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[bundylove]

Wake up people.
Just like xbox killed a bunch of devs and projects in the past , just like they killed their console brand , just like they kept lying and lying about all their numbers.....be asured they will fuck up being third party as well

 

[SHA]

Also Phil Spencer...

That's Enshittification, not our friends doing.

 

[Insanemaelstrom]

Their priorities have switched. Earlier, they had few studios and as such majority of their income was from their console platform, as such the console platform was prioritised.

Now, they bought too many studios in order to compete and as such they now have too many studios and the same platform, the income they get (and could potentially get) from their games is far higher than what they get from their console platform, so games are prioritised.

Xbox is a buisness and any good business prioritises their primary source of income. It is the same case with Xbox. Their priority changed from hardware to softwareand personally I believe even if Xbox series consoles had sold as much as one generation consoles, they still would have gone third party. There is too much money on the table not to do so.

It is also the same reason why I believe Sony and Nintendo won't do so. They have far fewer studios and their primary source of income are still the hardware and as such they will continue to prioritise it.

 

[DryvBy]

SEEEEEEEEGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAA

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Wake up people.
Just like xbox killed a bunch of devs and projects in the past , just like they killed their console brand , just like they kept lying and lying about all their numbers.....be asured they will fuck up being third party as well

I just see a culling of studios and franchises.

Once their focus becomes primarily being a publisher, they're going to analyze which games and franchises are most profitable. Activision was already doing this with their focus on CoD and pushing Toys for Bob towards being a support studio. Looks like Toys for Bob saved their company and agreed to have Microsoft publish their next game, but others won't be as lucky.

Microsoft's stock is down 2.4% in the last 6 months. Xbox is a drag on Microsoft and Microsoft spent nearly 100 billion investing in Xbox. We're at a point where the board is starting to ask questions and Nadella is demanding answers.

Ultimately, Xbox is turning into a distraction that Microsoft may not be able to afford when they need to be focused on AI and Cloud. At the end of the day its Microsoft and they'll be fine, but yeah, the idea that they're going to keep propping up Xbox is delusional at this point.

 

[Sebastian1295]

If xbox were so confident in their brand and in their product then they wouldn't need to come out and talk nonstop about how good the brand is and explain why they're doing this or that. Playstation and nintendo CEO's don't do all these interviews and explain why they're doing this or that nonstop because they let their actions do the talking and let their games and brand prove to consumers why they're worth investing in.

 

[Barakov]

SEEEEEEEEGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAA

Is

 

[Zones]

I'll put it this way the only reason Xbox is still here is because of Phil Spencer

I used to think that way. I guess if that story is true, at least he prolonged its life.

Phil saved Xbox only to kill it himself.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I don't see the problem with what he's saying. It makes sense to me. The 70% does help to fund their game portfolio, no doubt. It keeps game studios afloat that would sink if they had to rely only on the Xbox ecosystem.

He's a CEO, so of course he's going to put a positive spin on it. We can't expect him to respond, "No one is buying our hardware anymore, we spent way too much damn money, and Xbox gamers are cheap bastards who don't buy games. Our backs are against the wall: either we send our games to other platforms or we close up shop. Sorry, kids, but that's how it is."

The 70 percent helps fund their games and keep the lights on, it also degrades their console sales and lowers their subscription consumers, peripheral consumers, and 3rd party game royalties... It also discourages 3rd party publishers from making their games on your platform which reinforces all of the things I mentioned.

There's no future for Xbox hardware and if there's no future for xbox hardware, I don't think there is a future for GamePass...

They're trying to have their cake and eat it too and we'll see how long that lasts and whether they can launch new hardware at a premium and keep enough zealots interested in buying.

 

[VolticArchangel]

God damn that Philip Wesley...

 

[Humdinger]

The 70 percent helps fund their games and keep the lights on, it also degrades their console sales and lowers their subscription consumers, peripheral consumers, and 3rd party game royalties... It also discourages 3rd party publishers from making their games on your platform which reinforces all of the things I mentioned.

Yup. Not like they have a choice, though. I'm sure it was a tough pill for Phil to swallow. Satya probably had to hold his mouth open like you do when you feed a dog medicine.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Yup. Not like they have a choice, though. I'm sure it was a tough pill for Phil to swallow. Satya probably had to hold his mouth open like you do when you feed a dog medicine.

