They might have a point about XBox. Imagine pouring all that R&D into making a shitty console when you're already the company that makes the OS on 72% of the PCs out there. They could license to third parties to their own Steam Machine equivalent with living-room targeted Windows PCs. Then the XBox division becomes software-only which has much larger margins.

Merge the ecosystems and then go all-in on Gamepass and the storefront. They're already competing with Steam, Epic, Sony, and Nintendo - why not fight a war on only one front by making the idea of a "console" obsolete and annihilating the PlayStation brand? Let Nintendo have whatever's left of the console space after that. Nintendo's carved out their own, very well defended, niche. MS was never getting that business anyway. Not to mention the console business is getting fucked at the low end by mobile.

I guarantee you the business guys have at least considered it. Business guys love outsourcing HW and focusing on those juicy SW margins.

They might have a point about XBox. Imagine pouring all that R&D into making a shitty console when you're already the company that makes the OS on 72% of the PCs out there. They could license to third parties to their own Steam Machine equivalent with living-room targeted Windows PCs. Then the XBox division becomes software-only which has much larger margins.

Merge the ecosystems and then go all-in on Gamepass and the storefront. They're already competing with Steam, Epic, Sony, and Nintendo - why not fight a war on only one front by making the idea of a "console" obsolete and annihilating the PlayStation brand? Let Nintendo have whatever's left of the console space after that. Nintendo's carved out their own, very well defended, niche. MS was never getting that business anyway. Not to mention the console business is getting fucked at the low end by mobile.