Xbox is looking at ‘very different’ business models

The RAMmageddon problems have caused Microsoft to rethink its Xbox console hardware business. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball both revealed this week that Microsoft is reviewing plans for the next-generation Project Helix and is evaluating “very different” businesses for now.

“We’re working hard to rethink everything we can about Helix, which is the service we’re committed to delivering, and we’re very aware of the ways we need to change as a company to make sure it’s affordable, to make sure it’s flexible,” said Ball in an interview with. Game Business earlier this week.

Microsoft’s former Xbox president Sarah Bond he explained Its next-generation Xbox as “the most important, most stable” in October, before the problems with memory and storage. Sharma is now looking for ways to manage the RAMageddon crisis, with a focus on current and next-generation Xbox purchases.

“On hardware, we’re in trouble right now, the whole industry is,” Sharma said in an interview and Chance. While the cost of memory and storage continues to rise, Xbox is looking at different ways to deal with the cost issue. “We have to think about other ways of thinking about the cost of building a console. We have to think about how we make different plans, so that more people can participate in the console,” says Sharma. “We need to think about a partnership that will allow us to better distribute and reach.”

Microsoft is now looking at new business models for consoles, and “what it takes to be a console instead of just being the best, the best in the world,” Sharma said. “I think we’ve gotten to the point where it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that a large audience could find thousands of dollars to spend on a console generation, so I think we’re going to start seeing a lot of different businesses that we didn’t expect starting to come in at the end of this year.”

Microsoft has a lot of options, especially if it’s developing more partnerships. In the past, the company bundled Xbox devices with Game Pass subscriptions, creating a simple way for players to pay the cost of a new console over 24 months. Xbox All Access it was quietly abandoned last year, after many retailers pulled out of the program. It’s possible Microsoft could launch something similar, if it’s ready to subsidize Xbox to tempt consumers to sign up.

Sharma also joked that Microsoft plans to “do a lot more this summer” with Xbox Game Pass “to create a flexible offering” for the subscription service. One of Sharma’s biggest changes for Xbox was cost reduction of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in April. Microsoft as well joined Discord last month to get a free “Starter Edition” of Xbox Game Pass with a Nitro subscription.

Microsoft may also be looking at more advertising options for Xbox. The company has been working on a a free version of Xbox Cloud Gaming for over a year now, and it has already been confirmed it was on trial in October. While this will help Microsoft attract consumers who don’t want to buy more expensive gaming devices, it’s not that different from what’s available today.

It can be very different things like Tellya startup that gives you free TV in exchange for watching ads. A very different version could also indicate Microsoft allowing others to make Xboxes. Microsoft has already been looking at this with its Asus-branded Xbox hardware, and the next Xbox, called Project Helix, could go one step further. Microsoft has already said that this will end a hybrid version of console and PCand if other PC OEMs can make Xbox accessories AMD’s latest chips it can be helpful in affordability.

Both Sharma and Ball said that the next Xbox should also be flexible. “I think we need to think very differently about preservation and memory moving forward,” says Sharma. “We have to use new methods, to be able to push. We will empower customers to have more flexible storage. We will have to empower new types of games, to be able to fit on the device, so there will be a lot of new information. This will take years, not days, not weeks, but we will go through it together with the community.”

Reading between the lines, it looks like Microsoft is looking to ensure that Project Helix owners can add storage space without expensive solutions like Xbox expansion cards available on the Xbox Series S / X. Sony chose the default M.2 SSD for additional storage on the PS5, and while it wasn’t as user-friendly as just plugging in an Xbox card, it was very affordable for PS5 owners.

There’s no quick fix for Microsoft’s Xbox pricing, but it’s not an easy story for other companies to navigate. We’ve seen it before PS5 sales go down when the price goes upand Valve raised Steam Deck prices and more than $200 last month. All eyes are now on Valve’s pricing on its Steam Machine this summerwhich could indicate price control for Xbox and PlayStation.