Peter Moore, who once held some of the reins as Xbox manager, took a look at the future of consoles. He believes that the hardware is being critically scrutinized, especially at Microsoft.
Microsoft recently announced that after weak Xbox Series sales, it was working on new hardware with which the company the biggest technical leap want to lay down. What the Redmond-based company really has in mind is unclear.
In one Conversation with IGN Peter Moore took a look into the crystal ball. And his statements certainly have weight. He was president of Sega America when the Dreamcast era ended. He later joined Microsoft and took care of the Xbox 360 as Xbox manager. But what does he think of the future of consoles?
Does Generation Z need a console?
According to Moore's forecast, consoles could actually be a discontinued model, which he attributes to, among other things, a generational change.
“Generation Z is coming to us and asking themselves: Why do I have to spend $400 or $500 on custom gaming hardware when I have my smartphone, my PC or my Mac and I can play there with a pretty good controller?” said Moore.
However, there are differences between Sony and Microsoft because the PS5 manufacturer is a hardware company and the console represents a certain mainstay. Microsoft, on the other hand, would “certainly think it would be great” if gaming moved to the cloud, according to Moore.
An important point when deciding for or against new consoles is the financial aspect. The AI future is already eating up a lot of money and a new generation of consoles would require further investments without ensuring success.
According to Moore, consumers might say: “I don’t need this, times are tough. I have my phone, I enjoy what I have on my phone. There are lots of games I can play. Otherwise, of course, I have my PC or my Mac, where I can do whatever I need to do. Do I really need to spend $500 or $600 on a custom device just to play games?”
At the same time, the question arises as to what advantages new consoles would have to bring in order to make customers consider investing again.
Faster, cheaper and with AI
While PlayStation is one of Sony's most successful divisions and the company is the console market leader in the new generation with the PS5, Microsoft has developed in a different direction in recent years. The company is now a large video game publisher with a small Xbox console base.
Building on this – Moore believes – there could be pressure on the decisions of the Xbox management, for example by the Microsoft CEO appearing at Xbox boss Phil Spencer and asking: “What is the future here and how does that fit into the grand strategy of the Xbox? Cloud with Azure, with AI? What do we do with AI game development? “How can you develop games faster, cheaper and with fewer people?” said Moore. “Those are all questions that I think are being asked.”
The takeover of Activision Blizzard sounds like a preparation for the future direction of the Xbox division and Microsoft could transform into what the Redmond-based company's roots are: a software and services company.
“I think the question that Nadella and the leadership team will ask Phil is: Well, we just gave you $69 billion. But what do the next five to ten years look like, Phil? What is the long-term strategy? “What exactly is happening right now?” Moore continued.
And in fact, the consoles could be critically questioned in the top management: “The challenge will undoubtedly come from Nadella: What does it look like without hardware? “And what do we look like when we're more like EA than Sony?” says Moore. “I’m sure that’s the case.”
Halo on PlayStation and dwindling Xbox fan base
The former Microsoft manager also took on the new Xbox strategy. It plans to bring more first-party games to competing platforms.
And a “Halo” on a PlayStation console apparently wouldn’t surprise Moore: “If Microsoft says, wait a minute, we’re making $250 million on our own platforms, but if we release Halo as, let’s say, third-party, we could make a billion…”
Moore doesn't know whether this scenario will ever occur. However, he believes that such discussions do take place behind closed doors: “Whether they will be successful, who knows? But they’re definitely happening, I’m sure.”
Moore does not see the backlash from Xbox players as a danger: “This hard core is getting smaller and older. You have to prepare for the coming generations because they will determine the business in the next 10 or 20 years.”
You can read the complete interview with many other statements and forecasts IGN.
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