I’m not agreeing with him, because that decision comes down to MS. However, his point does have some merit and concern with the direction the Xbox team is going with their services.
It’s more so a combination of GamePass and XCloud IMO. GamePass is bringing all of their content to a subscription service that is accessible on Xbox and PC, with the potential for it to come to plenty of other devices as well as long as the hardware can handle it. XCloud removes the hardware need as it allows you to stream the content to any device without the need to ever buy the Xbox console.
As someone who consistently buys all the consoles and handhelds, and also has a gaming PC. Xbox has given me no reason to buy and next-gen Xbox console. I think the hardware they have with the Series X is great, because as a PC gamer I enjoy hearing about specs. However, as a PC gamers I also care about value, and the Xbox console going into this generation doesn’t offer me any value as I can enjoy EVERYTHING they have to offer on a combination of PC and PS5, and the $400 – $600 I would spend on the console, I can spend on upgrading my GPU.
For people who don’t have a PC, but don’t have the money for a console, XCloud removes the need for buying the console even when the price drops. The Series S is the option for them, especially for those who have issues with streaming, but those in an area with a consistent internet connection don’t have to ever buy an Xbox if they don’t want to.
I don’t think this is leading towards an immediate overnight death of the Xbox, however, giving people more options to game outside of your platform is not productive to selling your product, and regardless of what we love about gaming, it is a business, and if these services are making significantly more money for Xbox over the next several years, and console sales drop lower than they were this generation, then the future of Xbox hardware is in jeopardy. MS has shown they have no problem killing off their hardware ventures.
At this point it’s just a wait and see. I think Series X and Series S will do well in North America, but I think it’s going to do worst than XBO did in the rest of the world, unless the Series S is an amazing value in comparison to the other consoles, and gets picked up as a secondary option.
