Proprietary and DRM Prisons Spiralling Down the Sinkhole? Not Just Yet.
The steady demise of XBox is "making a splash" (so to speak, pardon the pun).
Now it's revealed that amid mass layoffs many workers flee (they won't count as "layoffs"), even after almost 4 decades [1], and some Microsoft boosters like Tom Warren say that recent reports about XBox - reported facts that Microsoft is unable to honestly deny - are "a huge challenge for the brand right now" [2].
Why would any game developers invest in XBox right now?
Why would gamers purchase an XBox?
Heck, with many retailers - even the largest ones - no longer stocking the XBox consoles, shouldn't we assume it's the end?
Even production of XBox is being curbed, based on some prior reports.
XBox is sold at a loss and its purpose is to shoehorn DRM into homes. Now, Microsoft attempts to do the same with Vista 11.
The adoption rates of Windows have been relatively low. Windows does not have the same "market penetration" it had 30 years ago with Windows 95 or back in 2001 with Windows XP.
Let's hope that more people will flee to GNU/Linux. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
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Banjo-Kazooie director Gregg Mayles confirms he's left Rare
Gregg Mayles, the director of Sea of Thieves and designer on Donkey Kong Country, has announced that he's left Rare. News of Mayles' exit was first reported in July 2025 during a rash of layoffs and game cancellations across Xbox Games Studios, but the short poem he shared on X today makes it official.
With a 36-year tenure at the studio, Mayles saw its transition from an exclusive Nintendo partner to a Microsoft subsidiary. He helped design games like Battletoads, created Banjo-Kazooie and when studio founders Tim and Chris Stamper left in 2007, stepped up and became Rare's creative director. Mayles also led the team behind Sea of Thieves, one of Rare's modern successes.
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Xbox Journalist Says Latest Rumours Are 'A Huge Challenge For The Brand Right Now'
Rumours about the imminent demise of Xbox are hardly a new phenomenon — they seem to start swirling around every time Microsoft makes a controversial decision — but we've seen them dialled up to 11 after the recent Game Pass price hikes - and journalist Tom Warren believes they're becoming "a huge challenge for the brand right now".