you are entitled to that opinion, but I will disagree with you on that one 100%.

A more important question at this point is what does Sony have going for them besides good hardware sales figures at this point?? I logged only 47 hours on my PS last year, close to 1000 on my Xbox. PS has a much weaker sub service with no day 1 games and one that got significantly more expensive last year, has over invested in live service games spending 50% of their gaming budget on them, had the weakest showcases in 2023 that I have seen to date from PS, and had one of the weakest 1st party years in 2023 that I can ever remember with 2024 actually not looking any better.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and if you want to think Xbox has nothing going for it, by all means hold that opinion. I for one couldn’t possibly disagree more. I am FAR more concerned with PlayStation’s upcoming years than I am Xbox or Nintendo. I am looking forward to a ton of stuff coming from Xbox.

@cburg From reading through the comments it's the people that ARE paying attention to the long game that think they will eventually move away from consoles.

@Sifi First party exclusives may give a console a selling point but in reality they are only a small piece of the puzzle. There are only ever a small handful of first party games release on any console in a year compared to the masses of third party games that release and of that small handful maybe only one or two at moat may actually appeal to you.
Just look at the sales figures for any first party game and the sales never come anywhere near the install base. The same applies on game pass too, just looking at the figures less that half of game pass subscribers have even bothered to download Starfield for "free". I played over 150 games on my PS5 last year and only a tiny percentage of those will have been first party so I think PS5 users will be doing just fine.

Microsoft arguably don't need to make Consoles today as they have PC/Cloud and 'could' go 3rd Party too or bring Game Pass to Nintendo/Sony hardware - basically the ONLY hardware that MS doesn't 'regularly' release on.

We know certain Games/IP's are 'multi-platform' anyway - games like Minecraft and its Spin-Offs, as well as CoD and no doubt other ABK IP's etc so a good number will be multi-platform.

That being said, I think whilst the Market demands an Xbox console - even if its not as large a market as Sony/Nintendo have due to the fact its not 'necessary' as their games are available elsewhere too, then MS will continue to supply to meet demand.

Whilst you maybe able to play over Cloud or get a decent PC to play 'locally', that isn't the 'option' a lot of people want or have. Cloud may not offer the performance or infrastructure to be 'adequate' for some and PC's maybe too expensive. Consoles also provide an 'ease of use' and simple Plug & play approach which some gamers may prefer - therefore a Market exists.

If that 'market' dwindles as more either 'prefer' Cloud/PC for example, then maybe MS will reconsider, but in the 'near' future, there is demand for a 'Console' within the MS ecosystem...

At this time, I don't really care anymore.
I use Game Pass from time to time on my PC, but I haven't got hooked on a first party Xbox title, in a long time.
I loved Xbox during the OG and 360n era, but that old magic, is gone now. I don't know anyone who owns a Xbox console now, compared to back in the late 00:s, when everyone owned a 360.
It looked so damn promising around the release of the Series consoles, and I was really looking forward to a 360 styled comeback. But who knows, maybe things will finally turn around, in 2024-2025.

The only thing I'm looking forward to, is what Bethesda and ID will bring us next. A new Quake reboot would be sweet.

@RIghteousNixon It's closer than you think and I was being modest. Six years ago in 2018, XboxOne & PS4 gen was peaking and technology has evolved a lot since then. By 2030, streaming games to a little Xbox/Roku/AppleTV like device will have reduced graphical quality like mobile games do today but they'll look more like current X/S & PS5 games and not next gen. If that makes sense. Notice I said it'll have 2-4tb SSD? That'll be for downloading the larger more performance demanding games. Physical media will be a thing of the past too. FTR, I've never thought that until recently. And MS bought Activision/Blizzard for CallOfDuty-mobile more than anything. This is the big picture for GamePass.

Hopefully not, although I sometimes feel they are shifting their focus on things. In my area some shops are taking PlayStation games as their primary priority. Everything will depend on what the consumer wants from them and/or the area’s that print them money (multiple strategies).
From the moment all the MS studios are up to speed with the overall developing process (and some of the technologies) we might see what the future brings. A lot can change in 5 years!

@PushButtons

No, it’s not because the games themselves are getting more and more demanding. I can promise you, 6 years from now game streaming will not be even close to prime time for new game releases. The difference between having dedicated hardware and streaming will still be significant and these companies are never going to force people into an inferior experience through streaming.

Streaming will be offered by companies like MS as an option at first and it won’t be until the time being played through streaming significantly leapfrogs over play through hardware that these companies even begin to think of focusing solely on streaming. That is FAR more than 6 years away. If I had to make a guess, I would say at least 15-20 is a much much more likely figure.

@RIghteousNixon I'm not necessarily saying they got nothing going for them as much as I'm saying they don't have as many as other people think.

Owning Doom, Fallout, & TES won't mean anything if Bethesda screws up again - Starfield was a big make or break moment for them for the public. Even even if Microsoft pushes them to completely redo it like Cyberpunk did (and they made the State of Decay 2 devs do), most people won't bother because of that first impression. Even so, all those IP including Microsoft's others run better on PC. Where as Sony's trash ports run much worse.

