A new report suggested that Xbox plans to double down on exclusive games, as Microsoft explores paths to grow its ecosystem.

This week, Microsoft begun processes to eliminate 3,200 roles from its Xbox gaming division, with hundreds already laid off or leaving in divested studios. In a report in Bloomberg outlying what went wrong at Xbox, we potentially caught a glimpse at how Microsoft's thoughts are evolving around its gaming ecosystem.

At the Xbox Showcase, CEO Asha Sharma outlined plans to make Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution fully exclusive to Xbox consoles. Bloomberg suggests Microsoft is looking to add even more exclusive games to its lineup potentially, which echoes comments execs made to me at Summer Game Fest in LA last June.

Much like Xbox's "it's only four games" statement about going multiplatform previously, the "it's only two games" mantra applies here in reverse. Microsoft is looking at making even tentpole single player games, historically multiplatform, exclusive to Xbox hardware (at least on console.) Could this mean we eventually see the next mainline Fallout and Elder Scrolls go exclusive to console on Xbox?

Reaching the biggest possible audiences has been the best margin play Xbox has had in recent years. Microsoft was previously driving Xbox to chase a 30% profit margin, and an easy way to do that is sell software wherever you can. However, Asha Sharma is not operating under that mandate. Instead, Sharma is operating under an ecosystem growth mandate.

Sharma has spoken at length about how her initial focus will be on Xbox's core: the console gamer. Console gamers in the Xbox ecosystem represent 4 times higher lifetime spending than other types of users across Microsoft's vast gaming ecosystem. On PC, they compete with Steam for margins. On mobile, they compete with well-established and dominant Eastern titles, while handing away millions to Apple and Google for the privilege.

Despite Xbox's retreat from PlayStation in the recent term, there remains tens of millions of active users in the Xbox ecosystem. These users are disproportionately passionate and spendy. Indeed, I would posit that anyone left in the Xbox ecosystem after all the disappointments represent the least "casually-invested" consumers in all of gaming potentially. Sharma wants to grow that base.

It's more true than ever that Xbox represents discretionary spending, and console gaming in general. Next-gen (and even current-gen) consoles are going to be expensive, owing to the memory availability crisis, tariffs, and the rest of it.

Arguably, creating desire through exclusive content is more crucial than ever to maintain an ecosystem in this universe.

One way I've heard Microsoft is exploring achieving this is direct integrations between Xbox and Minecraft. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma restructured Minecraft to answer directly to her for the first time. Integrating Minecraft's features at a platform level into Xbox consoles will be one avenue of exploration her team will look into here. What that looks like remains to be seen. I don't think Microsoft will do anything to degrade the Minecraft experience on other platforms (especially PC and mobile), but there might be exclusive (albeit basic, but fun) integrations for Minecraft on Xbox consoles. I can see Microsoft leveraging Minecraft to sell Xbox Helix as well in some ways, with more aggressive co-marketing activations and bundles.

Longer term, Microsoft may explore doing this with Activision-Blizzard properties too, but there are currently regulatory restrictions preventing Xbox from leveraging things like Call of Duty in the same way.

PlayStation recently landed a massive (multi-million dollar) marketing deal for Grand Theft Auto 6. The marketing deal is so vast, that Rockstar can't even mention the fact there's an Xbox version. PlayStation rebranded its apps to match Grand Theft Auto branding, and you can expect billboards, ads, and other campaigns to follow — excluding Xbox from the conversation.

Under previous leadership, Xbox was strangely reluctant, even seemingly embarrassed, to associate some of its acquisitions with the Xbox ecosystem. Games like DOOM, Fallout, and indeed Minecraft, barely had any co-marketing with Xbox console hardware. And it has been to the console ecosystem's detriment.

The new leadership is taking the opposite view, and it might have no choice. If consoles are to be more expensive than ever, there needs to be more reasons than ever to buy one. If I'm going to drop $1000 on a PS6 or Xbox Helix, why would I buy the box that gets less content?

