As Microsoft settles with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the Xbox maker has admitted something it probably already knew by now: It’s lost the console wars. Is.
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The “console wars” here refer to the perpetual tussle between manufacturers such as Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft to dominate the market and outsell their rivals in a given hardware generation. In a document submitted by Microsoft at a June 22 court hearing (and viewed by Kotaku), the company discussed how it’s been losing the console war to Nintendo and Sony since hitting the scene in 2001 with the beefy original Xbox. It suggests that both the GameCube and PlayStation 2 edged out the first Xbox by a “significant margin”. And as Microsoft states in the documentation, it’s been that way ever sinceeven now.
“Xbox has lost the console wars, and its competitors continue to dominate, including by taking advantage of exclusive content,” wrote Microsoft. “Xbox’s console has consistently ranked third (out of three) in sales behind PlayStation and Nintendo. In 2021, Xbox’s share was 16 percent while Nintendo’s and PlayStation’s [redacted] And [redacted], respectively. Similarly for console revenue and the share of consoles used by gamers (the ‘install base’), Xbox trails with 21 per cent while PlayStation and Nintendo’s shares are [redacted] And [redacted]respectively.”
According to Hardware and Software Sales Tracker VG ChartzMicrosoft’s latest consoles, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, have sold only 21 million units by April 2023. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch are almost neck-and-neck at 36 million units each, although the handheld-console hybrid has a slight lead.
As a result, Microsoft said it had essentially given up on competing in the current console wars, opting instead to focus on distributing software to its playerbase (which either didn’t come out, or flopped). It is done). We’ve seen this pivot in what Xbox is doing nowadays, such as its intense focus on giving away its Game Pass subscription service. It seems Microsoft is less interested in being number one in the market and more dedicated to becoming the industry’s first Netflix.
“After Losing the Console War, Xbox Is Betting on a Different Strategy Than Sony”. [and Nintendo], Microsoft wrote in the document. Xbox makes profits through game sales, not console sales. That’s because Xbox sells its consoles at a loss, in the hopes of effectively subsidizing gamers’ purchases of hardware. [lost] Revenue through the sale of games and accessories.
Kotaku Microsoft has reached out for comment.
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These admissions come just as Microsoft has also said that it expects the next console generation to debut in 2028. would indicate that Duty Releasing a game like this would still be a hit on competing platforms if the company scoops up Activision Blizzard. That said, Sony isn’t too keen on the acquisition, with Sony PlayStation boss Jim Ryan admitting in the same hearing that it wouldn’t share information on a hypothetical PlayStation 6. DutyThe devs of K should approve the takeover. Obviously this can have all kinds of consequences Duty fan on playstation.