As for Game Pass, yeah, it is good. The Perks are garbage and they don't do enough Deals specifically for owning it, but the core of it is good. But Backwards Compatibility was good too, and they ended that for no reason too. The Rewards system was great too, but every week it gets another nerf. My point is, yeah it is good, but that doesn't mean anything to Microsoft. They've had plenty of good things going for them and chose to end them for no reason.

As for Sony, I don't follow them at all so I can't say anything. All I've seen is the leaked footage for Wolverine, and it looks like every other Sony game in the past few years. (Why does Wolverine need med kits and smoke bombs?)

I get the feeling a lot of people think I just hate Microsoft/Xbox, when actually I'm more jaded than anything. I bought my Series X for faster load times & because of BC, and within a few months they announced that ending. Between that and noticing a lot of games I want only skip Xbox, it's quite frustrating to say the least.

@shoeses

“I m not necessarily saying they got nothing going for them as much as I'm saying they don't have as many as other people think.”

That’s your opinion and again you are entitled to that opinion. The people who think otherwise, including myself, are also entitled to their opinion.

Starfield wasn’t some big make or break moment for Bethesda. The game was a disappointment for some, no doubt, but I don’t buy for a second that the people disappointed by Starfield will suddenly abandon Bethesda. I can guarantee when the next big Bethesda game releases, they will absolutely buy it or play it if it’s a good game. Doom Eternal was my GOTY 3 years ago. It was an absolutely brilliant brilliant game and I have zero doubt the next one will be amazing as well. Nothing anyone says will convince me that people will not buy a game like the next Elder Scrolls because they were disappointed by Starfield.

Xbox now has like 36 first party studios which is an absolutely massive massive step up from previous generations. That in itself is something Xbox has going for it. More 1st party games is what people have been asking for for years. MS’s 1st party situation now dwarfs both Sony and Nintendo. And this will in turn continue to make Game Pass stronger as all those games will be day 1 Game Pass games.

You have things like ID@Xbox which helps bring indies and independently published games to Xbox and has been fantastic the last year or so. Personally, I prefer indies and AA over AAA these days so I love this program, have thoroughly enjoyed many games from it, and am looking forward to many more.

You have features like quick resume, hands down the single best next gen feature on any system in my opinion. It’s been an absolute game changer for me.

While MS cancelled the BC program, Xbox is still leaps and bounds ahead of Nintendo and PlayStation on this front. And there has been talk about opening it back up. And Xbox now uses a universal platform so all games from the Xbox One era on will run natively on all future hardware. So while the BC for 360 and the OG Xbox are done atm, Xbox is still king of the hill on this topic and any game purchased after the 360 and OG Xbox are guaranteed to work on any future Xbox system. Knowing my games will work on any future hardware with no BC even required is a HUGE step up from earlier generations. Knowing that is definitely something to continue to look forward to.

We have Activision Blizzards entire catalog coming to Game Pass. That’s a huge perk for Xbox and something I am definitely looking forward to.

These are just a few things off the top of my head. You also have the Play Anywhere initiative, free streaming with Game Pass, etc. there is no denying Xbox had some rough years and that they have to prove themselves with 1st party and many of these acquisitions, but I am looking forward to more with Xbox now than any other system atm. So when people say there isn’t much to look forward to or Xbox doesn’t have a lot going for them, I for one can’t possibly disagree more.

@GamingFan4Lyf
Continuing from the other day about third parties making the effort to optimise series x/s games.

I’ve just seen the UK game charts with percentage breakdown of sales per console. Now I understand why some don’t bother with small sales compared to PS5 and Switch on the series consoles. If you are a business it sort of makes sense and optimisation obviously costs time and money and if the reward in investment is negative why bother. Don’t forget they have already had to invest more with 2 series consoles against one Sony and one Nintendo.

There will be an Xbox as long as there are consoles. Microsoft makes hardware: desktop computers, laptops, tablets, hybrids, smartphones and consoles. Not making consoles makes zero sense and there is 0% probability of that happening. Microsoft has zero reasons to do so and it would also alienate millions of gamers around the world, which would hurt the Xbox brand in return, a brand that has recently invested billions in purchasing development studios.

I'm not saying that it will happen because I don't think so, but it's more likely that Sony stops making consoles if the new portfolio of online games fails and losing the Xbox exclusion deals with Zenimax, Activision and other big publishers affects their yearly incomes significantly. Nintendo is utterly unpredictable so anything can happen with them. By the way, don't you guys remember Patcher saying that consoles would disappear generations ago? 🤣 These baseless rumours make the same amount of sense.

Too difficult to tell. There's sensible arguments that can be made both for and against staying in the console business. All I know is I prefer consoles, have bought every Xbox and will continue to do so as long as MS remains in the console business, which is hopefully for a good, long time.

