Can XBOX Find The Right Balance?

Years have not been kind to XBOX. You could say the previous management failed to see what the fans needed. It was a combination of stepping on multiple rakes while also just not knowing how to step forward with the brand. I think one of the most promising aspects of Phil Spencer was the Xbox Game Pass. Of course, a lot has come out about how sustainable it is, but it comes to a point, where Microsoft is going to need to make a decision. They can either accept the revenue loss and continue to support it. While also, accepting that it’s just another markup of their identity and how they’ve evolved.

It’s certainly not all bad, many people are enjoying the conveniences of Xbox Game Pass. It gives consumers a great deal, and offers the opportunity for developers to get people playing their games. If Microsoft continues to subsidize it. As always, it’s a risk, but sometimes where there is risk, there comes reward.

And it’s just in what way you fully take advantage of that with your core messaging as a brand. The way Asha has focused on the consumer. Bringing them into the front and centre of the brand again. It’s showing the brand in a different and more positive light. In that sense, you’re making sufficient gains in the gaming community and regaining trust.

The XBOX’s identity has always been there. They’ve not sugarcoated what they are. They see digital as a big performer on their platform. In that sense, they have to act on that, but also the takeaway here is that they’re listening now to your feedback. That’s a very different tone to what was presented to us all those years ago when they got it so wrong.

Of course, they’re a trillion dollar company. I don’t kid myself that they’re always going to make the ‘business’ decisions ‘where it makes sense’ to them and profits are always going to come first.

However, the brand under Asha has taken a significant step forward, in my opinion, and if they’re going to take their next step into a more positive era with Project Helix. Then they’re going to need all the fans onboard with the directions they’re going. That means being upfront about the platform and where it’s going.

Of course, the platform has made mistakes and there has been some heartache with how that’s had to happen to try and bring the brand back into the green on the balance sheets. I do think though, that these studios becoming independent and being able to continue was handled well. That’s the difference that we’re seeing because a lot of the studios at XBOX Game Studios haven’t been in the years gone by.

As fans, we’ve had to read on Pure Xbox just how bad it’s been. XBOX were ridiculed at one point for not having enough games. Now they turn to their tried and tested in Halo, Gears and the Elder Scrolls to define them again, and ultimately have a lot more in their arsenal to redefine them.

The third-party investments that they have in Gamepass continue to be there, but I think there’s a realisation that there could be tweaks in the future to the identity of it. That’s a fine balance though, because you do not want to upset that momentum that you have. A momentum that is heading into the next generation that you’re going to need. Especially when we could see the first sighting of Project Helix at The Game Awards this year.

Just how serious they are about listening to consumers is something that’s going to be all but revealed soon. XBOX were the founders of this digital future. How they go about providing more consumer protections on their platform and building on the foundations of what Steam does so well with purchases is ultimately going to tell us a lot.

It also wouldn’t surprise me if we see them edge towards preservation and we get some leeway of options with discs again. If that happens though, it could just be for the previous generations of consoles. Especially when Sony is pushing the future of digital very hard as the current market leader and will have a massive say in the push for how developers utilise how they sell games to you and in what way.

That means essentially that if you were to buy a PS6. You do so on the premise of supporting a future where you will have no control and like it.

Depending on what XBOX decides to do and in what way they implement future support in how you can buy your games, it could mean that at least some of our history is protected, at least for the retro gamers. It really means that the horses we back next generation could define the continued support for our much beloved physical media.