As much of a whirlwind as it has been in gaming land this week, I think that this post will be relatively short. A lot has gone on, but the two biggest things were obviously the layoffs & game cancellations in the XBox division and Helldivers 2, a PlayStation first-party title from an external studio, coming to XBox. There’s a lot that could make gamers feel a certain kind of way. The unfortunate thing is, as usual, these things were used as ammunition in the ongoing platform tribal skirmishes. So I needed some space away in my own training circle, the master’s wheel, to deal with how this personally impacts me as a gamer.
Much has been written and speculated on about the loss of brand equity for both the XBox and PlayStation brands as a result of these events. Were I still in my motif of blogging and commenting on the business-aspects of the industry, I probably would have also. But as I’ve mentioned, I’m retired. Or at least trying to be. So lemme talk about how I feel about this as a gamer who does not have an emotional or ego-based investment in either brand.
For the XBox side, it would not be unexpected to see one have a loss of faith. Expectations of what is coming down the pike. Whether you will get delivered the things that have inspired you to look forward to the upcoming path in gaming.
It hasn’t had that impact on me. While much ink and verbal vomit is spilt in the name of trying to constantly transcribe to prophetical stone tablets what the future of gaming is each week (and then revise what the prophet just chiseled the last week), I am trying to follow a very Buddhist and Taoist path of focusing solely on how I game today. OK, and maybe just a wee bit around the corner; let’s call it into 2027/28, the start of console gen 10.
Xbox Hardware. Now. I have an Xbox Series X. The White all-digital 1TB model. I’m good for the next two years, at least. Do I buy the marketing syrup of anything with an Xbox label on it is an XBox? No. I am in the market for a premium handheld, and so while Valve seems to be in no rush to update the Steam Deck, it might wind up being a Windows handheld gaming PC. The ROG XBox Ally X might fit the bill. But it might also be any other Windows handheld gaming PC with a Ryzen Z2 Extreme. Because I have access to all of my Windows PC games on any Windows handheld gaming PC, including XBox published titles, it doesn’t need the Xbox label for me. It’ll be a matter of specs and price.
XBox Hardware. Future. If the next XBox set-top box is an XboxPC Hybrid a la a TI-99 or Commodore 64, I’ll be in if it gives me access to my Xbox console games.
If not, that will be unfortunate, and I guess that will end my roadway with XBox hardware.
XBox Software. Now and Future. Whenever XBox delivers a game I am interested in, wherever they deliver it, the events of this week will not impact whether or not I go play it. That is not to say that I do not care about the employees laid off. I am keeping that topic separate. It means, if my faith is loosened, that doesn’t really matter when it comes to a good game being delivered. Regardless of any notion of brand equity being impacted this week, I am a gamer. And I will meet good games on their turf when they show up. Because I am a gamer.
PlayStation Hardware. Now. I have a PlayStation 5 Pro. I really enjoy gaming on it. As I keep trying to tell people, the gaming experience, even when it comes to exclusives, is not solely due to the gaming content of the software as a standalone entity. It is inclusive of the controller. The OS. The storefront. The window-pane through which you see your account & digital identity in the gaming space. And on the PlayStation platform, it’s great. [I feel the same way about the Xbox BTW. And the Nintendo Switch 2]. I love hardware. And I love different hardware. It’s great as a lover of hardware & devices that there are devices that are functionally different and offer me that joy in variety and exploration of experiential immersion in gaming ecosystems. I don’t play Helldivers II. I am good on my PS5 Pro for two or three years. Helldivers II being on XBox does not erode any PlayStation brand equity for me.
PlayStation Hardware. Future. You didn’t skip the last paragraph, did you? Good. Then I won’t go over those same justifications as before as to why I’ll be buying a PlayStation 6.
PlayStation Software. My faith has not been shaken that SIE’s primary, critical, and leading focus is on first delivery of software titles isolated to their performance and the delivery of experience to PlayStation hardware. Operational Excellence. And that anything and everything else comes secondary. I also love PlayStation games on PC, as the potential of additional horsepower that a PC gamer might have, and which my systems do have, leads SIE to have their port-studios and partners render experiences that take advantage of that hardware. I will meet good games on their turf wherever they show up. Helldivers II being on XBox does not erode brand equity for me or shift that philosophy. Have the walls of exclusivity come down? We won’t know that for years. We do not know it now. And I do not intend for that to be a hindrance to my awareness and identity of myself as a gamer, whether it has or not.
And there, I think, is the main rub. If your identity as a gamer was not so tightly coupled to these corporations, to these brands, then this week, while you should absolutely have been empathetic to those whose lives and hopes were shattered, should not have been disrupted. If your identity as a gamer was not so tightly coupled to these corporations, then that identity would not shift as these brands to.
You would be anchored and assured of who you are as a gamer, and not as a PlayStation Gamer, or an XBox Gamer. But since so many are, I am afraid that they are relegated to never having clarity, purpose, and peace in gaming beyond who these corporations tell them they are supposed to be.
Rounding Off Infinity 