This Looks Like the End of XBox, the Console

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 23, 2026

News today [1-2] isn't about a future console, it is about Microsoft trying to make Windows a carrier for games originally made for XBox. This way they can remain playable if or when the consoles are no longer made or sold. See: Over a Week After Microsoft Discontinued Some XBox Models It Apparently Exits Some Markets Altogether | XBox Being Discontinued, Some Models of XBox Canceled, Not on Sale Anymore

Microsoft also envisions advertising [3] as a business model, maybe with sights/eyes on XBox as streaming, not a console.

This comes 5 months after XBox founders blasted what was happening to XBox, e.g. this from February: Asha Sharma "a Palliative Care Doctor Who Slides Xbox Gently Into the Night"

Sharma has become the "fall man" of Microsoft. Used, soon discarded.

Speaking of discarded, once the console is discarded a lot of workers will be left without a job. Accessibility too is affected [5].

It looks like an act of "consolidation". The console won't survive this. The CEO has already publicly admitted this is not sustainable. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Microsoft announces Xbox Backward Compatibility for PC — will let gamers play classic console games on PCs and handhelds [Ed: XBox is dead. Now it's just some "Windows mod".]

   Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC will let gamers play classic Xbox games on PC and handheld.

2. Microsoft launches Xbox backward compatibility for PC

   As July slowly comes to a close, culminating a month of thousands of layoffs carried over by Microsoft across its Xbox studios, the company has shared some very different news, as it is slowly rolling out Xbox backward compatibility on PC.

3. Microsoft Launches Test for Ad-Supported Xbox Game Streaming, Promises the Ads Will Not 'Interrupt the Flow of Gameplay'

   Microsoft has launched a test for ad-supported Xbox game streaming, and promised the ads won't interrupt gameplay.

   The test lets users stream select games from their library for a limited time supported by adverts, and is available to Xbox Insiders. During this test period, Xbox Insiders with an Xbox account can stream supported games without a subscription for free with ads, with one-hour session limits across supported devices and regions where game streaming is available.

   Ads will play before streaming sessions begin and will not interrupt gameplay, Microsoft insisted. The core game experience remains unchanged, the company added. Participation is optional, and players can choose other ways to play at any time.

4. Riley Moore demands removal of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma

   West Virginia Rep. Riley Moore has sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh demanding that Xbox CEO Asha Sharma be removed from a Federal Reserve task force focused on productivity and jobs, escalating criticism over her appointment after Microsoft announced thousands of job cuts at its gaming division.

5. Layoffs Leave The Future Of Xbox’s Award-Winning Accessibility Efforts In Doubt

   On July 6, Microsoft leadership announced a new wave of mass layoffs within Xbox, this time affecting 1600 full-time employees, as well as numerous contractors, with another 1600 expected through the company’s 2027 fiscal year. This round of layoffs not only saw the decimation of studios like id Software; it also targeted many who worked on accessibility across the greater Xbox ecosystem, a relative first for industrywide layoffs.