Asha Sharma hopes by leveraging some of Xbox's biggest franchises in co-marketing, co-integrations, transmedia content, and exclusivity regimes, she might be able to convert more gamers into core Xbox users.

Phil Spencer was transparent in thinking this wouldn't be possible, suggesting in a previous interview that even if Starfield was a mega-banger, making it exclusive wouldn't move the needle for Xbox hardware. Sharma is betting that maybe a steady stream of said bangers might do the trick.

It will take years to find out if she's right — but will Microsoft corporate give her years to implement this strategy? That's arguably an even bigger question.

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This week saw Microsoft and Xbox initiate the single biggest layoff wave in the gaming brand's history, with 3,200 Xbox and game development roles cut — 1,600 immediately, and another 1,600 throughout the next 12 months — as well as four studios divested from the Xbox Game Studios publishing division.

Alongside those teams and developers at ZeniMax and Bethesda, one studio that's been hit especially hard by the layoffs is id Software, the steward of the iconic and legendary shooter franchise DOOM. It's come to light that roughly half of the entire studio has been discharged, including both game devs and staffers working on its id Tech game engines.

Given the strong success of the DOOM 2016 reboot, DOOM Eternal, and last year's DOOM: The Dark Ages — which has a new Revelations DLC coming out today, one day after the cuts — the fact that id Software has been affected so significantly by the Xbox layoffs has come as a shock to many. Cuts to the id Tech team are surprising as well, as the studio's engine has historically run well and has been used for non-DOOM projects like the Wolfenstein games and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

That shock extends to id's developers themselves, many of whom have taken to social media platforms to express their astonishment and frustrations with the layoffs. One such employee, gameplay animator Skai Chow, has reacted to them with a scathing message for both Microsoft as well as for those "celebrating and worshipping" the cuts as a "move in the right direction."

"For my friends and followers who don't work in game development celebrating and worshipping that the layoffs yesterday were 'necessary for change and a move in the right direction'...I sure hope the sixth round of layoffs is worth our pain and your pleasure," wrote Chow. "After all, things are gonna be different this time around. Right?"

Chow's post features an image that highlights five previous rounds of Microsoft and Xbox layoffs that have come down since early 2023, including 10,000 cuts in January of that year, 1,900 discharges at the start of 2024, the closure of several ZeniMax and Bethesda studios in May that year, and The Initiative and several projects being shuttered in 2025. "We hope our pain was worth it," it's captioned.

The new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma contends that these latest cuts were a difficult but necessary move as part of a "reset" for the brand after it "overextended" with lots of expansion and "overly complex" internal systems.

Regardless of how true that ultimately is or isn't, I can't blame Chow or any other developer for feeling angry and bitter. Throughout the last four years, several thousand layoffs have wracked both Xbox and the wider gaming industry at large following overinvestment in gaming during the pandemic, resulting in extreme volatility and repeated devastating losses of talent.

I don't know what the right path forward is, especially with tariffs and the RAM crisis further complicating matters, but it's clear that the business as it is now isn't sustainable — and Chow is correct to highlight that layoffs haven't yet solved the problem. We can only hope for brighter times as Xbox and the industry reorganize.

Do you believe Microsoft and Xbox have gone too far with the layoffs at id Software? Share your thoughts below, and vote in our poll.

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Xbox's expected cuts are here, as CEO Asha Sharma delivers on previous warnings that "hard decisions" were on the way.

Microsoft's gaming division is joining broader cuts at the firm, which will see thousands of roles eliminated from across the company in the near to medium term. Preliminary sourcing suggests the initial wave will see 1,500 staffers impacted at Xbox alone, with a total of 3,200 through FY27.

In an email to staff, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma described how Xbox Game Studios are a whole is currently losing 64 cents for every dollar invested in the current climate.

"We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I've made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27."

As part of the cuts, Microsoft has reached deals with four studios to either go independent or join new management, saving them from closure.

