Could Microsoft be giving up on making its own consoles?

Microsoft and Xbox’s recent amplified push towards multiplatform availability and third-party console production indicates a major strategic shift in the companies’ console department. Reasons for owning an Xbox are steadily reducing, and the question remains if Microsoft is even going to make its own consoles anymore.

Microsoft surely isn’t giving hope to Xbox owners

In the previous year or so, Microsoft has made tremendous progress in achieving software multiplatformity, whereby its games are launching or being ported to all platforms under the sun. What were previously first-party exclusives that never left the bounds of the Xbox ecosystem are now multiplatform titles and franchises stretching from the Xbox to PC to even its former adversary, the PlayStation.

Microsoft’s push for having its games on as many platforms as possible has significantly eroded the reasons for owning an Xbox console. After all, you can own a PlayStation nowadays, play all the fantastic PlayStation exclusives (timed and permanent), and still be able to tap into Microsoft and Xbox’s first-party offerings.

Add to that the ability to simply purchase a Game Pass subscription on your PC, and you’ve got even less of a reason to purchase an Xbox. You can even hook up an Xbox controller on your PC, which might just be the only first-party piece of hardware that Microsoft is going to continue to produce.

Most recently, outside of multiplatform pushes and Game Pass advocacy, Microsoft has been partnering with third-party hardware manufacturers to produce sponsored hardware that is being marketed as Xbox, though it retains little of the original console’s branding, save the name.

The first official partnership was announced during this year’s Xbox Showcase, where Microsoft confirmed it would be going hand-in-hand with Asus to produce a new version of the ROG Ally handheld, titled… the ROG Xbox Ally.

“This is an Xbox,” Microsoft’s promotional trailer said, noting how one could play anything on Xbox’s repertoire via software solutions that allow access to the console’s games via Game Pass and similar software services, alongside Steam and countless other game platforms.

This platform singularity that Microsoft seems to be striding towards gives even less reason for one to purchase a proper Xbox console, now that you can combine the powers of the Windows (also Microsoft-owned) and Xbox platforms into one, playing all your Xbox games and then some.

Recent leaks also indicate that Microsoft is partnering with Meta to produce a sponsored Xbox variant of the Oculus VR (Meta VR) headset, which is in stark contrast to Sony’s move to make its own Sony-branded PlayStation VR hardware in-house and not in partnership with established VR producers. Sony’s handheld is also an in-house production and not merely a sponsored piece, further solidifying the company’s proprietary stance on production, whereas Microsoft appears to be slowly drifting away from making its own hardware.

Which begs the question of this article: could Microsoft be giving up on making its own consoles? The signs say that yes, it is at least moving in that direction.

Software over hardware is the new Microsoft deal

Microsoft and Xbox are actively negligent of first-party exclusivity that Sony believes is the biggest console seller, to the point that it deems certain franchises or games “unportable” for long periods to sell as many consoles through them as possible.

They are promoting software solutions (Game Pass service, bridging the gap between console and PC) rather than first-party hardware. Game Pass, in particular, has turned your gaming PC into a console-running powerhouse, seeing as there are few Xbox-only games left, if any, that cannot be played via Game Pass on PC. By engaging with multiplatform availability, Game Pass, and removing the necessity to even own a proper console at home, Microsoft seems to be giving up on the console production game almost entirely.

Compared to PlayStation, which as a company has nowhere near the software capacity as Microsoft (the latter is, after all, the owner and producer of the biggest operating system in existence), Microsoft can afford to make this move into software and leave hardware to its partners and corporate allies.

Since it can bridge the gaps and connect consoles and PCs directly via software solutions, Microsoft does not have to produce its own hardware.

All it needs is to license its software to partnered hardware producers, such as Asus or Meta, and that’s that. They can even mass-produce these Xbox-capable partnered devices to gain as much market share as possible, which could institute a major shift in how console content is consumed.

At the end of the day, Microsoft and Sony are two vastly different companies, and, at least after this upcoming generation, I think it’s safe to say that we won’t have dedicated Xbox consoles anymore and should get used to stuff like the ROG Xbox Ally as soon as possible. On the other hand, PlayStation is here to stay, and could become the sole proper, traditional console people have at home.