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You are Asha Sharma. How do you save Xbox?

Windom Earle

Windom Earle

Banned
Let's assume she was not just hired to close shop.

My ideas. I expect very little of this to actually happen:

- End Gamepass as soon as possible
- Hire the full Bluepoint studio and let them make what they want unless it is GaaS. Also Blue Dragon remaster.
- Go back to full exclusivity (yes, even abandon PC) - Needs to be a real console
- Bring black blade OS
- Name it Xbox 720
- Monster Nvidia GPU even if it means premium price (I know this is a pipe dream)
- Make the platform ultra attractive for 3rd parties: Easy development, fast certification, low licensing fees, dev assistance from 1st party teams
- Completely abandon DEI nonsense, also cancel Fable, game is a joke/meme with terrible reputation
- Close down almost all of your garbage studios. Cut the fat. Try to keep the good people and let them pitch games to you with a focus on classic franchises.
- Some smart acquisitions and bought exclusives
 
I treat it like the mean streets of Mumbai and take a shit on it.
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Basically just bring back the 360 era.
The amount of great series that started during that time is shocking.

Its the games that matter. Once the AAA guys realize that, things will improve dramatically.
 
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Consistent release of Quality games

Stop devaluing the console

Best UI features and overall experience with improvements on what is there like Game DVR, Achievements etc

Better marketing and PR with the aim of less talk and letting the products themselves being the spokesperson

Enough of the shills
 
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asdasdasdbb said:
What you're gonna get is AI, AI and more AI.
Click to expand...
What they'll announce is some sort of Copilot thing that will assist you in every aspect of gaming: from recommendations, to organising your game library, to playing the game with you (but not as a co-op buddy, more like advising you on where to go, what to do).
 
Something extremely hard….

Push to get GTA 6 online portion on gamepass.

Get all normie games there.

Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, Fifa, GTA. COD, Elder Scrolls is already there.

Push the subscription and grow subscribers. Not with core gamers, but mainstream audience. Grow the industry in the process.

Something unlikely to happen.
 
Her job is not to save Xbox. Her job is to satisfy shareholders. Milk it as long as possible, then drop it like a hot potatoe once it served it's purpose. In the meantime sell you some bullshit so you keep paying your subscription a little longer.
 
Windom Earle said:
Let's assume she was not just hired to close shop.

My ideas. I expect very little of this to actually happen:

- End Gamepass as soon as possible
- Hire the full Bluepoint studio and let them make what they want unless it is GaaS. Also Blue Dragon remaster.
- Go back to full exclusivity (yes, even abandon PC) - Needs to be a real console
- Bring black blade OS
- Name it Xbox 720
- Monster Nvidia GPU even if it means premium price (I know this is a pipe dream)
- Make the platform ultra attractive for 3rd parties: Easy development, fast certification, low licensing fees, dev assistance from 1st party teams
- Completely abandon DEI nonsense, also cancel Fable, game is a joke/meme with terrible reputation
- Close down almost all of your garbage studios. Cut the fat. Try to keep the good people and let them pitch games to you with a focus on classic franchises.
- Some smart acquisitions and bought exclusives
Click to expand...
She was demoted, she has zero chance to ask Nadella for more money to throw into burner of xbox
So real result will be
- close xbox hardware (it already ignored in the speech)
- monetize existing franchises to the bone (max on MTX)
- go for maximum money games (service and proven franchises)
- and of course - max reduction in cost and AI everywhere
 
Windom Earle said:
Let's assume she was not just hired to close shop.

My ideas. I expect very little of this to actually happen:

- End Gamepass as soon as possible
- Hire the full Bluepoint studio and let them make what they want unless it is GaaS. Also Blue Dragon remaster.
- Go back to full exclusivity (yes, even abandon PC) - Needs to be a real console
- Bring black blade OS
- Name it Xbox 720
- Monster Nvidia GPU even if it means premium price (I know this is a pipe dream)
- Make the platform ultra attractive for 3rd parties: Easy development, fast certification, low licensing fees, dev assistance from 1st party teams
- Completely abandon DEI nonsense, also cancel Fable, game is a joke/meme with terrible reputation
- Close down almost all of your garbage studios. Cut the fat. Try to keep the good people and let them pitch games to you with a focus on classic franchises.
- Some smart acquisitions and bought exclusives
Click to expand...

This would have worked in 2014. It doesn't have a prayers chance of working 2026. It would fail miserably and cost 1000s upon 1000s of jobs and studio closures.

