Microsoft Stores across most of Europe no longer stocking Xbox Series consoles

They might be pretending to die right now, but planning to hulk up and come storming back with a big boot / leg drop combo to really get the crowd going. That at least makes as much sense as signaling they're done by giving up shelf space everywhere if they aren't actually done.
They have been planning this for a long time given the moves they have made over the last couple of years. Given how things are going this includes the acquisitions, anything from the day they picked Phil P. as the CEO has been a calamity, except maybe the reversal on the DRM situation.
 
Sounds like Microsoft will start rolling their next gen console early next year
That implied that they already got factories ready and manufacturing started NOW. Of course, if they only expect a small run of the product then it might actually be possible to hide the preparation to launch from prying eyes. But that assumes it would be a tiny production run. Either way a major console launch in 2026 is now no longer possible with the timeline we are dealing with.
 
So, the reason your first sentence just isn't in the cards right now, goes back to what Spencer said after RedFall dropped.

2 years without a console space at retailers worldwide, nevermind their strongest markets, exacerbates the problem of folks becoming more entrenched in other ecosystems (SteamOS, PSN, NSO, MacOS - take your pick). This isn't at all akin to the 360, where they rushed to market and tried to capture a market that was hungry for new gaming experiences. Heck - even that scenario, folks have completely memory-holed the actual reasons the 360 took off (and it has far less to do with the PS3 stumbling out the gate than people think).

Their next machine is already this thing that they are gonna have a very hard time selling regardless, as it'll mark the 'death' of the Xbox SKU by and large, as its mainly gonna be a Xbox SKU BC machine, with the games shipping for it being the WindowsOS SKU you currently get on the Xbox on PC or Windows Store, or at least thats the current plan.
I see! Seems to me like the first insider confirmation that there won't even be a console game SKU for the "console".

What about the user experience then? Are they going to see PC-like configuration screens? Or will devs have to decide what they should expose based on the hardware it's running on? How would this even work for GTA VI or any console exclusive game?

Guess none of this matters if the console never sees the light of day, but just curious what they had in mind…
 
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So, the reason your first sentence just isn't in the cards right now, goes back to what Spencer said after RedFall dropped.

2 years without a console space at retailers worldwide, nevermind their strongest markets, exacerbates the problem of folks becoming more entrenched in other ecosystems (SteamOS, PSN, NSO, MacOS - take your pick). This isn't at all akin to the 360, where they rushed to market and tried to capture a market that was hungry for new gaming experiences. Heck - even that scenario, folks have completely memory-holed the actual reasons the 360 took off (and it has far less to do with the PS3 stumbling out the gate than people think).

Their next machine is already this thing that they are gonna have a very hard time selling regardless, as it'll mark the 'death' of the Xbox SKU by and large, as its mainly gonna be a Xbox SKU BC machine, with the games shipping for it being the WindowsOS SKU you currently get on the Xbox on PC or Windows Store, or at least thats the current plan.
Even if they dropped the console, do you think the PC is different enough to be launched as a whole new line of product?

Or are they tied together, and it's a no-console = no-PC situation?
 
Even if they dropped the console, do you think the PC is different enough to be launched as a whole new line of product?

Or are they tied together, and it's a no-console = no-PC situation?
None of the planning i've heard indicates this is meant to be a bespoke thing like the XSS/XSX, with one being a PC and the other one being a console. From what i've heard, this is going to be a very niche, very expensive machine that puts the WindowsOS for Gaming push, similar to what you're seeing with the ASUS Ally and Ally X, front and center, just with built-in support for Xbox SKU BC.

Native Xbox SKU does not have a future. Its all WindowsOS SKU going forward.
 
Their next machine is already this thing that they are gonna have a very hard time selling regardless, as it'll mark the 'death' of the Xbox SKU by and large, as its mainly gonna be a Xbox SKU BC machine, with the games shipping for it being the WindowsOS SKU you currently get on the Xbox on PC or Windows Store, or at least thats the current plan. But like I said - this thing is very much still up in the air.
This is what I said before but got laughed at.
 
They're making room to shadowdrop a new console right on the holidays.
Xbox Series Pro releases Black Friday: $799.99 1 TB, $999.99 2 TB.

75% more powerful than the PS5 Pro.

Exclusive bundle with GTA VI next year plus exclusive content. Free GTA Online with Game Pass.

All Xbox games are now exclusive to Xbox, including Call of Duty.

Game Pass is no longer day one on PC.

What other fever dream items am I missing??
 
None of the planning i've heard indicates this is meant to be a bespoke thing like the XSS/XSX, with one being a PC and the other one being a console. From what i've heard, this is going to be a very niche, very expensive machine that puts the WindowsOS for Gaming push, similar to what you're seeing with the ASUS Ally and Ally X, front and center, just with built-in support for Xbox SKU BC.

Native Xbox SKU does not have a future. Its all WindowsOS SKU going forward.
But we were told there would be an xbox sku right bitbydeath bitbydeath ?
 
But we were told there would be an xbox sku right bitbydeath bitbydeath ?
The other red flag is that we've only been hearing about a single spec in development.

We heard about series X/S specs in advance, we heard about PS6 and a handheld spec, we even heard about the Xbox ROG Ally and MS handheld that got canned.

Yet, the NextBox is quiet outside of just one spec.
 
