While the overall mood of the Xbox community is quite high right now in the post-Xbox Games Showcase honeymoon phase, there's still very much a lingering concern about the overall health of Microsoft's gaming business on the minds of many. And honestly? I don't blame fans for feeling that way.
After all, just weeks before Summer Game Fest, Microsoft reported a 33% decrease in Xbox hardware revenue, a 5% fall in Xbox content and services performance, and a 7% decline in overall gaming revenue. Fears that Xbox as we know it isn't long for this world spread like wildfire, though many were calmed by an ambitious plan for the future from its new CEO Asha Sharma.
Indeed, Microsoft has been clear that Xbox isn't going anywhere in several recent communications. Still, that hasn't stopped fans from worrying that we still may see Xbox consoles take a backseat to the brand's other gaming ventures — something that I'm glad its new chief strategy officer Matthew Ball has addressed directly in a new interview.
"The reality is most players and revenue is on mobile. Second to that, we have the most hours and the most players on PC — but less revenue than on console," he revealed to The Game Business. "Console is a $40 to $45 billion business."
"Is it growing as fast as PC or mobile? No. Are there as many hours? No. Is my bet that that platform is substantially larger tomorrow or in 2028/2029 than it is today? No. But we are still talking about hundreds of millions of players who spend $40+ billion per year in a category that they love, that I love," Ball continued.
He then went on to explain that while Microsoft is aiming and will continue to aim to strengthen its performance on gaming platforms like PC and mobile, it also needs to "shore up the platform we have" and make significant improvements to the Xbox console experience.
"We have no desire to move away from the console business. And dying? No. It’s not declining. It is growing. It’s going to have a great year this year. What is important is that we restore that business for us," Ball said.
"Do we need to get better at PC? Yes. Do we need to get better at mobile? Yes. But we can’t ask publishers and players to bet on us on other platforms where we are behind, where our technology is inadequate, before we shore up the platform we have, the platform that many believe we’ve mistreated," he added.
Some of those improvements will come in the form of frequent Xbox console updates that Asha Sharma has planned. One major boon for Xbox consoles will be the return of exclusives, which has already begun with Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. Also, Microsoft is working to "rethink" its next-gen console Project Helix to mitigate the impact of the RAM crisis and keep prices down.
Only time will tell how successful Microsoft is in turning the ship around for Xbox consoles, but in the end, I'm just glad that it's committing to doing so in the first place. Here's hoping a new, more successful era for the business isn't far off.
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