Compulsion, known for South of Midnight, will be acquired by management and go independent again. Double Fine Productions will also go independent, led by Tim Schafer. Undead Labs and Ninja Theory will be acquired by new publishers. Sources told us over the weekend that both Ninja Theory's Senua and Labs' State of Decay 3 will remain fully in production as part of the divestiture deals.

There's a question mark over Arkane and Blade, however. Microsoft is engaging the French government to try and figure out a path forward for the legendary Dishonored maker — with the goal of saving Arkane from closure, and keeping Blade in production. Right now, we can only hope Arkane finds a suitor to help keep the Dishonored and Blade maker afloat.

Beyond that, to meet the reductions Sharma has described every department at Xbox will see some form of layoffs and restructuring. Microsoft's executive layers want to reduce middle management across the board, in attempts to help Xbox move more quickly. Minecraft and Candy Crush's King will begin reporting in to Xbox's c-suite directly, for example, with a view of making them more competitive against incumbents like Roblox and things like Monopoly Go respectively.

There's also an effort to bring some of Xbox's remaining studios into closer collaboration, focusing on some of the firm's bigger franchises and potential. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been transparent about wanting to focus on things like Halo and Fallout. We could see studios like Obsidian dust off their Fallout mantle, for example.

What about Xbox hardware? It has been suggested to me that Xbox's hardware team will see the least amount of reductions, with Microsoft still intent on shipping Xbox hardware and Xbox Helix.

Microsoft's next-gen Xbox Helix console has been in production for some time, although the structural equations have been hit hard by the memory availability crisis gripping all of consumer tech. Regardless, I'm told Microsoft will soldier on with Helix and Xbox hardware in general. Microsoft is still intent on following Xbox CEO Sharma's plan to "rebuild the core," with a focus on Xbox's most profitable users: those on console.

A sad day for Xbox, and the industry in general

It's painful to me that Microsoft's bean counters wouldn't let Xbox hang on just a bit longer with some of these studios. It's hardly Undead Labs' fault that their integrations were defeated by Covid lockdowns and previous management leaving. State of Decay 3 for example has more wishlists on Steam than some of Xbox's other tentpole projects. It easily, in my view, has potential to be even bigger than similar multiplayer titles like Grounded or Sea of Thieves. It has been a long and expensive road to get here for sure ... but the rewards were literally just around the corner. Couldn't Microsoft have stayed the course just a bit longer on some of this stuff? Microsoft's penchant for giving up at the last hurdle is ceaselessly irritating.

Xbox gave some of its studios freedom to explore new IPs and experimental titles, which while virtuous, potentially hurt their capability to return positive news to those higher-ups working the spreadsheets. It's also difficult to argue against Asha Sharma's notes to staff about not wanting to compete with indie developers. It is a strange universe where Microsoft, the juggernaut, is building games that would otherwise be produced by comparatively far, far smaller teams with non-existent marketing budgets.

It's hard to deny that Xbox has massively dropped the ball on things like Fallout and Halo. Hindsight is 20/20, but imagine if the Fallout TV show had a mainline Fallout game to complement its popularity? Cyberpunk 2077 just hit 40 million copies sold, and is seeing another player count bump from integrations in Wuthering Waves and Cyberpunk Edgerunners Season 2 on Netflix.

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Some of these plans revolve around laying the ground work to take advantage of these squandered opportunities. It should lead to a stronger Xbox in the years to come. But at the same time, it's staffers paying the price for previous decisions — whether owing to managerial mistakes, evolving user behavior, or macro-economic factors that nobody could really predict. It's not fair, is it? For all those impacted, it's just another round of needless chaos in our cold, AI-funny-money-powered economy.

"These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one," Asha Sharma noted to employees. "The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we've seen before. This year, we'll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we'll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates."

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Appreciate how hard it is to write the name Erling Haaland and literally anything nice. The World Cup star plays for Manchester City, whom I am programmed to despise, as well as England's next opponents, Norway.

