Microsoft is About to Abandon Every Hardcore Xbox Fanatic That Defended Them from PlayStation

For a long time, Xbox enthusiasts have been defending their hardware in the console wars against Sony’s PlayStation in countless online debates. These users have always been praising how Xbox has unique offerings, from its exclusive titles to its game-changing services like the Game Pass. These fans are loyal supporters who believed the brand was the ultimate gaming platform.

However, after the recent interview with Xbox CEO Phil Spencer and the new marketing campaign, it looks like Microsoft is trying to change its promises that have the potential to leave the same loyal fans feeling betrayed. While this shift might be great news for the future of the company, it leaves a bad taste for the hardcore fans who have supported the console-first vision of the brand for nearly two decades.

Xbox Shifting its Identity From A Box to A Platform

In a recent interview, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer made it clear that the brand’s future lies not in its traditional consoles, but in a broader vision of gaming. He wants to spread the brand far beyond just the confines of a living room. From the looks of it, the company is pivoting toward a future where the brand is a platform, not just a box.

Spencer’s goal is to make the games that the brand offers accessible from nearly anywhere, be it on smart TVs, PCs, phones, and even cloud-connected devices. When asked about the console he said:

Our biggest growth in Xbox players is on PC and cloud. The console space all up isn’t growing, across all of them. We love those customers, but in terms of continuing to expand and grow Xbox, it’s about PC, it’s about cloud, and it’s about making our games more available in more places.

This statement shows that from his perspective, this is a natural shift and reflects the growing importance of accessibility in the gaming world. With the demand for cloud gaming and cross-platform support increasing and the recent studio acquisitions by the company, the brand now offers a plethora of games.

To make these newly acquired games available to everyone, what’s better than to make them available on almost any device with an internet connection? In a way, he wants to break down the traditional barriers between consoles, PCs, and mobile devices.

However, for the hardcore Xbox fans who’ve always associated the brand with physical consoles and exclusive content, this shift must be very frustrating and even painful as they defended the very idea of it being exclusive hardware, for years.

Is Microsoft Going to Abandon Its Consoles Altogether?

While Spencer expressed great enthusiasm about expanding the brand’s accessibility to everyone, he was very quick to reassure the loyal fans that the company was not going to abandon the console’s hardware entirely. He even went ahead and said:

We’ll definitely do more consoles in the future, and other devices.

By saying this, he might be signaling that the company is looking to potentially enter the new gaming devices market. The recent trend of handheld consoles is certainly enticing as portable PCs/consoles like Valve’s Steam Deck and Asus’ ROG Ally become very popular. The unofficial member of the console war, Nintendo is also selling very well, despite still offering Switch.

All these future plans are very exciting to hear about but the core issue still remains: will these new devices replace the Series X and S or coexist side by side? From the instant response to promising future hardware, it is clear that Microsoft wants to create successors to Series X and S but what about the next one after that? The future seems blurry, and the hardware fans can only hope.

In the end, the “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign is both a blessing and a curse for the entire gaming community. While some are happy that there are fewer exclusive titles, others are worried that the efforts they put to defend the brand for years were a waste. Only time will tell what direction Microsoft will take.

Will Microsoft continue to prioritize hardware, or fully embrace its service model? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.