What I don't get is people blaming Nadella... Like, he's been as generous to the Xbox community as he possibly could. They don't buy games, they've stayed on Xbox One. It's not like he's developing the games himself. It's not his fault they don't have killer apps. He's running a business and Xbox is only a part of that.

 

[FrankWza]

 

[Mibu no ookami]

There are people who would rather take gaming down than admit that Microsoft failed to create a compelling platform.

Everyone should recognize how dangerous that is.

 

[T-0800]

Halo MCC on PS5.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Halo MCC on PS5.

I'm guessing it'll depend on the performance of games like Avowed. If they meet their revenue benchmarks, they'll probably be able to delay it until after GTA6 comes out.

If Avowed underperforms they'll probably have to release it sooner. You also have Forza Horizon 5 dropping on PS5 which might be able to help delay things as well.

My guess is that you plan to have it available in Q325 with the hopes of pushing it off until Q126.

 

[PJX]

I just see a culling of studios and franchises.

Once their focus becomes primarily being a publisher, they're going to analyze which games and franchises are most profitable. Activision was already doing this with their focus on CoD and pushing Toys for Bob towards being a support studio. Looks like Toys for Bob saved their company and agreed to have Microsoft publish their next game, but others won't be as lucky.

Microsoft's stock is down 2.4% in the last 6 months. Xbox is a drag on Microsoft and Microsoft spent nearly 100 billion investing in Xbox. Where at a point where the board is starting to ask questions and Nadella is demanding answers.

Ultimately, Xbox is turning into a distraction that Microsoft may not be able to afford when they need to be focused on AI and Cloud. At the end of the day its Microsoft and they'll be fine, but yeah, the idea that they're going to keep propping up Xbox is delusional at this point.

Kinect and Xbox One killed the brand. Followed by all their dumb decisions afterwards. They were actually doing really good with the Xbox 360 before they decided to focus on Kinect, because they wanted to follow a trend (Wii).

 

[ProtoByte]

Said it before and I'll say it again: Being a third party publisher isn't that simple. It's a downgrade from being a platform owning first party. Ubisoft is making the 70%. Where are they now? Bethesda was making the 70%. Their owners were looking to get out completely, and stumbled on a miracle by Microsoft's purchase.

Phil is wishcasting that the people who weren't enticed by Xbox games back when they were exclusive and of a higher quality previously will now clutter their libraries and with lesser titles from the same establishment now; enough to make up the difference for the cratering hardware and platform revenue from their own console (which will only accelerate with more legacy Xbox franchises landing on other consoles as it did with PC) and the annihilated sales revenue from their own games and others due to Gamepass.

All of the games from the third parties they bought out are not going to sell higher - they were multiplatform before, they're multiplatform now. Meanwhile, the costs are still the same if not higher. And you'd be a fool to bet that the Microsoft effect + pressure of having to serve all platforms isn't going to result in worse games that sell even worse.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

They're trying to have their cake and eat it too and we'll see how long that lasts and whether they can launch new hardware at a premium and keep enough zealots interested in buying.

I don't think they are in reality. That's just the marketing/messaging. It's embarrassing to admit defeat, so what do you do? Well, you try and maintain some status quo and don't talk about that, meanwhile your actions speak louder than your words.

Truth is, while they have their toes still in hardware for a bit, it's inconsequential to their business strategy going forward and maybe they end up discontinuing it completely if they can't make the ROI work. But the ROI should be there if they accept zero subsidies and understand that they won't sell anywhere close to what they traditionally have.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Said it before and I'll say it again: Being a third party publisher isn't that simple. It's a downgrade from being a platform owning first party. Ubisoft is making the 70%. Where are they now? Bethesda was making the 70%. Their owners were looking to get out completely, and stumbled on a miracle by Microsoft's purchase.

Phil is wishcasting that the people who weren't enticed by Xbox games back when they were exclusive and of a higher quality previously will now clutter their libraries and with lesser titles from the same establishment now; enough to make up the difference for the cratering hardware and platform revenue from their own console (which will only accelerate with more legacy Xbox franchises landing on other consoles as it did with PC) and the annihilated sales revenue from their own games and others due to Gamepass.

