Competition between gaming companies has always lead to some interesting situations in the game industry. Now, Xbox Boss Phil Spencer has stated that Amazon and Google are Microsoft's real competition for the future, mostly due to the industry's steady shift to cloud gaming services. It may prove to be a divisive statement now, though Spencer's reasoning does make sense.
"When you talk about Nintendo and Sony, we have a ton of respect for them," Spencer stated, "but we see Amazon and Google as the main competitors going forward." Spencer went on to explain that traditional gaming companies are "out of position" due to them not holding any cutting-edge cloud software- software that will become increasingly important in the future. xCloud, Microsoft's streaming platform, will be a major part of Microsoft's vision moving forward. That vision just isn't all that aligned with what traditional gaming companies are currently doing.
Ultimately, Microsoft sees itself as Netflix for games. Google and Amazon are both working on cloud gaming platforms, putting them in better positions to compete with Microsoft for that title in the future. "Amazon and Google are focusing on how to get gaming to 7 billion people around the world. Ultimately, that's the goal," Spencer elaborated. It isn't a radical shift for Microsoft. While Xbox makes up a pretty sizeable chunk of the company's business, it is still a technology company first and foremost.
Spencer elaborated that his statement wasn't meant to "disrespect" Sony or Nintendo, but the playing field is changing. Microsoft has maintained a fairly open relationship with Sony and Nintendo, being a driving force in allowing crossplay between the competing systems. However, Microsoft is in an interesting position. The Xbox One has been unable to compete with PS4 sales, and it's believed that the Nintendo Switch, released several years after the Xbox One, may have surpassed the Xbox One's estimated sales too.
Microsoft's positioning for the future is fairly comfortable, but at present, the ground is a bit shakier. The Xbox One hasn't been a failure by any means, but it's struggled to stay competitive with the other traditional consoles. Considering that Microsoft is declaring Google, and by extension Stadia, a main competitor, it may leave some gamers scratching their heads, especially considering Stadia's troubled launch.
Microsoft will undoubtedly have some major shifts during the next console generation. With the Xbox Series X on the horizon, the future of the Xbox brand is somewhat unclear. There will likely be some big changes to Xbox's philosophy in the coming years, changes that may rock the foundation of the games industry. Many Xbox Series X features are still a mystery, but the system may wind up being more cloud-capable than fans initially thought.
The Xbox Series X is slated to release this fall.
Source: Protocol