But, I know a man of undoubted class when I see one, and Haaland fits that bill because, like us, he's an XBOX man. Some of the games he's playing won't be too surprising, but at least one of them might be.

The video below via yoxic on X walks us through Haaland's Xbox, some of his favorite games, and yes, as a man of class, he also has the Xbox Series X mini fridge.

I had a mild panic when I read the caption before seeing the video before calming down when "Modern Warfare 2" does, in fact, refer to the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare trilogy, not the reboot. I've met plenty of people who would agree on the old game and essentially nobody who would pass such lofty praise on the newer one.

There's no surprise to hear GTA 6 is most anticipated, though, fun fact, Haaland was only 13 when GTA 5 was first released. In the time between games he's grown up and become the most feared striker on the planet. Puts it into perspective how long we've been waiting!

Shoutout for Minecraft, too, another of the titles taking its place on Haaland's XBOX alongside the extremely obvious EA FC games.

Reaction on social media is plentiful, but the replies tagging Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and marketing chief Aaron Greenberg feel valid. One of the best known football players on the planet is basically doing free marketing here. If XBOX has any sense, they'll reach out about a partnership. Lord knows we could use some positivity.

There's a precedent for that, too. Darts sensation Luke Littler is also a proud XBOX player, which was soon followed up by an official partnership. All the youngsters out there that love Erling Haaland need to know he loves XBOX. It's a no-brainer!

That's enough from me, though. Time to lock in on the World Cup Quarter-Finals. England vs. Norway. We've got to get the man back home and on his XBOX as soon as possible!

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Another day, another Xbox rumor! Today's revolves around Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's controversy-prone subscription service giving access to hundreds of games on a monthly subscription.

Xbox Game Pass took a battering last year when Microsoft made the spectacularly ill-advised move of making it $30 a month — a 50% increase. In one fell swoop, Microsoft destroyed one of its most stable revenue drivers for its gaming operation, leading to the biggest decline its seen in its history.

New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma remarked a few weeks ago that, now that Game Pass Ultimate has returned to a far more respectable $22 per month, they've started seeing growth return to the service. But I am curious if it's anywhere near back to previous levels.

Indeed, Asha previously spoke about Game Pass retention, and the business model revolves entirely around offsetting churn, i.e., the number of users subscribing month in, month out. If you make it too expensive, you risk users unsubscribing and never coming back. Subscription services work best when people subscribe and then ... just leave it rolling in perpetuity. If you make it so expensive that it becomes discretionary spending, it's going to end up being a net loss per head, rather than habit-forming perpetual income.

That's why I'm casting "big doubt" over this latest Xbox Game Pass rumor, which suggests Microsoft is no longer planning to new third-party funding for new Game Pass titles (via Insider Gaming).

During an episode of The Business of Gaming PodcastFernando Rizo of Caboodle Games shared rumors that Microsoft "rug pulled" Game Pass deals from industry colleagues Rizo had spoken with recently.

"I was at a trade show in Italy, had some nice lunches, some nice dinners with industry colleagues. Word on the street was that loads of people who were in the frame for Game Pass deals. You know, nothing was inked yet, but the deals were in advanced discussions. Everybody got the rug pulled out from under them."

I'm not doubting the idea that Microsoft cancelled discussions. But it has been used to frame an idea that Xbox is done completely with third-party deals for Xbox Game Pass.

Right now, Xbox is undergoing something of a "reset," with new CEO Asha Sharma and CSO Matthew Ball reviewing practically every corner of the business, including deals like the above. Microsoft's fiscal year is ending too, where budgets will be allocated (or re-allocated). Microsoft is exploring closing down entire studios at Xbox as part of this "review," so it stands to reason that some ID@Xbox deals might've been skewered in the cross-fire. I know of at least one example of a third-party Game Pass deal that didn't go through as a direct result of July re-budgeting.

But that doesn't mean they're done with Xbox Game Pass deals forever. Indeed, at least one industry publishing figure Stephen DuCrest poured cold water on the rumors earlier, saying it wasn't "remotely true."

