Microsoft May Abandon Xbox Console Sales in EMEA, Focus on GamePass and More

TapTechNews July 12th, The Verge, a tech media, released a blog post today (July 12th), reporting that Microsoft is internally considering giving up selling Xbox game consoles in the EMEA (a collective term for Europe, the Middle East and Africa) market, and will only focus on selling GamePass, controllers and its cloud functions in the future.

Previously in its promotion, Microsoft stated that players do not need an Xbox game handheld to use the Xbox service and play Xbox games, and many Xbox first-release games will also be released on the PC platform.

At the same time, they also promote their GamePass subscription and offer a large number of discounts for new users. Sources revealed that Microsoft has internally decided to adjust the focus of future game promotion and release, and no longer rely heavily on the Xbox game console.

TapTechNews reported in March that Chris Dring, the site owner of the game website GamesIndustry.biz, recently revealed in a live broadcast that the atmosphere felt when attending the Game Developer's Conference held last week was that more and more publishers dislike the Microsoft Xbox platform.

Before this news was exposed, Microsoft also announced that it will increase the subscription price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from September 12th, and at the same time launch a new standard subscription service (not promising first-party Xbox games at the first release), which is just over a year since the last price increase.