Benzinga - by Franca Quarneti, Benzinga Staff Writer.
GamesIndustry.biz's Chris Dring shed light on growing concerns within the gaming industry regarding the future of Microsoft Corp's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox consoles.
Dring's insights, shared in the GI Microcast (via Insider Gaming), indicate a prevailing sentiment among developers and publishers: "Xbox’s performance in Europe is just flatlining."
Xbox sales have been steadily declining throughout the past year, with the downward trajectory intensifying in recent months, Dring noted.
During the podcast, Dring recalled a major publisher's disillusionment when it released a major game on Xbox last year and allegedly said: "I don’t know why we bothered supporting it."
Third-party publishers, in particular, are reevaluating their support for Xbox. They're now prioritizing PC and PlayStation 5 platforms, Dring added.
The sentiment expressed by publishers, according to Dring, is: "We're putting a lot of effort into creating an S version or a Series X version of a game when, to be honest, our market is PC and PS5."
Xbox's future as a hardware manufacturer is also under scrutiny. The system's exclusives — Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded — will all be available on other platforms, including main rival Sony Group Corp.'s (NYSE: SONY) PlayStation.
"I think Xbox is in real trouble," Dring said.
While the report primarily focuses on European sales data and perspectives, it remains unclear whether the publishers Dring was referring to operate primarily in Europe or elsewhere.
Microsoft executives, in contrast, are promising a significant hardware advancement for its next console, proclaiming it as the "largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation."
New Xbox hardware can be expected in the fourth quarter, Xbox president Sarah Bond has said.
Read Next: Xbox Promises 'Largest Technical Leap' Yet In Gaming Hardware, Plus: 4 Titles Launching On Other Consoles
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