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[The Verge] Microsoft may stop marketing of Xbox consoles in EMEA and focus only on Game Pass, Cloud, PC and Xbox Controllers

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
In May, I received a tip that Microsoft is changing up its Xbox strategy for the new financial year in the EMEA regions. I haven’t been able to fully verify this, but the tipster claimed Microsoft will stop marketing Xbox consoles in certain markets in EMEA and focus only on Game Pass, cloud gaming, PC, and Xbox controllers. Microsoft has been struggling to sell Xbox Series S / X consoles in many countries across EMEA, and the tipster believes Microsoft will now allocate less console stock to Europe as a result. If you’ve heard more, let me know.
A few weeks after I received this tip, Xbox tweeted: “No console, no problem 🔥” in a post on X about the new Xbox app for Fire TV sticks. If Microsoft is genuinely rethinking its console strategy across Europe, it will be interesting to see where stock is allocated for its upcoming discless Xbox Series X console.
Microsoft has already committed to a next-generation Xbox, but I’m more convinced than ever before that the future of the Xbox looks a lot like a PC.

So a tip that Warren can't verify

Plus "the future of the Xbox looks a lot like a PC"

Dumb And Dumber GIF
I don't know who Warren's editor is, but that should not be part of the article. It screams "I've been in the know for a while" without adding anything of substance to the article. Who the hell prints something they can't verify?
 

yazenov

Member
I mean, they told us that hardware sales are not important whenever Xbox sells like shit in the sales threads as some form of self defense script demaged control.

Now they're pulling out of the hardware market literally. It's ironic that their lie became reality.

The Xbox fanboys were right all along :p
 

NickFire

Member
So far I am not putting any stock into this "tip" if I am being honest

And to answer your question nothing has changed my mind about their plan of attack with this next generation but it will look different as it wont be launch a box similar to the PS6 in the same window with approx the same specs

Albert Einstein: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.​

If this is nonsense than I would also expect them to stay the rumored course and stay in hardware. But man, if this is legit then I just don't see that happening.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Makes sense. Their hardware has been selling like absolute shit for over a decade now. That ship has sailed.


They've got a longgggg road ahead of them in trying to establish a proper identity now though. They're more-or-less a third party developer that also keeps a bunch of their games off of other platforms. It's kind of a mess.

It's really difficult to transition to being a 3rd party publisher while also trying to promote and spotlight your own platform.

Sega took a much different approach, but we didn't have digital retail back then.

From Microsoft's point of view as long as people are still willing to buy Xbox and still willing to buy GamePass, they would be foolish not to keep the perception that they're still in the console business/platform business.
 

Sorcerer

Member
I'll never understand making your basing personality on a brand so much so that you sit in a car and cry when they do something you don't like lol


I don't know about handheld. That just one more piece of hardware to make sure every game on your service runs on. They did talk about making their own TV stick years ago though. I wonder how that's going/why it's taking 3+ years. Unless putting on Amazon's device is their way of getting some user testing done before they launch their own.
The stick/Keystone is dead. Phil said as much. Once they hit Samsung Tv's the idea was pointless. Who is going to waste and Hdmi and yet another power outlet just for cloud gaming from Xbox? Might as well get the service on existing devices. No hardware for them to create and try to sell.
If Xbox did try to make their own streaming device like Roku and Firestick, they will never make an inroad. Far too late and competitive in that market. If somebody really wanted that they could just buy an S I suppose, although bigger and clunkier.
 

FStubbs

Member
The stick/Keystone is dead. Phil said as much. Once they hit Samsung Tv's the idea was pointless. Who is going to waste and Hdmi and yet another power outlet just for cloud gaming from Xbox? Might as well get the service on existing devices. No hardware for them to create and try to sell.
If Xbox did try to make their own streaming device like Roku and Firestick, they will never make an inroad. Far too late and competitive in that market. If somebody really wanted that they could just buy an S I suppose, although bigger and clunkier.
Just make their next console a stick.
 

Sorcerer

Member
Just make their next console a stick.
I guess they could, but what would it offer to make it unique? If they let the cat out of the bag with Samsung and Amazon, and who knows what other deals are in the works, they may have shot themselves in the foot. Would they pull the app from the partner devices? That would piss people off I would think, but they don't seem to be concerned about that lately. LOL!!!
 
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Astray

Member
I feel that may be a shoe that drops later this year with all the news coming out this week.
My thinking is, if the brand itself is the last standing vestige of the ecosystem, then it simply makes sense to keep promoting it in some manner.

Also it just feels like they don't expect to list anything new at retailers, otherwise they'd be still advertising and doing price cuts etc.

