As we told you last Monday, Microsoft has planned a special edition of the official Xbox podcast, a meeting announced in a way that is very far from the usual colorism that presentations in the gaming sector usually associate with them. An image with a black background (which you’ll see when you open this news, and we’ve added some green to it so it doesn’t look so ominous) and message with the following text:

«Join us for a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast.

Hear Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty share news about the Xbox business.»

One would think that we are talking about the presentation of resultsor even a closure announcement, a very formal gesture that, as I said, does not fit into the sector’s own communication codes. And since we’re talking about Microsoft, a company that knows a lot about communication, it’s hard to believe that this effect isn’t sought after in a call. In other words, Xbox projects a more serious image than usual because that’s exactly what it wants to convey.

As we have already reminded on more than one occasion in recent days, Phil Spencer gave a clear answer to the rumours This suggested that there might not be a future generation Xbox, and the response was that these rumors were unfounded, that Microsoft would remain in the console market. And that’s not all, very recent rumors point in a very interesting direction, and that is that Microsoft could opt for Intel and NVIDIA for its next generation.

So, What to expect from the Xbox event tomorrow, Thursday? It’s still early, too early to start talking about the next generation (although an official confirmation that it will exist would make sense), and it’s clear that the bulk of the business of this Microsoft division is games, not consoles. So, and as many of the rumors we’ve seen in recent weeks already point out (and which are partly responsible for the speculation about exiting the console business), we can bet that Microsoft announces that it is going to reduce its portfolio of exclusives (Xbox+PC) to bring some of them to PlayStation and Nintendo.

As I remembered a few days ago, in recent years Microsoft first bought Zenimax (in 2020) and just a few months ago (after a difficult process, yes) Activision Blizzard King, movements that many thought would serve those from Redmond. for the opposite, i.e. to increase your catalog of exclusives. But the numbers are what they are, the PlayStation 5 is doubling the sales of the Xbox Series, and the Nintendo Switch is close to becoming the best-selling console in history. The numbers are as follows:

• Nintendo Switch: 139.36 million (December 2023)
• Sony PlayStation 5: 50 millionwith (November 2023)
• Microsoft Xbox Series X|S: 24.3 million (November 2023)

So it doesn’t seem that the exclusives will serve to boost Xbox Series sales, but rather prevent these titles may choose to increase their potential reach by around 190 million users, the total number of Switch and PlayStation 5. And I repeat what I said a few paragraphs above: “the bulk of this Microsoft division’s business is games, not consoles.”

Microsoft they have to start recovering the huge investment spent on buying ABKnearly $70,000 million, and must do so in compliance with commitments made to regulators around the world, including facilitating the arrival of Activision Blizzard titles to other platforms (remember, much of the conflict with Sony involved Call of Duty) and opening up to nearly 200 millions of users seems like a pretty reasonable path for this purpose.

From the dust, from the mud. After the undoubted success of the Xbox 360, Microsoft made a terrible mistake with the Xbox One, and Sony knew how to use this mistake of its rival to strengthen the position of its console. Phil Spencer has suggested more than once that the current generation (and probably the next) They will still have to pay for the mistake made by their third generation. Is there room for improvement? Moves such as choosing hardware very different from the PlayStation hardware could no doubt be the key to this. However, at least for now, the company needs to sell more games than ever for Xbox as a division to stay afloat thanks to its profitability.