Speaking to Bloomberg about the future of Xbox, Xbox head Phil Spencer gave us some hints that Microsoft is shifting its focus from being a hardware sales and more towards software development. This doesn’t mean that the company will give up on hardware entirely, but it does mean that Microsoft is looking to strategically shift its focus for where it believes the future is.
The company is looking to get into development of more first-party software. Microsoft is going into holiday season with its newly released Xbox One X, it has already introduced a new strategy by bringing in a service called Xbox Game Pass. This is where Xbox One owners can pay a flat rate of $9.99 per month to gain access to a full library of games that they can download directly onto their consoles.
“We need to grow, and I look forward to doing that,” Spencer said. “Our ability to go create content has to be one of our strengths. We haven’t always invested at the same level. We’ve gone through ups and downs in the investment.” It doesn’t really matter how great the hardware is because if there are no enticing games, then the hardware is a bit pointless.
This, however, is just the beginning. According to Bloomberg, Spencer says that “Microsoft will probably debut a streaming service that doesn’t require a console for some types of content in the next three years.” It’s an interesting route that Microsoft is taking. Providing Microsoft has enough first-party content, it will make big headlines when it brings new unique offers and choices to gamers.
