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You are Asha Sharma. How do you save Xbox?

Awful idea. Just awful.

They could use Sony to their advantage. New Sony Steam port = Show it in ads "Also on Xbox", use the same controller, show the improvements over PS5/PS6/Steam Machine "Better on Xbox", show how easy it is to go from hundreds of "free" Gamepass games to a Steam Sony port - No hassle, automatically added to the menu after purchase, one click to start, make sure Quick Resume works, make sure they can show Playtime, Achievements, Screens, Game Description from Steam games.
OP asked "How to do you bring Xbox back", this is not bringing Xbox back this is building a third party studio that have a console too.
 
OP asked "How to do you bring Xbox back", this is not bringing Xbox back this is building a third party studio that have a console too.
Yes. And that's their plan. Be different. Be everything. Be better.

You think it's realistic to have an Xbox 360 scenario again with console exclusives?
They crossed that line a decade ago. Can't go back. Would have to pull PC ports too. But devs won't make big games for it. You'll get some B team experimental crumble games like it is on VR. There are no money bags big enough for Xbox console exclusives.
 
5) Lower cost hardware ($400 target) strategy
I honestly think this might actually be a way. Other posters talked about this as well already. Microsofts strongest IP across the board have more of a family friendly potential than Sonys. MS is - like always - in a unique position comparatively just because of their sheer size and manpower. They might actually be able to pull off a cheap, family friendly, mass market device. Take a couple pages out of Nintendo's (and Sony's) playbook, stop the race for the most powerful hardware and focus on mass adoption and consumer friendly messaging instead. That'd also mean away with expensive subs, make MP free, and readjust all your studios to transform your IP into more casual / family friendly designs (I can very well imagine a less mature/gritty Halo, Fallout, GoW etc.). GAF would hate it of course, but that'd feel like a fresh start.
 
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You think it's realistic to have an Xbox 360 scenario again with console exclusives?
No I don't think it is, but why let Sony have their cake and eat it too? at some point Microsoft's plan will not be feaseable Sony will increase their cut, compete with them on the same ground...etc it is just not the ideal situation.

As far as I see it Microsoft has the edge when it comes to GaaS games and Sony fumbled that market, they can continue to improve it and fund their other ventures to fight Sony with.
 
They gave away their top exclusives to other consoles. Plus I don't think they can make appealing games, can they?
 
No I don't think it is, but why let Sony have their cake and eat it too? at some point Microsoft's plan will not be feaseable Sony will increase their cut, compete with them on the same ground...etc it is just not the ideal situation.

As far as I see it Microsoft has the edge when it comes to GaaS games and Sony fumbled that market, they can continue to improve it and fund their other ventures to fight Sony with.
I would definitely pull or delay MS games on PlayStation, but that's about it regarding exclusivity. And they're kinda already doing that. There are like 10 ports total and most are heavily delayed, or badly optimized. I would keep that up. Never ever allow an improved version on a PlayStation. Games needs to be first or better on Xbox, preferably both. If they can have PlayStation games on Xbox through Steam running and looking better on next Xbox than PlayStation things will sort out itself. Only the true PS fanatics will stay in their shrinking little closed bubble and hype up playing 1-2 timed exclusives per year.

Steam is the real winner in all of this of course, Steam gets everything. But if Xbox is better than both Steam Machine and PS6, and if the UI is great, then Microsoft have a shot at being the enthusiast gamer highend choice for the living room. That's something, that's a good first step. And that'll create lots of positive talks since enthusiasts are a loud bunch, and getting positive talks is the first step to rebuild the tarnished brand.

There can't be another Series S scenario. Fuck having a cheap console. There can be No restrictions, use cloud for cheap ass gaming. The console needs to be spectacular. Go big and powerful and expensive, earn that high end spot in the market and hype it up through the roof. People buy mobile phones for $2000. They can pay big money for a console too, if it's actually good. A superb console that have all the Steam, Epic, Microsoft games plus 95% of Sony's games and most from Nintendo through emulation and no online paywalls is worth some extra money.
 
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I'd take the cash and let some henchmen post AI slop on social media. Then bail after a few years.

Really, there is absolutely nothing left to save at Xbox anymore.
 
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She was not brought in to save XBOX. For Microsoft XBOX don't need exclusives or even a special box to play these games. She was probably brought in because she shares this mentality at least better than Phil Spencer or Sarah Bond.
 
Make the next console indistinguishable from pc.

