Is the end here for Xbox? That’s the question some people have been asking, and if you’ve just spent $500 on an Xbox Series X, I can understand your concern. But just why do people think Xbox is going out of business?
Why Do People Think Xbox Is Going Out of Business?
The belief that Xbox, or rather Microsoft’s Xbox division, is going out of business stems largely from the rumblings that some former Xbox exclusives are coming to PlayStation. Microsoft has announced a business meeting to clarify its plans for the future of Xbox, but it’s heavily, heavily rumored that exclusives such as Starfield are coming to PlayStation 5.
The rumors, which could prove to be completely false, have wound up some people up the wrong way, including some particularly vocal Youtubers and “superfans” who are treating it as betrayal. And while not everyone is raging, others have seen Microsoft’s rumored move away from exclusivity as a sign the company is losing the console wars and is about to exit the hardware market altogether. Could this be the beginning of the end for Xbox?
In short, no.
As anyone who remembers Sega’s days as a hardware developer will know, it takes more than just a bad year or two for a company to abandon the hardware market entirely. And Sega still exists as a publisher and developer, so Microsoft isn’t about to shutter its Xbox division. It’s doubtful that Microsoft will abandon its hardware.
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The apparent leak of a disc-free Xbox Series X|S does suggest that Xbox is prepared to step back from physical media. Head Phil Spencer has, on a few occasions, put his support behind cloud streaming and talking about bringing Xbox games to multiple platforms. Xbox Cloud Gaming does rely on you having a fast, reliable connection, but you can already stream Xbox games on mobile platforms.
And it’s worth remembering that, as confirmed in the recent Apple vs Epic court case, Microsoft does sell its consoles at a loss, as is generally the case with other console manufacturers. It’s the subscriptions, game sales, accessories, and the like that make the company money.
I’m not convinced that Starfield is, as has been rumored, the game to start with, at least until it’s had a heap of new content added to it. But Microsoft stands to make one hell of a lot of money by porting its “exclusives” to the PlayStation 5. Just think about all the would-be The Elder Scrolls VI purchasers who got angry when Microsoft bought Bethesda and, at the time, thought it would become an Xbox exclusive.
So, people think Xbox is going out of business because of the rumors it’s bringing former Xbox exclusives to the PlayStation 5.