This feels like part of a slow agonizing death that was unnecessary, if the Microsoft gaming leadership actually cared about the fans, they'd just tell them what's the plan instead of empty reassurances followed by further cost cuts and studio closures.
 

Tajaz2426

Psychology PhD from Wikipedia University
All those fools who will still be paying for Gamepass on consoles as they start twilighting the XBox. This is without a doubt absolutely fascinating, dismal, and funny as all get out. They are going to work to get a paycheck nice and hard and then open that bank account so Microsoft can get some of that sweet money back from those purchases.

Love to see it.
 

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
The stick/Keystone is dead. Phil said as much. Once they hit Samsung Tv's the idea was pointless. Who is going to waste and Hdmi and yet another power outlet just for cloud gaming from Xbox? Might as well get the service on existing devices. No hardware for them to create and try to sell.
If Xbox did try to make their own streaming device like Roku and Firestick, they will never make an inroad. Far too late and competitive in that market. If somebody really wanted that they could just buy an S I suppose, although bigger and clunkier.
Ironically should have stuck with the Xbone TV schtick :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
Sony recovered from the PS3, Nintendo recovered from WiiU. Xbox just never did. And Microsoft did nothing to try changing that. Phil being in that job for as long as he's been is just mind numbingly confusing.
Xbox never even stood a chance. The only time they came close to not being 3rd place was with a 18 months head start, moneyhatting exclusives and Sony fucking up the first half of the PS3 gen.

They never were actual competition to Playstation.
 

Dane

Member
Sony recovered from the PS3, Nintendo recovered from WiiU. Xbox just never did. And Microsoft did nothing to try changing that. Phil being in that job for as long as he's been is just mind numbingly confusing.
I'm almost sure they're dropping the countries they are met with hostility instead of apathy, The Xbox 360 was superior in all fronts yet the PS3 surpassed in EU in 2008 costing 100 dollars more.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
I’m expecting them to pull out of the console market, but not until they’re getting Game Pass on TVs.

If they manage to do so it could pay off for them.

Edit: Ahhh, my favorite two laughing emoji Sony bots
 
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TransTrender

Gold Member
Looks like they already gave up in NA based on what I saw at BestBuy yesterday.

One half of one shelf dedicated to XBOX product. So two sides of a shelf, but half length.
1/8th of the space was dedicated to physical games, so a quarter shelf length and only half of the shelves were installed vertically. The upper half of the quarter said XBOX.
At most there was only one physical game for each designated parking spot, some were also empty.
The other half of that side (1/4 of the total space), full vertical, was all controllers.
The other side of the half shelf was all controllers and headsets. So 3/4 of the shelf space was controllers and headsets, 1/8th was for the games but it was very thin, and 1/8th was for signage.

Playstation and Nintendo had two full shelves of two sides, so about 4x as much shelf space. About half the space was dedicated to physical games, they were mostly present in every slot, and most of the time there were multiple copies.


They have more Xbox Controllers out there than actual games.
This tracks.


Also, I do remember around the Fall of last year there were already rumors and anecdotal evidence the XBOX marketing in EMEA was winding down. So this isn't new news, but maybe the same news coming around again as the FY ended.
 
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onQ123

Member
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Embearded

Member
Even if they stop making consoles, they should continue making controllers and push for more innovation on that field.
Even though i don't like dtheir controller, i recognize the status it has gained and it should remain available.
 

graywolf323

Member
'Phil saved Xbox'

My ass.
at best he got it a stay of execution but he was at least partially responsible for it being in the state where it was facing execution in the first place

Even if they stop making consoles, they should continue making controllers and push for more innovation on that field.
Even though i don't like dtheir controller, i recognize the status it has gained and it should remain available.
what innovation have they really pushed for the controller since Xbox 360? I mean on the base model controller
 
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Skifi28

Member
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angrod14

Member
If Microsoft's endgame is quitting the console market, I don't know what solution they would offer to consumers like me who don't have a PC and want to play their games. Am I suppossed to play their games on a Roku? I'm not building a PC to play Gears lol.
 

PeteBull

Gold Member
So hold on... The main reason they didn't sell many consoles is surely because their games line-up was either poor or non-existent, or they were just terrible at marketing it.
But now they're ditching the hardware to be what is essentially a games publisher. (Which they are shit at.)
They live in a bubble, thinking their games are actually good, will be sweet when the reality finally hits them even harder than it did till now :D
 
done the lord of the rings GIF


Looks like we are at the end of an era now. This gen has been a total disaster for Microsoft. I can't blame them if they've decided that this is it and they don't want to move on with Xbox anymore. Phil Spencer can now add killing Xbox to his resume. What a wild week for Xbox fans.
 
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