Over the years, Microsoft’s Xbox has developed and evolved in many ways. From rising trends in technology to moving away from exclusivity, the company has seen several changes in how it envisions the future, particularly the consoles.
It may seem a little surprising, but there was a point in the console’s life cycle when the company wanted to move away from it entirely. There was little hope for the future, and the team didn’t really know how things would pan out. Fortunately, that isn’t the case now.
The Former Head of Xbox Has Been Vocal About Things
An interview with IGN goes on to dive into Peter Moore’s history back when he was leading Xbox. This was around the time of the Xbox 360, and console gaming was on the rise. Or, that’s what gamers believe universally.
However, the truth is that Peter and the team were deeply speculating whether or not consoles were really the future of the industry. As it turns out, Microsoft was under the impression that the console tech and sales just weren’t enough to sustain a foreseeable future.
Hardware is a messy business. If you extract hardware and look at the P&L (profit and loss) on its own, it’s brutal, but it’s the facilitator to the software and services that drive the industry. You’ve got a generation coming through now, and this is the concern maybe Phil’s talking about, that’s more likely to be utilizing their smartphone for everything, including gaming.
It’s crazy to think what could have happened if Xbox 360 was indeed the last console we could have seen from the company, and PlayStation and Nintendo would end up in sole competition with one another.
This May Explain the Slow Shift Toward Multi-Platform Availability
Not too long ago, the Xbox podcast shed light on the company’s vision for the future. Phil Spencer and the team spoke about how things are going to take a change of pace, and there are a few things that gamers can expect going forward.
One of these was the shift away from exclusivity so that more players could access several games. Moreover, this would lead to cloud gaming (with a big emphasis on smartphones). This way, the creators won’t have to worry about the ‘console generation,‘ and Peter Moore’s comments start to make more sense as you think about them.
Even though we’ve had several consoles since the 360 era, the passive move towards a universe of console-less gaming for Microsoft does feel like a slow yet self-fulfilling prophecy at this point.
What are your thoughts on the slow and gradual shift in the vision of the company? Let us know in the comments below.
