Xbox Console Sales Are Tanking

Meanwhile the Steam Deck is selling like gangbusters.

I didn't see that coming, and it's a welcome development. If it warps the general PC hardware market enough that devs start optimizing for a standard platform, it'll result in less buggy products at launch. And maybe orienting development towards a relatively underpowered platform will make it easier for those of us ~~dumb enough to~~ that like to spend more on a desktop to hit those 60 FPS targets.
- I think it's more important that it gives Valve a method of avoiding being shoehorned into a "Windows only world". The Steam Deck is largely why Linux has pushed past 2% market share on the Steam Hardware Survey consistently now. Holo, which is the codename for SteamOS on the Deck, makes up over half of Steam on Linux.
  
  Don't get me wrong. I'm not dillusional. Windows is still far and away the majority platform and will be for some time. However, there is a real, functional choice now that didn't exist a few years ago.
- how i personally see it is that it welcomes devs to set a new minimum pc requirement to target. due to valve not doing contstent iterations (which imo is actually a good thing), it gives people a point of performance comparison reference to when wanting to play a new title.

They're just tanking so they can get a high draft pick next year.

They should be careful, tank too much and they’ll be relegated to the championship
- Not in America hahahaha. It's pay to play here lol

I am not a marketing expert, but when headlines pile up implicating that Microsoft doesn't fully stand behind XBox anymore, no wonder the number for new customers tank. I wouldn't "invest" in something that seems to be on the way out either.

Judging by how Sony is doing even though they clearly "won" with the PS5, it looks like consoles as we know them are not long for this world, and that seems to be the idea Microsoft is pivoting around.
- Xbox should just go straight pc game setup for the living room. A mass produced windows (I know, blegh) pc with a pretty solid gpu and Xbox controllers. Basically the steam deck treatment for the living room.
And it is very bad for the consumers, as the console market highly needs the competition. It’s a shame how MS is dropping the ball with Xbox

I still believe their naming conventions has destroyed the brand.

Grandma that wants to buy a toy for their kids can go to the store and buy the next PlayStation. Xbox… which one do they buy? They don’t, they buy the easy option.

This happened to me! I thought I was buying the newest gen. But then…games I was trying to buy were “not optimized for your console.”

I’m still not sure which one I have. I think I have the ONE S. But the games I’m looking to buy are “optimized for X|S series,” but…don’t work on my console. I’m moving to PlayStation soon.

Also, I have a feeling all that news a few months ago about how they’re gonna stop support for Xbox and may not continue to make games for it or will shut down the console division or whatever cannot have helped sales. I don’t remember the articles exactly. But the impression I was left with was Xbox was on its way out. Why would I buy another if they’re unsure of its future?
This is exactly what happened with my mom trying to buy a Christmas gift for my nephew. She knew he had an Xbox but had no clue which version it was so she didn't know which version of a game to get. I told her to just buy an Xbox store gift card and call it a day, much easier than trying to figure out which version of the console he had. Didn't want her to buy him a disc if he had the Series S.
It's not like you can buy a 360 or One in the store though. They're selling two versions of the same model.
- I have seen people very confused about which games will run on their system, though. Most are still cross compatible with XB1 and Series X, but some are Series X only now and the boxes aren't marked clearly enough for some people to tell the difference.
What you didn’t like the meme name Xbox Series X? Xbox SeX?
- The only thing I will concede is that being able to shorten Xbox One X to XbOX was clever. Naming it the Xbox One in the first place was mind numbingly stupid, though.
I used to have a black XBox sitting beneath the TV gathering dust. I think it is a One by the shape. As for the new ones I have no idea off the top of my head which is the best. I've seen some on sale in places, but the impulse buy isn't there because I have no idea what I would be getting. I don't own a PlayStation, but if I wanted one I know that 5 is the newest, and you can get the small slim one or the big Pro one.

I'm never gonna buy another console except steamdeck.

I'm with you on that. What makes the Steam Deck so appealing is it's a handheld PC.
- Xenia is rapidly developing its Linux support aswell, lfg

Wow a 30% drop in revenue is quite something.

It's pretty late in its life, could be that anyone who would be a potential sale got one at this point? I remember that being, at the time, the reason for the sharp decline in Ocarina of Time sales in Japan, they effectively sold one to everyone who has an N64 so they "maxed out".
- According this chart from Ars Technica the switch and ps5 were still growing during the same period so then the question would be why the number of Xbox potential buyers is so much smaller than the others.
- Any new purchasers (I am one) are also probably waiting for the mid-generation update coming later this year.
Well according this chart from Ars Technica both the ps5 and switch were growing during the same period of time.

I'm biased but I really think Nintendo might be the last one standing in the system market in 2/3 gens

I think PlayStation will still be around for the more high end games since Nintendo consoles are usually underpowered. And exclusive games
- I also can't imagine Nintendo's next console not being a mobile one so I think there's definitely a market for a traditional stationary console.
Goes to show what a few good IPs and an all-star legal team can do for you lol

When Xcloud eventually (promises, promises, Phil) gets purchased games access, there'll be no need for the console anymore. Hell, PC gamers could (in theory, anyway) play GTA VI by buying the Xbox version and playing it on Xcloud (again, if purchased games comes to it, it's been promised for years).

I have no interest in my gaming experience being at the mercy of network latency. It's bad enough for online games, but there's no getting around that other than physically going to the same location as everyone else you are playing with. Big no for single player games. If cloud gaming does replace locally computed gaming, it will be another case of enshitification.
- I have a buddy with a catering gig who works on film sets all over, an RV trailer with kitchen and a tv and Xbox in the back that we’d fire up in between meal times. No wifi when you’re filming a snowboarding video in the mountains …if they force that into every game then him and people like him will just stop buying new games altogether.
So… stadia?

Someone at Microsoft thinks they can sell the expensive razor blades without selling razors. Probably why they purchased Activision.

It’s a shame because Microsoft made some interesting hardware for a while.

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- They’ve made a lot of good peripherals like keyboards, mice, joysticks. Xbox one used to support Kinect and TV tuners which was nice.
  
  The surface line has been interesting, and I’d be tempted to buy one if they didn’t come with Windows 11 (I need to look up if you can install Win 10 on the newer ones).
  
  They came out with some wild stuff during the Sidekick phone days like Microsoft Kin and Zune. But honestly current management doesn’t seem to be interested in anything but boring but profitable software services (like Xbox game pass) that they can charge a subscription for.
  
  Edit: I wish Zelifcam hadn’t deleted his comments. They were good questions/conversation.

Well if they dropped the price of it a bit maybe more people would buy them.

and make better games.
- I'm really curious when Microsoft will start seeing the fruits of all their purchases. They've bought up a lot of game devs. Seems modern games cook for 3-4 years before publishing, so some might be turning up soon.

I used the 360 as my main console back in the day because it was getting all the good games and multiplats usually ran better on it. I got a PS3 in late 2009 when the price dropped and it started getting worthwhile exclusives. When Microsoft tried to pull that always online crap with the One, they lost me forever. Since all of their games are on PC day one, there's even less reason for me to get one.

I personally would by a ps6 in a heartbeat, and likely the switch 2. I've bought an Xbox one which I sold after the dust on it got too much, and a series x whoch also never gets turned on. 2 gen burns in a row is enough for me to exclude it from my console purchase next gen.

I'll probably get the Switch 2 when they do their mid-gen refresh model, but I think I'll skip the PS6. Sony ports their stuff to PC after a few years now and I'm a patient gamer type anyway.
The switch 2 it's just an upgrade. You're still going to be able to play all the same games
- Yep, just like the ps5 was just an upgrade and plays all ps4 games.

Maybe that fact that nearly all first party games mid at best, you still have to pay a monthly fee for multiplayer games, the terrible UI and the fact that 1TB of extra harddrive space costs 200€ have something to do with it?

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This is what Microsoft has been actively moving towards since at least the planning of windows 8.

Why bother losing money on physical consoles when you can get people to pay for xbox live on pc?
- Ndjndkxhdj
- They tried and failed to get people to pay for Xbox Live on PC. I'm surprised they still charge for it on consoles.

I still have never seen whatever the newest version of xbox is called in the stores. I've seen PS5's now and then, but still never even seen an xbox to buy.

I'm a cloud gamer because I do not have much expendable income. I definitely am not interested in consoles. If my situation improves, I will go back to PC.