A Warrior Poet
ASHA SHARMA’S ONE HUNDRED DAY WAR
Coming off the back of a rather successful June showcase, Xbox seemed poised to conquer the high seas. The rallying call of Gears of War: E-Day’s exclusivity the battle cry steadying and reassuring the troops that all was not lost. With the wind back in its sails, the horizon where heaven meets the waters was firmly in sight. A playground soon to be conquered. Then came the morning after. The realities of war shattered the fable. A business in disarray and on the brink of disaster. A brand tarnished with failure after failure and an uncertain future. Miss Sharma’s and Mr. Booty’s memo to Xbox employees bore some rather hard and weighty truths. Xbox is the site of an industrial accident of cataclysmic proportions. Meagre profits cannibalised by failed launches, an untenable hardware business and a dwindling consumer base threaten to capsize the entire operation. Much ballast will have to be cast overboard and some of the crew will be forced to abandon ship. As captain, Xbox’s CEO faces a nigh on impossible task. Yet, she must battle on. In business having to make unpleasant calls, on paper, having to soothe many an employee whose future seems uncertain at best. Wittingly or unwittingly, she now bears the mantle of the Warrior Poet.
Much ballast will have to be cast overboard and some of the crew will be forced to abandon ship.
While some have been quick to criticise Asha Sharma’s one hundred day plan to revitalise the Xbox brand and business as merely corporate America’s quarterly chase, it is clear that this will be an uphill battle. With the current state of affairs, its a small wonder Xbox’s next ten days are guaranteed. Three percent profit margins are unsustainable for a business of such magnitude. Contrary to the desires of many for console manufacturers to keep on eating losses, financial malnourishment never leads to good company health. This isn’t corporate greed. Its the reality of business. Microsoft could have taken the money invested in Xbox and simply deposited it in interest bearing bank accounts and could have been able to make meaningful profit. About double that three percent margin. Of course, Xbox isn’t simply a business. Its part of humanity’s heritage. Here various forms of art and tech advancement intermarried. The offspring of this union the wonderful creative works born out of Xbox Game Studios. Sadly, this means survival at any cost.
Xbox leadership seems to have gone all in on the next generation of hardware. Sadly, they keep overlooking their existing clientele. Apart from cosmetic changes to menu items very little is being discussed about current generation hardware, which, in spite of the significant price hike is reportedly being sold at significant losses per unit. With the delay of the Steam Machine and its uncertain pricing, Xbox may have a window of opportunity to retake the lead in the console space and home market. Of course, sailing on a sea of thieves means battling wars on every front. In my estimate, Valve could still steal Microsoft’s thunder if pricing works out in favour of the privately owner corporation. However, the recent price hikes to their existing handheld console lineup make this all but impossible. Fortunately, the effects of the RAM crisis aren’t unique to Xbox.
The offspring of this union the wonderful creative works born out of Xbox Game Studios.
Miss Sharma has set herself and her team a one hundred day deadline to turn the ship around. This won’t necessarily be a sprint to the finish line. We may have a massacre or two along the way with a bloodbath the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the last video game crash. Daunting as this task may be, it is necessary. We can only hope that from the ashes of this war arises a phoenix with wings ready take flight. Blazing a bright line across the horizon marking a painful yet much needed victory. Not just for Microsoft but for the industry at large and for us gamers as the consumers.
Video companion piece here.
Image credits in order of appearance: Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay; Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay