Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has stated he believes Microsoft is at a “fork within the street” and is questioning whether or not the corporate will hold releasing consoles.
Speaking to GI.biz, Layden stated there will definitely be extra console generations to return, however Microsoft might not be a part of that story. “Watching what Xbox has been doing just lately, I do get Dreamcast flashbacks,” he stated, referencing how Sega received out of the console enterprise after the Dreamcast and have become a software program firm.
“I feel Sega realized they simply had been higher off being a software program home. I feel Microsoft is in that very same type of fork within the street. And I do not assume their {hardware} providing is persuasive sufficient to make up the bottom they’ve misplaced,” he stated.
If Microsoft had been to get out of the console-making enterprise, that may certainly be large news–and it might be sudden given Microsoft only in the near past signed a multi-year cope with AMD for future {hardware}. Microsoft and AMD will work collectively to “co-engineer silicon throughout a portfolio of units, together with our next-generation Xbox consoles. In your lounge and in your palms,” Xbox president Sarah Bond stated.
Bond has stated up to now that next-gen Xbox {hardware} will concentrate on “delivering the most important technological leap ever in a era.” It stays to be seen what which means, nevertheless, as some are theorizing {that a} new Xbox console may very well be extra akin to a gaming PC. Microsoft can also be branching out into the hand-held house with its partnership with Asus for the upcoming Xbox ROG Ally units.
Layden stated he hopes to see some sort of standardization for consoles sooner or later, and it is his perception that going this fashion may assist the full marketplace for console gaming develop.
“Cannot we have a look at the sport console enterprise sort of like Blu-ray, or cassette, or compact disc, or some other medium the place the business determined we’ll compete on content material, however let’s standardize on format?” he stated. “And then let’s take that format and license it out to everyone who desires to assist it. That is what stops the penetration fee of console gaming, I feel.”
For what it is value, Sony is alleged to be engaged on a brand new PlayStation console. And whereas Nintendo only in the near past launched the Swap 2, the corporate is just not seemingly to surrender devoted {hardware} anytime quickly.
For now, there is no such thing as a indication that Microsoft will cease making consoles, however the firm has modified its playbook considerably in latest occasions. The firm is now bringing lots of its video games to rival platforms, like PS5 and Swap, in a bid to generate extra income. And the plan is seemingly working, as a number of the best-selling PlayStation video games are made by Xbox.