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If MS left the console business, could anyone fill the void?

Could anyone step into Microsoft’s shoes?

  • Apple

    Votes: 59 15.0%
  • Epic

    Votes: 5 1.3%
  • Google

    Votes: 4 1.0%
  • Samsung

    Votes: 11 2.8%
  • Tencent

    Votes: 10 2.5%
  • Valve

    Votes: 126 32.0%
  • Tencent

    Votes: 6 1.5%
  • None (it’s too late)

    Votes: 173 43.9%

  • Total voters
    394

Barakov

Gold Member
Money isn't the only thing that matters in a creative industry.
Yeah, just throwing money at everything instead of being smart and strategic about it leads to more problems. Kinda reminds me of a certain 70 billion dollar acquisition.
 

Deerock71

Member
Valve is an option
Thinking Think GIF by Rodney Dangerfield
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Even if it was limited by the handheld SKU, a beefier console form factor Switch 2 would be very appealing.
 

RAIDEN1

Member
This isn't 1994 when you had many "players" on the scene, ie Sega, 3DO, Atari (even Commodore if they had got their act together...) hell even Konami at one point in time were mulling over the idea of bringing out their own console but shelved it....
 

6502

Member
If they do exit I would wish Nintendo would try another competitively powered console. But best we could expect is a steam box.
 
If they do exit I would wish Nintendo would try another competitively powered console. But best we could expect is a steam box.

Happy for Nintendo to re-enter the home console space, just don’t go back to trying to support two different platforms again.
 

Mortisfacio

Member
Probably not. Sony even leading over Microsoft took a few years to turn a profit on hardware sales for PS5. Most companies won't even try and get into that losing game when Microsoft has bought up so much much of the game dev industry and Sony has big exclusive devs like Santa Monica and Naughty Dog (they've been a ghost this gen, though). Sony has too many exclusives, timed exclusives and too large a margin of the digital library for gamers. You'd need massive incentive to get people to switch to something else. Microsoft has spent billions on this and failed in Bethesda and ABK. All their big games flopped or are multiplat.
 

flying_sq

Member
There is plenty of room, they just have to figure out which customers to market to. They killed it in the 360 days by embracing the mountain dew crowd. Then I guess it stopped working for them.
 

Mortisfacio

Member
There is plenty of room, they just have to figure out which customers to market to. They killed it in the 360 days by embracing the mountain dew crowd. Then I guess it stopped working for them.

The mountain dew crowd became associated with meatheads and toxic masculinity (Halo/Gears/etc). DEI was the end of that. Microsoft, along with virtually all western tech companies, pandered. The Xbox One was a total failure. Nothing of note in terms of exclusives and their established IPs became watered down versions of their former selves. They lost major 3rd party exclusives like Mass Effect and Bioshock as the future iterations released day 1 on PlayStation. Microsoft has pretty much fumbled since then, with minor wins here and there the last decade, but nothing sustainable to gain long term traction.
 

Rambotito

Member
Valve

Just give me a Steam Machine that doesn't suck.

Apple has their walled garden approach, so no thanks.
Samsung is worst Korea, so no.
Google would release a(nother) console for two months, and then abandon it.
 
I don't think anyone realistically could. Microsoft can still make a viable alternative by offering a proper console/PC hybrid. And an OS built like console much like SteamOS but run games on Windows, Steam, GOG, EGS etc.

Say they offer a $700 PC/Console with a 4080 level GPU and latest Zen processor that would do really well in Asia and a lot of countries. A market they still have yet to tap into, yet are very PC centric ones.
This. Alternatively if I could get my entire Xbox console catalog on pc via msft store I would leave console gaming.
 
I don’t think there are any companies who are willing to invest much for so little return. The big cost is r&d for hardware. The question is what does msft see in this market that would make them leave it. Folks complaining about the series sales are not realizing it’s half of ps. Yet msft is ranked higher than Nintendo via revenue.
 

hinch7

Member
This. Alternatively if I could get my entire Xbox console catalog on pc via msft store I would leave console gaming.
It just makes sense. They don't have the means to be competitive at a head to head verses Sony and PlayStation. So why not target the mass market with an affordable high power all in one PC, that functions as a console. There's no one competing in that form factor and no company that can really pull that off on a mass scale. Valve and ASUS has shown theres a market for a PC/Console, at least on Handheld FF.

