Microsoft 'Broadening' Approach To Gaming Market
Microsoft will be "broadening" its approach to the gaming market. This was announced by CEO Satya Nadella who outlined the company's ambitions in the gaming space during its Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
"We're mobilizing to pursue an expansive opportunity in the 100+ billion gaming market," Nadella said. "This means broadening our approach to how we think about gaming end-to-end. About starting with games and how they're created and distributed, and how they're played and viewed."
He then went on to reference services such as Game Pass and Mixer as a way to promote connectivity among its hardware. Microsoft currently plans use these services to grow and engage over 53 million Xbox Live members more deeply and frequently.
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Nadella also showcased the Xbox One X which according to him is seeing "incredible response from fans this Holiday season." Following the positive reception it received, the "most technically advanced and most powerful console ever built" is currently expected to surpass the initial prediction of 600,000 units sold this year.
Since the release of the Xbox One X, the company has slowly shifted its video-game unit towards software and services. There are currently plans to expand in-house game development which will likely involve the acquisition of game studios.
It's definitely an about face to the company which attracted the ire of gamers following a string of canceled games and shuttered studios coupled with mediocre first-party offerings.
"We need to grow, and I look forward to doing that," said Xbox head Phil Spencer. "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."
Microsoft is already making a lot of headway in terms of software with the massively popular shooter "Player Unknown's Battlegrounds" set to debut on the Xbox One in a few weeks. The success of the "Cuphead" also holds promise for the future of Xbox exclusive titles.
