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Microsoft explains where the Xbox falls into CEO Satya Nadella's master plan

I kind of see why they don´t really care for Xbox One sales anymore.

They want people to play on a Windows device => and most do already.

When they unify their stores and you search on Windows for a game and it reads => "You can buy this but for playing you need an Xbox One", this will convince some casuals for sure.
 
Plus, the Windows 10 update to Xbox One is going to make it easier for games to enable mutiplayer gaming between the PC and console, which has long been a technical challenge for all the major platforms. Microsoft-published titles like "Gigantic" and "Fable Legends" for Windows 10 and Xbox One will be the first to support it.

Flat-out lying.
 
The brand is a household name and is too big to bail on. It's just not going to happen.

They will spend the rest of this gen making the Xbox One the best it can be, while continuing this unification of everything into the Windows ecosystem. Then, who is to say that they can't knock it out of the park next gen with a system that gets it right from launch and makes everyone want one?

They can ditch the physical system and keep the brand by turning it into a service/keeping "Xbox Live" alive on Windows 10. The article even alludes to that.
 
They can ditch the physical system and keep the brand by turning it into a service/keeping "Xbox Live" alive on Windows 10. The article even alludes to that.

That sure would piss a lot of people off. Xbox will continue to exist with some sort of hardware for the base that they have grown. Because that is what Xbox is at the core.
 
You make it sound as if there is no way that they can still grow by releasing a compelling product that gets it right from the start. But maybe you are right. I guess that they should totally just abandon the base they have grown and the in-roads they have made with Xbox Live on that hardware and only offer Xbox as a service. That will really make everyone happy and win more over.

There will be another Xbox, just as there will be another PlayStation and soon a new Nintendo. Wait and see.

Xbox is part of 10-year plan I believe. Nintendo NX is coming and there is already "mild " speculation about a enhanced PS4.

Unless Microsoft tactically breaks that plan it's going to be awhile before we see another console if any.
 
They can ditch the physical system and keep the brand by turning it into a service/keeping "Xbox Live" alive on Windows 10. The article even alludes to that.

it would die if that happened. I wouldn't subscribe to it without the physical system, Im good with all the other PC stuff personally. I doubt they would ever do that, it'd be pure failure.
 
What would MS gain from launching yet another Xbox console?

Quite a bit. You think everyone is just going to jump directly to PC gaming? Come on... They're not going to risk losing all those console xbl users or even half of them.

A move like that would concede any sales to PS5 or NX. Like my Xbox, but I wouldn't make the switch. Not to mention, not everyone wants to play on the PC. I don't mind it for offline games and such, but when I'm playing a fps on the couch, I want my controller. I've tried it in online shooters against kb/m and it is miserable.

it would die if that happened. I wouldn't subscribe to it without the physical system, Im good with all the other PC stuff personally. I doubt they would ever do that, it'd be pure failure.


Exactly, folks are running too wild with this Xbox as a service stuff. Yeah, it makes sense, but to think they'll risk losing a lot of users for a market they've never really took serious to begin with? Get real.
 
That means absolutely nothing at this stage considering the current generation likely still has a minimum of 5 years left.

You're dead set on there not being another system. Any evidence you take on and believe will only be the evidence that supports that. There are people. ..like me. ..who think there's going to be another system.
 
So a CEO just sits there, signs something, shakes some peoples hands and doesn't understand what an entire division of his company is doing? It doesn't sound like that at all, it's just someone being asked a question.
Being in the corporate world, when the underling answers for a CEO, it does not have the same impact to the people told, now that's my opinion and I'm not looking at it from a gaming fan vantage point
To be fair Nadella has given the Xbox brand and gaming in general a significant presence at a lot of their Win10 press events.

It would also have been him that signed off on the Minecraft acquisition. What this actually means for gaming going forward is open to interpretation but I would say the future looks positive, they aren't getting away from the gaming side of things anytime soon.
Time will tell, you may be right
 
Am glad that to hear that Microsoft are still committed to gaming. If they quit gaming than there will nothing for me out there.

Keep up the good work MS.
 
Quite a bit. You think everyone is just going to jump directly to PC gaming? Come on... They're not going to risk losing all those console xbl users or even half of them.

A move like that would concede any sales to PS5 or NX. Like my Xbox, but I wouldn't make the switch. Not to mention, not everyone wants to play on the PC. I don't mind it for offline games and such, but when I'm playing a fps on the couch, I want my controller. I've tried it in online shooters against kb/m and it is miserable.

