Why Would ANYONE Buy an Xbox?

[00:00] - Why does Xbox exist?

[00:02] I mean, it seems like a simple question,

[00:04] but for the last year or so,

[00:05] there really haven't been

[00:07] as to why you should buy an Xbox.

[00:10] It seems like the people in charge

[00:11] don't have a better answer either.

[00:13] So, look, I'm gonna be honest,

[00:15] I want Xbox to at least be competitive.

[00:18] Do you wanna live in a world

[00:19] where PlayStation has zero competition?

[00:21] It's also a little personal for me,

[00:23] and you can kinda tell the

[00:25] through the last few generations of Xbox.

[00:27] Back in 2009, I traded my

[00:30] to buy an Xbox 360.

[00:32] It almost immediately Red Ringed on me.

[00:34] I mean, my first E3 was the

[00:38] one of the most infamous

[00:41] And getting to reveal the Series X

[00:43] was one of the biggest

[00:45] So yeah, I want Xbox to,

[00:50] which is why we've gotta

[00:55] It was literally last

[00:58] where I said that the easy part was done

[01:00] and the hard part was coming.

[01:01] I didn't expect the hard

[01:04] Okay, so to be totally fair to Xbox,

[01:06] the last 100 days of Asha running the show

[01:09] have been genuinely good.

[01:11] They cut the price of Game Pass,

[01:13] they brought back real console exclusives,

[01:15] so there's Gears E-Day

[01:17] as well as Clockwork Revolution to start,

[01:19] and almost certainly more to come.

[01:21] They killed the stupid

[01:23] that basically nobody liked,

[01:25] and the showcase itself was solid.

[01:27] Gears, Halo, Fable, I

[01:30] and selling big numbers.

[01:32] Asha has walked in as the new CEO

[01:34] and really given Xbox fans

[01:36] in just her first three months on the job.

[01:38] But these were the easy wins.

[01:41] The real problems are,

[01:42] well, very real, and they just shared them

[01:45] in way more detail than they should.

[01:48] Last week, just a few days after Showcase,

[01:50] the Xbox team published a memo called,

[01:52] "Next 100 Days: XBOX Reset."

[01:55] And holy (quacks).

[01:58] The Xbox team have been doing the rounds

[02:00] with interviews the last couple of weeks,

[02:02] setting stage here,

[02:04] to the business not being,

[02:06] But this memo, which I wanna be clear,

[02:08] it wasn't leaked, they posted publicly,

[02:11] paints a terrible picture

[02:13] of where things really

[02:15] I'll be honest, it is actually

[02:17] but here are some of the takeaways.

[02:19] The cost of memory and storage,

[02:21] you know, the chips inside every console,

[02:23] has already doubled, and

[02:26] to hit more than five

[02:29] before the RAM crisis

[02:32] Now, they think that they

[02:34] than anyone else in the industry,

[02:35] because of, quote unquote,

[02:36] "Choices they've made

[02:39] which I feel like is a loaded phrase

[02:41] that I bet there's a whole backstory too.

[02:43] But they're in a mess.

[02:45] A huge part of my job is

[02:48] And here's the thing, y'all

[02:51] So when Zapier reached

[02:53] it was the perfect time to build something

[02:55] I've wanted forever, an easy

[02:58] and feedback from the comments

[02:59] into something I can actually use.

[03:01] Zapier's pitch is simple,

[03:03] their job is to connect apps

[03:06] Zapier has an MCP server,

[03:09] that you can plug it directly into tools,

[03:11] such as Claude or ChatGPT.

[03:12] Now, I had to authorize it

[03:15] It's not always on,

[03:16] it's only something that

[03:19] So now, Claude can pull

[03:21] and drop the organized

[03:24] In just a few minutes of setup,

[03:25] I had my first batch of ideas,

[03:27] including one on smartphone features

[03:28] that were killed too soon.

[03:30] Manually, I probably

[03:32] but these are ideas from you,

[03:33] Zapier just helps to surface

[03:36] There are so many things

[03:39] so if you wanna check it out,

[03:39] I'll have a link in the description.

[03:41] And again, big thank you to Zapier

[03:42] for sponsoring this video.

[03:45] The crazier part is the

[03:47] Over the last five years,

[03:48] essentially, the Xbox Series X generation,

[03:50] Microsoft has poured something

[03:55] only for revenue to go down.

