05-07-2024, 09:50 PM
I think Xbox just got sidelined by AI and current conditions are very unfavorable to how they've always operated.
Microsoft wants something cool to spend money on(regardless of the cost) because most of their business is boring. Especially during the 360 days Xbox did a lot for their brand and innovation. Not to mention they tried to tie it in with other stuff like their TV/Music streaming, Smartglass, Cloud technology and Kinect when the Xbox One rolled along. You could even argue that Xbox Live was the start of what has eventually become Teams.
Now ESGs/DEI are trending in corpoland so Xbox is gay and not 'cool' and AI is hot among investors but AI is already 'cool' by itself, they don't need Xbox to sell it.
An AI chatbot on Xbox is just not going to be this revolutionary thing that's going to inroduce folks to AI on a level that Co-Pilot in Word would and things like Ray Tracing and FSR just don't work well enough on the boxes they have out there today compared to the upcoming PS5 Pro / PC GPUs nor are some additional reflections or high framerates that exciting. The Xbox business has also depended a lot on third party developers from Assassins Creed to Mass Effect and Call of Duty. And third parties just haven't delivered this gen either (especially those closely aligned with MS/Xbox like EA).
Xbox was always about taking what is trending or popular and shipping it fast with tech and usability improvements. However, none of the things trending now like Asian mobile games, Fortnite, ARPGs, handheld devices, Nintendo are their strong suit or can be replicated or bought easily and shipping fast has gone out the window. They are trying with things like the HALO TV show but they can't just copy Elden Ring as easy in 2024. In the past they would expand on Resident Evil 4 with Gears of War within 2 years, make a car game with a Jeremy Clarkson cameo in 18 months, develop a half baked Wii Sports clone in less than a year or cut a last-minute deal for an exclusive Tomb Raider game just in time for the holiday season.
Microsoft wants something cool to spend money on(regardless of the cost) because most of their business is boring. Especially during the 360 days Xbox did a lot for their brand and innovation. Not to mention they tried to tie it in with other stuff like their TV/Music streaming, Smartglass, Cloud technology and Kinect when the Xbox One rolled along. You could even argue that Xbox Live was the start of what has eventually become Teams.
Now ESGs/DEI are trending in corpoland so Xbox is gay and not 'cool' and AI is hot among investors but AI is already 'cool' by itself, they don't need Xbox to sell it.
An AI chatbot on Xbox is just not going to be this revolutionary thing that's going to inroduce folks to AI on a level that Co-Pilot in Word would and things like Ray Tracing and FSR just don't work well enough on the boxes they have out there today compared to the upcoming PS5 Pro / PC GPUs nor are some additional reflections or high framerates that exciting. The Xbox business has also depended a lot on third party developers from Assassins Creed to Mass Effect and Call of Duty. And third parties just haven't delivered this gen either (especially those closely aligned with MS/Xbox like EA).
Xbox was always about taking what is trending or popular and shipping it fast with tech and usability improvements. However, none of the things trending now like Asian mobile games, Fortnite, ARPGs, handheld devices, Nintendo are their strong suit or can be replicated or bought easily and shipping fast has gone out the window. They are trying with things like the HALO TV show but they can't just copy Elden Ring as easy in 2024. In the past they would expand on Resident Evil 4 with Gears of War within 2 years, make a car game with a Jeremy Clarkson cameo in 18 months, develop a half baked Wii Sports clone in less than a year or cut a last-minute deal for an exclusive Tomb Raider game just in time for the holiday season.