5 reasons why Xbox hardware isn't going away

With Microsoft's push to cloud services, is their stop game to bring about the finish of Xbox console hardware altogether? Hardly.

Here are a few pretty simple reasons why Microsoft isn't bailing on Xbox home console hardware any time soon, and why you shouldn't "worry" almost Project xCloud streaming services becoming the norm.

1. Look at Surface

For people who think Microsoft wants to go out of the hardware game, they should first and foremost wait at the Surface range. The Windows laptop ecosystem isn't the powerhouse it one time was, facing hard competition from Chromebooks and mobile devices in general, but there are yet many large players in the space making tons of cash.

Between Surface and Xbox, Microsoft at present boasts some of the most advanced industrial design capabilities on earth.

Dell, Lenovo, and HP are the about well-known PC brands out there, and even with them serving consumers and enterprise well with a huge array of PC options, Microsoft still pushes ahead with its Surface line.

Why does information technology do this? Information technology's a uncomplicated example of because they can, and because there are advantages that come with marrying hardware and software nether a single roof. Between Surface and Xbox, Microsoft at present boasts some of the about advanced industrial design capabilities on Earth. Surface as a growing, billion-dollar business organisation ultimately represents the best that Windows has to offer, showcasing all of Windows' features, whether information technology'due south touch, inking, and adaptive ii-in-1 hardware, Surface drives a "halo issue" over the Windows ecosystem, representing cool cistron in a way that Dell, HP, and others, for the most part, don't. Xbox hardware will do the same for Xbox games, even if (big if) nigh people opt for Project xCloud streaming.

2. Retail nonetheless matters (for now)

While trends are moving towards digital, retail is still a big driver of both sales and general information, peculiarly for parents picking up games for youngsters. Some people simply enjoy owning the physical disc every bit well, and there are things like collector'southward editions that many gamers take joy in possessing (myself included).

If Microsoft was to remove itself entirely from the retail scene, removing both hardware and physical games, it would dent people'due south exposure of the platform, and harm perception of Xbox as a gaming platform. Of class, there are some examples to the contrary. Steam was nigh able to single-handedly destroy the physical PC games market, shifting PC gamers over to more than convenient digital options. PC hardware has generally followed suit also, with most modernistic laptops and PCs ditching optical disc drivers altogether, driven past a shift to online distribution not but for games, simply for software, music, and movies. Microsoft doesn't have the luxury of Steam-level total platform dominance in gaming and to some degree however relies on physical retail distribution to help push its platform.

3. Projection xCloud is powered by Xbox hardware

Another pretty obvious reason why Microsoft isn't well-nigh to ditch Xbox domicile console hardware is the unproblematic fact that Projection xCloud itself is powered by Xbox dwelling console hardware, converted into server racks.

Today, xCloud is powered by Xbox One S-level hardware capped at around 1080p, merely equally internet speeds increment, so as well will the need to upgrade the server rack hardware, eventually to the Xbox 1 X level, then to Xbox Anaconda level, then on. If Microsoft is already making server racks that support Xbox game delivery systems, why not simply parcel it and sell it every bit a domicile console every bit well? In that location's no existent downside to doing both.

iv. Licensing puzzler with xCloud

Although nosotros have no existent insight into the licensing deals developers sign with Xbox, attributable to very, very strict non-disclosure agreements, it seems completely unlikely that Project xCloud volition suddenly simply enable admission to all of your digital Xbox games over night.

The benefits for developers of Projection xCloud (if it works as intended, of class) are pretty obvious. Access to billions of additional mobile phone screens, lower-cease PCs, smart TVs, and who knows, maybe even competing consoles similar the Nintendo Switch, reaching far beyond the Xbox I panel install base. The benefits are at that place, simply that doesn't mean Microsoft won't take to renegotiate a lot of its licensing deals.

Game developers and publishers are undoubtedly going to desire a say in how their IP and content is monetized and streamed, and even middleware and video game engine platform holders may disagree about the way their engineering science is being used. EA and other companies are also exploring building out their own competing streaming services, and may simply not want to support Project xCloud for a diversity of reasons.

I look Project xCloud volition accept a ton of content when it eventually launches afterward in 2022 or 2022, but the place to play every Xbox game will likely remain on the domicile console platform for the foreseeable future.

5. Serving all gamers

Philosophically, I simply believe that Microsoft wants to serve all of its customers, no matter how they want to play. The Xbox Adaptive Controller is an example of a device that Microsoft invested in, not to make heaps of greenbacks, simply only because philosophically they want to serve gamers whoever they are, wherever they are, and whatsoever they need.

Xbox hardware will remain the best fashion to feel the ecosystem.

Microsoft has made no clandestine of the business organization reality of Xbox (and consoles in full general), that you lot make money selling games, rather than consoles. However, if there are many millions of gamers who still want that home console feel, Microsoft would be handing them all over to Sony and other competitors if it opted to ditch that platform. This is all well-nigh giving gamers options, which is why Microsoft is exploring boosted SKUs like the Xbox One S "All Digital Edition," without a disc drive, and subscription services like Xbox Game Pass.

Even if we finish up in some bizzaro world where Projection xCloud and similar streaming services become the preferred way to play games by most people, Xbox hardware will remain the best manner to experience the ecosystem. Information technology will feature the best, uncompromised visuals, perfect for those large Idiot box sets in your living room. Just as Spotify and Netflix failed to kill CDs, movie theatres, Blu-ray, and live shows, Project xCloud won't kill Xbox hardware, simply because Microsoft will continue to want to offer the best experience possible.

Xbox hardware isn't going anywhere

The push to digital and streaming services may requite panel traditionalists cause for concern, only it really needn't. Fifty-fifty if you have no involvement, and no inclination to give Project xCloud a attempt, the access to the ecosystem Microsoft could (potentially) bring to the platform will be unprecedented. And with that admission comes more users, more than cash, and more than re-investment in content, such as games.

With Project xCloud comes more users, more than cash, and more re-investment in content, such as games.

Microsoft and its real competitors, namely Google, TenCent, Amazon, and other large tech companies are gearing up for a streaming platform war in the near future. Opting to sit out this battle would harm Xbox in immeasurable ways, peculiarly if game developers see the benefits of ecosystems that provide this sort of commitment option, versus platforms that don't. Google is undoubtedly exploring partnerships with the large publishers for its ain streaming platform, and will undoubtedly leverage its advantages, such every bit YouTube and Google search, to try and describe the coincidental audience abroad from consoles with the allure of pure convenience. The departure betwixt Microsoft and Google, though, is that Google isn't beholden to the traditional panel hardware platform, and would happy trounce it into irrelevance if it meant more than money for them.

Modern Microsoft has shown that it has a different philosophy. I firmly believe that despite non shying abroad from the coming streaming platform war with tech companies, Microsoft will continue to serve traditional gamers every bit long as there are enough users who yet want that experience.

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