Xbox Graces Cover Of PlayStation Magazine For Possibly The First Time Ever

Lol "Could Halo be on the way?!?!" bait much?

The moves Microsoft is making with Xbox are exactly the same they made with Windows Phone before they shut it down.
They spent BILLIONS on Nokia. Then laid off a ton of workers, then started putting all the apps and features that were exclusives to Windows Phones on iPhone and Android, and then shut it down.

It is a UK based magazine and I am pretty sure this website is fully aware of that. Xbox magazine died - made also by Future- because it just didn't sell enough, a bit like Xbox series consoles.

It is also available on Readly but I would always encourage people to buy the physical magazines and keep print media alive,

Bought Hi-Fi Rush last week for
my PS5. I've played the first 2 stages and it's Loads of fun and for £28 a bargain.

I thought they all shut down. They should make an all gaming magazine tho instead of a specific platform magazine. A magazine for all gamers to enjoy, maybe. PC, Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox combined along with mobile too coz some people play on phones.

Insert doom post here

Used to love gamepro and electronics gaming monthly back in the day

@GrandValkyrie I used to read Nintendo Magazine System, N64 and NGC magazines myself. Didn’t really bother with magazines sheet I switched to Xbox.

@TheGameThrifter killing Windows Phone was CEO Sataya Nadella's grand plan. For which he said recently regretting killing it to early & now he is doing the same with Xbox.

100% he's making the same mistakes. He's not a consumer first person. He doesn't "get" gaming and certainly doesn't get hardware.

This is pretty cool actually.

WORLD PREMIERE

@cragis0001 @TheGameThrifter I agree that Nadella is a massive thorn in Xbox side. He's obsessed with tech unicorns only. Cloud first, now AI.

But phone and Xbox are also two different things. MS never had a foothold in Mobile at all. Winphone was never a major player, always the wiiu "other"option. It was never a major brand and wasn't a significant business unit in revenue.

Xbox despite less than ideal hardware sales is still the "big 3" major players, a significant brand, a major name in the market, and the gaming division overall is a major revenue generator. I don't like Nadellas interference but I don't think he's doing quite the same thing as the obvious dead end win phone was. Balmer was 10 years late to that party and it showed. I don't think his decisions are helping Xbox but I don't think he's looking to kill it yet either. But he's making the mistake along with Hood to push quarterly earnings ahead of strategy that's guaranteed to backfire long term.

Is this what capitulation looks like? No, it’s just a magazine cover…

@ParsnipHero yeah I had a subscription to Nintendo power magazine as a kid. I used to love getting them in the mailbox to see what games I could hopefully get on my birthday or Christmas

@FraserG yeah. Future have a really good distribution network in Europe now (used to be terrible). I get retro gamer delivered to Czech Republic and it arrives very close to the UK release date.

@NEStalgia that's not entirely true to be fair. As in some parts of Europe Windows Phone wasn't far behind Apples IPhone. UK at its height had 12% marketshare. Italy had 16%. In 24 countries it was ahead of IPhone which included Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, India, Mexico and South Africa.
Microsoft killed it because it was a failure in the US. The sad part about it was once they announced they were killing the platform. The EU started crack down on both Apple & Googles for anticompetitive practices.

@GrandValkyrie I got the last issue of Nintendo Power when it came out as over in the US at the time but it wasn’t something I read growing up in the UK.

@TheGameThrifter Xbox is Microsoft's 3rd biggest division by revenue, losing only to Azure and Office. Windows Phone was 11th - or last. It is pure intellectual dishonesty to imply the cases are even remotely similar.

@cragis0001 less than 20% market share out of only 3 players total. In its strongest markets. And most of those are fairly small markets. That's pretty bleak, really. And it never really had much of a storefront for software sales as most that wanted Winphone wanted it mostly for what was built in only.

But you're right it was deader than dead in the US from launch, and more to the point it was dead in all major markets.

And that's one difference with winphone and xbox, is winphone was dead in the US while xbox is pretty much an equal player in the US, even if it's ONLY in the US. It's a big enough threat it's the only place Sony didn't dare raise hardware prices because that could have actually made xbox overtake them in the biggest individual market which could have cost them momentum elsewhere.

The biggest problem with winphone is how late it launched compared to the other two. It would be like trying to launch a brand new console brand today while the big 3 are already here. It had more of a chance in some of those markets you mentioned because mobile adoption had not yet already saturated. But in US, UK, key markets, Android/iOS were already long-since standardized and established. It had such a headwind, it had no chance of ever being able to succeed in the most important markets and with no chance of eventual success in the major markets there was little point in it existing.

