TheEstablishment

This is good news for M$ who will no doubt make crazy money off of selling their games across all platforms. You'll still get the same games on your Xbox, so don't worry.

Oh, and if anyone is still under the impression that Xbox is exiting the hardware market, find a new hobby to evaluate because you don't understand the gaming market.

They're making more money than ever before and will be the #1 gaming brand in revenue very shortly. What the players think means nothing and people can complain all they want but in the end, M$ makes the money and laughs all the way to the bank. Business is about making money, not appeasing the hardcore.

@Briarback Actually, if you deep dive into it, hardware is down across the board, which is why Sony is adamant about getting games onto PC and expanding their player base there. Consoles still sell, but they certainly aren't selling like "hot cakes" right now. Sony can't even produce a profit these days, while Nintendo is experiencing poor hardware sales due to the Switch being in its late life stage.

Regardless, Xbox will live on via console, handheld, PC, mobile, cloud, and other devices. Xbox is going nowhere.

@BAMozzy There are a TON of Xbox One players left in the ecosystem due to many of the games being streamable now, with many still being able to be downloaded on Xbox One. Plus, casual players may not feel the need to upgrade from the Xbox One X because graphically speaking it's good enough.

@Cakefish Well, we know a handheld is coming. They've all but admitted it without admitting it. I'm sure a traditional plug in TV console will follow, if it isn't released alongside the handheld. But I really wouldn't be surprised to see an Xbox branded streaming stick hit the market for around $99-$119 bundled with a controller. I know they put it on the shelf during the CTC/FTC arguments while acquiring Activision because of their stronghold in the streaming market, but now that they're done with all that I wouldn't be surprised to see a device like this hit shelves.

@neodalaman The future of Xbox will be cloud gaming on mobile phones and tablets, Xbox on PC, an Xbox branded handheld device, streaming sticks, and a traditional console. There will totally be an option for everyone, because Microsoft wants to reach as many gamers as possible.

All these "Xbox consoles are going away, R.I.P Xbox" posts are absolutely absurd and quite frankly embarrassing for those who write them. Same with the "streaming will never be the future" posts. If you love traditional consoles, you'll be okay. If you like handheld switch style consoles, you'll be okay. If you love playing Xbox on PC, you'll be okay. If you love streaming Xbox on your mobile devices, you'll be okay.

@Seioni Because people don't understand business and business strategies and they hold onto the console and the console wars as though a console is the only way to access Xbox games. Also, research goes a long way and this entire industry breeds doomsayers. It's ridiculous.

Wah wah, my plastic box isn't selling, wah wah!

The long and short of it all is that gaming habits are changing and people are finding other ways to play, such as PC/Phone/Firestick/Tablet. It isn't 1995 anymore.

People need to accept that Activision/Blizzard is a part of Xbox now and treat it as one instead of segmenting the two. Xbox had another successful quarter and Q4 looks like it's going to be a record quarter for the brand. If you're such a big fan of the Xbox brand than stop worrying about plastic boxes and start celebrating the success Xbox is enjoying as a whole.

Remember, this is a business and if they're going to rake in the dough by buying you other companies and putting their games on other consoles than so be it. The bottom line is what matters, not what a bunch of plastic box fanboys think about sales numbers. If I was MS, I'd be doing the exact same thing.

@andrewsqual Consoles means nothing. The ONLY thing that matters in business is the bottom line and Xbox has a healthy bottom line. Gamers can access Xbox on phones, tablets, PCs, and streaming devices, the console is only a small piece of the puzzle. It isn't 1995 anymore.

@Dm9982 Anything is possible when it comes to the gaming industry is so spot on. If you would've told me 12 years ago that digital games would become the norm, owning a console or PC was optional, and I'd be paying $20/mo to play games I'd have called you crazy. My, how times have changed.

@Dm9982 I've read a million "I can already do this with remote play" comments on the web, but these people need to realize that this is mainly meant for people who don't have a console or PC. This is a move designed to attract customers who aren't necessarily in the Xbox ecosystem.

@MrMagic This is NOT going to happen. The console will always remain a PIECE of the pie, but not the whole pie, and by limiting yourself to just focus on the console means you're placing a ceiling on the height of success you can reach. I get it, there are a lot of console gamers out there, and Microsoft realizes this too, hence why they wouldn't want to risk losing their 50-70M console users in hopes they they're just going to move to PC, Firestick, mobile, or whatever. They'd be stupid to do that so they're going to keep the console around as part of their strategy.

But make no mistake, the strategy is to attract users beyond the console and to let gamers access content on they devices they see fit to do so. Console included.

@Balaam_ You're not the target audience for this service. Microsoft is thinking beyond the console and want to attract users who don't want to, or can't afford to, buy a console but want to play games. This is a very smart move by Microsoft to go after more gamers and keep on their path to reach the 2 billion gamers they said they wanted to reach.

This is great news. Microsoft's vision of Xbox being accessible via any device with the app downloaded is quickly coming to fruition.

For anyone who hasn't played this game yet, it's a magical romp through what feels like a mid 90's SNES JRPG with memorable characters and a fun setting. I loved this game so much I played through it twice and don't regret a moment I spent with it.

@InvaderFromSpace Keep in mind those numbers reported towards the beginning of the year didn't include MW III and Diablo IV, and it didn't include the ability to play on the Firestick. I'm sure the Firestick push wasn't as large as they would've liked, but I'm sure they got SOMETHING of an uptick from it. I'm also sure they saw an influx of new subscribers when COD and Diablo hit the service, so who knows how many new members they've accumulated. I highly doubt they're sitting at the same number with two massive franchises hitting the service. I'm sure when they report their financials for this quarter they'll mention a decent increase in subscriptions, though I doubt they'll reveal the exact number.

I'm definitely going to check this game out once it releases. I've got 2500 hours into ESO, 350 hours into Neverwinter, 900 hours into Destiny 1 & 2, and close to 500 into FF14, so I guess I'll give the new kid on the block some love. I do enjoy MMO's, after all!

@FatGuyInLilCoat Black Ops 6 will definitely bring in a ton of new subscribers, as I'm sure MW III and Diablo IV likely did, but it would be nice to see a few more Activision/Blizzard games hit the service soon since we were promised "the whole slate" at one point.

I honestly wonder how many subscribers Game Pass has at this point? They said 34 million back in February before Diablo IV and MW3 III hit the service. That was also back before it was available for use on Firestick, which is in tons and tons of households around the world. My honest guess, 42-45M?

I have the feeling we're going to get a huge Activision/Blizzard drop between October and November to entice people to sign up for the holidays. It would be a good tactic to make the Xbox look attractive this holiday season, and to lure in some people who are either receiving a gaming PC this Christmas, or a cloud enabled device who may want to subscribe to Game Pass.

Microsoft has so many avenues to find new players and a huge content drop, alongside Black Ops 6, could be the boost in the arm they've been waiting for.