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It's been a wild few weeks for Xbox fans, from Phil Spencer's departure after almost 40 years to yesterday's reveal of the mysterious Project Helix – but hopefully, it's the mark of a bright future for Microsoft's gaming division.
If it's not, and Project Helix fails, there might not be any future Xbox hardware at all anymore – or so analyst Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO and founder of Japanese game industry consultancy Kantan Games, thinks.
Speaking with GamesRadar+ following the announcement of Project Helix, he first explains what he believes Microsoft's end goal is. "This might be Microsoft's last attempt to make their hardware business work," says Toto.
"I believe there is nobody in this industry who believes there will be another Xbox if this next machine fails." The success of Project Helix is, then, crucial to the future of Xbox in its entirety, according to Toto.
A good launch is no easy feat, either, considering competition like the upcoming Steam Machine – Valve's own answer to the whole console versus PC debate, a unique blend of both… something Xbox will need to outperform.
"Project Helix must absolutely give Xbox fans a reason to buy it over the Steam Machine, and better and broader native support of Xbox games is the only way," as Toto puts it.
"With its 'Everything is an Xbox' strategy, Microsoft has been walking on thin ice for a long time now, so the onus is now on them to come up with a fresh approach to selling its hardware." I suppose it makes sense – the market is admittedly brutal.
Toto then comments on Asha Sharma, the new CEO of Xbox – a lead that has no background in games, but rather AI.
"My expectation is that Sharma will scrap said strategy rather sooner than later and try to muscle her way back into the hardware business one more time," Toto states. He also says of the Xbox boss, "I believe she is right by hinting Xbox must be rebuilt from the ground up." That's one heck of a hurdle to overcome, if you ask me.
Only time will tell how Xbox Project Helix unfolds – it is apparently "the return of Xbox," after all. Regardless of what happens, though, it's hard to argue that it won't be paramount to the overall future of Microsoft's gaming brand.
