I really don't know what is happening at Microsoft, it seems they are intent on delivering themselves much greater profits but forgot that customers have to actually accept the new pricing. I stopped subscribing to microsoft live back in the 360 era. I didn't need online gaming on 360 I was already starting to play online with PC which is completely free. So really the 360 was just for exclusive single player experiences and while the 360 had loads, the One series seem to drop hugely in this regard and now the current Xbox consoles don't seem to have exclusives at all. Anyway I suspect my Xbox One X will be the last Xbox console I own and I'm not sure a later Xbox console will even exist than the current Series S and X. It feels like the next Xbox console will either be a PC or not exist at all.
Even on my PCs I only have a local account on windows and don't sign into a Microsoft account and also don't use Edge. I certainly wouldn't subscribe to anything like Office. I'm also gradually moving more to Linux. It feels like Microsoft is a company no longer relevant to me at all or how I spend money.
However if they can carve out good income from people prepared to pay big money for access to a wide range of games good luck to them. I just buy the games I want individually and play those on PC.
I suspect (and this is just my personal perception and experience from about 40 years of video games) that Microsoft/Xbox will be a pure publisher like Sega etc. by 2030 at the latest.
They will no longer release new hardware themselves, only things like the Asus Rog Ally, where they have other manufacturers build the hardware and then just license Windows 11 Gaming and the Xbox app.
All according to the motto: Gamepass is dead, long live Gamepass
Arguing with stupid People is like playing Chess with a Pigeon. No matter how well you play Chess, the Pigeon will knock over all the pieces, poop on the board, and strut around as if it had won.
I suspect (and this is just my personal perception and experience from about 40 years of video games) that Microsoft/Xbox will be a pure publisher like Sega etc. by 2030 at the latest.
Sega was forced to pivot away from hardware because they ran out of money.
Meanwhile, MS have all the money.
Switch Physical Collection - 1,609 games (as of September 4th, 2026)
Switch 2 Physical Collection - 4 games (as of December 8th, 2025)
I suspect (and this is just my personal perception and experience from about 40 years of video games) that Microsoft/Xbox will be a pure publisher like Sega etc. by 2030 at the latest.
Sega was forced to pivot away from hardware because they ran out of money.
Meanwhile, MS have all the money.
They have money but do they just want to pour it down a bottomless hole that maybe what the Xbox turns into? It's not looking good for the Xbox brand. I was enthusiastic for the original Xbox, 360 and Xbox One but then the Xbox Series S and X came along and it felt like prices were too high and they were pushing digital too much and had zero interest in that platform. I feel like there are many gamers like me as Xbox this generation has been a greater struggle for them but for those that bought into the current line up they spent a lot more money. Also in the same time period Windows has become a complete bloated mess, massively reducing the performance of hardware and creating slow booting and other problems. Often gaming handhelds are transformed if you install steam os on them compared to Windows. Their product line up has got less and less appealing. Also windows activation is completely open now. All the hackers know how to activate Windows for free and there are utils online to do that simply. It's like no one in India or China has a genuine Windows licence unless it came with the hardware. Microsoft are throwing huge resources at AI but I'm unsure how you commercialise AI in an operating system. It just seems like something you don't want in your operating system because of the huge burden in CPU, storage and memory terms. I debloat my Windows operating systems so they run faster and are more stable.
I don't want or need Microsoft in my life to be honest. It's a brand of the past that wants too much money for its products and services.
It's not like XBox or Game Pass are losing money though. Their execs repeatedly reassure us that they aren't. While they might be rather economical with the truth about a lot of things, they're not going to tell a bald-faced lie about something that could get them into trouble with regulators.
Rather, it's far more about making us pay more for services to bring the price up to a level that we wouldn't have paid in the first place. You can see the same with the likes of Netflix and Disney Plus, but they've usually been a bit more subtle about it, rather than hiking it by 50% in one go.
I also saw an article that suggested that giving day one access to Call of Duty through Game Pass cost them around $300 million last year in lost sales, and the timing of this ahead of this years annual entry surely isn't mere coincidence. They'll retain a lot of people who would otherwise have unsubscribed because of that, and some of those who do will use what they've saved to buy it outright.
