It Looks Like Microsoft is Really Abandoning XBox (the Brand "XBox" Means Just an Online "Games Store" or Streaming)
What "XBox" means right now:
Published last night (we saw about 4 other reports like it).
There's also this (adding insult to injury as XBox console sales have collapsed and many retailers stopped selling these consoles altogether):
"Copies"... because to manufacture a PS5 you just download a new one?
In IRC, admfubar has just shared this link, which ties into news about XBox cuts at Microsoft. The morale there is reportedly absolutely terrible; workers are terrified of what's coming next (not just at Microsoft). "After a turbulent few years at Microsoft and Halo Studios, however, the title is being placed on the back burner," said a site 2 days ago. "It's unclear what other Halo projects the studio, which has been forced to deal with a number of senior departures in recent years, currently has in the pipeline." There are also issues at Bungie, which split from Microsoft, already notorious (even 2 decades ago) for destroying studios that it acquires.
It's not hard to see that Microsoft now does with "XBox" what it did with "Surface", once a "big-ass table" and now some failing form factor (similar to a laptop) that nobody wants to buy. Totally different products; same name. Remember "Origami"?
Brand reuse ('salvaging' dead products by re-purposing brands) is a very "Microsoft thing".
Sooner rather than later Microsoft might say "XBox isn't dead", pointing to something that's not a console. Sort of like rebranding failing services/products as "cloud" or "AI". █