The Verge has reported that in addition to Hi-Fi Rush and maybe Starfield, Microsoft is considering putting the Indiana Jones game out on PS5.
This makes a lot of sense. Xbox has lost the console war, badly, again and there doesn't seem to be a good way to turn it around. With people having large digital libraries and established friend groups online it's not nearly as easy to switch horses as it was back when Sony's PlayStation dethroned Sega and Nintendo. There is now continuity between generations that gives companies momentum. Additionally Microsoft just doesn't seem to be able to make the industry defining games that both Sony and Nintendo put out to sell their machines. Forza and Starfield didn't do much of anything in that regard, and those were the biggest arrows in Microsoft's short-term quiver.
There just isn't much that can be done to convince people who don't have an Xbox to choose one over the PlayStation 5. They've tried power with the Xbox One X (and recent price cuts.) They tried price with the Series S. They've taken their shots and come up short.
So now why not make more money from the software and at least build brand awareness for your IP? Hi-Fi Rush is acknowledged as a great game so why not sell more copies of it if it's not going to sell more boxes? A lot of people want to play Starfield on PS5 and you can make money off that. They're not going to buy an Xbox to play it. They had that chance and they rejected it.
But it raises the obvious question of why anyone WOULD buy an Xbox at this point. I have bought every generation of Xbox and I play my Series X quite a bit. Game Pass is still a compelling value for me. I have a huge digital library that I'm now pretty worried about (what happens to that if Xbox leaves the business.) Yet I don't really recommend getting an Xbox to anyone because the PS5 is just a much better machine unless you want Game Pass, and if you are enough of a gamer to want Game Pass then you've already made your decision.
Maybe Microsoft's plan is to give up on this generation, build the value of its IP, and come back with another box later. Maybe it will just keep making Xboxes because they eek out enough money to make sense and it's a great place for Game Pass. Apple makes the Apple TV even though you don't need it to watch the Apple TV service. Amazon makes fire sticks and tablets. You don't have to be the market leader to be profitable. Game consoles are more complex and expensive to develop, but maybe Microsoft just puts less money into that, slaps some on the shelf or close to it components together and lets people buy an Xbox if they want one but doesn't make that the core business.
I kind of doubt it though.
I think that if Microsoft actually does this then Xbox's days are numbered. I think services and the cloud are where Microsoft would rather compete and after closing in on 25 years in the console business Microsoft understands that it's never going to break out of third place (I guess it was briefly in second during the Wii U era if you don't count handhelds) and the juice may not be worth the squeeze. What happens to the online infrastructure and digital game libraries? They probably stick around for a reasonably long time (Microsoft will not want to alienate the most loyal fans of its IPs and franchises) but in the long run they get Zuned.
It's kind of a scary thought for a number of reasons.
On the other hand I may be wrong. Microsoft certainly has the money to stay in the fight for as long as it wants and maybe the console business makes sense for various strategic reasons even if it's not a huge money maker. Maybe I'm wrong about the economics of third place. One thing's for sure, though. If this actually happens it will change the shape of the console business and the video game market as a whole in some important ways. And it will give Sony even more of a deathgrip on the high end of the console market. Then again the console business as a whole may not last more than another decade. We're in interesting times.
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