Console's a little different because it's still a key player in the US market, and while it's struggling in UK and other key markets the brand is already very well entrenched even if it's slumping. It has a lot more success potential in all major markets, and never faltered in the US market (even the XBOne never actually faltered in the US.)

The discussion on winphone had to be "can this ever succeed in any major market?" And I doubt anyone would have said "yes."

If Xbox Studies put more good games on PS5, then they'll get more nice covers from PlayStation Magazine. It's a win-win situation

@TheLastHarbinger Look into what they did before closing up shop on Windows Phone. Spent billions on Nokia, then laid off workers, then started putting all the exclusive Windows Phone games and apps on iOS and Android. "Xbox" to Microsoft isn't a console, it's someone playing a first party game on PlayStation or Nintendo.
Phil Spencer in 10 years has spent 100 billion dollars and taken Xbox from 3rd place to 3rd place and from 3rd place to 3rd party.
To me, Xbox is a console. How long will they take losses on hardware? Wii U numbers? We're closing in on those already.....
I'm sure Zune, Mixer, Groove Music and Windows Phone all were in a good spot at some point.

Why not Halo on Playstation - its 'Free to Play Multiplayer' anyway on PC/Xbox etc has a TV series and a Massive Icon of Microsoft Gaming as a whole and opening that up to MORE players will help that reach more gamers who bring in 'revenue' too....

Exclusivity is OK for some things,, but limiting in others - especially ONLINE based games where you want as many people to connect with to not only work, but grow...

I'd say Halo has reached 'everyone' it can reach in its ecosystem and needs more 'investment and injection of players' to grow

@NEStalgia Their brand "Xbox" doesn't mean console to them anymore.
It's an app and anywhere someone is playing an "Xbox" game. To me, that's not Xbox. I would have rather seen Microsoft compete and push the console. Having 3 healthy consoles selling well in the industry could do wonders.
Xbox is confusing to even casuals because no one knows if or when an Xbox game is going to PlayStation.

Next gen would be a real wash for them if they port anymore games to PS. I can see a situation where Xbox sells worse than a Wii U.

@TheGameThrifter The attraction is Game Pass and literally able to play on ANY device - even if Console is your Primary device. Yes, you might get to play the 'same' games Xbox Game Pass customers get to play on ANY device, inc Xbox Consoles, for FREE Day and date. Maybe you'd like to game on a handheld and Console, maybe play on a PC too occasionally - well Xbox is there for you...

Then, when we think the time is right, or they 'need' to grow the Online Community and open games up to allow more family, friends etc to play together or they want to generate income as 'sales' are not as high as expected (especially with GP customers playing for FREE) sell it on as many OTHER platforms as Possible to get some 'extra' revenue....

In both cases, we as customers win - we get great games day/date on a great console for 'free' essentially, along with great 3rd Party games too and online Communities are filled with players enjoying playing games together....

So what if you can play 'some/all' games on Sony's system. I doubt that they'll ALL arrive day/date and certainly will cost more than Game Pass would cost (let alone other great games on the service too).

Phil Spencer isn't 'head' of Xbox - he is head of the entire Gaming Division - the Studios, the games, the Hardware etc and Xbox is just 1 'part' of that Hardware line and Gaming on Windows PC is just as important as on Console or whatever other device you can which currently is virtually EVERY device, except Sony/Nintendo devices. It's hasn't released an 'Exclusive' since Sea of Thieves launched and every game since was on PC day/date too...

By stepping outside of that 'limited' console box and market, they are looking at bringing gamers EVERYWHERE and 'getting' them into the Xbox 'ecosystem' and why the invested 8bn on Zenimax and 70bn on ABK - not for an extra '10m' or so Consoles or to sell more consoles than Sony for example to appease some 'fanboy' war....

@TheGameThrifter Xbox doesn't mean only Xbox consoles, no. Xbox means an entire gaming ecosystem, to them, though. It's the Xbox dashboard, the store, the interface, GP subs, the user accounts and save games. I think people are having knee-jerk reaction to "Xbox is bigger than the console" meaning "Xbox now excludes consoles." It doesn't, but it means the console doesn't need to be "#1 seller console" to be viable.