All of the games from the third parties they bought out are not going to sell higher - they were multiplatform before, they're multiplatform now. Meanwhile, the costs are still the same if not higher. And you'd be a fool to bet that the Microsoft effect + pressure of having to serve all platforms isn't going to result in worse games that sell even worse.

That's simply not true. Many publishers thrive in a 70% environment, you just pointed out the ones that have not made good games and it has cost them.

Microsoft games should, in theory, get better if their sales increase, which they absolutely will. Where are you getting that their multiplatform strategy won't sell higher vs. Xbox exclusive strategy? That's absolutely not true. And the "pressure to sell" is FAR LESS when they are on playstation vs. what they were doing before.

 

[nowhat]

He's the right man to lead Xbox.

Off a cliff, sure.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

That's simply not true. Many publishers thrive in a 70% environment, you just pointed out the ones that have not made good games and it has cost them.

Microsoft games should, in theory, get better if their sales increase, which they absolutely will. Where are you getting that their multiplatform strategy won't sell higher vs. Xbox exclusive strategy? That's absolutely not true. And the "pressure to sell" is FAR LESS when they are on playstation vs. what they were doing before.

I think what we've seen from platform holders who later become 3rd party publishers like Atari and Sega is that they don't translate the quality and quantity of their 1st party games to 3rd party.

Will Forza Motorsport continue to exist if it has to compete directly with Gran Turismo on the same platform? Or do you decide to cut the risk involved there and focus instead of Forza Horizon?

Sega used to release like 30-40 games a year. As a publisher you have to shift your mindset and focus on what is uniquely profitable rather than filling out the portfolio.

Sega released sports games on Dreamcast because EA wasn't doing it. When they went 3rd party they sold Visual Concepts. You begin to focus on competing with other publishers in genres in which you're able to produce games.

High budget games like Shenmue that brought prestige and attention to Dreamcast were some of the first to go. Ironically, had Sega been more thoughtful about their situation and brought games like Shenmue to PS2 and not Xbox, they may have turned into much bigger franchises, but that's a story for another day.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I think what we've seen from platform holders who later become 3rd party publishers like Atari and Sega is that they don't translate the quality and quantity of their 1st party games to 3rd party.

Will Forza Motorsport continue to exist if it has to compete directly with Gran Turismo on the same platform? Or do you decide to cut the risk involved there and focus instead of Forza Horizon?

Sega used to release like 30-40 games a year. As a publisher you have to shift your mindset and focus on what is uniquely profitable rather than filling out the portfolio.

Sega released sports games on Dreamcast because EA wasn't doing it. When they went 3rd party they sold Visual Concepts. You begin to focus on competing with other publishers in genres in which you're able to produce games.

High budget games like Shenmue that brought prestige and attention to Dreamcast were some of the first to go. Ironically, had Sega been more thoughtful about their situation and brought games like Shenmue to PS2 and not Xbox, they may have turned into much bigger franchises, but that's a story for another day.

That depends on if their profitability collapses as a result of them going 3rd party. That shouldn't be the case here. MS was losing money hand over fist subsidizing Xbox. By going third party, their profitability should improve. They already own massive IP that's still very relevant, like CoD.

Sure, some games like Forza may go away, but that may be more due to quality issues than anything else, or the industry just can't support that many high budget racing sims.

Sega is better than they've been in a very long time right now. The number of games is kind of irrelevant, as many of their games were cheaper to make arcade games vs. what they make today, many of which are huge 100+ hour RPGs.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Kinect and Xbox One killed the brand. Followed by all their dumb decisions afterwards. They were actually doing really good with the Xbox 360 before they decided to focus on Kinect, because they wanted to follow a trend (Wii).

They made a bad bet.

They thought motion control might be the future of gaming due to the success of the Wii ignoring how cheap the Wii was.

They realized that if they made Kinect just an accessory that they wouldn't get enough support behind it, so they made it part of the console from the start, ballooning the price.

It's why it's interesting to see people give Sony a hard time over PSVR2. They didn't go all in on VR and they aren't the market leader (Reality Labs) in VR, but the market leader might shut down by the end of this year, which would make ultimately make PSVR2 the defacto place for VR.

Aggressive bets sometimes work in your favor (Switch, Wii) and sometimes blow up in your face (X1, PS3).

