October 5th 2025.
It seems like it won't be long before we see Halo making an appearance on the new PlayStation 5 console. As Xbox faces a major backlash from fans, one reader argues that they have never fully understood what it takes to be a successful console publisher.
I can't say I'm surprised by Microsoft's recent announcement to reduce the price of their Game Pass, but I never expected it to lead to the downfall of the Xbox brand. It feels like things have been falling apart for them since the Xbox One era, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has lost sympathy for them over time.
A big part of the problem lies with Phil Spencer, who should have been replaced years ago. But the real issue began during the Xbox 360 days. Xbox has made numerous mistakes throughout the years, but the one consistent error is their lack of respect for the most critical aspect of being a gaming company: the games themselves and the people who create them.
GameCentral pointed out in their article on the disaster that Sony and Nintendo have never laid off thousands of developers like Microsoft has. They understand that the developers are the lifeblood of their company, and they also recognize the importance of keeping their franchises alive and constantly evolving. This is a lesson that Microsoft has never seemed to grasp.
The original Xbox may have only been around for a few years, but it had some significant console exclusives. Halo, of course, but also Fable, Forza Motorsport, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, Splinter Cell, and Ninja Gaiden. This is actually a much better lineup than most people give it credit for, but Microsoft either made them go multiplatform immediately or mishandled the franchises.
Halo was the biggest game on the Xbox 360, but it declined after Bungie left. Forza Horizon is now probably Xbox's most prominent franchise, but Microsoft never seems to promote it as much as they should, as if they don't even recognize its value. But what about the other exclusives? They all eventually went multiplatform or fizzled out, and Microsoft did nothing to support them.
And that's the key word: support. That's the job of a publisher – to ensure a franchise continues with new entries and enough innovation to keep it fresh. Perhaps spin-offs are also necessary, but who will create them, and will they be relevant compared to the main games?
The Xbox 360 is often seen as the best of the consoles, but I think the quality of the first-party games has been exaggerated over time. The Xbox 360 had many great games, but very few were exclusive to Xbox, and that, I believe, is the root of all their problems.
What's your favorite game on the Xbox 360? Batman: Arkham City? Dark Souls? Mass Effect 2? Bioshock? Skyrim? GTA 5? Call Of Duty 4? Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag? Far Cry 3? None of these had anything to do with Microsoft. In fact, they had Mass Effect 1 as an exclusive and then lost it.
At the time, Microsoft seemed to think they had it all figured out. They were on top, and they assumed they always would be, so they didn't need to make games themselves – they just needed to attract other publishers.
They had Gears Of War as an exclusive, which worked for them. But when they bought the franchise at the end of the Xbox 360 era, it went downhill because the developer changed.
Microsoft had other first-party games on the Xbox 360, but they let them all die off without seeming to care. Kameo, Project Gotham Racing, Perfect Dark, Viva Piñata, Shadowrun, Banjo-Kazooie – none of them made it to the Xbox One. Not even Fable did, and we still don't have a release date for the promised revival.
Microsoft just didn't care or didn't know how to keep any of it going. And when they shot themselves in the foot with the obsession with Kinect, everything fell apart even faster. For years, we've been hearing about incompetent management at Xbox developers, and you don't need insider information to see that – just look at the evidence.
The current state of Halo Studios is proof alone that not only does Microsoft not know what they're doing, but they don't even seem to realize there's a problem.
Next year marks the 25th anniversary of Xbox, but for being around that long, they have a disappointingly small collection of games that are both top sellers and critical hits. In my opinion, this is why Xbox continues to fail so miserably, and now that they have no exclusives, the entire brand is falling apart.
As a concept, Xbox is a hollow entity. Take away the console from Nintendo or Sony, and they still have tons of world-renowned, popular franchises. But take it away from Xbox, and there's practically nothing that anyone cares about. The only thing they had going for them was the cheap Game Pass, and now that's gone as well. It feels like game over for Xbox.
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