I think it's fairer to say that their market approach does not involve using software solely as a means to sell their gaming hardware to become the top selling piece of gaming hardware, while for other companies those two factors go hand in hand. Although that's rapidly changing even for Sony. It might be fairer to say outside Nintendo gaming is becoming hardware agnostic in general. Even PS is becoming mostly available on PC, and there's many rumors of PS launching their own digital storefront on PC.

Again, refer to the other article about the live service games. Exclusives are not what's selling [strike]consoles[/strike] platforms. Not Hifi Rush, not Sea of Theives, not Halo, not TLOU, nor God of War. Even if all sony and xbox games went to each other's platforms, not much would change.

Though read Phil's recent interview about the handheld rumors where he sort of soft-confirms it and talks about Asus Ally, the Xbox (dashboard) experience needing improvement to basically remove the Windows-ness of it, other stores on the platform, his conversation about the console hardware model coming to an end (subsidized hardware) due to prices not coming down on hardware like they used to.

Reading between the lines (I've talked about this on a few threads) I think the Ally, Legion, etc gives us a good window into the future of the Xbox "console". I.E. it's technically a PC inside, a Surface Xbox so to speak, but is seamlessly still a "console" from the user's perspective. Ultimately if it's a quiet small box that plays your games and boots your familiar Xbox dashboard when you turn it on with your controller, it's still a "console" even if it runs standard PC games behind the scenes. When you sit down at an arcade cabinet and put in coins or swipe your card, that's really a PC running inside the cab 90% of the time. But to the player it's just an arcade cab.. They won't be selling at a loss. Maybe not a huge profit, but like Surface hardware, it reinforces their platform/ecosystem of software, is a lot easier to support, and being just one flavor of PC, doesn't need to "beat Sony" to be a viable product.

And as a player there's not really a downside other than maybe more expensive hardware and cheaper games. I think we're entering an era of commoditization gaming, hardware agnosticism, and a melding of "PC" and "console" merging from a hardware/os perspective. "Console" only existed as unique due to the unfitness for PC hardware for graphics and the expense, later, of PC graphics hardware.

But these days console hardware component prices are high, PC (commodity not premium stuff) component prices are down, PCs focus more on power efficiency due to the laptop boom, the consoles are half a PC already, it's kind of organically merging already. What's the real difference between a gaming laptop and a Series S? Software UI and cost aside.....basically nothing other than the overly customized hardware and development difficulty. What's the difference between a series S and an Asus Ally? Ally is a full on desktop computer with a screen and controller built in, a battery, and a bit less gaming performance. And doesn't even cost that much more. They both play Hifi Rush and Sea of Theives and Halo just fine. And they have different Game Pass libraries. But developers would much rather develop just for PC and not worry about proprietary platforms.

I think Xbox as consoles are going to be just fine as long as Xbox as a gaming platform and service is fine. They'll basically look the same. They'll cost more. They'll work and feel the same. But they'll technically be custom PCs and a proprietary launcher ala Steam Deck. Which makes running the platform and ecosystem much more cost effective, makes development a default, pretty much everyone wins.

I'd also bet right now that I don't know what a PS6 is, but a PS7 will be identical to the above as well. And players that don't read these sites will neither know nor care. The reality is the PUBLISHERS have wanted to just go 100% PC for the past 15 years. They've pushed both console makers closer and closer until it becomes reality because it's more cost effective to have one real platform, and right now cost effectiveness is everything in the publishing business. We've been x86 for 2 generations now. The only remaining choice might be a Windows based Xbox vs a Linux based PS7. I could see that happening easily. Of course Steam OS is already Linux....

I still say Hogwarts running on a Switch is nothing short of true wizarding, though.

@NEStalgia it's funny as 20% marketshare with three players is now Xbox in Europe & it will likely drop. I remember when Sataya Nadella said as long as there is demand from fans they will support Windows Mobile 10 & bring new hardware then 6 month later they pulled the plug. I worked in a hotel in Aberdeen. The oil capital of Europe & business folk there were pissed. When I hear Phil Spencer say we will continue with Xbox hardware. I say for how long? Once Microsoft shifted there mobile software to IOS & Android it was GAME OVER. & it looks like its gonna be the same with Xbox hardware when they do the same with first party software to PlayStation & Nintendo. That's why I'm still sceptical with there current plans as it's deja vu it's scary. It's typical Nadella. Obviously the outcome is slightly different as they'll continue being third party publisher across multiple platforms, Cloud provider & have Games Pass maybe.
Microsoft being late to the party hurt more in the US than Europe who supported it more due to the Nokia brand & acquisition. IPhone was still far to expensive for the average punter till the cheaper models. What I think killed Windows Phone was 8 required a licence fee from mobile vendors. That killed it from the get go & by the time they dropped it. It was to late.