My opinion on this is quite unpopular, but if Phil Spencer was the main mastermind behind the creation of Game Pass and the acquisitions of Bethesda/Zenimax and ABK, he was far more damaging to the Xbox brand than Don Mattrick.
Releasing Halo, Gears of War, and Forza for the Playstation was Uncle Phil's last dance.
Wow so maybe Gabe wasnt crazy for his steam machine price. Today Xbox a announced price hikes for the Series X/S going as high as $800 for the digital TB model of the Series X. This is getting outta control. As it is with these prices this might be the last Gen of gaming for me. I just cant reason with myself to pay what some people pay in a month's worth of rent for a hobby. Its going to come down that only the well off will be gamers kinda of like how.PCs were in the 80s or TVs were in the 50s. Quite possible to we could just be heading for another crash in the gaming industry.
Its a shame too cause I love where modern gaming is going but at this rate it is not very price friendly. Lucky for me I have a huge backlog of older consoles so I will still be gaming, just not modern unless something changes.
RetiredPush Square Moderator and all around retro gamer.
Normally I'd say Nintendo wins by doing nothing, but its more like Nintendo wins by doing the least of something.
This does make more sense for Xbox than Playstation at least, which is, by complete accident, only for enthusiasts now. Xbox is sacrificing nothing, you were not buying an Xbox to get a great deal unless you're still enthused by game pass but somehow don't have it yet.
Well after today's announcement of Fallout Remasters I will be going with PC next gen. Xbox's ideas just dont make me excited for console gaming anymore. Instead of creating new exciting IPs they have made it clear that they want to go the Ubisoft route let's just churn out another game for the same IP year after year after year. They have decided to squash creativity and just be like Sony.
Dont get me wrong yeah having a brand exclusive is important but not when thats all you got. It would be like McDonalds just severing Big Macs only or Ford only making Mustangs.
One of the things that I liked about Xbox was they weren't afraid to create new IPs stuff like Avowed or The Outer Worlds it made them unique. Yeah we got the usually staples like a Halo or a Forza game on a regular basis but they also weren't afraid to try new things. Now with there dropping off various studios and having their main ones working on Remasters of games that we can already play on Xbox it just feels to me that the creative games will be far and between and now Xbox is just satisfied with answering their stockholders. Its been fun while it lasted Xbox.
RetiredPush Square Moderator and all around retro gamer.
It's interesting looking back at how much Xbox has changed over the years. The brand started mainly around selling consoles and exclusives, but now things like Game Pass, backwards compatibility, and playing across different devices have become a huge part of the identity.
I think that's what makes Xbox's direction interesting compared to the other platforms. It feels less like just a console and more like an ecosystem now.
Curious what everyone thinks — do you prefer Xbox focusing on hardware generations, or do you think the ecosystem approach is the better future?
@reginaldbelvarion Xbox really hasnt changed that much people just tend to forget that first and formost MS is a software comapny. Alot of people think Xbox and MS are separate companies and I think thats where the confusion comes from about their direction.
In fact the whole reason MS created Xbox was to sell Direct X games cause at the time PC gaming wasnt as big as it is now it was more of a niche thing. I think at some point the Xbox division just lost sight of what they were and then tired to become like Nintendo or Sony with Playstation. Now MS is trying to go back to that core belief they are trying to do that with gamepass and their Play Anything and was trying to do that with the This is an Xbox campaign. They have even said they dont make money from the consoles themselves its the games. Microsoft sees it as why should their games be tied to one machine. Its like Windows for example. You can use Windows on any PC, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. It would be like if you can only use Windows on MS PC kinds like Apple with Macs. Thats how their business is, and always has been.
RetiredPush Square Moderator and all around retro gamer.
@Tasuki That's a fair point. I think the interesting thing about Xbox is that Microsoft has always been more focused on software and services rather than just selling hardware. The console was originally a way to get DirectX and Microsoft's gaming ecosystem into the living room, so the shift toward Game Pass and playing anywhere does make sense from that perspective.
The question is whether longtime console fans will still feel connected to the brand if the hardware becomes less important. An ecosystem is great, but many people also enjoy having a dedicated console identity and exclusives that make the platform feel special.
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