Ex-PlayStation boss believes that Microsoft could stop making Xbox consoles

The former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has theorised that Microsoft could stop making Xbox consoles and focus on software instead.

Microsoft could stop making Xbox consoles, according to former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden.

The former console chief believes that Microsoft is at a “fork in the road” in terms of making consoles and could end up replicating Sega by turning its attention to software.

Layden told Gl.biz: “Watching what Xbox has been doing recently, I do get Dreamcast flashbacks.

“I think Sega realised they were just better off being a software house. I think Microsoft is in that same sort of fork in the road. And I don’t think their hardware offering is persuasive enough to make up the ground they’ve lost.”

Microsoft leaving the console business would be an unexpected move given that the company has recently signed a multi-year deal with AMD for future hardware.

Xbox president Sarah Bond said: “(Microsoft and AMD will work together to) co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices, including our next-generation Xbox consoles. In your living room and in your hands.”

Bond has previously spoken about how next-gen Xbox hardware will focus on “delivering the biggest technological leap ever in a generation” and some have speculated that Microsoft’s next console will be more like a gaming PC.

However, Layden hopes to see a form of standardisation for consoles in the future that can help the total market for console gaming to grow.

He said: “Can’t we look at the game console business kind of like Blu-ray, or cassette, or compact disc, or any other medium where the industry decided we’ll compete on content, but let’s standardise on format?

“And then let’s take that format and licence it out to everybody who wants to support it. That’s what stops the penetration rate of console gaming, I think.”

Although there is no indication that Microsoft will stop making consoles, the company has changed its strategy in recent times as it is bringing its games to rival platforms such as PS5 and Nintendo Switch in an attempt to generate more revenue.