I don't think anyone will take Microsoft's place in the Gaming Industry.

[PhaseJump]

What if Panic took Microsoft's place with a home Playdate and a full-size crank

 

[Dodgykebaab]

I think we're watching the slow death of consoles. At least as we know them.

Like... what even is a console these days? Back in ye olden times, you had to develop for hyper specific custom hardware (arcade games were the epitome of this).

You could quite easliy apply that train of thought to PC's though.

Is a peronal computer a piece of hardware that you type lines of code into anymore or has it evolved into something else?
-------
A console is a type of computer designed to play platform specific software. Always has been, always will be.

 

[medisinn]

I feel like people are conflating them personally not liking newer consoles with those consoles being unpopular in general.

According to VGChartz, as of July 2025 the Switch 2 has sold 7 million and the PS5 78 million, in 2 months and a little under 5 years respectively.

Consoles aren't going anywhere. Are they lacking innovation? Yeah. Is Sony's output lacking this gen? Yep. Is Nintendo getting greedy as hell? Absolutely. These things are still selling though, Xbox excluded.

 

[PhaseJump]

You could quite easliy apply that train of thought to PC's though.

Is a peronal computer a piece of hardware that you type lines of code into anymore or has it evolved into something else?
-------
A console is a type of computer designed to play platform specific software. Always has been, always will be.

That argument comes down to what platform specific even means. Most games are built on game engines and middleware platforms that run portable between standardized, off the shelf, largely cross-compatible hardware options.

Consoles used to take the custom design route and cobble together a benchmark for game publishers to meet. They made their money patenting, controlling, and gate keeping their platform and supply chain around cartridge chips, peripherals, the retail space to sell it all. Copy protection and DRM kept them viable.

Now and further into the future of the open PC market, everybody is racing to the bottom on cost, going with AMD or Nvidia for new graphics, diminishing returns from Moore's law has people needing to upgrade less often, competition on the low end is showing up from powerful embedded processors being in everything from TVs, tablets, to disposable toys. The internet is everywhere, and fast enough to handle streaming to cheaper devices.

Complexity is coming to games and consoles, simplicity is coming to PC ecosystems. Everything is overlapping and making dedicated consoles (and even dedicated gaming PCs to a lesser extent) more irrelevant than ever, and a bigger risk to get into.

PCs stopped the hugely competitive hardware market of the 80s and early 90s, settled into a few standards, arcade boards switched to being PCs in the early 2000s, consoles became slightly customized PCs in the 2010s. Now open PCs are configured and being sold as easy to use, turn-key appliances which negates consoles.

The whole dedicated console monopoly thing could and probably should be demolished by consumer advocates getting governments to mandate cross platform portability for published game software. Like buying a movie on a tape or disc, you aren't locked to 1 hardware vendor for the VCR, DVD or BluRay player.

If there were stronger consumer production and public domain laws around, Nintendo would likely be the only ones going to war over it.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

You could quite easliy apply that train of thought to PC's though.

Is a peronal computer a piece of hardware that you type lines of code into anymore or has it evolved into something else?
-------
A console is a type of computer designed to play platform specific software. Always has been, always will be.

What made consoles convenient was that exclusives were made with that hardware in mind and that most games were plug 'n play (no install, no drivers needed, no patch to make it work properly and no need to find a program if the game is a bit old).

 

[Don Patch]

My thoughts: the next contender is/would be Valve.
Though, they'll probably not compete in a "traditional" console cycle as we [used to] know it. They've a dedicated OS and software ecosystem that can reasonably be slapped onto just whatever.
IMO, MS' wants to do the "STEAM" with the Xbox brand. IE: "you can turn your device into an 'XBOX'".
Streaming is going to be a BIG part of that.

And realistically, it's only a matter of time before a Chinese company of some sort swings into the market as well. Keep your eyes peeled for that.

Edit: peeps keep saying Sega and, as much as I'd love to see that, I don't see it; it's not in their best interest. They make bank throwing their games on everything and they don't have the resources or assets to leverage to design and build competitive hardware. Especially now-a-days.

 

[moonbits]

It's hard to snuggle yourself between Nintendo and Playstation, I think it's fine if we just leave those two. Playstation for enthusiasts, Nintendo for casuals and PC for dorks.

 

[Spyrone]

The Saudi Prince is going to come up with something, give it time.

Everyone will have NEOM in their house in the future. You better learn to sit down to pee, you effeminate westerners. /s