In a nutshell. They recently said that they are putting the focus on Xbox Live. Well, guess where all of the Xbox Live users are? On Xbox hardware, of course. But sure, they are going to throw all of that under the bus and make it a service only.

nicolas-cage-laughing.gif


Just no. But I do think that the next Xbox will pretty much be more like their branded gaming PC, only with a controller, exclusives and all that jazz.
 
You're dead set on there not being another system. Any evidence you take on and believe will only be the evidence that supports that. There are people. ..like me. ..who think there's going to be another system.
.
I don't get it either.
 
What does one have to do with the other?

That sure would piss a lot of people off. Xbox will continue to exist with some sort of hardware for the base that they have grown. Because that is what Xbox is at the core.

The Xbox division overall still has yet to turn a profit. Originally the premise of Xbox was to create a box that everyone would have in their living room and be the center of all entertainment. That endeavor has officially failed, they have even admitted as much in the past. They didn't predict correctly where technology would go in that people want to use different devices and not necessarily sit in front of the TV in their living room. The 360 had a few years of profitability, however those profits still did not put Xbox in the black from the investments they made on the original system. This division has still not made profit, and before Nadella was appointed CEO most of the candidates were calling for the division to be scrapped. It doesn't really make business sense for the division to still be alive other than to nurture the brand and continue to have it live.

The Xbox One only happened because of the success 360 did have and the assumption that One would share that success and propel the division to finally profit. Now that Xbox One is clearly trailing the competition that won't happen and the division is further in the red.

I do think Xbox will continue, purely as a service: Xbox Live. Microsoft will continue to fund games. They have a few IP that are very profitable like Halo, Gears of War, and Forza. But I just don't see Xbox as a console continuing.
 
I'd say its not the aspect of just cross platform play, more so the aspect of cross platform play under the same service. For example, cross buy is now enabled, same achievements, profile, party chat between platforms. It's all under the Xbox banner rather than just a 360 & PS2 in the same game for example.

That's how I can see it making sense too. It's more than having several versions of a game communicating with each other, but practically the same game with same profile running on multiple platforms. Although they already did it with project spark too, where all progress and content is shared between PC and Xbox.
That may be some kind of prototype though, since the sharing isn't 100% perfect.
 
The Xbox division overall still has yet to turn a profit. Originally the premise of Xbox was to create a box that everyone would have in their living room and be the center of all entertainment. That endeavor has officially failed, they have even admitted as much in the past. They didn't predict correctly where technology would go in that people want to use different devices and not necessarily sit in front of the TV in their living room. The 360 had a few years of profitability, however those profits still did not put Xbox in the black from the investments they made on the original system. This division has still not made profit, and before Nadella was appointed CEO most of the candidates were calling for the division to be scrapped. It doesn't really make business sense for the division to still be alive other than to nurture the brand and continue to have it live.

The Xbox One only happened because of the success 360 did have and the assumption that One would share that success and propel the division to finally profit. Now that Xbox One is clearly trailing the competition that won't happen and the division is further in the red.

I do think Xbox will continue, purely as a service: Xbox Live. Microsoft will continue to fund games. They have a few IP that are very profitable like Halo, Gears of War, and Forza. But I just don't see Xbox as a console continuing.

All of the Xbox Live users are on Xbox hardware. To abandon all of the subscribers to that service on the hardware would only cut their own feet out from underneath them. They are not that fucking stupid.
 
Holy shit some of you console warriors are out for blood and obviously can't read.

By technical challenge they aren't wrong, it IS a technical challenge to cross play. They never said it was impossible or not done before just that having Windows 10 in the XB1 makes it easier for them and removes the challenge of it, jesus.

Regarding "first to do it" with Fable and Gigantic they are clearly talking about them being the first titles to be cross play with the new Windows 10 cross play.

Holy hell people READ.
 
The Xbox division overall still has yet to turn a profit. Originally the premise of Xbox was to create a box that everyone would have in their living room and be the center of all entertainment. That endeavor has officially failed, they have even admitted as much in the past. They didn't predict correctly where technology would go in that people want to use different devices and not necessarily sit in front of the TV in their living room. The 360 had a few years of profitability, however those profits still did not put Xbox in the black from the investments they made on the original system. This division has still not made profit, and before Nadella was appointed CEO most of the candidates were calling for the division to be scrapped. It doesn't really make business sense for the division to still be alive other than to nurture the brand and continue to have it live.

