Xbox, Nintendo or PlayStation: does it still matter?
Last night, Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft, made a big announcement. He revealed that four Xbox video games will now be available on different platforms. However, he didn't say which games they are, and this makes some people frustrated. This decision marks the first time that Microsoft is opening up its games to other consoles.
He provided several hints: all four are powered by the community, over a year old, and do not consist of newly released games like Starfield or Indiana Jones.
It seems that Microsoft is making a significant shift from their usual approach of prioritizing their own Xbox platform and Games Pass subscription service.
What is the reason for the change and what does it reveal to us about the prospects of gaming?
To begin, I would like to discuss a young person whom I am familiar with. He happens to be my 12-year-old son.
He has a great liking for Minecraft and enjoys playing it whenever and wherever he can. His interest in the game extends to different devices like his phone, tablet, our PlayStation, and even his dad's Xbox. He spends time viewing Minecraft content on YouTube and utilizes an unauthorized app to produce and distribute skins and mods.
He doesn't give importance to the owner of the game (Mojang studio was acquired by Microsoft in 2014) and he is not devoted to any specific gadget brand- his preferred device is the one that is present with him.
The major players in the gaming industry are facing a tough challenge - a group of youthful gamers who are not convinced by their marketing strategies.
It seems like Microsoft is tentatively beginning to react to the situation.
Yesterday evening, Mr Spencer stressed that the four most recent games did not indicate a significant shift in the company's game plan.
Afterwards, he included: "I deeply believe that within the succeeding half-decade to a decade, video games that are only available on one device will diminish in prominence and make up a diminishing portion of the gaming field."
Not only Xbox is considering this idea, Sony is also exploring it. During a recent financial report, Hiroki Totoki, who is currently the president of gaming at Sony, expressed his desire to expand the availability of PlayStation games to other devices.
Similar to Microsoft, he didn't mention any specific games or platforms. Perhaps he intended to maintain the current practice of bringing PlayStation games onto PC a few months or even years later without any changes.
After several years of intense competition, with both companies striving to obtain the rights to the most successful games by purchasing studios, this new development signals a shift in approach. However, it's worth noting that Nintendo still appears more inclined to focus on producing games solely for its own customers.
The concept of making any screen-equipped gadget work as your organization's control center is remarkably uncomplicated if you ponder about it. Why bother with the costly and lengthy task of creating and retailing personalized machinery when many individuals are, in essence, lugging around a competent computer - their mobile phones?
Why limit the availability of your most popular games when there are many potential customers who use different devices and would also be interested in buying them, playing them, and purchasing in-game items?
According to Ampere analysts, approximately 46.5 million consoles were sold in 2023. However, only 7.6 million were Microsoft's Xbox. This means that almost 39 million players did not have access to Xbox exclusives, such as the highly anticipated Starfield game from Bethesda.
As you delve deeper, you'll realize that this antiquated way of conducting business is driven by only one thing: financial gain.
According to analyst Piers Harding-Rolls from Ampere, Microsoft has been implementing a more innovative multi-platform approach with its games content and services since the beginning of the Xbox One era. This is due to their inability to match the success of the Xbox 360 era and gain market dominance over Sony and, more recently, Nintendo since the launch of the Switch.
Furthermore, Microsoft has been actively acquiring prosperous game development companies for significant sums of money - amidst a period where game production is already a pricey endeavor.
Sony had concerns when it acquired Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68 billion. One of its main grievances was that Activision could continue to develop highly popular games, such as Call of Duty, that would only be available on Xbox consoles, which would leave PlayStation users out of the loop. Microsoft was required to give its word that it would not engage in exclusive agreements with Activision for a minimum of a decade.
Some people have been talking about the possibility of Microsoft leaving the hardware market and no longer making Xbox consoles. However, Mr. Harding-Rolls does not believe that something so drastic will happen anytime soon.
According to Ampere, Microsoft isn't likely to leave the console platform business anytime soon because it would create a significant gap in their game-related earnings.
In fact, Sarah Bond, who is the president of Xbox, hinted about the possibility of introducing new gaming equipment during a podcast that Microsoft released on Thursday.
Her main goal is to provide the most significant advancement in technology in terms of hardware generation that people have ever witnessed.
Regrettably, we cannot confirm anything about it yet and can only speculate, but there are many rumors suggesting that it might be a portable gadget aimed at rivalling the widespread popularity of the Nintendo Switch.
However, according to Darren Edwards from the gaming news platform called TheXboxHub, it's not a huge disaster for Xbox in any way.
When it comes to the actual games, Microsoft's favored approach is through Games Pass. This option entails paying a monthly fee of £12.99 and gaining unlimited streaming entry to a broad selection of games.
The company was not very vocal about their subscriber count for some time, but they finally announced that they have reached 34 million. They started their operation in 2017 with a target of 100 million subscribers by 2030. However, this goal still seems to be challenging to achieve, with six more years ahead.
However, this development is still favorable for game developers with their products on Games Pass, such as the UK-established publishing firm No More Robots.
Director Mike Rose stated that their objective is to increase the number of people using Game Pass. This will benefit their titles as it will draw more players to them. For multiplayer games, having a larger player base is essential to keep the community active.
It goes without saying that many Xbox owners are feeling a sense of relief on social media at present. The announcement proved to be somewhat of a letdown after days of buildup, leading to more confusion than clarity. Nonetheless, it was good to see that the message was not as alarming as some were expecting.
A gamer expressed the prevailing opinion about Xbox, stating that it will not disappear or become a third-party platform. So, there's no need to get worked up about it.
Further investigation conducted by Tom Gerken