Even if some deals had fallen through, I would expect as soon as next week or the week after when Microsoft's next fiscal starts, discussions for funding will immediately resume. The bottom line is simple: Xbox Game Pass needs content in order to operate. With Xbox rumored to be gutting first-party content, I expect it to lean even more into third-party deals, rather than less. But hey, Microsoft works in mysterious ways, as we all know.

Either way, I've reached out to Microsoft and other sources to get some firm clarification, but wanted to share some thoughts ahead of that. I'll update this article soon with more info.

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Xbox mode only rolled out to Windows 11 with the May 2026 Security Update, but the feature already has a name change in the works. The latest Windows Insider build shows "XBOX mode" rather than "Xbox mode."

The change is small, but it reflects the rebrand Microsoft is in the middle of. Earlier this year, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma polled people on X asking if the name of the brand should be Xbox or XBOX. The overwhelming majority preferred the all-caps version, and Microsoft listened to the feedback.

In several places, Microsoft has swapped in the XBOX name. The official XBOX website and XBOX social media handles show the all-caps version. Even the Microsoft Store shows love for capital letters.

Sharma has made more meaningful changes to the XBOX brand since being promoted, but the XBOX rebrand is quite visible. The move aligns XBOX with the original console, which is a clever bit of marketing.

The change was flagged by X user @phantomofearth. Microsoft's release notes for Windows 11 Experimental Build 26300.8758 do not note the new name for XBOX mode.

XBOX mode (and Xbox mode) was originally called "Xbox Fullscreen Experience." Throughout all three names, the concept of the feature has been the same: provide a console-like experience on Windows 11.

When enabled, XBOX mode makes Windows 11 open with a controller-friendly interface that also works well with built-in controllers on gaming handhelds. Microsoft has worked on XBOX mode for a while and overcome some awkward limitations. For example, it's now easier to sign in to Windows 11 when in XBOX mode by using a PIN.

XBOX mode also prioritizes gaming and reduces background tasks on Windows 11. It can free up to 2GB of memory on your PC, according to Microsoft. Considering it's increasingly expensive to get a PC with a lot of memory, freeing up 2GB makes a big difference.

The next generation of Xbox, known currently as Project Helix, is meant to run some form of XBOX mode. Before that device ships, XBOX mode needs more meaningful changes to smooth out the experience. We spent a week with XBOX mode last month and had a mixed experience.

Microsoft is aggressively pushing improvements to Windows 11 through its K2 initiative. Among those upgrades will be a smoother gaming experience. But for now, we can enjoy the unified branding of XBOX mode.

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The 2026 XBOX Games Showcase was undeniably packed with exciting game reveals from AAA studios and independent teams alike, but there was one particular reveal that I can’t stop thinking about. As soon as the large purple text and adorably odd bird-like creatures appeared on screen, I recognized the art style. Everybody’s favorite little purple dragon was back to face a new foe, albeit with a little more of a mature redesign that reflects some of the new gameplay mechanics.

Toys for Bob unveiled Spyro: A Realm Beyond in a flashy cinematic trailer, complete with a tease for our hero’s newest ability — goodbye gliding, hello flight. Spyro can be seen soaring through the air with his new skill: freely flying through the arches of a bridge and collecting orbs in the sky of the beautifully color-saturated world, where the danger of a dark and mysterious big bad lurks above the clouds.

The reveal for Spyro: A Realm Beyond has been nothing shy of successful. The cinematic reveal trailer on the Spyro The Dragon YouTube channel has amassed more than 16 million views in just two weeks. Add yet another million when you combine view counts across the XBOX, Nintendo, and PlayStation channels.

But the successful revival of Spyro almost didn’t happen. Toys for Bob had to return to its independent roots after being targeted for closure by Activision to give its beloved purple dragon his big-boy wings.

