Ex-Blizzard Boss Believes Consoles Will 'Never Die'

Summary

Blizzard ex-president Mike Ybarra believes that the narrative around consoles being in a death spiral is misplaced, and that consoles will "never die."
He reckons that "those losing" in the console space spread this narrative, which appears to be an indirect jab at Xbox.
Amid Microsoft's multiplatform efforts, Ybarra suggests Sony should focus on exclusivity to further solidify the PS5's position as the de facto current-generation console.

Former Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Ybarra recently reaffirmed his belief in the console market, stating that "those losing" in the space perpetuate a false narrative of consoles being a dying breed. Ybarra departed Blizzard earlier this year after the publisher was acquired by Microsoft in 2023, and his comments do seem to be throwing some shade at the platform holder.

Console manufacturers have historically taken a loss on hardware to offer competitive prices, and made up the difference from software sales down the line. This practice remained consistent when Sony and Microsoft launched the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S respectively back in 2020. Sony later announced that the PS5's disc edition broke even in June 2021, which meant sales of those specific variants no longer recorded a loss. However, things haven't been going that great for Microsoft, as the Xbox Series X/S consoles continue to sell at a very sluggish pace despite the numerous studios and publishers the company has acquired.

Xbox Console Sales Are Way Down

Xbox console sales are down for the second fiscal quarter in a row, marking a continuing downward trend for Xbox hardware amid a shift in focus.

Posts

By J Brodie Shirey

In fact, Microsoft stopped announcing Xbox sales numbers altogether a long time ago. This underwhelming commercial performance, combined with factors like PlayStation's expanding presence on PC, has fed a notion among many in the games industry that the console market is in a downward spiral. Interestingly, former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra disagrees with these concerns, as he opined that "consoles will never die" in a recent Twitter thread. Ybarra even made a thinly-veiled jab at Xbox, claiming that the "losing" entities in the console market propagate the narrative of it being a diminishing prospect.

Former Xbox Exec Mike Ybarra Reckons Sony Should "Double Down" on Exclusivity

Ybarra's insight into the console space is noteworthy, as he departed Microsoft as Xbox's corporate vice president in 2019 after working at the company for 20 years. In another tweet further up the thread, Ybarra stated that the only way to gain market share as a console manufacturer is to offer compelling "exclusive hits," and that Sony is adept both at producing successful games and picking third-party exclusives that turn out successful. He also said that amid Microsoft's escalating multiplatform push, Sony should "double down" on exclusivity to further establish the PS5 as the leading current-generation console.

Supply chain shortages, price hikes, and cross-generation games have undoubtedly made this console generation more tumultuous than the last, but aside from the glacial sales pace of Xbox Series X/S, there isn't much to suggest that the larger console market is nearing its demise. The PS5 and Nintendo Switch continue to record strong sales, and even Microsoft has confirmed that work is underway on a next-generation Xbox console. For now, the future of the console market appears safe.

Image