The Xbox One only happened because of the success 360 did have and the assumption that One would share that success and propel the division to finally profit. Now that Xbox One is clearly trailing the competition that won't happen and the division is further in the red.

I do think Xbox will continue, purely as a service: Xbox Live. Microsoft will continue to fund games. They have a few IP that are very profitable like Halo, Gears of War, and Forza. But I just don't see Xbox as a console continuing.

Well they're going to throw a lot of goodwill right out of the Window for an already super competitive market. Ditching the console really makes no sense business-wise. You would burn all of your xbl users.
 
You're dead set on there not being another system. Any evidence you take on and believe will only be the evidence that supports that. There are people. ..like me. ..who think there's going to be another system.

I'm just going off of what has been said, how profitable the division has been, and the obvious transition for Microsoft in regards to gaming from console to PC. They are very careful in their language when talking about Gaming and Xbox these days. There's a reason.


All of the Xbox Live users are on Xbox hardware. To abandon all of the subscribers to that service on the hardware would only cut their own feet out from underneath them. They are not that fucking stupid.

Well they're going to throw a lot of goodwill right out of the Window for an already super competitive market. Ditching the console really makes no sense business-wise. You would burn all of your xbl users.


In regards to losing their userbase, that has already happened. The base the 360 created has mostly moved to the PS4 this gen, or left traditional gaming altogether. The entire console gaming userbase across all systems has diminished really. Obviously there are still some people who own the system but it is very clearly trailing and not looking like its sales will drastically increase compared to the competition.
 
That's how I can see it making sense too. It's more than having several versions of a game communicating with each other, but practically the same game with same profile running on multiple platforms. Although they already did it with project spark too, where all progress and content is shared between PC and Xbox.
That may be some kind of prototype though, since the sharing isn't 100% perfect.

doesn't portal 2 take the prize for that though as the pc version and ps3 version both used steamworks for cross platform multiplayer?
 
Holy shit some of you console warriors are out for blood and obviously can't read.

By technical challenge they aren't wrong, it IS a technical challenge to cross play. They never said it was impossible or not done before just that having Windows 10 in the XB1 makes it easier for them and removes the challenge of it, jesus.

Regarding "first to do it" with Fable and Gigantic they are clearly talking about them being the first titles to be cross play with the new Windows 10 cross play.

Holy hell people READ.

This is GAF and you are here trying to make sense. STAHP! :)
 
The Xbox division overall still has yet to turn a profit. Originally the premise of Xbox was to create a box that everyone would have in their living room and be the center of all entertainment. That endeavor has officially failed, they have even admitted as much in the past. They didn't predict correctly where technology would go in that people want to use different devices and not necessarily sit in front of the TV in their living room. The 360 had a few years of profitability, however those profits still did not put Xbox in the black from the investments they made on the original system. This division has still not made profit, and before Nadella was appointed CEO most of the candidates were calling for the division to be scrapped. It doesn't really make business sense for the division to still be alive other than to nurture the brand and continue to have it live.

The Xbox One only happened because of the success 360 did have and the assumption that One would share that success and propel the division to finally profit. Now that Xbox One is clearly trailing the competition that won't happen and the division is further in the red.

I do think Xbox will continue, purely as a service: Xbox Live. Microsoft will continue to fund games. They have a few IP that are very profitable like Halo, Gears of War, and Forza. But I just don't see Xbox as a console continuing.

So basically Microsoft is going to kill all those xbl subscriptions?
 
That's how I can see it making sense too. It's more than having several versions of a game communicating with each other, but practically the same game with same profile running on multiple platforms. Although they already did it with project spark too, where all progress and content is shared between PC and Xbox.
That may be some kind of prototype though, since the sharing isn't 100% perfect.
As someone who is highly intergraded into the Windows ecosystem, it's good that they've got the foundations to do it but it's executed so poorly. For example, I got far through Hitman:Go on my phone and reset my phone and upgraded to W10 Insider. I downloaded the game on PC, was free due to crossbuy, but had none of my progress. I ended up loosing the save and that got me well annoyed. What's the point of cross buy without common saves? I can't even send a text properly from my W10 PC. OSX has had this feature for ages! Although, they have just intergraded it through Cortana on PC, which is a poor execution.
 
