Xbox Consoles Future Is in Discussion, Former Xbox Boss Says; First-Party and Third-Party Distinction May Disappear

Microsoft is likely debating the future of Xbox consoles, as the market is rapidly changing, making launching new hardware more difficult and expensive, according to Xbox and EA's former boss.

Speaking in a lengthy interview with IGN, Peter Moore, who was the SEGA of America president back in the early 2000s, the vice-president of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft until 2007, and EA's chief operating officer until 2017, talked about the future of consoles saying that the challenge consoles are facing right now is the competition of other "plug and play" forms of entertainment. This is a concern that the industry has had for a long time, as even back in 2007, there were talks about the console generation of the time to be the last. Now that entertainment is no longer confined to a living room due to smart devices, consoles are facing additional challenges as well.

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According to the former Xbox executive, Microsoft is definitely discussing the future of its consoles, but so are Sony and Nintendo, as these discussions always happen when a new console generation is about to start since companies need to be ready to absorb billions of dollars in losses. The company that will set the trend for the future, Moore says, it's Sony, as it is "very much a hardware company". Microsoft, not so much as Moore is sure the company would love to move everything on the cloud. As such, while discussing the future of the console business, companies are also asking themselves what a new console generation could deliver compared to the previous, ways to extend the current generation, and how AI can help game development. Speaking specifically about Microsoft and Xbox consoles, Peter Moore is certain that Phil Spencer and Satya Nadella are discussing what the future looks like for the company with and without hardware.

One thing that Peter Moore feels will disappear is the