@BAMozzy Listen, if Game Pass were so great people would be buying Xbox's and buying Game Pass.
Game Pass was at 25 million and Xbox Live Gold was at 12 million. They switched it to Core and added it to Game Pass which should have been 37 million, but it's only 34 million. Which means they've lost millions of subscribers.

I don't think the avg person cares about playing Xbox on a phone or app, which is why they gave away rights to stream their games in the EU to Ubisoft.
Anyone could have spent 100 billion dollars and turned 3rd party to make profit.

@NEStalgia Steam Deck is at 3.2 million sold in the years it has been on the market. Rog has 500k sold.
This whole ecosystem thing is a sham because Xbox is selling poorly. Phil Spencer spent 100 billion on becoming a 3rd party platform. It's only going to get worse because people will assume every game is going to PlayStation.

We already see Xbox "games" playing best on PS5. They are hurting the perception of Xbox itself. Xbox will never be a game on PlayStation imo

@TheGameThrifter Deck and Rog are limited market devices for existing PC gamers with existing PC libraries that want a console type device. They weren't going to sell amazing without a push from a major platform vendor. And steam deck is kind of the point. It didn't outsell PlayStation or even Xbox but it's still a big success as part of the overall platform that is steam and steamos.

You're taking like selling the BOX is the business model. Sony sells lots of boxes but their bottom line isn't doing so hot . The box isn't the business. It's a component of running the platform overall. And if it's a PC it's not a whole special development platform to maintain. It's a software environment for the existing core Windows platform.

The first party box enhances the ecosystem. It's a place to sell game pass. It's a place to sell digital games. Its not there to sell more units than other boxes that also make no money to sell.

The idea of the trajectory following the phone is the most troubling of all theories but as was noted above, the games category itself is mega money for them, core business. No aspect of phone and the whole division made money at all.

Either way, pray you're wrong because in a world where they're is only Sony prepare for extreme prices, terrible products and many publishers going pc only to avoid the extreme Sony royalties that would follow. Which would be a great time for that PC based Xbox after all....

Anyone who thinks MS is about to shutdown or walk away from Xbox is willfully ignorant.

Do you have to throw 10 page essays at each other? Nobody wants to read that crap.

@cragis0001 True but for phone 20% was the highest it ever got in any territory with no growth possible and was a new product that never took off, and they shut down everything relating to mobile entirely because it had no traction in software sales and was a dead end. For Xbox it's a slump for a 24 year old product line that was big, still is in some places, and the hardware is one component of a software and services product that makes one of the top tent poles in the company where hardware makes the strong division stronger, Rather than phone where the whole division was a total swamp. People still tend to think of Xbox as the "new" brand because PlayStation is 5 years older and Nintendo predates WW1.

Lack of marketing in Europe was painfully stupid though. I don't understand how they messed that up.

@Moby To be fair they think Microsoft is walking away from gaming hardware, and that Xbox is now just a big publisher. I think they're wrong, but I get their worry. MS has a habit of just dropping divisions, especially hardware that underperform. But they're not thinking of hardware as a small component of the Xbox division just as surface is a small component of the Windows division. Which makes less money than Xbox now

@Ichiban You used to be one of the fun ones. Another victim of console war PTSD?

@FraserG I buy it in the UK. Also sold in Australia

@TheGameThrifter

>Spent billions on Nokia

Microsoft also spent billions on Azure. By your logic (or lack thereof) Azure is about to bust as well? Lmao.

Also, Nokia /=/ Windows Phone.

>then laid off workers

Every Microsoft division got workers laid off. As a matter of fact, every major tech company laid plenty of workers off post-pandemic but at least on Xbox's case we understand why: lots of redundancy in roles after ABK got acquired, like marketing or PR wings.

>started putting all the exclusive Windows Phone games and apps on iOS and Android

Four old niche games aren't "all exclusives", stop with this petty dooming & glooming already, please?

What @NEStalgia says is no vague prediction but the reality for years now. Last generation, consoles became PCs to be sustainable from a software point of view. Remember that since last generation, third-party games have a Windows version.

Even though PS5 has sold 1.98x more than Series S|X (not thrice as much), still PS is in trouble and have been changing strategy this generation all the time, from being marketed as the "real" and exclusive new generation to cross-PS4-generation, to online games, trying to make the next Fortnite, to finally becoming a multiplatform publisher with PC releases on day one.

Although there are fewer Xbox consoles than PS consoles, Microsoft will still be making Xbox consoles as long as there is a console market, because they have not a single reason to not do so, just like they also make computers, laptops, tablets and even mobile phones. That doesn't mean that their gaming business depend on consoles because it doesn't. People that believe that selling half as many as Sony equals failure don't have a clue about how the gaming business works, because in any case is revenue what we should be looking at: overall software sales and subscriptions.

Consoles are part of the Xbox business and as long as there are people buying consoles, Microsoft will be making consoles. Most importantly, selling half as many consoles as Sony hasn't made Sony be in a better position this generation. Consoles are streamlined PCs since the last generation, but Microsoft is more ready for the bigger picture than Sony and Microsoft is also a better hardware maker than Sony. Of course, Sony will be fine as a multiplatform publisher and console maker, but Xbox is already fine because they have already covered all the corners.

If Sony became a "high-end" (words that have been used to exclude Nintendo since the ABK acquisition) console monopoly, they would be even crueler, the handheld PC and PC market would grow even more, skyrocket, and Microsoft would make "Surface" devices that are just like Xbox consoles with Xbox libraries. The future of Xbox is safe no matter what, not just the libraries but gaming hardware made by Microsoft is guaranteed. Xbox is one of Microsoft's biggest business right now, don't forget it. They are ahead of both Sony and Nintendo.

@NEStalgia the problem is Microsoft just don't have a clue how to make a consumer product a success. They never have. Unfortunately Xbox is just another example. Even though it has been there best attempt to date.

@NEStalgia The game industry always has up's and down's but currently is bigger than movie, TV and music industry combined. PlayStation brand is also making more money than Xbox, and I'm the farthest thing from a fan of PS.
Microsoft is losing Game Pass subs and sales of Xbox consoles are at rock bottom. Gamers are confused because they're not sure what's staying on Xbox and what's not.
The 2 consoles with firm exclusives (Switch and PS5) don't have these perception problems. We know God Of War isn't coming to Xbox and we know Zelda isn't coming to Xbox. While there's not a single Xbox game that I'd bet money on staying exclusive at this point.

@TheLastHarbinger
4 old niche games?
Hi-Fi Rush released a year ago.
The entire Xbox first party lineup of 2022 is on PlayStation.
As Dusk Falls
Pentiment
Grounded
That's not doom and gloom, it's factually disappointing.
These games are running better on PS5. Sea Of Thieves has PS5 exclusive in game content (Which Phil Spencer supposedly said he'd never do?)
If people think they can wait and play Xbox games on PlayStation, where's that leave Xbox?

I mean in July of 2023 we saw Xbox Series consoles at 21 million combined, so figure around 23-24 million currently. That's not great. People act like Microsoft will take losses forever on those things.

@TheGameThrifter We don't know what Xbox's actual revenues or operating profit is because they don't break it down individually. We know only that Microsoft Gaming as a whole is the 3rd highest revenue division below only Azure and Office, and above Windows, Surface, and everything else. We also know despite healthy looking revenues, Playstation is operating dangerously on the line with only thin margins. If you could sell 1 million consoles making $300 each, or 10 million consoles breaking even, which would you rather do?

It's also best to be cautious in both directions for the whole "games is bigger than TV, movies" thing assumes that mobile and PC/console is the same market (it isn't) and mobile, alone accounts for the majority of that money. Apple's revenue on games, not even including Android at all, just Apple's flat 30% cut is worth more than Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox (before ABK acquisition) combined. That's it. 30% take on the SECOND largest mobile platform of gaming revenue is worth more than the whole console industry.

But it also shuffles in MS's favor here because one of the biggest factors on mobile is King, and now that's part of Xbox, so part of Xbox's giant revenues is really that mobile model and has nothing to do with what we call "gaming." In theory they could get rid of both console and PC gaming totally and just ride King until the bubble pops and probably be ahead. They won't because they like diversity.

"Microsoft is losing Game Pass sales and consoles are at rock bottom"

And Sony is losing Plus subscribers and console sales are trailing behind PS4 launch aligned while VR2 was sent out to die. More importantly Sony isn't making much margin and their budgets are out of control, they just downsized by 8%, closed studios, and canceled numerous projects which set them back tremendously in terms of ROI and time before any kind of return with nothing major planned for the next 12 months.

