Microsoft's XBox is in Trouble, Its Chief Has Already Admitted Losing, Now It's All About 'Damage Control' (and the Layoffs Carry on This Week)
This morning: XBox is Failing, the Spin/PR Campaign Has Begun (Trying to Dispel Rumours of XBox Ending as a Hardware Business)
An hour or so ago: More Microsoft Layoffs: This Time in Ireland (Again)
Does the FTC pay attention? It's all about gaming again. Microsoft broke its promise to the FTC. It lied.
Today:
-
Xbox and PlayStation have a problem they won’t admit and it’s destroying gaming [Ed: XBox is losing a ton of money. XBox consoles have never been profitable on their own, Microsoft admits in court. Microsoft lost $5–7 Billion on the original XBox. It's not what the media makes of it, so Microsoft buys revenue. It's not a pretty picture. They admitted defeat already. They hide the losses using patent extortion.]
GameCentral dissects the Xbox podcast, and Sony’s recent announcements, to ask whether the future of gaming is something to worry about.
-
Games Inbox: Xbox losing the console wars forever, Suicide Squad failings, and Silent Hill difficulty [Ed: Microsoft Says You Don’t Need To Buy An Xbox, So People Aren’t, an article said this month. Since they're losing billions on the thing anyway. Some people already assume XBox will stop being made... and XBox hardware revenue is down this year.]
Like everyone else, I’m shocked and fascinated by what is going on with Xbox at the moment. I suppose the warning signs were there with the Christmas sales figures but coming so quickly after spending so much money on Activision Blizzard it all seems so surreal.
What’s also strange is how badly Microsoft has handled all this. It was already odd when the execs seemed to be arguing with each other at the end of last year, with the talk of new strategies, but messaging has become so muddled now that no one has a clue what’s really going on and there’s not going to be any official explanation until next week. Which seems like it’s asking for trouble.
Then we have all these influencers and mega fans claiming that they’ve disowned Xbox, even though they have no idea what’s actually going to happen – given I’m sure not all the rumours are accurate. It seems like literal madness but also as if the wheels have come off and Microsoft has lost both the respect of their fans and their status as a contender for leadership in the games industry.
-
[Older] Xbox Series X and S Sales Have Collapsed in Europe
It’s no secret that Microsoft has lost the console war, but the scale of Xbox’s collapse in Europe in particular is stark.
According to fresh data reported by GI.biz, Sony’s PlayStation 5 is “comfortably” number one in Europe, with sales up an incredible 143% over October last year. The near seven-year-old Nintendo Switch is second despite a 20% drop in sales year-on-year. But the Xbox Series X and S have seen a whopping 52% drop in sales.
Even month-on-month comparisons are tough for Xbox. PS5 sales are up 11% in October compared to September, Switch sales are up 10%, and Xbox sales are down just under 20%. GI.biz noted that Xbox’s big exclusive Starfield launched in September, whereas PlayStation had Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Nintendo had Super Mario Bros. Wonder in October. Both games broke sales records.
Last week:
Expect many more layoffs. FTC and CMA won't do a thing. It's yet another case of Microsoft destroying companies, like it did Nokia. Keeping the Ponzi scheme afloat.
"Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company, declared a profit of $4.5 billion in 1998; when the cost of options awarded that year, plus the change in the value of outstanding options, is deducted, the firm made a loss of $18 billion, according to Smithers."