None of the planning i've heard indicates this is meant to be a bespoke thing like the XSS/XSX, with one being a PC and the other one being a console. From what i've heard, this is going to be a very niche, very expensive machine that puts the WindowsOS for Gaming push, similar to what you're seeing with the ASUS Ally and Ally X, front and center, just with built-in support for Xbox SKU BC.

Native Xbox SKU does not have a future. Its all WindowsOS SKU going forward.
If true, it is a "reach" to call this thing a gaming console.
 
If this supposed new Xbox console is out by around 2027, how is it possible they're happy to have no current Xbox consoles available for at least the next 2 years? They've given up the consoles clearly. Not too sure why it's so hard for many to see.
 
The other red flag is that we've only been hearing about a single spec in development.

We heard about series X/S specs in advance, we heard about PS6 and a handheld spec, we even heard about the Xbox ROG Ally and MS handheld that got canned.

Yet, the NextBox is quiet outside of just one spec.
May be because there is only one at launch. Perhaps they were planning 1 console and 1 handheld and the handheld got shelved. Why would that be a red flag?
 
May be because there is only one at launch. Perhaps they were planning 1 console and 1 handheld and the handheld got shelved. Why would that be a red flag?
There's rumoured to be a console and multiple PC's in development. Magnus is meant to be across both but we've only heard of spec for one device so far, and unless I'm mistaken I don't think it was ever confirmed if the specs we know are for the console or PC counterpart.
 
If this supposed new Xbox console is out by around 2027, how is it possible they're happy to have no current Xbox consoles available for at least the next 2 years? They've given up the consoles clearly. Not too sure why it's so hard for many to see.
it's not like they are happy, happy or that they are just given up.... it's just that they are trying to survive by any means necessary.

these 18 to 24 months are going to be critical for Xbox. they either find a way to make their business work or the implode into oblivion
 
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So, the reason your first sentence just isn't in the cards right now, goes back to what Spencer said after RedFall dropped.

2 years without a console space at retailers worldwide, nevermind their strongest markets, exacerbates the problem of folks becoming more entrenched in other ecosystems (SteamOS, PSN, NSO, MacOS - take your pick). This isn't at all akin to the 360, where they rushed to market and tried to capture a market that was hungry for new gaming experiences. Heck - even that scenario, folks have completely memory-holed the actual reasons the 360 took off (and it has far less to do with the PS3 stumbling out the gate than people think).

Their next machine is already this thing that they are gonna have a very hard time selling regardless, as it'll mark the 'death' of the Xbox SKU by and large, as its mainly gonna be a Xbox SKU BC machine, with the games shipping for it being the WindowsOS SKU you currently get on the Xbox on PC or Windows Store, or at least thats the current plan. But like I said - this thing is very much still up in the air.

That's pretty much the only thing I see making sense. I expect disagreements about whether it's really a console.
 
There's rumoured to be a console and multiple PC's in development. Magnus is meant to be across both but we've only heard of spec for one device so far,
Yes. We are on the same page there.

and unless I'm mistaken I don't think it was ever confirmed if the specs we know are for the console or PC counterpart.

It's the "console". FWIW, Kepler and Heisenberg have both maintained that it's a console. The Xbox "PC" is an unknown quantity in terms of final spec, even if based on Magnus.

As to why there aren't specific details on the OEM built PC, perhaps K KeplerL2 can shed some light? If it's just an Xbox sticker on a prebuilt based on reference design, may be he has no visibility to them?
 
Yes. We are on the same page there.



It's the "console". FWIW, Kepler and Heisenberg have both maintained that it's a console. The Xbox "PC" is an unknown quantity in terms of final spec, even if based on Magnus.

As to why there aren't specific details on the OEM built PC, perhaps K KeplerL2 can shed some light? If it's just an Xbox sticker on a prebuilt based on reference design, may be he has no visibility to them?
Which is the same situation as the Xbox Handheld, yet we got spec leaks for that.

However, we only have one set of specs leaked for the NextBox, meaning the red flag is something doesn't exist, you can guess in if it's the PC or console.
 
EU Countries with Stock: France, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom

EU Countries without Stock: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden

EU Countries without Xbox Hardware page: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia


Looks to me like they might be pulling out of Mainland Europe and France and Germany are the only two countries their worth still supporting.
 
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EU Countries with Stock: France, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom

EU Countries without Stock: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden

EU Countries without Xbox Hardware page: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia


Looks to me like they might be pulling out of Mainland Europe and France and Germany are the only two countries their worth still supporting.
UK is still their strongest European territory and it's rather dire here for Xbox. Doesn't help that they're charging such crazy prices for hardware people already don't want to buy.
 
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https://www.microsoft.com/es-es/sto...les?icid=Cat-Xbox-QL1-Xbox-Consoles&source=lp

The regional stores across most of Europe are either completely out of stock of all models (even reconditioned units) or go to a page displaying 0 items when going to the Xbox consoles store page.

Observed with Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria.


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The news are from yesterday, the National Day of Spain. Sorry not sorry. First Xbox, England you're next!!
What a prophetic ad. Well, they created Xbox so Sony wouldn't take over the personal computer business space and they succeeded so mission accomplished I guess. Too bad Sony never pretended to take over the computer business and the PCs are in the verge of a massive installation of Steam OS on the users share of the market:
Eeeo8gRUwAAa365.jpg
 
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UK is still their strongest European territory and it's rather dire here for Xbox. Doesn't help that they're charging such crazy prices for hardware people already don't want to buy.

Aye

Retail presence is small compared to PlayStation and Switch

Consoles are rarely on display
 
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