Nobody cares about Xbox anymore. That ship has sailed. Being a 3rd party publisher is their only option.
 
vaibhavpisal said:
Something extremely hard….

Push to get GTA 6 online portion on gamepass.

Get all normie games there.

Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, Fifa, GTA. COD, Elder Scrolls is already there.

Push the subscription and grow subscribers. Not with core gamers, but mainstream audience. Grow the industry in the process.

Something unlikely to happen.
Click to expand...
You say this like they havent been trying to do this for years. They've failed miserably, but we can always count on your to believe that they can pull a rabbit outta their hat.
 
I'd like her a little if she fired Matt Booty and Aaron Greenberg. How those two cucks managed to keep their jobs is beyond me.

In a world where DEI is having the opposite effect of it's intended goal, Booty and Greenberg provide ammunition to the Pro-DEI crowd: Two white dudes who've accomplished nothing but keep their job and fail upwards.
 
Windom Earle said:
Let's assume she was not just hired to close shop.

My ideas. I expect very little of this to actually happen:

- End Gamepass as soon as possible
- Hire the full Bluepoint studio and let them make what they want unless it is GaaS. Also Blue Dragon remaster.
- Go back to full exclusivity (yes, even abandon PC) - Needs to be a real console
- Bring black blade OS
- Name it Xbox 720
- Monster Nvidia GPU even if it means premium price (I know this is a pipe dream)
- Make the platform ultra attractive for 3rd parties: Easy development, fast certification, low licensing fees, dev assistance from 1st party teams
- Completely abandon DEI nonsense, also cancel Fable, game is a joke/meme with terrible reputation
- Close down almost all of your garbage studios. Cut the fat. Try to keep the good people and let them pitch games to you with a focus on classic franchises.
- Some smart acquisitions and bought exclusives
Click to expand...
Mostly a good list, but if a new CEO wants to gain the favour of the fans, closing studios is the worst thing they could possibly do.

People want CEOs who care about the games, not subhuman reptiles who only care about their bank account.
 
- Make a free GamePass tier with games pausing every 2 minutes to show ads.
- Close all CoD support studios except Treyarch and Infinity Ward and replace them with AI.
- Add even more AI.
- Increase Switch 2 and mobile output.
- Increase focus on GaaS, as Sony generates record profits with them under Hulst's watch.
- Go full digital-only. Physical releases are so 20-th century.
- Outsource Halo and Gears of War remakes to Virtuos.
- Make Forza F2P.
 
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She's not here to save Xbox. Xbox is basically over. She's here to run marketing for their multiplatform titles.


With the cost of ram and storage going up I wouldn't be surprised if this next Xbox/pc is scrapped all together.
 
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If this was to save Xbox she would not be put there. This is clear for Xbox to become a publisher only. Push AI and close many of the 33 Studios, It will be a total disaster for games industry.

If they want to revive Xbox DNA bring back xbox1 and xbox360 staff(pre Kinect), kill Gamepass.
 
Long-term consistency.
No more strategy shifts every two years. No more unclear hardware roadmaps. Announce a 10-year plan and stick to it. Stability builds trust. Trust builds loyalty.
Xbox can absolutely survive and thrive. The assets are there: studios, IP, infrastructure, capital. What's missing is clarity and confidence.
To save Xbox, you don't need desperation moves. You need identity, discipline, prestige, and technological leadership.
That's how you save it.
 
She was head of MS's AI suite, she's going to be tooling MS gaming up for an AI future.

Build once, deploy everywhere, scale to platform.

Xbox is a relic. "Saving" it is not within her remit. Not even on her radar.
 
JohnnyFootball said:
You say this like they havent been trying to do this for years. They've failed miserably, but we can always count on your to believe that they can pull a rabbit outta their hat.
Click to expand...
As I said its unlikely to happen. But it is the challenge, something industry is trying to crack. Big reason why industry still supports xbox hardware.

Core gamers, I think are well catered. At max, I will get them to invest in Japan Studios, get them up to date on tech, well defined gameplay systems etc.
 
They need a consistent stream of critically acclaimed 1st party games. This would lead to a demand for Xbox games as must own. At the end of the day it comes down to does your platform have more and better performing games that people want to play. Also, if you are staying in the console business your hardware needs to have price value compared to the competition.
 