He says he's fully on board with gaming, that doesn't necessarily mean he is fully on board with Xbox. I think it's clear they are transitioning away from home consoles and moving towards just PC games. They're still keeping Xbox alive this gen (Nadella sort of inherited it so he doesn't have a choice) but with it getting a Windows 10 update and many of Microsoft's previously exclusive games coming to PC (either already or via Windows 10 in the next year) it seems pretty clear that this transition is happening.

I disagree. They aren't going to get rid of dedicated "Xbox" Hardware anytime soon.

They are still going to want hardware in your living room connected to your tv because of all the services.

What is more likely to happen is their hardware becomes even more off the shelf than custom. Maybe even just being gaming htpcs when all things are done. Bu, they will not get rid of the dedicated Xbox as they will use is as showcase hardware, similarly to the lumia line, surface and surface book.

Add to that the ability to purchase a game and play it on any platform, It just makes no sense to get rid of dedicated hardware from the living room.
 
All of the Xbox Live users are on Xbox hardware. To abandon all of the subscribers to that service on the hardware would only cut their own feet out from underneath them. They are not that fucking stupid.
I think he just wants Xbox to die. That's all I'm getting from him.
 
So weird to hear some people in this thread say that if MS quit gaming, they'd have nothing left in gaming that interests them. Why not? Are you literally only in it for MS exclusives?
 
Phil replying to someone on Twitter.


@XboxP3
@AAHankins Xbox One is the most important gaming product at MS. Team Xbox is 100% committed to making it our best console generation ever.


So Xbox is the most important gaming product at MS and they are going to try and make it the best they have produced so far, as soon as this gen is done though it's getting kicked to the kerb and they won't ever make a dedicated console again. Really people? lol
 
In a nutshell.

So weird to hear some people in this thread say that if MS quit gaming, they'd have nothing left in gaming that interests them. Why not? Are you literally only in it for MS exclusives?

I brought an xbox specifically for halo. Hell, I bought my first xbox for the original halo. As a couch PC player, I wouldn't buy halo on PC. But without knowing what they may or may not come up with, who can say 100 percent for sure?
 
Phil replying to someone on Twitter.


@XboxP3
@AAHankins Xbox One is the most important gaming product at MS. Team Xbox is 100% committed to making it our best console generation ever.


So Xbox is the most important gaming product at MS and they are going to try and make it the best they have produced so far, as soon as this gen is done though it's getting kicked to the kerb and they won't ever make a dedicated console again. Really people? lol
He says xbox one, the console, not the division. and I would hope so. That's the only gaming product they make.
 
So weird to hear some people in this thread say that if MS quit gaming, they'd have nothing left in gaming that interests them. Why not? Are you literally only in it for MS exclusives?

I reread the thread and can't work put who you are talking about!
 
In regards to losing their userbase, that has already happened. The base the 360 created has mostly moved to the PS4 this gen, or left traditional gaming altogether. The entire console gaming userbase across all systems has diminished really. Obviously there are still some people who own the system but it is very clearly trailing and not looking like its sales will drastically increase compared to the competition.

So, their grand plan is to grow Xbox Live as a service by abandoning the millions who are subscribed to it on Xbox hardware? Brilliant! I am sure Xbox Live will grow to be larger than ever without the people who are subbed to it on those systems! The Xbox One is currently selling better than the 360 was as well, so might as well just pack it in. Why should they even bother?
 
What a horrible article. It says nothing new that wasn't known since before.

The only stuff that is not old news are some vague quotes:

"It's not really hard to think about that [vision] with games," says Xbox Group Product Manager Peter Orullian.

well ok

"This means we now have one operating system on all Microsoft devices," says Orullian.

not news

"He is fully on board with gaming," Senior Global Product Marketing Manager for Xbox Live Mike Lavin says of Nadella.

well i guess ill have to take your word for it.

"[Xbox live is] the glue," says Lavin.

please share more of your stunning insight

"[Xbox Live account sharing and streaming between different devices makes it so that] It doesn't matter where you are," Lavin says..

not news

The theme here is the gradual blurring of the lines between the Xbox and Windows 10. There's more stuff coming, too, that Orullian can't talk about just yet. But for now, the Xbox One is laying the groundwork.

"Everything will be unified at some point," Orullian says. "This is a really big, important part of that.

