Microsoft finally reveals details regarding the Xbox sales and it shows positive progress for the company. In the month of June, the Xbox One doubled in sales, likely due to the new $399 kinect-less version of the console.
And while the price-tag of the new model is an attractive feature, something even greater is drawing more people to Xbox One; something that they weren’t able to convey during their initial release.
For the first time, the Xbox One has a clear definable direction and identity.
Since the departure of Dom Mattrick and the arrival of the “X-Boss” Phil Spencer, Microsoft has developed a prime focus on gaming and the advantages that their console can bring to consumers.
While what Dom Mattrick originally envisioned for the console was quickly shot down, Phil Spencer’s clarity in his message has been extremely well-received. It may not even be the message itself being better, but his ability to showcase his plans clearly is what is helping the new-found management flourish.
Now, with multi-tasking, social gaming, cloud computing, a variety of different games, and Games with Gold, the console attempts to cater to every type of gamer.
The choice of games available is particularly interesting. Games like Project Spark open up the console to the creative minds and games like Quantum Break open it to the action-drama lovers.
And of course you have the oddball game, Sunset Overdrive, as it goes completely against the typical development plan most triple-A titles. With zero focus on being “realistic” and a keen enjoyment of the absurd potential in fictional worlds.
These choices help those who don’t like the typical run-and-shoot FPSs (like Battlefield and Call of Duty) find the library of Xbox games extremely attractive, while also maintaining support from the core gamers who do appreciate the typical FPSs.
Beyond their new-found intrinsic focus on gaming, the Xbox One’s consistent updates and response to community feedback are also giving it community support. Their latest update expands Xbox One Guide support to additional countries, and the release of the Xbox One in even more markets later this year are sure to boost sales as well.
Combine this new positive direction with the best franchise in Xbox’s history returning, the Xbox One has an opportunity to take a massive jump in popularity by the end of this year.
[…] decided to remove the Kinect from Xbox One packages. And it has worked — for the most part. Sales have doubled for the next-gen console, after an impressive showing at E3 2014, which honed in on a specific direction: […]
With all these new sales are going to come all the people (like me) who are going to complain about the terrible UI for the Xbox One. Since the UI was designed to be navigated by voice, and not by a controller, using a controller fucking sucks to navigate it. Since Kinect is now clearly (finally) no longer the focus of the Xbox One, improvements are going to be needed for the UI to make it more navigable by controller instead of voice. Please hurry up with that.
It’s decent right now, but yeah, a controller-only experience needs to be more streamlined. I’m confident they’ll address it soon considering consistently they’ve been pushing out updates
Uh…what. I fail to see how the UI is “voice focused”. I can navigate it just fine with a controller. From what I can tell, from the various discussions from sites and forums since the launch of the xbox one, everyone seems to like the UI.
asd