Promises Of Days Of Future, Past
THE CHIMERA OF XBOX’S COMEBACK
With the aura of Asha Sharma’s mystique glowing ever so slightly more gently, the promises once heralded by her arrival at the beleaguered video game manufacturer and publisher seem more and more a chimera. While many hail her leadership style, some of us weary travellers are still sceptical of the purported revival at Xbox. Internal nomenclature, wish-lists and the hope of a new console haven’t done much to still the turbulent seas the brand is sailing through. More precisely, Xbox isn’t treading water, its drowning. Drowning men clutch at straws. PR wins via twitter polls aren’t really victories, they are simply the dessert meant to be served at the end of a drawn out war. Sadly, Xbox lost the war yet still feels inclined to throw a victory parade. The brand does not have a present, only a hoped for future and a storied past.
PR wins via twitter polls aren’t really victories, they are simply the dessert meant to be served at the end of a drawn out war.
With the brand in crisis, CEO Asha Sharma is reported to have indicated to current employees that they may be in for a tough spell. One can’t help but wonder if these strategic memo “leaks” are part of a PR strategy. During Danny Bahar’s reign as CEO at Lotus Cars, the brand became infamous for “accidental” marketing emails which contained yet to be revealed secret plans that were always abruptly recalled. This particular strategy to gin up interest and create a marketing buzz was as obvious as it was annoying. Miss Sharma’s “leaked ” memos are drenched in the same stench. They may drum up much internet buzz but have done little to steady the ship at Xbox. At present, the greatest changes at the brand are the price reduction of GamePass subscriptions(albeit with the loss of Call Of Duty on Day One, and still more expensive than prior years), a change from lower case to upper case lettering in the brand name and the retirement of the nonsense “everything is an Xbox campaign.” This being said, Xbox’s website still indicates that everything is an Xbox. For all intents and purposes this cursed campaign still seems to be in effect. Identity isn’t skin deep, it goes right to the core.
The promise of the future is being fuelled by nostalgia yet the past’s reserves are not enough to deliver us the moon.
American pollster YouGov has noted that Miss Sharma’s tenure as CEO has brought much needed positive sentiment around the brand. While an accomplishment in itself, these are just sentiments. Feelings tend to be a fickle thing and one wonders if these feelings will actually translate to a brand revival when the brand itself is offering nothing of substance. Great cheerleaders can get the whole crowd to chant along but if the team is on a losing streak these cheers soon turn into jeers. The current generation of consoles seems to be all but forgotten. There is much talk about future hardware but very little conversation about the existing install base. Project Helix is expected to be a niche offering due to prevailing market conditions and the uncertain pricing of RAM. Naturally, many may choose to hold on to their existing hardware rather than move on to better hardware amidst a challenging economic environment. Microsoft seems ready to move on to the next phase of Xbox with or without the consumers, current and past, who have made the brand what it is. The promise of the future is being fuelled by nostalgia yet the past’s reserves are not enough to deliver us the moon.
Video companion piece here.
Image credits in order of appearance: Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay; Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay