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The story
Xbox head Asha Sharma revealed that she’s repeatedly fielded the same question from industry insiders and fans at multiple events, including BlizzCon: “Is Microsoft preparing to sell off Xbox?” In an interview with windowscentral.com, she addressed the speculation directly and pushed back against it. When the story reached Japanese gaming forums, opinions split between those who see the barrage of questions itself as “proof Xbox is cornered” and those who dismiss it as “just one of those questions that comes up all the time.” The discussion also branched into a debate over how differently Microsoft and Sony each position their gaming businesses.
At the last several Xbox-related events I’ve attended, including BlizzCon, I’ve gotten the same question over and over from industry people and fans: “Is Microsoft preparing to sell off Xbox?”
One question that’s been coming up a lot from journalists lately concerns the theory that Xbox is “up for sale” — and Sharma addressed that theory head-on today.
At the last several Xbox-related events I’ve attended, including BlizzCon, I’ve gotten the same question over and over from industry people and fans: “Is Microsoft preparing to sell off Xbox?”
Source: windowscentral.com / Read the original article here
What people said
Sony-did-it-too!!!!
Things have gotten so bad Asha herself had to step in and put out the fire directly, and yet here on Geha (5ch's hardware/industry board) everyone's still cheerfully yelling 'but Sony did it too!'
Ridiculous.
That's exactly the point — the fact that the negative narrative is being believed at all IS the problem.
Consoles get bought based on their perceived future, and games get made the same way, so once people think there's no future in it, it's over.
That's just the level game media operates at.
Japan's bad, but overseas outlets are, by any measure, way worse.
There are a bunch of so-called 'leakers' (lol) running around who never face any consequences — that shouldn't even be possible.
That whole racket only works because nobody involved is ever held accountable, it's basically just vibes.
Nice one.
Should've just scrapped the subscription service instead.
First-party got weaker? Where? They literally just announced they're concentrating budget on their popular IPs.
Minecraft alone sells like crazy and is generating synergy in all kinds of directions.
What synergy could there even be from Minecraft, when it's multiplatform by default anyway?
I mean, there's plenty.
Minecraft isn't even on Steam, after all.
Go check out the Minecraft section at a bookstore sometime — it's basically a funnel steering kids toward Windows.
Fair point.
Well, the reason Xbox is struggling is closely tied to the fact that the whole 'big studio, big-budget title' business model is hitting its structural limits — and that's not something SIE is immune to either.
It's a bit different, but the same goes for Nintendo now that the one-console-per-person model is getting harder to pull off.
With Play Anywhere it's going head-to-head with Steam directly, and they've pulled in Kojima's games too.
Doesn't matter much in Japan, but they also just announced a disc-to-digital feature so Xbox One-era disc libraries don't go to waste.
None of that is something Sony can pull off.
If it still doesn't sell after all that, well, there's not much more they could do.
None of that means anything to new customers.
Now's exactly the time they should sell the Xbox console for 30,000 yen and drop Game Pass to 100 yen.
that tells you everything you need to know, lol
Top to bottom, you guys really do have a sixth sense for this stuff, huh.
What's written in the article is basically describing PlayStation to a T.
Totoki and Nishino can't go anywhere these days without getting grilled about pulling out of the business.
Sony today is fundamentally an entertainment-content company, so there's basically no scenario where they let go of the gaming business.
For Microsoft, gaming is just a peripheral business — a money-losing albatross around their neck.
Of course Xbox is the one getting asked about a sale.
If things were really that good, cost-cutter Totoki wouldn't need to step in, declare the business unsustainable, and go on a studio-closure-and-layoff spree while selling off treasury stock.
The core of Sony's entertainment business is film and anime — visual content — not games.
If they actually sold it at that price I'd buy as many as I could afford, lol
Once Forza goes multiplatform, there's just no way GT can compete, however you slice it.
Smarter to sell off the studio before suffering a humiliating defeat.
You mean Forza Motorsport?
Turns out FM (Forza Motorsport's studio) got disbanded first though 🥺
Polyphony Digital ← Can't beat Forza, so they should sell it off sooner rather than later
Naughty Dog ← Seven years without a new game, time to cut their losses and close up shop
The thing is, Xbox is the one that actually went and did exactly this to its own studios.
You mean Halo Studios, Turn 10, and Bethesda, lol
PS fanboys know it deep down too, right?
Honestly, all we've heard out of SIE lately is downsizing talk.
Xbox cut 3,200 jobs.
How many did PlayStation cut?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HTfOegRW4AA28h8.jpg
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
These remarks stem from an interview with the English-language gaming outlet windowscentral.com, in which Xbox chief Asha Sharma moved to tamp down speculation by stating she has no intention of selling. It’s easy to misread the headline “Xbox is being sold” in isolation, but it’s worth stressing that she’s denying the rumor — this isn’t a report confirming that a sale has been decided. Opinion in the thread split over whether the sheer volume of repeated questions is itself “a sign Xbox is in trouble,” or “just one of those questions that comes up all the time.” The discussion also branched into the differing positions of the two companies: gaming is a secondary business for Microsoft, while Sony treats its entertainment business, games included, as a core pillar of revenue. Note that figures like layoff counts mentioned in the replies are unverified hearsay from posters, not facts confirmed within the article itself.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Sad News] Asha Admits She’s Being Asked by Multiple Insiders Whether ‘Xbox Is Preparing for a Sale’.”
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