 

[Mibu no ookami]

That depends on if their profitability collapses as a result of them going 3rd party. That shouldn't be the case here. MS was losing money hand over fist subsidizing Xbox. By going third party, their profitability should improve. They already own massive IP that's still very relevant, like CoD.

Sure, some games like Forza may go away, but that may be more due to quality issues than anything else, or the industry just can't support that many high budget racing sims.

Sega is better than they've been in a very long time right now. The number of games is kind of irrelevant, as many of their games were cheaper to make arcade games vs. what they make today, many of which are huge 100+ hour RPGs.

You're ignoring the royalties they're going to lose and the subscription revenue they're going to lose.

CoD might be profitable but each individual game/franchise has to be profitable or it will get culled. Do you think they'll make another Avowed? When you have games like Kingdom Come Deliverance to compete with on top of The Witcher 4 and others? They won't. Just like Sony isn't making Killzone and Resistance anymore, because they don't have to fill out FPS on their platform. It's already there.

Sega isn't better today than they were in 2000, especially if you don't account for Atlus. Outside of Persona there isn't a single Sega IP that is at its peak right now.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

You're ignoring the royalties they're going to lose and the subscription revenue they're going to lose.

Negligible at this point, given their position.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Sega isn't better today than they were in 2000, especially if you don't account for Atlus. Outside of Persona there isn't a single Sega IP that is at its peak right now.

Arguable. And why wouldn't we include Atlus? They are part of Sega.

 

[ahtlas7]

You know how to build great portfolios. Do you know how to build great games anymore?

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Arguable. And why wouldn't we include Atlus? They are part of Sega.

They're a part of Sega, but it's not representative of the whole. It's an outlier.

It's not that outliers don't count, but rather that if you let yourself get lost in an outlier, you may not see a clear picture.

Capcom was dangerously close to becoming irrelevant around 2010. Monster Hunter, REmakes, and Street Fighter 5 brought them back from the brink.

This never really happened for Sega. They don't have anything equivalent and relying on Persona isn't going to get them there and certainly doesn't compare to them at their peak when they were releasing Sonic Adventure, Power Stone, Virtua Fighter, PSO, Jet Set Radio, Skies of Arcadia, Crazy Taxi, and Shenmue.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

They're a part of Sega, but it's not representative of the whole. It's an outlier.

It's not that outliers don't count, but rather that if you let yourself get lost in an outlier, you may not see a clear picture.

Capcom was dangerously close to becoming irrelevant around 2010. Monster Hunter, REmakes, and Street Fighter 5 brought them back from the brink.

This never really happened for Sega. They don't have anything equivalent and relying on Persona isn't going to get them there and certainly doesn't compare to them at their peak when they were releasing Sonic Adventure, Power Stone, Virtua Fighter, PSO, Jet Set Radio, Skies of Arcadia, Crazy Taxi, and Shenmue.

Atlus may be one of the biggest parts of Sega, and are thriving by being full multiplatform. I do not see the argument for their omission.

Capcom is a good example of third party and embracing multiplatform working.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

If xbox were so confident in their brand and in their product then they wouldn't need to come out and talk nonstop about how good the brand is and explain why they're doing this or that. Playstation and nintendo CEO's don't do all these interviews and explain why they're doing this or that nonstop because they let their actions do the talking and let their games and brand prove to consumers why they're worth investing in.

Most people don't even know who runs Nintendo.

Nishino and Hulst never do interviews at least not with western gaming publications and Jim Ryan barely did either. They're more likely to do an interview with Reuters than IGN.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Atlus may be one of the biggest parts of Sega, and are thriving by being full multiplatform. I do not see the argument for their omission.

Capcom is a good example of third party and embracing multiplatform working.

Capcom is a good example of how to rebound legacy franchises, but I don't think multiplatform had really been the key to that.

They put RE4 remake on iOS and it sold nothing. I think a lot of people buy their games at heavy discount on PC, but I'm not sure what they're getting out of Xbox and Switch.

The key isn't multiplatform or exclusive, it's making good games people want. The rest will generally work itself out as long as you're delivering to sizeable userbase.

