Xbox leadership will try offcourse, but they were capped ny project latitude. The best version of cod is on playstation, in the UK it was 70% revenue cod from playstation. That deal was centered around playstation.
The best version of sea of thieves, and hi fi rush are also on playstation.
They are signalling handheld, mobile. Seems the competition will be with Nintendo going forward.
And they'll fail even harder than they did against PlayStation.
Microsoft's problem, like SEGA before them during the 5th-gen, is that they're:
1: Too reactionary, and
2: Too obsessed trying to one-up competitors, vs. building an identity unique to them
Microsoft's gaming division has no unique identity. Instead it's just become the monster from The Thing, trying to assimilate everyone before it gets blown up sky high. Microsoft's motivations in gaming, for the longest time, have been around other companies like Sony, Nintendo, Apple, Google, Tencent etc. rather than actually try cultivating their own gaming identity & brand. One of the biggest reasons they bought Zenimax was to block/intimidate Google out of the core gaming market. They bought ABK to prevent companies like Apple and Tencent from making a move. Xbox's console identity the past ten years has basically been PlayStation: Great Value™ Edition.
Cutting-edge specs aren't the reason Nintendo's been so successful; Nintendo's successful because they have arguably the most evergreen, and best long-term retained & curated, IP in the industry. And, they've married that IP software with their gaming hardware to maximize value proposition, to create a culture around their brand that appeals to everyone across the world.
At the core of Nintendo is a passion for fun, creativity and child-like wonder. At the core of PlayStation is a passion for pushing technological limits, like a scientist who wants to unlock answers to how the world works.
At the core of Xbox...is a business suit whose only passion lays with money, and spending that money to imitate those they're envious of, but lack the creative passion & skill that drives their better-realized competitors. Steve Jobs was always right.
But at least now,
IF cooler heads prevail, maybe Xbox can focus on just trying to be the best
Xbox it can be. If they couldn't take on Sony directly, they have no hope against Nintendo. But they have an audience of people who like the IP they've acquired, who like their hardware, and who like Windows.
Maybe start trying to act like a would-be respectable market leader again, and cater to your strengths, instead of getting caught up in yet another fruitless battle you'll likely lose even more defiantly than the last one. There's a market for an Xbox handheld, but not as a competitor to Nintendo. There's a market for an Xbox console, but not as a competitor to PlayStation.
Microsoft should know what the answer is by now.
