With the new gen consoles about to hit the shelves in 2020, believe it or not, my eyes has been more focused on the Xbox side as opposed to the PS5 or Switch. The simple reason being is that I have full confidence that PS5 and Switch will deliver, whereas the Xbox has yet to prove itself. Basically, I have no faith in the Xbox, and so those everyone else.
The Xbox has a massive uphill war to overcome. With its piss poor performance in the last generation war, it barely made a mark, so bad in fact that it can be argued that Xbox was never even in the race in the first place. That needs to change and Phil Spencer knows this, the hardcore fans may not, but he does. He’s made some moves which I liked, purchasing 14 studios dedicated to exclusive games and rebranding it to Xbox Games Studio but I still worry that the games that are being made will likely not be enough to convince people to purchase the console. They may have a studio but the quality of these games is still in question.
Power is not everything, and gamers know this well.
Like I said, Xbox’s current reputation amongst gamers is bad, like really bad. It’s the butt of the joke at every mentioning of the brand, and the mere idea of Xbox actually making anything that can compete on Playstation’s is heavily mocked by the community. Microsoft really needs to put their strongest foot forward come E3, and has to be aggressive with their marketing. It can’t afford to mess this up. It has to assure the public that the platform will have a powerful line up for years to come, one’s that will leave a mark in the gaming industry.
It has a loyal fanbase for sure, but that is no longer enough if it wants to be competitively viable against Playstation and Nintendo. Yes, I’m including Nintendo in this because, despite them not even competing against Microsoft directly, they’re still kicking their butts. Playstation currently has a monopoly in the gaming scene and I don’t like that at all. Plus, them Sony fanboys have gotten a big head over the years so some humility is long overdue.
I’m rooting for Xbox but they need to really prove themselves, because if they announce Sea of Thieves 2 and champion that as their console seller, it’s game over.