Persona is a great franchise, one of my favorites, but it's not like these games are selling 10 million units either. The entire franchise has 23.5 million units sold. The franchise has been around for nearly 30 years. Great future potential for sure, but most publishers would have given up on it with those results. It's major saving grace is that it's relatively cheap.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Capcom is a good example of how to rebound legacy franchises, but I don't think multiplatform had really been the key to that.

They put RE4 remake on iOS and it sold nothing. I think a lot of people buy their games at heavy discount on PC, but I'm not sure what they're getting out of Xbox and Switch.

The key isn't multiplatform or exclusive, it's making good games people want. The rest will generally work itself out as long as you're delivering to sizeable userbase.

Persona is a great franchise, one of my favorites, but it's not like these games are selling 10 million units either. The entire franchise has 23.5 million units sold. The franchise has been around for nearly 30 years. Great future potential for sure, but most publishers would have given up on it with those results. It's major saving grace is that it's relatively cheap.

Capcom sells a lot on Playstation, PC, and Switch. Same with Atlus. I think if you removed some of these, they'd sell significantly less. Persona 5 took off when it released on more platforms than playstation. If it weren't for multiplatform releases, they'd likely have folded.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Capcom sells a lot on Playstation, PC, and Switch. Same with Atlus. I think if you removed some of these, they'd sell significantly less. Persona 5 took off when it released on more platforms than playstation. If it weren't for multiplatform releases, they'd likely have folded.

LOL. Persona 5 and Royal were a hit on PS4 well before it came to any other platform... Not sure where you're getting this narrative.

When it hit 10 million like 7.5 million of that was on PS3 and PS4.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

LOL. Persona 5 and Royal were a hit on PS4 well before it came to any other platform... Not sure where you're getting this narrative.

When it hit 10 million like 7.5 million of that was on PS3 and PS4.

When did I suggest they weren't a hit? They started selling more once they went to multiplatform. That's literally all I said.

 

[DragonNCM]

I love how this yahoo can confidently say one thing, then later, equally confidently, say the exact OPPOSITE thing and the same people praise him both times.

 

[Puscifer]

I said a few months ago that I admired his leadership to get Xbox profitable again and stopping Microsoft from pulling the plug: but now I'm wondering just how crazy I was for saying that lol

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Boy perfect Line to try and sale there next Xbox.

That's the most defeatist thing he could've possibly said.

 

[onQ123]

I'm guessing it'll depend on the performance of games like Avowed. If they meet their revenue benchmarks, they'll probably be able to delay it until after GTA6 comes out.

If Avowed underperforms they'll probably have to release it sooner. You also have Forza Horizon 5 dropping on PS5 which might be able to help delay things as well.

My guess is that you plan to have it available in Q325 with the hopes of pushing it off until Q126.

Nah these games are coming as fast as they can get them ported they are no longer in a wait and see stage . Floodgates are open

 

[RCX]

Youre now just a third party publisher with a small interest in hardware.

Just fucking say it Phil. The verbal acrobatics in avoiding it is becoming ridiculous

 

[Fess]

We all know why they do it.

Follow up question:
Why is it that Nintendo can keep having true exclusives when nobody else can?

Is it about having lower fidelity visuals and no Hollywood actors for voice and mocap etc and therefore there is shorter dev times and smaller teams so no need to sell out to get enough money?

If so then what will happen as they go for higher fidelity?
Will we see Nintendo start struggling soon and games coming to other consoles or PC?

 

[Pedro Motta]

LOL they don’t even hide the fact that all these articles are coordinated efforts.

“Release the AstroTurfers!”

 

[SkylineRKR]

They are still held hostage by a chunk of Series X owners with subs they can't just cut off. If it was pre ecosystems and GP, they would've ceased hardware production already. Dreamcast had no ecosystem for example, Sega could just announce they went multiplatform from now onward and didn't deal with a running service.

This is why Xbox need to appease both. They obviously want to be a third party publisher, but they need to keep their existing userbase in check as well. If they cease Xbox, they lose the chunk of subscribers. Which would be for the best by the way, they can simply sell games again.

 

[Fabieter]

I mean this is captain obvious kind of response

 

[Astray]

Capcom is a good example of how to rebound legacy franchises, but I don't think multiplatform had really been the key to that.

They put RE4 remake on iOS and it sold nothing. I think a lot of people buy their games at heavy discount on PC, but I'm not sure what they're getting out of Xbox and Switch.

