The Marionette

ASHA SHARMA’S ATTEMPTED RESURRECTION OF MICROSOFT’S XBOX BRAND

With the recent leadership shake up at Microsoft’s Xbox division, gamers have been hopeful for a return to form for the beleaguered brand. Sadly, it turns out that when everything is an Xbox, nothing really is. As welcome as change may be at the once all powerful brand, it doesn’t come without its challenges and along with it the heavy burden of expectation. An almost unfair tax imposed punitively by both end consumers and the company’s shareholders. Many a gamer remain sceptical of Microsoft’s plans for Xbox. Mixed messaging from prior leadership heavily altered Microsoft’s flight plans and manifest plunging the brand into an uncontrollable tail spin. Lofty CoPilot ambitions, now with clipped wings, may soon become an albatross to the company’s mainline operating system. With the reaffirmation this past week of the intention to saddle current generation gaming hardware with the “A.I.” tool, the future for Xbox remains bleak at best.

Mixed messaging from prior leadership heavily altered Microsoft’s flight plans and manifest plunging the brand into an uncontrollable tail spin.

With the unveiling of Xbox Project Helix, one can’t help but wonder if Microsoft is attempting to hawk another unwanted product to unsuspecting consumers. While the new CEO’s messaging is hitting all the right notes, the brand’s actions are off key. Who is the target audience for this piece of hardware? Console gamers prefer consoles as they are unshackled from computer operating systems which often come with idiosyncrasies. It does seem that most want a plug and play machine similar to past Xbox offerings. Valve Corporation has attempted what Microsoft is only now proposing via the Steam Deck and upcoming Steam Machine but with somewhat mixed results and some degree of compromise. Will Microsoft be able to resist its worst urges to turn their new hardware into another CoPilot device? Another semi-portable at home vending machine for the now infamous “#Microslop.”

While healthy skepticism is warranted, Asha Sharma’s past accomplishments raise more eyebrows than calm the frayed nerves of traumatised Xbox gamers. Her first order of business has been to reassure a fractured Xbox consumer base of a return to basics for the gaming company. As honest as her intentions may be, it might be too late to turn back the dial of destiny. The die cast by Phil Spencer and his former cohorts seems to have secured handsome winnings at the back end of consumers appetites for their products. Xbox’s fate may already be sealed with Miss Sharma simply playing the part of a mortician beautifying the corpse for burial. This is no longer a race to find a cure for a debilitating disease. Miss Sharma and Mr. Nadella have been turned necromancers and are attempting a resurrection. Sadly, even if somewhat successful, any flutter of life may be snuffed out by the thugs of corporate expectations standing guard at the catacombs. Xbox consoles are already priced out of the market and the failure to immediately reverse this or at least attempt to mitigate the damage done by the price hikes betrays the company’s true intentions. It seems that they have already abandoned their current install base and are making all haste to have their next console-PC hybrid launched. This is akin to abandoning one’s children in middle school because the latest addition to the family is about to pop out.

Offering an enticing performance to the present audience while in reality being manoeuvred by puppet masters in the shadows.

Leadership at Microsoft seems heavily pregnant with expectation. Perhaps a shared belief that they will simply have a clean cut from the current generation of equipment. A clean slate on which to launch a new generation from. Sadly, this may prove harder to accomplish in practice than it is in boardroom meetings and on corporate spreadsheets. Consumers have long memories. Orphaning their current crop of kids in pursuit of future progeny will leave a bad taste in their mouth. This will neither be forgiven nor forgotten. While the new CEO does seem to be highly independent, a heavy cloud of suspicion clings to her as she may be naught more than a marionette. A ballerina tied up by corporate strings. Offering an enticing performance to the present audience while in reality being manoeuvred by puppet masters in the shadows. Playing the part but as soon as the curtains draw to a close sinking the dagger of betrayal deeper into the still writhing corpse of Xbox. Resurrecting the body to suck out as much knowledge as possible for each new performance before permanently shutting the lid on the casket. Ultimately, Project Helix may prove to be another wooden box. Full of broken promises but bereft of any meaning or life. A toy to be discarded by its corporate owners once it has outlived its utility.

Video companion piece here and here.

Image credits in order of appearance: Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay; Image by Sunrise from Pixabay