Gab Hernandez 
It’s been a rough year for Xbox fans but Microsoft is now making moves that suggest the black and green consoles are dying.
Microsoft’s gaming division saw multiple major changes happen almost simultaneously. In late 2023, Microsoft finalized its acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, giving the company ownership of the Call of Duty franchise, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush Saga, Overwatch, and many more. Around the same time, Microsoft began firing key figures in its hardware division.
In early 2024, the company announced the layoffs of 1,900 staff members across its gaming division. The cuts didn’t stop there, as beloved studios like Tango Gameworks were closed up and games like Redfall canceled DLC that players already paid for. In between all of this, Xbox leadership confirmed plans to start publishing first-party exclusives onto PlayStation and Nintendo hardware.
The June 2024 Xbox Games Showcase gave fans a glimmer of hope with several major first-party exclusives being shown off including action RPG Avowed, the resurrection of Perfect Dark, and many more. But now, changes to Microsoft’s business strategies for the Xbox might foretell the console’s death.
Microsoft reportedly ending Xbox marketing efforts in Europe, other regions
The latest sign of Xbox dying is the potential sunsetting of marketing efforts for consoles across Europe and other regions.
Per a report from The Verge, Microsoft may make the move to focus all its efforts on pushing Xbox Game Pass, controllers, and its PC releases. They cite sources that say Microsoft’s console sales in the region have been bad enough to warrant ceasing efforts entirely.
Per Video Games Europe, Xbox Series X/S sales dropped by 47% in Europe between February 2023 and February 2024. Xbox has a small presence in the EMEA region compared with Sony and Nintendo.
In Southeast Asia, Xbox faces a similar problem. Xbox consoles aren’t distributed in most countries and most need a foreign credit card to even sign up for Game Pass. Xbox has also once again thrown its hands up when it comes to Japan, closing its last remaining Japanese studio.
If Microsoft steps away from Europe entirely, it will walk away from many of the top video game markets in the world.
Though the Xbox brand may not be dying, Microsoft is demonstrating a pattern of apathy for the Xbox console.
Even so, Microsoft still has plans for the Xbox’s hardware division. Warren’s source claims Microsoft will continue to market Xbox controllers. The FTC documents from the Activision-Blizzard hearing revealed plans for a handheld Xbox console within the decade. Still, plans change all the time in today’s hectic gaming landscape. The Xbox console’s future remains murky, but a pattern is taking shape.