Everything they have is 1 year exclusive except gaas. Then to pc non gamepass members, then everyone else even later.

Money hat every exclusive you can get ur hands on.

Free basic online.

Subsidize the consoles price heavily.

Drastically cut back gamepass offerings. No day one titles.

3 month wait til the come to it. Most of the service's value should be from Xbox's own titles

And be patient because it would take generations to catch Sony in the best scenario

And lasty, wake up to reality, its over for gaming at MS
 
That's not going to happen. The fans want system selling AAA games, but those games cost 200+ million dollar and take 5 years to make. How many copies would an Xbox exclusive game sell in 2031 with a 20 million user base? Certainly not enough to recoup costs. And Xbox would need a lot of exclusives to grab back marketshare from Sony and Nintendo. Sateh Nutella already heard this spiel from Phil Spencer when Xbox One needed to be saved from the brink of disaster. That didn't work because pouring money into games development is not enough to create best selling games. So why would MS try this once again in a declining games market?

Exclusives could save a failing system 15 years ago when devs could create a best selling game in 12 months on a low budget. Those days are over.
The only way.
 
- Change Game Pass. No day 1s
- Get rid of the HR/DEIs who are making modern games so stale/safe/purple, hire more smelly nerds and autists
- Pick 5 fan favorite games and have a new entry/reboot/remake enter production (eg Lost Odyssey, salvage Perfect Dark)
- Make games exclusive again, try it for 3 years (of actually GOOD games). Even COD etc. Pay any fines
- Let go of (not close) any studio that doesnt have a game out in the next year. I think a lot are just coasting/f*cking around
- Their release pipeline is too slow, they have 50 gorrilion studies. There should be a new release every 3 months MIN.
- Stop being cucks


But this won't happen. Xbox is done.
 
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Unleash the slop kraken
Sloppity slop slop all services
Call it gameslop
Devs no longer use tools to make games
They shovel digital slop into gamer-ready slop containers
Said slop is poured into your new microslop slop bucket
Then let slop play said slop until everything just turns into slop.


Or release good games
More diablo 2 content without slop

But what is the fun in that.
Diaslop 2 unlimited classes
All boring to play 🤓
 
I honestly think this might actually be a way. Other posters talked about this as well already. Microsofts strongest IP across the board have more of a family friendly potential than Sonys. MS is - like always - in a unique position comparatively just because of their sheer size and manpower. They might actually be able to pull off a cheap, family friendly, mass market device. Take a couple pages out of Nintendo's (and Sony's) playbook, stop the race for the most powerful hardware and focus on mass adoption and consumer friendly messaging instead. That'd also mean away with expensive subs, make MP free, and readjust all your studios to transform your IP into more casual / family friendly designs (I can very well imagine a less mature/gritty Halo, Fallout, GoW etc.). GAF would hate it of course, but that'd feel like a fresh start.
Completely agreed.

They're in the best position to transition Xbox from a 'power power power' machine to an easily affordable product. Just make a $400 machine and let Sony go after the $700 8K/120FPS/Raytraced eyebrows crowd.
 
My guess is that Magnus is finalized and also the price.
She hasn't any chance to change something about that.

"AAA" games often take 4–6 years or more and my guess is that the most games for Magnus are already "greenlighted" and in active development or already almost done (likely, when Magnus is planned for a late 2027 release).
Even when she greenlit today a handful of news games, is it likely that we can see the results 2031 or later and on the Magnus 2/Xbox 6.

I wouldn't even be sure that she has plenty of money to spend, when Spencer already closed studios, raised the price for Game Pass and stopped/paused different games/IPs.

She can't really "save Xbox", because the important decisions were already made by Spencer.
All she can do is to play her cards well enough to survive the upcoming years and to try to bring out Magnus 2/Xbox 6 with a better concept than "releasing a PC".
She can stop the multiplatform releases of the upcoming titles, but with the result of less revenue..
And i can't see how it could strengthen the Magnus/Xbox 5, when the MSRP is too damn high, to make a noticable difference. Who would buy a 1200 $ Magnus for "dead IPs" like Gears, Halo or Starfield 2?

I can't see any way how she can "save Xbox" without a huge amount of money and with the willing to loss in the first years again a few hundred millions.


The most important question is is she even willing and ordered to save Xbox?
My guess is that MS wants to transfer Xbox to a third-party publisher only and with Game Pass as a service on every device and that Magnus will be the last "console".
 
Again, appeal to men, unashamedly. That could save it. Immediately fire pointless women like this one from all prominent leadership positions.