Honestly? Cut the bullshit and just go balls deep into third party publisher. Don't just stick the tip in, go all the way. Cancel the Magnus or whatever the hell it's called, there's little to no market demand for a new piece of bespoke hardware when your entire identity now is putting your games on any device capable of playing them and cloud gaming. And the RAM crisis gives you a perfect out. 'We were gonna release a new system, but the cost of RAM/components has made it too cost prohibitive.'

Drop Gamepass. You don't have the hardware relevance to push it in the console space, and its of little value to PC gamers because we can all go to our favorite key reseller site and get whatever game we want for pennies. Or if you insist on keeping it, scale it down to legacy games and Indies. Partner with one of the streaming sites and offer it as a bundle.

In fact, just drop 'Xbox' as a brand and just go with Microsoft Gaming. There's too much negativity and embarrassment around the brand now to continue on with it. Just do it, you dropped Xbox Live. Go all the way.
 
vaibhavpisal said:
As I said its unlikely to happen. But it is the challenge, something industry is trying to crack. Big reason why industry still supports xbox hardware.

Core gamers, I think are well catered. At max, I will get them to invest in Japan Studios, get them up to date on tech, well defined gameplay systems etc.
Click to expand...
It doesnt. Its basically non-existent. Why do you lie to yourself like this?
 
The Steam Machine has the potential to do the most damage. Console gamers who have been sitting on the fence could make the jump to it. And people are unhappy with Windows 11. Lenovo started certifying their laptops for Linux, and are offering it pre-installed. Getting Windows is an extra fee.

Having a stripped down gaming focused experience mode for Windows could stop some of the bleeding. Anti Cheat for some major games isn't supported under Linux so it doesn't work on Steam OS. Provide a console like experience where games through the Xbox/Windows store work like console games. No launcher PC, just run the game, automatically launch with the best settings for the hardware it's running on. User could tweak it if they want after launching. This would give people a reason to buy from the MS store rather than Steam.

If PC gaming companies like Asus or MSI are putting on smaller form factor PC to be used like a console. Would they go with Steam OS that has compatibility issues, or Windows where things work? Set minimum specs and let them license the Xbox branding. Hardware is a loss leader, if someone wants to build a PC, but use it like an Xbox. Why would you stop them? If you are selling games on your digital store and getting that 30% cut, you are winning.

Finally, get the studios under control. Make smaller more focused fun experiences that can be put out in 3-4 years or less. Have teams that push small games every two years. That can provide a stream of new content to keep players engaged.
 
I mean the 1st thing that needs to be done is actually agree on a common definition of what it means to 'save Xbox'.

Xbox means like 3 different things right now and is an extremely muddled concept at this point.
 
Edit: I think enhancing AI tooling will help the overall industry to develop these unwieldy large projects faster. That's not a bad thing at all, IMO.
 
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JohnnyFootball said:
This would have worked in 2014. It doesn't have a prayers chance of working 2026. It would fail miserably and cost 1000s upon 1000s of jobs and studio closures.

Nobody cares about Xbox anymore. That ship has sailed. Being a 3rd party publisher is their only option.
Click to expand...
You are most likely correct. What I am suggesting is purely a last ditch good faith effort from a neutral perspective. My last and only Xbox was the 360.
HallowedFeast said:
Mostly a good list, but if a new CEO wants to gain the favour of the fans, closing studios is the worst thing they could possibly do.

People want CEOs who care about the games, not subhuman reptiles who only care about their bank account.
Click to expand...
I don't think the current MS studios are respected or liked by the fans so I see not much issue. These people are not able to make a good game to save their lifes so fuck them.
 
Windom Earle said:
You are most likely correct. What I am suggesting is purely a last ditch good faith effort from a neutral perspective. My last and only Xbox was the 360.

I don't think the current MS studios are respected or liked by the fans so I see not much issue. These people are not able to make a good game to save their lifes so fuck them.
Click to expand...
Nope. It's a bad idea and would do nothing but make things worse. Far worse.
 
Not much.

Microsoft has never made money on hardware, and with the Xbox console sales as low as they are, it's far more profitable for them to be a third party publisher. I'd exit the hardware segment completely.

If I were in her shoes, I'd be focused on making sure the studios are as efficient as possible. That's it. Ensure there is a constant stream of games releasing on as many platforms as possible.
 
This will end in a disaster.

I thought Microsoft couldn't act any dumber than they did in the past years, but they are showing that they can — and will.
Spit Take Lol GIF by Justin
 
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