The path forged by Toys for Bob — avoiding closure and spinning out to become an independent studio that continues to work in partnership with Activision and XBOX to publish its next game — could prove to be the solution that just might save studios like Ninja Theory and Compulsion Games, which are rumored to be next on the chopping block under new XBOX CEO Asha Sharma’s “reset.”

A notable history that led to a radical plan

Few game studios make it to see their 35th anniversary. With the tumultuous state of the games industry today, that elite club seems even more elusive. But Toys for Bob, originally founded in 1989 and operating as a partnership between founders Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford until the pair incorporated the studio in 2002, has somehow managed to not just see the 35-year mark — it has surpassed that milestone and continues trucking along, creating mesmerizing and meaningful digital worlds for a dedicated fanbase.

However, the Toys for Bob story is one of resilience. In 1990, the studio changed the landscape for science fiction games with the release of Star Control, followed by the 1992 sequel Star Control II with Accolade, Inc. and Crystal Dynamics as its publisher. Toys for Bob continued its partnership with Crystal Dynamics until the early 2000s, when it faced a layoff following the release of Disney’s 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue.

The studio found a new publisher in Activision and was fully acquired by the publisher in 2005. Activision then merged Toys for Bob with Vivendi Games, which held the rights to the Spyro IP at the time, setting the studio up to launch the Skylanders series and pioneer the toys-to-life game genre. “We had a fantastic, successful partnership over that time,” Toys for Bob studio head Paul Yan said in a recent IGN interview. Toys for Bob’s time with Spyro didn’t end there, as they then released the Spyro Reignited Trilogy in 2018.

After the unbelievably successful launch of Call of Duty: Warzone in March 2020, however, things changed for the studio as Activision began to allocate all of its studio teams to the resource-hungry free-to-play battle royale. Toys for Bob took its place as part of the dozen-plus studio machine that was fueling Call of Duty in addition to providing support for Overwatch 2 and other Activision properties.

“Toys for Bob stepped up to support those initiatives, and those teams, and those games. We’re very proud of the work that we did, but deep down inside, we knew it wasn’t the right fit. We were getting away from the types of games that we love to make and that we’re best known for doing,” said Yan.

Activision was then acquired by Microsoft in 2022. Despite statements by then Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer on the potential for studios to revive past IPs, Toys for Bob still found its studio offices closed down amid massive layoffs that affected 1900 jobs across Microsoft’s workforce in January of 2024. Just four months later, Toys for Bob successfully spun off from Activision and regained its independence.

How to save a game development studio the Toys for Bob way

Toys for Bob’s plan was unprecedented. Buy back its independence. Take back creative, financial, and organizational control. And preserve its tenured team. For the plan to succeed, it hinged on the past success of Spyro. The team pitched a new Spyro title, published by Activision and XBOX with plans to drop day one on XBOX Game Pass, to secure its future. Two years after going independent, the Spyro: A Realm Beyond trailer showing up during the XBOX Showcase feels like a step in the right direction for a radical plan at independence paying off.

The more things change, however, the more they stay the same. XBOX has a new CEO with fresh eyes for the future of the company, but rising hardware prices and ballooning development costs are cutting into the bottom line. We’re told a ‘hard reset’ is on the horizon. Microsoft-owned studios like Ninja Theory and Compulsion Games are the new sacrificial lambs sitting on the proverbial chopping block, despite a strong showing for Senua at the 2026 XBOX showcase and South of Midnight’s ongoing award-pick-up spree.

Studio closures are a scourge on the gaming industry. Studios are often formed from teams that come together organically to bring life to a creative vision, and then those studios are scooped up by publishers who promise financial security. Then, when the tides of a fickle industry shift, the studio is shuttered, and creative talent that was being fostered finds itself fractured between other studios, where the cycle starts again. That’s without taking into consideration the talent that simply leaves the games industry altogether.

Spyro: A Realm Beyond was more than just a game announcement. It felt like a victory lap for independent game development and a survival plan for how studios could keep things together even in the face of closure.