The key isn't multiplatform or exclusive, it's making good games people want. The rest will generally work itself out as long as you're delivering to sizeable userbase.

Persona is a great franchise, one of my favorites, but it's not like these games are selling 10 million units either. The entire franchise has 23.5 million units sold. The franchise has been around for nearly 30 years. Great future potential for sure, but most publishers would have given up on it with those results. It's major saving grace is that it's relatively cheap.

Agreed re: Capcom. They were already multiplatform when they were struggling in the PS3/XB360 era, and it didn't really help them much.

The key was in making quality games that are desirable. Larger launch installbase is meaningless when you can't convert worth shit. Which I predict Square will discover very soon..

 

[kruis]

I love how this yahoo can confidently say one thing, then later, equally confidently, say the exact OPPOSITE thing and the same people praise him both times.

It's a cult. When the prophet rewrites the words in the Holy Book, the true believers have no other choice but to replace their core beliefs.

 

[Fess]

They are still held hostage by a chunk of Series X owners with subs they can't just cut off. If it was pre ecosystems and GP, they would've ceased hardware production already. Dreamcast had no ecosystem for example, Sega could just announce they went multiplatform from now onward and didn't deal with a running service.

This is why Xbox need to appease both. They obviously want to be a third party publisher, but they need to keep their existing userbase in check as well. If they cease Xbox, they lose the chunk of subscribers. Which would be for the best by the way, they can simply sell games again.

It’s not just about keeping people subscribing, PC is supposedly growing there so they have a way out, it’s the games libraries people have with purchased games going back several generations. Phil said it himself, he have games he want to be able to keep playing. They aren’t ready for the multi device ”This is an Xbox” scenario yet. I have a couple hundred games I can only play on my Series X even though I have several ”This is an Xbox” devices.
So until they launch an Xbox app able to emulate their consoles they’re kind of stuck making consoles, at least as long as Satya allows it.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Crap interview from a horrible site

 

[Team Andromeda]

I think what we've seen from platform holders who later become 3rd party publishers like Atari and Sega is that they don't translate the quality and quantity of their 1st party games to 3rd party.

Will Forza Motorsport continue to exist if it has to compete directly with Gran Turismo on the same platform? Or do you decide to cut the risk involved there and focus instead of Forza Horizon?

Sega used to release like 30-40 games a year. As a publisher you have to shift your mindset and focus on what is uniquely profitable rather than filling out the portfolio.

Sega released sports games on Dreamcast because EA wasn't doing it. When they went 3rd party they sold Visual Concepts. You begin to focus on competing with other publishers in genres in which you're able to produce games.

High budget games like Shenmue that brought prestige and attention to Dreamcast were some of the first to go. Ironically, had Sega been more thoughtful about their situation and brought games like Shenmue to PS2 and not Xbox, they may have turned into much bigger franchises, but that's a story for another day.

SEGA did not sell Visual Concepts when they went 3rd party that move was done when EA signed a deal with NFL and Sammy packed and looked to sell VC, because before that horrible deal with the NFL SEGA was really pushing its Sports range and going big guns on with VC. Shenmue was dropped simply because the sequel sold in such poor numbers and I doubt it would have sold any better on the PS2, it wasn't like SEGA's PS2 games sold that well either bar a couple
At guess I would have imagined Orta and Skies selling better on the PS2.

SEGA's big mistake was not putting the same game on multiple platforms looking back with hindsight that was a massive mistake.

 

[Team Andromeda]

They are still held hostage by a chunk of Series X owners with subs they can't just cut off. If it was pre ecosystems and GP, they would've ceased hardware production already. Dreamcast had no ecosystem for example, Sega could just announce they went multiplatform from now onward and didn't deal with a running service.

This is why Xbox need to appease both. They obviously want to be a third party publisher, but they need to keep their existing userbase in check as well. If they cease Xbox, they lose the chunk of subscribers. Which would be for the best by the way, they can simply sell games again.

If you have millions of Series X owners subscribing that is a massive amount of monthly income.
XBox seems to be a place where it's happy to have 20 to 30 active million users of its Hardware and also look to make money from other consoles and the PC.
The key point is active users that will make or break Xbox next-gen plans