Xbox Refocuses PC Game Strategy

The introduction of the Xbox gaming console has influenced Microsoft’s PC game strategy—the company needs to promote Xbox sales by creating exclusive titles, without sacrificing revenues in the lucrative and still-growing PC gaming market. To walk this fine line, Microsoft will develop exclusive titles for each platform, based on the platforms’ core audiences. However, to maximize returns it will occasionally port popular Xbox games, such as Halo, to the PC platform after sales of the Xbox version have peaked.

PC Market Still Strong

Microsoft and its gaming subsidiaries, such as Bungie Software and Ensemble Studios, develop games for both Xbox and the PC. This presents a quandary. On one hand, Microsoft does not want to cannibalize Xbox sales by creating titles for both platforms simultaneously. Otherwise, gamers who already own a PC might see little reason to buy an Xbox, contributing to a possible “death spiral” in which a low installed base and lack of third-party games for the platform reinforce each other and the console fails in the market.