It's not a zero sum game where "Xbox numbers are down so they're failing. The whole industry's numbers are trending down. The peak came and went. Sony's in a more precarious situation because their console is everything so they can afford no missteps. MS can fall back on revenue from mobile, 3rd party publishing etc. Gaming is cyclical. It's about weathering the storm from the bad periods to the good periods. Nintendo has mastered that. That's why they sit on a mountain of cash and can weather multiple console total market failures and just rebound and recoup the losses. They budget and plan for that. Now MS can, too. Sony....is a one trick pony (heh), they need everything to stay status quo. I'm not saying they're in truouble just yet, depends on new leadership, but this idea that "Sony is safe and Xbox is doomed" doesn't make sense. It's not speculation that PS is in a difficult financial spot right now, it's what the CFO addressed at the AGM. And why Ryan suddenly decided the UK to US commute is difficult and it's time to retire, and why said CFO is now the interim leader of PS. They can fix it, they just have to do it carefully. MS sitting on king has the cash to try every vision and strategy they can think of to try to win the market over. Just putting the cash in the bank during a period of inflation won't do them any good. Better to use it trying to reach for the stars, and they will. PS3 became PS4. GameCube became Wii. WiiU became Switch. It's an industry that when you get the right product, it sells. And MS has the market clout and power that puts them in great position for that.

Do we know that God of War isn't coming to Xbox? Because we know God of War is on PC. And if Xbox shifts into PC hardware, well, then God of War is coming to Xbox.

The bigger problem is God of War isn't what sells PS5. Fortnite and GTA do. It's the add-on network effect of the big live service games having most of their base of younger players playing on PS that keeps those players locked on PS. Not Kratos vs Marcus.

I can't quite figure out your posting. You're a newcomer to the boards that's created an account recently that posts nothing other than just how doomed xbox is. you don't seem to be a "pony" Sony die-hard. So I can't figure out your angle on non-stop doom and gloom on Xbox. We've been hearing how doomed xbox is since the X1 launched, heck I was one of the people that believed Xbox was finished. I was wrong. Since then they've grown substantially and so has their revenue. Nintendo's been doomed since the 80s. Hasn't stopped them yet. And they have a fraction of the budget Xbox does.

Ultimately Playstation's future lies on PC. Totoki has more or less said it directly anyway. Eventually both consoles will be PCs with special software features and ecosystems, the same way iPhone and Pixel are both just ARM phones mostly the same but each offers a different experience.

@NEStalgia PlayStation doesn't confuse their gamers. If they randomly started putting their exclusives on Xbox and Nintendo I'm sure you'd start seeing the massive drop that Xbox has recently.

My point was Microsoft's plan makes zero sense. They own so many multiplatform games as it is, why did these other games have to go elsewhere to keep the lights on?
COD
Warzone
COD mobile
Minecraft
WOW
Candy Crush
Fallout 76
Elder Scrolls Online
Overwatch

It's a slap in the face as far as I'm concerned. Xbox needs reasons to stay relevant so people will buy one. Even if profits are up, obviously profits on console hardware is not up. How long will they take a loss? And then how long with our digital libraries be available? Guessing not long.

@TheGameThrifter I do agree and understand that their messaging and communications is terrible, no question. But the answer of why comes from PlayStation, actually, 1 week after Microsoft announced the 4 games and indicated more.

Modern games cost a lot of money to make. Like a LOT. Sony, who's sold twice as many consoles as Microsoft reported they're basically not making money from their games on just PlayStation anymore. Double Xbox install base and they can't make ends meet making big games anymore. That prompted the CFO to apologize to investors, reading between the lines, sack the PlayStation CEO, call for reigning in the budgets, close studios, cancel a bunch of games, and discuss a continued focus on multi platform games, meaning PC.

So if PlayStation needs PlayStation plus PC to barely meet their game budgets, how can Microsoft to it on just Xbox install base and PC? They can't.

That's why I say it's a whole industry problem. They will both address it differently but they will both make a lot of changes to handle it.

They aren't going to take losses on hardware anymore. Phil pretty much point blank said so last week. But that means you'll pay more for hardware, they're not going to subsidize it at a loss, not that they won't offer hardware. Sony is in the same boat there, though. Watch the price of the pro of they announce in May. My bet is 700 minimum. Hardware mfr prices don't fall like they used to. Another reason Phil listed in the interview. Our libraries will be fine. They'll make hardware. The library is going to work in cloud in the future. Keeping us tied to our libraries are a huge priority for them