The whole XBox brand existed because it went all-in on male gamer culture, as I said before -- from shooter heavy focus to DOAX exclusive to bro culture. It was a bit corporate and fake but not nearly as much as what came after it.

Once they had this solid male base, they treated that base as a mere stepping stone, and gave it up by trying to be a general entertainment system (the "one" concept) and chased after an illusionary wider market. Now they have no base at all, and well deserved that it ended this way.

Nothing that's made for "everyone" in a generic way is interesting, at all. Find a niche and go for it, to the intentional and loud exclusion of what's outside that niche. But they'd never do that again, so they deserve to simply die and be forgotten.
 
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only way would be to find a way to bring ALL of their portfolio franchise as exclusives, including anything actibliz or bethesda, and focus on quality over immediate profit.
while live service brings the money (but only if you are at the top of the foodchain), it's well crafted single player games that fidelize an audience.

this being said, while counterintuitive, something like this would result in some studios getting axed..something is definitely not working in their first party pipeline.

gamepass is an incredible value proposition that could bring people in...but it does not work if all the games also come to PC, and I say this as a PC player
 
My guess is that Magnus is finalized and also the price.
She hasn't any chance to change something about that.

"AAA" games often take 4–6 years or more and my guess is that the most games for Magnus are already "greenlighted" and in active development or already almost done (likely, when Magnus is planned for a late 2027 release).
Even when she greenlit today a handful of news games, is it likely that we can see the results 2031 or later and on the Magnus 2/Xbox 6.

I don't think there's going to be any Magnus games. Just PC. The console part is just for legacy purposes.
 
Xbox is dead. She's been hired to administer Last Rites.

She'll release a bunch of gay blue haired slop before shutting down console manufacturing.
 
Real talk. she is more than likely there to strip the proverbial copper pipes from the walls of the gaming division for AI division as the board sees fit. She won't push back and her thoughts align with their own.

Transition it into a vestigal division that manages a far smaller production. Namely vanity projects here and there and the cash cow Live Service thing. Most of which will be AI testing cases, and I don't mean AI just as development tools but in actual gameplay, player interaction and asset creation.

Gamepass might fold into another service to add value to that other service. They may license the IPs they own to other companies for many multimedia purposes. I'd say the timeline is 5ish to 7ish years.
 
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All you have to do is make games people want, and support older games that people love.

Make starcraft 3
Make warcraft 4
Make Halo Wars 3
Dump the newest forza game, and go back and make forza 8 with the old engine
Bring back attractive characters
Make a good call of duty again with the next version instead of the online campaign that was broke
New expansions for Warcraft games, starcraft games, etc.
Have obsidian make a starcraft or warcraft single player game instead of outer worlds/avowed stuff...use material people are passionate about.
etc

Go full Warhammer 40k and make a bunch of games with the IP's you have like they do.

Make a legit rpg like BG3 using one of the properties they have.
Make a COD tactics game like Jagged Alliance 3 or Gears Tactics.
 
save? MS doesn't give a shit about xbox. Their only priority right now is shoveling AI everywhere so they can justify throwing money into the black hole to the shareholders.
 
If I were tasked with fixing Xbox, I'd start by making hard, unemotional capital allocation decisions.

First, I would aggressively monetize underutilized IP. Sell off smaller or dormant franchises—properties like Banjo and similar legacy brands that Microsoft isn't actively investing in. Nostalgia has value. If Xbox isn't going to deploy those assets properly, convert them into cash and redeploy that capital into higher-ROI initiatives.

Second, I'd aggressively expand third-party and platform-agnostic revenue. That starts with approaching Nintendo and Sony about licensing an official Xbox-branded controller for their ecosystems. Xbox arguably has the strongest controller ergonomics in the industry—turn that hardware strength into recurring revenue.

But I wouldn't stop there. I would dramatically increase Xbox first-party ports to competing platforms. If the install base isn't growing fast enough, take the software where the audience already exists. More Xbox Game Studios titles on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms. More legacy titles ported. More day-and-date multi-platform releases where it makes financial sense. The goal would be simple: maximize software margin, even if it means redefining what "exclusive" means.

Third, I would rationalize the studio portfolio. That likely means selling select studios or closing underperforming ones. The current structure feels bloated relative to output consistency. Focused investment beats empire building.

After restructuring and generating liquidity, I'd sit down with the Microsoft board and determine whether Xbox should continue as a first-party hardware platform at all.

