Techrights
XBox Sales Collapsed, XBox Cannot Survive
Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 18, 2025
Last week: 2026 Could Very Well be Last Year of XBox, Microsoft Dropped the Ball
Today [1,2]:
What might happen next: It Looks Like Microsoft is Really Abandoning XBox (the Brand "XBox" Means Just an Online "Games Store" or Streaming)
The brand "XBox" might not die, but the project or the product (or line of products) will. Microsoft will then recycle the brand to refer to something else completely. We saw this before, e.g. with "Surface".
Consider the latest news about layoffs (many in XBox already brace for another massive wave with a belated unionisation drive).
2026 might be the last year of XBox consoles. Already, in 2025, many major retailers have stopped stocking these.
GAFAM in general is having a terrible month [3] and Apple too has mass layoffs, aside from a mass exodus of executives. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
- 1
Xbox Series sales down -70% in US as Microsoft teases new Xbox PC hybrid
November 2025 saw the worst US console sales in 20 years, with Xbox Series sales dropping 70% year-over-year amid economic pressures and production cuts. Rumors of a next-gen Xbox PC hybrid system, aiming for higher profit margins, may be causing consumers to delay purchases ahead of a 2026 announcement.The recent reports of an incoming Xbox PC hybrid system may be affecting current-gen Xbox console sales, at least in the United States.
- 2
Forza Motorsport Developer Says Servers Will Remain Online, But Don't Expect Any More Cars, Tracks, Features or Regular Bug Fixes Following Layoffs [Ed: Death by Microsoft]
Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios has confirmed the end of new content development for the game, following layoffs at the company this summer.
- 3
Amazon announces biggest ever layoffs at its European headquarters; these employees affected the most
Amazon will cut 370 jobs at its European headquarters in Luxembourg in the coming weeks, marking the company's largest-ever workforce reduction at the facility. The layoffs represent about 8.5% of the 4,370 employees based there and follow the tech giant's October announcement of 14,000 global job cuts amid its push toward artificial intelligence.