I think consoles will slowly disappear, you feel a kind of build-up towards the end

@RIghteousNixon No. You missed the point. In six years, games streaming on Xbox will be and look like games from this current gen, Series X|S. Not next gen. The newer games at that time will be available to download onto the device. I guarantee you in 6 years tech will have changed dramatically.

@PushButtons

We’ll agree to disagree. You said;

“XBOX will be a ROKU/APPLE TV like 4K streaming gamepass device w/ 2TB to 4TB SSD storage by 2030.”

I don’t buy this for a second as the technology for game streaming just isn’t there yet. Could they offer a separate device simply for streaming that is like you’re describing? Its possible but it won’t be at 4k, will be a big step down performance wise, and it won’t be a replacement for a regular Xbox.

We already know Xbox is working on new hardware for next gen that will be regular hardware. Given the average lifespan of hardware, that means the main hardware for Xbox for at least the next 10-+ years will be a regular console so if a device like you’re talking about did release onto the market in 6 years time, I have absolutely zero doubt it would be an utter failure sales wise for Xbox as very few people are going to choose that over the regular console route.

If you had said that XBOX will have a ROKU/APPLE TV like streaming Game Pass device w/ 2TB to 4TB SSD storage as an option by 2030, it becomes far more reasonable, even tho I don’t think MS will even attempt it at that point and I still think it would fail horribly and a successful version wouldn’t be capable until 15-20 years from now.

Time will tell…

I don't see it happening for next gen. Like I believe they'll make a next gen console. But if that doesn't sell to their expectations, then it could be their last console.

@RIghteousNixon Then Playstation Portal doesn't work based on your opinion. And that couldn't be further from the truth.

@PushButtons Playstation Portal is a local streaming device and it has more lag than the Wii U Game Pad according to testers. Also, in six years gaming will be the same as today. Not even fibre broadband can replace native gaming and still millions of players around the world don't have access to it. I have fast broadband, streaming is kind of okay, but it's incomparable to native gaming. The lag, the inconsistency and the distance between the players and the servers make it okay at best, not to mention the video compression, lower resolution, lack of Dolby Vision, etc. It's like playing a last-gen version of the game.

Let's assume that video games streaming will evolve and more people will have access to it. Let's imagine that video games streaming will overcome all these inherent obstacles in 20 years. Then what do you think hardware will be like? Consoles may also have evolved the same or more, I think that more because they don't need to send and receive far away data for video and audio. It doesn't make any sense that streaming will evolve and improve gaming while consoles won't be smaller and more efficient in 20 years. It's not like consoles (and PCs) will be stuck on 2023 while streaming will evolve. That's why streaming won't replace consoles and PCs, because consoles and PCs (local hardware) will also evolve and don't need to process the graphics and audio over global networks. They just need to download the game files and receive and send the multiplayer input. Consoles and PCs will evolve like mobile phones have, but won't disappear just like mobile phones have not.

@Banjo- You lost me at "according to testers". If you don't own PS Portal you're just repeating others opinion without first hand experience. It's all about connection quality. I own Portal and it's great. You can access your games from another location and good wifi if your PS5 is hardwired at home. I also own and use WiiU and there's no noticeable lag of any concern for those games..

@PushButtons That was the smallest part of my comment. The Wii U Game Pad is all right, I still use it, but what players say is that it's better than PS Portal regarding lag in local gameplay. It's shocking because Wii U was released eleven years before PS Portal.

I mean Atari and Sega are long gone as hardware developers despite being massive in the gaming space.

MS are more diversified than they were, but that can also mean they could cut their losses more easily if the hardware market didn't work out.

I'm in favour of more cross platform titles as when hardware manufacturers need to compete on price, features, and quality rather than just having the most popular software.

@Notafanboylikesome I don't hate Portal. If you search on Google or Bing there are hundreds of threads complaining about lag but, as I said, I don't have it. If yours and @PushButtons's experience is good, then great. Maybe all those people have a bad internet connection.

What is unquestionable about PS Portal is that the functionality is the same as any Android smartphone or tablet, a Windows PC, a Mac, an iPhone or an iPad connected to the PS5 via Remote Play. It doesn't even cloud stream games and it doesn't support Bluetooth audio accessories. I don't hate it but considering the alternative handheld consoles (Steam Deck, Asus Rog Ally, Nintendo Switch) and the devices running any OS (Android, Windows or iOS) that can connect to the PS5, I just don't see the point.

@Banjo- The WiiU gamepad is great and was ahead of its time but connects directly to the WiiU console to play. The PSPortal is connected to the PS5 solely through the internet. You clearly have no experience with the Portal to have any opinion.

@PushButtons LOL Did you even read my comments?

@ValkyriaProfile
I'm not a PC gamer, either, but I'd be lying if I said the Steam Deck hasn't seemed enticing at times. But I really hope MS doesn't stop making Xbox consoles anytime soon, even if it's bringing some of its first party games elsewhere.