XBOX IS DEAD
Video game consumers go through phases of making bold and unequivocal statements about the imminent death of console manufacturers all the time, moving from one company, to the next, and then to the next. In the early days of the PS3, when the Xbox 360 was dominating the market, large numbers of people came to the conclusion that Sony was a spent force. When the Wii U tanked hard and things were looking grim for Nintendo, many proclaimed that there was no way they would recover from their latest pitfall (Nintendo is doomed has become a legendary meme at this point). Now, the limelight has shifted to Microsoft and Xbox. Which is ridiculous, right? For starters, the Xbox One is doing quite well- is it doing as well as its direct competitor? Well, no, not even close. Is it doing as well as its direct predecessor? Again, not at all. But while it isn’t as successful as Microsoft would have wanted it to be, it’s not a failure either.
Also, let’s not forget that Microsoft are the richest company in the entire world, period. The Xbox One would have to be an absolutely devastating, monumental, historic failure for Microsoft to have to bow out of the console business, which it isn’t even close to being. In fact, on the contrary, they’re building towards a very strong future, having acquired a number of studios to increase their first party portfolio, and dishing out excellent services like Game Pass. Sony bounced back from the PS3 (not just with the PS4, the PS3 itself turned things around very well in the second half of its cycle). Nintendo came off the back of the miserable Wii U and are absolutely killing it with the Switch. And there’s no reason to believe Microsoft won’t be able to recover from what is, in the larger scheme of things, not much more than a blip.
