Xbox isn't a console anymore, it's a multiplatform game development giant

Gaming IndustryXbox isn’t a console anymore, it’s a multiplatform game development giantWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Microsoft)

11 of the reveals from last weekend’s Xbox Games Showcase came from studios Microsoft acquired within the past six years:

Add in games from Microsoft’s other studios—Gears of War: E-Day, Perfect Dark—and even without the third-party stuff like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it was a meaty show. It feels like we’ve truly arrived at the place Microsoft has been heading since it started using the “Xbox” name on Windows: Xbox is no longer a console, it’s a game development conglomerate.

There was a lot more console talk, though. Around six minutes at the start of that 2017 conference was spent promoting the new Xbox One X with terms like “16 nanometer technology” and “7 billion transistors.” That was three-and-a-half years after the original Xbox One launched. We’re now three-and-a-half years removed from the Xbox Series X/S launch, and the only hardware news at this year’s showcase was the brief mention of new Series X/S configurations at the end.

What’s next for post-console war Microsoft?

So, Microsoft “won” summer showcase season, but what does that mean when Marcus Fenix and Kratos are both on Steam anyway? And why did Microsoft buy all these studios in the first place if its priority is no longer to sell Xboxes with exclusives?

One answer is that all these games will come to Game Pass, although I can’t say that I know any PC gamers who aren’t going to cling to their Steam libraries like life rafts. PC gamers were once resistant to Steam, too, so maybe Microsoft’s right to go all-in on the subscription model, but it’s a gambit.

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If these developer acquisitions are just a means to grow Game Pass, then I worry about what happens to them if Game Pass doesn’t grow as fast as Microsoft’s shareholders like. The recent layoffs and studio closures certainly don’t project security and stability.

A new screenshot from Obsidian’s Avowed.(Image credit: Obsidian)

Avowed — the player character faces a plague-ridden bear in combat, pointing their longsword towards the bear as it roars.

We have definitely been getting along better in recent years: Windows 11 is fine (I wish its search function didn’t suck), there are no more Xbox console exclusives, and Microsoft has mostly given up on making us use the Microsoft Store. But it’s natural to feel nervous aboutanyoneowning not just the OS most of us use, but also many of our favorite PC developers.

As for Microsoft, the best case outcome to me would be that it really sees selling great games as an end in itself. I’m obviously skeptical—you don’t have to buy Call of Duty to do that—but I at least don’t get the sense that it’s been pushing Obsidian, inXile, or its other recently-acquired studios to make aggressive gacha games. ThatDoom: The Dark Ages trailerat this year’s showcase was sick, and I’m interested in Fable and Avowed and several of theother games we saw. There’s a nervous energy around all of them—and the studiosthat are making them—but the future still feels open.

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What’s next for post-console war Microsoft?#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

What’s next for post-console war Microsoft?

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals