Earlier today, rumors began to swirl that Microsoft’s Xbox division was planning to exit the hardware business – moving entirely to software publishing and Xbox Cloud Gaming as the primary way to access content.
TweakTown indicates the report seemed to have originated from a famed leaker, SneakersSO over at NeoGAF, who leaked the initial plans for porting Xbox games to other consoles. They indicated that plans to make a next-gen Xbox console have gone from ‘really concrete’ to being ‘up in the air’.
Now, Microsoft has responded to the report with a statement to Windows Central denying the claim: “We are actively investing in our future first-party consoles and devices designed, engineered and built by Xbox. For more details, the community can revisit our agreement announcement with AMD.”
News reports in recent days haven’t been good for the brand – from CostCo pulling Xbox consoles from shelves (the scooper suggests more will follow shortly) to the brou-ha-ha over the 50% price rise of GamePass’ top tier subscription rate.
Then, over the weekend, Bloomberg posted a report indicating that by putting last year’s “Call of Duty” entry on Game Pass, the company lost more than $300 million in potential sales of the title on console and PCs according to one former employee.
The title, “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” was still the top selling video game in the US last year and still “the highest-grossing title in the franchise’s history,” but that was reportedly largely due to Sony’s PlayStation which accounted for 82% of sales.
The report suggests the push for ‘Day One’ titles on the service, especially higher-margin games, has been controversial among former and current employees. Microsoft itself conceded in court-submitted documents back in 2023 (via WC) that Game Pass inclusion does hurt retail game sales, ending a long used argument from fans that Game Pass inclusion actually helps a title’s sales.
The recent price rise comes just eleven days before the launch of “Call of Duty: Black Ops 7”, in fact it has been suggested (via Tech4Gamers) that a significant decline in pre-orders for the title is partly why the prices were raised. The title also faces genuine competition this year from “Battlefield 6” which arrives this coming Friday.
The last reported Game Pass subscriber count was 34 million in February of 2024. No word as yet regarding how the recent price rises have affected those numbers.
Still, prior to the price rise, the company said Game Pass was profitable with revenue reaching a record of nearly $5 billion for the fiscal year that ended in June.
