Imagine if all of those games didn't get abandoned...
At the beginning of the current console generation, Xbox was slammed for selling a more-expensive, less-powerful system compared to Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4), which output visuals at 1080p more consistently than Microsoft's offering. At the time, Kinect had been bundled with the Xbox One, pushing the price up by $100 with a peripheral many, particularly day-one buyers, didn't really care for. Later in the generation, Microsoft was able to pivot under new leadership from current Xbox Head Phil Spencer, delivering the Xbox One X, which shatters the competition in terms of raw power. As happy as it made pixel counters, Xbox still suffers from a fundamental issue.
Microsoft leans far too heavily on its Forza, Gears of War, and the Halo trifecta for its core platform-exclusive franchises, and while it has attempted numerous times to build new IP, virtually all of them have suffered from a litany of setbacks that ultimately led to them being shelved. Sony has been far more consistent with its portfolio, releasing hit after hit with no sign of slowing down. Nintendo is also ramping up on its industry-leading portfolio for the Nintendo Switch.
Many of those shelved Xbox properties had vast potential, but the repeated misses has really tarnished Microsoft Studios (now Xbox Game Studios) as a brand, in terms of quality and reliability. Becoming a "fan" of any new game franchise Microsoft puts out lately has proved relatively fruitless and unrewarding. While fixing Microsoft's Xbox power problem was a relatively easy pivot for Redmond, given the industrial engineering prowess that exists within the company, fixing the content scenario will doubtless take far longer.
How did we get here, and are there any signs Microsoft wants to fix the situation?
Full story from the WindowsCentral blog...
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram