Xbox has big plans for its next-generation hardware but the latest data is not good at all, and could see those plans thrown to the wayside.
To compete with Sony’s PlayStation 6 the next Xbox needs to be rock-solid with its capabilities, game library and more.
So far the leaks sound promising if not a little pricey as Xbox is reportedly planning to release a console and PC hybrid that’ll cost you an arm and a leg but allow you to play more games than ever before via Steam compatibility.
Xbox hasn’t confirmed specific details yet but Xbox’s President Sarah Bond has promised the next console will be a premium bit of kit, but is it going to sell well?
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The latest data says no as clearly the gaming company’s latest decisions have caught up with it.
According to the data for Microsoft Gaming’s first quarter, July to September), the company’s content and services revenue only went up by a mere one percent. Adding to this hardware sales are down by 29 percent.
Now PlayStation has always tended to be the more successful company in terms of console sales as the exclusives always feel on point, in comparison to Xbox at least, but this is still troubling news for a company hard at work on a new, more expensive, system.
That said perhaps it’s all part of the plan as recently the company has highlighted non-gaming companies like TikTok as its main competitor. Perhaps the company is once again trying to capture all entertainment sectors with its next bit of hardware, not just gaming.
That said a lot of this will come to some incredibly bizarre decisions made by the company. The recent changes to Xbox Game Pass are a bit too current to have played a big factor in these statistics but the increase to Xbox hardware prices over the last year will have definitely contributed.
On top of that the library of games Xbox users have felt minimal compared to rival companies, at least in terms of exclusives.
Combined it creates more and more reasons to not own an Xbox, so it’s no wonder hardware sales are down.
It’ll be interesting to see what the company’s second quarter looks like, especially with the recent news that Halo: Combat Evolved’s remake is coming to the PlayStation 5 next year, basically confirming that no Xbox game is off the table when it comes to ports to other consoles.
If it carries on like this Xbox’s very expensive next-gen hardware could sell a minimal amount of units.
Topics: Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Steam