It’s been a rough, unsteady console generation for Xbox, but the company has a product showcase for our perusal later this week.
Microsoft’s gaming brand announced a new Partner Showcase livestream on this morning, slated to take place on Thursday, March 26 at 1 p.m. ET. You can watch the stream on YouTube or Twitch at that time.
Xbox was very clear to point out that first-party Xbox Game Studios productions will not be the focus here, as it will instead center around upcoming third-party releases. These include RGG Studio’s Stranger Than Heaven, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, and something new for the already-released Stalker 2.
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While it’s normal for game companies to periodically show us their wares in this fashion, the timing is a big part of why this Xbox partner stream is interesting. Just last month, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer and president Sarah Bond both simultaneously left the company. Spencer’s exit wasn’t terribly surprising, given the tough position Xbox found itself in under his leadership, but Bond hitting the ejector seat rather than stepping into Spencer’s shoes was a big deal. Instead, Microsoft put former AI executive Asha Sharma in charge of Xbox.
Those leadership changes came after a years-long spiral that has resulted in Xbox being in a pretty tough place, financially and in terms of reputation. Big acquisitions of brands like Bethesda and Activision Blizzard have not resulted in a higher output of quality first-party games as some hoped they would, while Xbox Series hardware has lagged behind the competition. There’s also the matter of Xbox being a priority target for the BDS movement thanks to Microsoft’s work with the Israeli military; speaking anecdotally, many people I know have stopped playing Xbox games because of this. Xbox has unveiled some very vague plans about its next console, but that hasn’t stopped the bleeding on its own.
If nothing else, it will be interesting to see if Xbox’s marketing changes at all under the new leadership team. We can all find out together on Thursday afternoon.
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