Like Xbox gamers like yourself it could prove to be a smooth transition assuming licences transfer over and you would have access to a massive library of games not currently on Xbox.
 

snapdragon

Member
Name one game SEGA have made in the last decade that would make people go out and buy a SEGA console if it was exclusive to that platform?

Bear in mind they’ve not been successful in the console industry since the Master System/Mega Drive days.
Arguably sonic generations, yakuza LAD, infinite wealth and persona 5

Sega software besides sonic, virtua fighter and their sports games basically never sold well (or not anywhere as well as Nintendo games) even on the genesis/MD, sega saturn in the japanese market from 1994-1996 (when it was outselling the PS1 2-1) and the dreamcast in western markets from 1999-2001


Like I stated I don't think sega could get anywhere close to competing again without spending a decade building up their IP's and reputation
 

SyberWolf

Member
Valve, matter of time.
they already tried in the past with steam machines.
and they are obviously still trying with steamdeck and SteamOS

hedreshoot.jpg
 
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Pimpbaa

Member
Too late? Too late for what? There is always going to be a need for box that is an easy and cheap (in regards to hardware) way to play games, and a PC isn’t it. Unless valve tries the console thing again (steam deck specs are too weak to be outputting to a tv). I’d like to see someone from South Korea to release a console, maybe LG. Considering the increase in Korea game development beyond mobile stuff.
 

//DEVIL//

Member
The whole console market is crashing. anyone who tries to get in with zero game portfolio from their own studios will crash and burn. One look at Amazon's gaming division and you get the idea.

The only company that can actually do well is Steam. Steam consoles like the Steam deck under the TV and play your Steam games? yeah, that has a chance.
 
The whole console market is crashing. anyone who tries to get in with zero game portfolio from their own studios will crash and burn. One look at Amazon's gaming division and you get the idea.

The only company that can actually do well is Steam. Steam consoles like the Steam deck under the TV and play your Steam games? yeah, that has a chance.

Crashing?

Switch is heading towards being Nintendo’s best selling console ever.

PlayStation is making record profits and PS5 sales are close to PS4’s.
 

EDMIX

Writes a lot, says very little
Crashing?

Switch is heading towards being Nintendo’s best selling console ever.

PlayStation is making record profits and PS5 sales are close to PS4’s.

Agreed, but people like this would have to acknowledge actual factual objective information to get what you are saying lol

I don't even understand the idea of making such a claim, like....based on what actual data? The gaming industry is fucking thriving right now
 
Too late? Too late for what? There is always going to be a need for box that is an easy and cheap (in regards to hardware) way to play games, and a PC isn’t it. Unless valve tries the console thing again (steam deck specs are too weak to be outputting to a tv). I’d like to see someone from South Korea to release a console, maybe LG. Considering the increase in Korea game development beyond mobile stuff.

Too late as in…


…any new incumbent launching their own console/platform would be competing against PlayStation and their backwards compatibility with digital purchases.
 

//DEVIL//

Member
Crashing?

Switch is heading towards being Nintendo’s best selling console ever.

PlayStation is making record profits and PS5 sales are close to PS4’s.

PS5 as you mentioned below PS4, Xbox sales are.... probably zero at this point is anyone buying this thing ?

Switch isn't a console. its a protable device that can be hooked to a TV like many retro consoles or these PC handhelds like Rog ally.

I am talking about Consoles exclusively.
 
PS5 as you mentioned below PS4, Xbox sales are.... probably zero at this point is anyone buying this thing ?

Switch isn't a console. its a protable device that can be hooked to a TV like many retro consoles or these PC handhelds like Rog ally.

I am talking about Consoles exclusively.

Again, crashing?

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