If the answer is no, then package the remaining core assets—major franchises, key studios, publishing infrastructure—and explore a full division sale. A media company looking to secure premium interactive IP could make strategic sense. Netflix or Disney would be logical conversations depending on their long-term content strategy.

At some point, you either fully commit to platform dominance—or you pivot into being a premium multi-platform content company.
 
Remove woke leadership, make the next Halo have same ranking system as Halo 2 & 3 with level 50 top have it reset every season so 3 months make all Original Xbox studios games exclusive, new dashboard as an updated blades OS, bring back Xbox 360 style avatars and bring back 1 Vs 100, and bring back inside Xbox and sent u a message. Make rare make Viva Piñata 3.
 
All you have to do is make games people want, and support older games that people love.
All I can do is AI slop games.
Loop Bunny GIF by Xbox
 
Create two separate publishing groups:
Xbox Game studios - Focus on Xbox Console exclusive titles
Microsoft game Studios - Focus on multi-platform titles (PS, PC, Switch)
Reason: This prevents any confusion as to what game will be on what platform. Better Organize various development teams


Change Gamepass:
Remove all third party games (from studios not owned my Microsoft)
No Day one Releases
Change the name to something like "Xbox Archives" or "Xbox Vault"
Focus on BC titles from older gens, games that are over a year old (to be included as well) etc.
Example: Every Forza game, Every Halo Game, Every Call of duty game etc. (This should be your one stop place for ALL Xbox and Microsoft legacy titles)


Studios General:
Make sure each studio is lead by someone who is capable of handling the job
Reduce sizes if needed
Smaller focused Teams
All releases do not need to be AAA (AA and A have a place)
As a Phil replacement.. Be more involved with each studio, be willing to Delay if needed etc.
Expect accountability with studio heads
No more studio acquisitions - plenty of studios to manage at this time.
 
Start securing lower publishing costs with all the other publishers that are left and buy Valve. Sony sees the trend and will raise their publishing cut to offset their dev costs and MS will or is the largest publisher and owner of video game IP on the planet streaming/renting that content (and everyone else's) will be their bread and butter.
 
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Man it would be tough they have butchered so much. Exclusives are the answer but you also need a base and they have damaged thier brand so much...

Probably announcing and working on an exclusive Minecraft 2 might not hurt, feel like that would catch peoples attension to get a conversation going. Then you would need to build goodwill back with other big pops.

You need to lean into making AA exclusives to franchises that have alot of nostalgic appeal to begin to rebuild those franchises while not blowing all your cash. For example a Banjo Remake leading into a Banjo Threeie. Making a Perfect Dark game that is AA and has passion behind it, alot of this. You need to rebuild these fanbases to make it more logical to push them to triple A status. You need several 9.5 classic framchise hits that are very cost effective while not feeling disrespectful or a ripoff.

Game pass would be scaled back hard. It would be a 6 month wait before big titles appear on there and they would rotate out in a strategic way.

I think I would sadly have to reboot Halo to fix things and scrap whatever that crap campaign evolved thier making is. Would need a new team with a lead that actually under stands what made Halo 3 a world phenominon.
 
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It comes down to making good games. MS has failed in that regard. Starfield didn't deliver, Halo has been disappointing. And so on...
Listen to your audience, make good exclusives and keep them locked to consoles for awhile. There's currently no need to buy an XB since they keep releasing stuff on other platforms. And there's not a huge reason to buy a lot of their first party output anyways when it is mediocre.
 
Alright. If I'm Asha and I'm serious about "saving" Xbox, I'd stop being a wuss. Timed exclusives on every first-party drop (yeah that means call of duty as well). Day one = Game Pass only. You want it early? Subscribe. After 12 months? Cool, sell it elsewhere. Double dip the revenue. If Sony or Nintendo complains, the answer is simple: "We're not restricting our games. We're prioritizing our ecosystem at launch. After the exclusivity window, publishers are free to negotiate distribution like any other product in the market."

Make next-gen Xbox the open box. Steam, Epic, Gog etc. access (via Windows under the hood). Native mod support. continue Full cross-save across consoles, PC, and cloud. One machine that plays (almost) everything. Develop the Xbox UI so it's the cleanest, fastest, most frictionless way to play, even better than using a PC. Strip the bloat. No random Windows services running in the background. No driver drama. No launcher juggling. Just a lean gaming OS.

I'd want Sony to start feeling like some bitch I quit dating back in 2009 & Nintendo to look like the platform for children it already is.

Commit or quit.
 
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