This is the only vaguely interesting part of this article, and might just barely be thread worthy, but it is not mentioned in the op.

I guess the writer of that article has to eat. Or, thinking about it, maybe it makes sense on a non-gaming site like that to sum up old news in one piece, but there is almost nothing in here that we at gaf didn't already know
 
All of the Xbox Live users are on Xbox hardware. To abandon all of the subscribers to that service on the hardware would only cut their own feet out from underneath them. They are not that fucking stupid.

I disagree. They aren't going to get rid of dedicated "Xbox" Hardware anytime soon.

They are still going to want hardware in your living room connected to your tv because of all the services.

What is more likely to happen is their hardware becomes even more off the shelf than custom. Maybe even just being gaming htpcs when all things are done. Bu, they will not get rid of the dedicated Xbox as they will use is as showcase hardware, similarly to the lumia line, surface and surface book.

Add to that the ability to purchase a game and play it on any platform, I just makes no sense to get rid of dedicated hardware from the living room.

What you're alluding to is part of what I mean by it transitioning to a service. I agree that there will continue to be devices that you could put in your living room that will run Windows 10 (or whatever) with Xbox Live. Xbox games are going to transition to all digital, that much is clear. It's the way the whole industry is going and they already wanted to do it essentially this gen, they just backpedaled on it. I just don't think there will be a specific Xbox console or device that specifically plays games. There will be a range of devices, some that play games better than others. But all that are capable of running them.

That ecosystem of devices is exactly what Microsoft is cultivating now.

Xbox One is going to stick around this gen, I'm not saying they're going to pull it. All these things I am talking about is for going forward in 5-6 years when the generation shifts again.
 
How/When/Why did this "xbox is dead" started???
I mean they are about to release a new controller at $150 which sold out everywhere then we have Halo 5 and they announced 4-5+ AAA games for 2016.
 
The Xbox division overall still has yet to turn a profit. Originally the premise of Xbox was to create a box that everyone would have in their living room and be the center of all entertainment. That endeavor has officially failed, they have even admitted as much in the past. They didn't predict correctly where technology would go in that people want to use different devices and not necessarily sit in front of the TV in their living room. The 360 had a few years of profitability, however those profits still did not put Xbox in the black from the investments they made on the original system. This division has still not made profit, and before Nadella was appointed CEO most of the candidates were calling for the division to be scrapped. It doesn't really make business sense for the division to still be alive other than to nurture the brand and continue to have it live.

The Xbox One only happened because of the success 360 did have and the assumption that One would share that success and propel the division to finally profit. Now that Xbox One is clearly trailing the competition that won't happen and the division is further in the red.

I do think Xbox will continue, purely as a service: Xbox Live. Microsoft will continue to fund games. They have a few IP that are very profitable like Halo, Gears of War, and Forza. But I just don't see Xbox as a console continuing.


they will never ever do that it makes zero sense.
 
I think if they are serious about supporting PC again it'll be behind a Live subscription. PC users have enjoyed life to a large extent without a paywall, but I can't see that lasting much longer as everything is becoming a service now and there is $$$ to be made. I really hope I am wrong.
 
I think what Business Insider meant is that cross-platform was a challenge in terms of system-level integration. Of course, in terms of games, we had Shadowrun, Final Fantasy and soon Street Fighter V, but this is a bit different.

Back in 2011, Valve wanted Steam to integrate with PS3 and it started with Portal 2, but due to many restrictions, it didn't go further. Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live also didn't work (mostly due to how poor the second was), so now it's just Xbox Live for both Windows 10 and Xbox One. If I understood it correctly, then this means that any game released on both platforms with multiplayer (not including Steam versions, by the way) will have support, unless the devs specifically want to avoid it.

Also, it's worth mentioning that Microsoft also profits from games bought on the Windows Store. It's not a loss to release games on PC. They might keep them exclusive to Xbox for a few months to get as many players as possible and sell consoles, but they can also keep profiting when releasing on PC later and the idea of cross-platform means that the multiplayer community can keep growing as well.
 
I think if they are serious about supporting PC again it'll be behind a Live subscription. PC users have enjoyed life to a large extent without a paywall, but I can't see that lasting much longer as everything is becoming a service now and there is $$$ to be made. I really hope I am wrong.

as long as steam remains free, microsoft wont be able to make a big enough case for paying for multiplayer. unless maybe they release their big guns on pc, which won't happen.
 
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