Well, I still think that what we're seeing is a result of Microsoft initially having decided to exit the console hardware market. Years ago they started shedding development teams which looked to me to be a signal that they were NOT going to wait around with endlessly deep pockets throwing money into the console race. I believe they had decided or almost decided at that point, to concentrate on gaming as a service and stick to the software game, where Microsoft has often been wildly successful. This changed about two years ago when they started acquiring developers again. I believe that someone had won an internal battle at that time (maybe Phil?) and convinced company management that hardware dreams weren't dead. But...they didn't TOTALLY win the argument. So they 'split the baby.'
So what we have is Microsoft going after their "Xbox as a platform" software only strategy. That is why the focus has been on games that will run on XSX, XB1 and even mobile. This is cool for gamers, IMHO by the way as buying one copy of a game and run it on your new XSX, let the kids run the same copy on the 'hand me down' XB1 and then let you run the same game on your phone while at work (on break of course!
). So that is Microsofts master and main plan right now, make no mistake about it. I believe they will push Game Pass much harder and eventually start offering that via other gaming platforms once they exit the hardware arena.
On the other hand, they had plans for a very powerful hardware console. So they went ahead and finished the design and released it. This whole decision on whether to exit hardware or not, again, IMO only, is the probable reason that it has been reported that MS was behind on dev kits. I believe they had the XSX design finished and had progressed to a point but put it on hold until they decided to go ahead with the release again. So the design was done (no last minute rush jobs) but they were behind in the testing and hardware iteration game by just a little bit. So again, they've decided to go ahead and release the XSX. BUT, their focus is still and CLEARLY on the games as a service "Xbox as a platform" model and NOT on hardware. They had another problem as well, that we're seeing now. Because they had decided to exit the hardware business (maybe even the gaming market itself?) they had shed many of their development houses, even the crown jewel of Bungie. They started re-acquiring as previously mentioned, but many of those teams just got brough on board a year or two ago. So they are not in a position to have XSX specific titles ready for launch. In fact, they may not have any, or at least very few, until 2022 or so. For this reason, they are continuing to double down on the "Xbox as a platform" model.
Look, Microsoft has a great piece of hardware coming out. It's very capable. But because they waffled in the decision making, it is behind the curve as far as software. That's ok with MS. They basically at this point want to sell units to their loyal base and use the XSX to gin up excitement about xCloud and GamePass. I believe this is because their cloud technology will allow them to stream games as a service to ANY platform in the future...perhaps even Playstation.
So all my opinion and conjecture, obviously, but I think there's some solid reasons to believe this is the case. Microsoft knows what they're doing, so them not having software to show on their supposedly flagship product and other issues we've seen has to have SOME cause and I don't think it's likely to be the result of just Microsoft being stupid or making huge mistakes. I think it's evidence of a shift in strategy and a TOTAL shift that for some reason they re-thought down the line. If the XSX is wildly successful, I think they would probably re-think this again and STAY in the hardware market. But if it sells like XB1, I think they will use this as their last hardware generation and use it to transition to a software only model.
Time will tell.
