Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra seems to have some thoughts about how Microsoft has been running its Xbox business. In response to a social media post about Sony calling the PS5 its most successful console in terms of sales and revenue, Ybarra wrote about the console market being a successful business “if you do it right”.
This post by Ybarra has led to quite a few of his followers criticising him with one going as far as calling him a bitter ex-employee owing to his tenure at Blizzard. Ybarra responded to this post by simply saying “your console is dead,” likely assuming that the commenter owns an Xbox console.
Ybarra has previously spoken out about Microsoft’s business decisions. Just last month, he noted the recent price hikes for the Xbox Series X/S consoles, referring to the company’s decision as being made for profit rather than in response to the US tariffs on imported goods.
“Console price increases are not tariff issues, they are profit issues,” wrote Ybarra on social media. “And the reason why profits are not where they should be is a far, far deeper issue vs. the tariff excuse.”
To further support his point, Ybarra noted that the tariffs haven’t really gone up since they were first introduced, while Microsoft has continued to raise the prices of its consoles. “An excuse to continue raising prices, with no new increase in tariffs, is simply a different problem, and they are going to make consumers continue to pay for those problems,” he wrote.
For the sake of context, the Xbox Series X/S price hike will go into effect later this week, and will not apply to markets outside the US. The entire Xbox Series X/S line-up will be going up in price; the 512 GB Series S, for instance, will cost $399.99, while the 1 TB model will be priced at $449.99. The Series X Digital will cost $599.99, while the disc drive version will cost $649.99. The most expensive of the line-up, the Xbox Series X 2 TB Galaxy Black Special Edition Console, will be priced at $799.99.
Ybarra had worked at Microsoft’s Xbox division in some capacity for twenty years. However, he announced his departure from the company in 2019 after having served a number of roles, including Xbox Corporate Vice President for Gaming. Shortly afterwards, he would join Blizzard as the company’s executive vice president and general manager, before eventually taking on the role of president.
As for Microsoft, the company is gearing up for the launch of its handheld devices made in collaboration with Asus – the ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X. The handhelds have been available for pre-order in 38 countries, and are priced at $599.99 and $999.99 respectively. Xbox had announced last week that pre-orders were going quite well, with the company’s own store having run out of stock already.
While both of the handhelds might be quite expensive, rumours have indicated that both Microsoft and Asus tried their best to reduce the pricing.
