The man suspected of being responsible for threats that led to the cancellation of Nintendo events in Japan has been charged.
Does a stuttering console space offer an opportunity for others? | Opinion
04.04.2024 - 17:59 / gamesindustry.biz / Phil Spencer / Nintendo / Space
Everyone’s favourite candid games exec, Phil Spencer, was in the news last week discussing the concerning ‘lack of growth’ in video games.
He’s said it before and he’s not wrong. It’s one of the two big factors behind the industry-wide layoffs we’ve been reporting on (the other being the rapidly rising cost of everything). And for Xbox it’s particularly acute, because it’s in the growth areas where it’s looking to play. In a console market dominated by Sony and Nintendo, a mobile market ruled by Google and Apple, and a PC business controlled by Valve, Xbox has been trying to disrupt things, grow things and widen the market… go to places its rivals are not.
And the results have been mixed. Game Pass has clearly disrupted things, but it’s not transformed the business in the way subscriptions have in movies and music. Streaming isn’t quite there yet. And the Series S, which is designed to be a low-cost entry-level point to a new console generation, hasn’t succeeded in expanding the audience.
If I am to be slightly critical, for all these disruptive business moves, we’ve not really had the games to drive them forward. When Nintendo disrupted the market with Wii and DS some 20 years ago (how has it been that long?), it wasn’t just motion controls and touch screens that did it, but it was Wii Sports and Brain Training. Game Pass still hasn’t had that consistent stream of quality games needed to build momentum. Series S didn’t have that game, at least to begin with, to attract in new audiences.
Xbox’s first-party slate has had many excellent games in recent years, but when it comes to their biggest bets – namely Halo and Starfield – they just haven’t delivered. And third-party publishers haven’t stepped up, either, particularly with their reluctance to support Game Pass with new AAA games.
"Could the Xbox Summer Showcase be the first Xbox event that PlayStation and Nintendo fans will want to tune in to?"
Looking at the sales charts, Xbox – at least the one we’ve known for the past 20 years – seems under threat. Speaking to a major European retailer last week, I was told they ‘can’t shift anything with an Xbox logo on it’. And during GDC, two games publishers/developers independently told me they were struggling to justify supporting Xbox platforms. It’s not unusual for indies to express dismay at discoverability on PlayStation and Xbox hardware, but it’s rare to hear it from bigger players with larger marketing budgets.
In previous generations, this chatter would have spelled doom for a platform – just ask Nintendo about what happened to GameCube and Wii U when publishers and retailers started to back away. The world is different now, with digital downloading and direct-to-consumer distribution making retail less
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