[03:57] For context, because

[03:59] we're all desensitized to

[04:02] over the entirety of PlayStation,

[04:04] Sony profited about $20 billion.

[04:07] Now, I'm not saying the PS5,

[04:09] which is the most profitable generation,

[04:11] no, $20 billion from PlayStation

[04:14] over 30 years ago.

[04:16] Seriously, just sit

[04:19] (lips trilling)

[04:20] You can say a lot about Microsoft,

[04:22] but you cannot fault them

[04:23] for not investing huge

[04:27] The idea of putting $20 billion in,

[04:30] and during that time, seeing

[04:33] is honestly kind of unbelievable.

[04:35] I maybe wouldn't have shared those numbers

[04:40] if I was running the show,

[04:41] but hey, appreciate the transparency

[04:44] by really letting everyone know

[04:45] just how deep a hole they're really in.

[04:47] This by the way completely sidesteps

[04:49] the almost $70 billion they invested

[04:52] in buying Activision Blizzard,

[04:53] a deal I think in hindsight

[04:57] As of right now, the entire Xbox division

[05:00] is running at a, quote unquote,

[05:04] which, again, is trending down and not up.

[05:06] To top it off, you've got Satya Nadella,

[05:08] the CEO of all of Microsoft, saying this.

[05:11] - Like there's more monetization

[05:15] on YouTube than at Microsoft.

[05:18] - Holy (quacks).

[05:20] I mean, I do think he's kinda joking here,

[05:23] but clearly, things are

[05:26] Now, again, I wanna be really

[05:28] I want Xbox to succeed.

[05:30] But reading these numbers

[05:33] I mean, even for a huge

[05:36] this is not sustainable.

[05:37] I think that that's why

[05:40] they've got to make some

[05:43] and this memo is kind of

[05:45] So that's the situation,

[05:47] which brings us right

[05:49] that even Xbox admits

[05:52] "Why should anyone buy an Xbox?"

[05:55] I mean, historically this

[05:58] You bought an Xbox, or a

[06:00] to play the big exclusives,

[06:02] and because that's where

[06:03] But at this point, neither

[06:06] Games like Halo and

[06:10] but they're also on PS5.

[06:11] And cross play has largely

[06:14] which means it's a real edge case

[06:15] to not be able to play with your friends,

[06:17] regardless of the platform.

[06:18] The days of picking a console,

[06:20] because that's where all your friends are,

[06:21] that's just not a thing anymore.

[06:23] Opening things up did work to sell games,

[06:25] but it gutted almost every

[06:29] outside of Game Pass?

[06:32] I mean, the obvious

[06:34] has just been to buy a PS5,

[06:37] And guess what?

[06:38] Everyone's bought a PS5.

[06:39] The sales have not even

[06:42] Now, they have started to

[06:45] but this is gonna be a slow process.

[06:46] I mean, they've already committed

[06:49] like Halo: Campaign

[06:52] Just snapping your fingers

[06:54] and pulling everything back to Xbox

[06:56] would just lose sales at this point

[06:57] and really, really piss off Sony.

[06:59] And that's the tough balance.

[07:01] Do you value selling games,

[07:03] you know, the thing that

[07:05] or do you give up on at least some of that

[07:07] in favor of building the reasons

[07:08] for people to buy an

[07:11] I mean, I think they're

[07:13] on a case by case basis.

[07:14] I mean, it would be crazy

[07:15] to take something like

[07:18] and games like Call of Duty

[07:19] have already been committed

[07:21] for basically ever.

[07:22] But there will be at least some big games

[07:24] that only land on Xbox

[07:27] it's just gonna take a while

[07:28] to actually make an impact for them.

[07:30] Exclusives are one part of the

[07:33] The current generation has been rough,

[07:35] but the silver lining has

[07:38] At $300, at least up until recently,

[07:41] it has been the cheapest

[07:44] And I know a lot of people

[07:45] who have picked one up,

[07:47] and are still really happy.

[07:48] Except they hiked Xbox

[07:51] and are reportedly still losing

[07:53] as much as hundreds of

[07:57] With the RAM crisis,

[07:58] even $650 for a Series X

[08:02] This whole thing is still

[08:04] So exclusives are part of the story,

[08:07] price, unfortunately, probably isn't.

