The End of Xbox?

In the fantastic world of gaming, it’s return of king and the final sign that the end of an era is coming. Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed that for the first time it’s biggest, most exclusive title, Halo, will be making the port over to PC. While many Halo fans rejoice at this news, we are also given pause by Microsoft’s other announcement: The end of the Xbox.

    Following the company’s announcement of the PC port for their Halo titles, also came the company’s honest moment with fans both old and young: The Xbox, and indeed, console gaming, is on a clock, and every moment ticks down closer to the next generation. So as the largest sci-fi shooter ever launched returns to the hands of it’s fans old and young, we are also forced to mourn the console that gave us so many brilliant memories playing it. Then we must ask ourselves, “WHy is MIcrosoft doing this, and what comes next?”

    Well, the answer is simple. When the Xbox 360 was launched a golden age of gaming and games came with it. Halo: Reach, Call of Duty: Blacks Ops, and so many more games were published for those consoles and made many miniscule studios into giants overnight. However, when the next generation of console came and the Xbox One was faced with the PS4, it was clear whom had won. Microsoft stopped publicly reporting Xbox One sales several years ago now, and the user base has continually shrunk. Many of the older gamers “graduated” to the PC, or traded in their Xbox Ones for the superior PS4. The Titan that was Xbox fell, and with it so did a generation of gaming. It’s been clear that with Microsoft’s announcement of a port for their biggest title to PC they want to get up off the floor and leap back into the multi-billion dollar industry, but what does that look like? What comes next that will let them do this?

    Well, Microsoft already has an “in” on the biggest gaming platform of all, the PC. Many of the former fans of the Xbox elected to use the PC following the release of the Xbox One, and it’s easy to see why. More games, more modular options for games and the PC itself, and a community that spans more of the world than any other network of gamers. Valve’s Steam, Epic Games new marketplace, as well as EA’s Origin marketplace have made the PC into the most versatile gaming platform ever. Want a game from the 90’s? Done. Want one of the new A-List titles? Done. The only thing the consoles have over the PC is one or two exclusive titles that they pay through the nose for. Microsoft though is the maker of windows, the PC’s OS, and therefore benefits from every PC sale on the planet.

    With that said, Microsoft is looking to bring PC’s more titles, focusing less on console development and more on content creation, giving gamers more content to play. Their acquisition of titles like Halo, Forza, and more indicate this transition is coming, especially since they have definitely said that the next generation of Xbox console will be the last until further notice. Additionally, as the makers of the largest platform on the planet, by focusing on the PC platform they can work to bridge the gaps between console and PC to make platform irrelevant, either by streaming or by some other means, to where a person can play anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.

    So console gaming may be coming to an end, but gaming itself goes on to an exciting new future, one where platform is irrelevant, and the games are all that matter.