[08:09] Even Microsoft with their deep pockets

[08:11] can't afford to lose big cash

[08:14] Maybe the answer is building

[08:18] I mean, sure, a super powerful

[08:21] but once you get above like 1,000 bucks,

[08:23] which it almost certainly would be,

[08:25] it is always going to be a

[08:28] And what I'm hearing

[08:29] is that they're considering

[08:31] and cut costs regardless.

[08:32] Who knows what Helix actually

[08:35] Finding a real reason for

[08:37] is just a tough sell right now.

[08:39] You can't even really blame Sony here.

[08:41] I mean, look at the problems.

[08:43] Microsoft chose to bring Halo

[08:46] Even the RAM crisis kinda comes

[08:49] They're spending $190

[08:53] most of which is going

[08:56] you know, the thing that's

[08:58] to begin with.

[08:59] Look, there's no way around

[09:02] There's a real reason for

[09:05] spinning Xbox off into its

[09:08] cutting studios, or even

[09:11] on console hardware entirely.

[09:12] But I do think there are things

[09:14] that Asha and the team can

[09:17] that can make a difference.

[09:19] First of all is the biggest

[09:23] The biggest strength of a console

[09:24] is the simplicity and

[09:28] Having the flexibility

[09:30] and while Xbox Mode is an

[09:34] Now, they've still got time,

[09:35] but this has to be priority

[09:38] for the entire next

[09:41] But you've gotta make it

[09:44] what's an Xbox versus a PC.

[09:46] The details matter here.

[09:48] Make the true Xbox version

[09:51] with a guaranteed set of features,

[09:53] like full Xbox backwards compatibility

[09:55] and clear performance tiers.

[09:57] Then, ship Helix.

[09:59] Now, my understanding

[10:00] is that it's largely built

[10:02] at least on the development side.

[10:03] But, look, you don't have to rush it,

[10:06] no one is clamoring

[10:09] at least not yet.

[10:10] Take the time to lower

[10:13] whatever you gotta do.

[10:14] But I do think putting

[10:15] a real next gen Xbox on shelves matters.

[10:18] Hopefully, they can do this

[10:19] along with a true affordable

[10:22] and probably, by opening up the Xbox brand

[10:24] to more third-party

[10:27] And then, lean all the way

[10:31] Sure, I mean, keep things

[10:33] on what games are true exclusives,

[10:35] maybe which ones are timed,

[10:36] and which ones just go

[10:38] but now is not the time to gamble

[10:40] on new and unproven concepts.

[10:43] Get Elder Scrolls VI out the door,

[10:45] give us an actually new Halo game,

[10:47] remake Fallout 3 or New Vegas.

[10:49] How about StarCraft 3?

[10:51] Look, I don't care which

[10:53] but just green light and fast track some

[10:55] of these obvious slam dunk games

[10:57] to not only bring some

[10:59] but also to have some real next gen titles

[11:02] to sell Project Helix and Game Pass.

[11:04] And finally, the hard one,

[11:07] Game Pass is still the

[11:10] so just fully commit.

[11:12] You can't ship a next gen

[11:14] Bring back Xbox All Access

[11:17] and bundle the hardware with Game Pass

[11:19] in a reasonable monthly price.

[11:21] While you're at it, give

[11:23] make Xbox Live Multiplayer actually free.

[11:26] If you're shipping a PC, you

[11:29] since no one pays for online on PC

[11:32] outside of specific titles

[11:34] Announce the free

[11:37] when you tweak the Xbox Game Pass tiers,

[11:39] and eventually, release that

[11:41] that's been teased forever.

[11:43] (Austin sighing)

[11:44] Okay, I'll admit, this is a lot,

[11:47] and the Xbox team certainly

[11:49] of what to do than I do.

[11:50] But look, this is a rare opportunity,

[11:53] not everyone gets the

[11:56] This can be an opportunity

[11:59] to become a truly healthy business again.

[12:02] They have all the pieces,

[12:04] maybe they're a little broken

[12:06] but, look, I know this

[12:09] but I do think it's fixable.

[12:11] I also think the next 100 days

[12:14] but I'm gonna be here for it.

[12:16] If you too wanna be here for it,

[12:17] make sure to subscribe to the channel

[12:18] and ring-a-ling that ding-a-ling button.

[12:20] And definitely stay tuned,

[12:21] it is about to get real, real spicy,

[12:24] for good and for not so good.

[12:27] (suspenseful music)