Should Asha Sharma consider taking any pages from Phil Spencer’s playbook as CEO, I hope it’s the one that saw fit to accept Toys for Bob’s independence plan so that we can continue to see studios in danger of closure have a chance to stand on their own and create what they love. When studios like Toys for Bob have the opportunity to return to their independent roots and keep creative teams together rather than just finding locks on the studio doors, consumers win.

With any luck, the radical plan that let Toys for Bob become an indie studio with creative control can serve as a roadmap for studios like Ninja Theory and Compulsion Games if the rumors of their impending closures turn true. If there's anything the games industry can use right now, it's radical plans for independence that pay off.

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Amongst what feels like a deluge of bad news for Xbox right now, from console price rises (again) and threatened studio closures, it seems GTA 6 preorder sales data has become the next battleground for which fans and publications are using to stick the knife in. There’s a particular social media post right now being shared from IGN stating that, based on their affiliate data, PlayStation is outperforming Xbox on GTA 6 preorders by a rate of 8-to-1.

Windows Central can confirm that we’ve received a statement from an Xbox spokesperson on this matter: “This doesn’t represent pre-order data. We’ve had record orders. People should wait for real data and not clicks on affiliate links."

Why affiliate data isn’t reliable on its own

We’re living in an era where social media narratives often outpace verified market reality, and to be clear, IGN does state in the quote that it's based on their own community data. But it’s worth noting that while it is likely true that PlayStation is receiving more orders based on their console share of the market, nobody actually knows the concrete sales data yet, and relying on affiliate linking programs from one website to draw broad conclusions about the state of affairs is a shaky tactic.

But it IS one that’s gathering traction as it’s being amplified by reports such as this one from Vice, and it’s gathering significant engagement. Engagement that will no doubt have reached the general public outside of the gaming sphere, too, as it's being shared around on Instagram, X, and other platforms.

Affiliate programs track user traffic and clicks directed through specific retail links. Such data inherently reflects the specific demographics, regional biases, and shopping habits of a single publication's readership rather than being a mirror for total industry performance. Treating click-through metrics as a proxy for platform health risks spreading misinformation, as can be seen in the current cycle regarding Grand Theft Auto 6 preorders.

(Speaking of which, we have our own list of links for pre-ordering Rockstar’s highly anticipated game, so go check that out. Girl's gotta plug!)

RELATED: Everywhere you can buy GTA 6

An unquestionably rocky time for Xbox

The discourse right now is occurring against the backdrop of an incredibly volatile console market. There’s a perfect storm of economic pressures, including the significant price hikes taking effect on August 1, 2026, on Xbox consoles, driven by the global crisis in memory and storage component supply.

On a personal note, I’ve wondered why Xbox, during the week of GTA 6 preorders, would choose this moment to announce price increases. GTA 6 is the final major catalyst that will push many remaining Xbox One and PS4 users to the current generation, and both Microsoft and Sony should be utilizing this to their full advantage. While Sony will likely announce its own price increases, waiting until after GTA 6 has launched could be a savvy move to maintain goodwill with the general gaming public, letting Xbox take the brunt of the frustration during a critical sales window for both platforms.

However, by announcing these hikes in advance, could Xbox have actually secured a surge of panic orders during Amazon Prime Week? If we were to look at our own affiliate data, we saw significant click-through rates on discounted Xbox Series X units at Walmart and Target. But for the reasons I have already mentioned, to base a market analysis on that would be biased reporting. Our audience, which is already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, is naturally drawn to deals on Xbox hardware; that doesn't necessarily reflect the wider gaming community, does it?

RELATED: Cheapest way to get GTA 6 on both Xbox and PS5

It’s more important than ever right now for the gaming community to distinguish between anecdotal affiliate traffic and concrete commercial data. As our Xbox contact noted, waiting for official comprehensive sales reports is the only way to gauge the true state of the market. Until then, statistics derived from click-based affiliate programs should be viewed for what they are: a measurement of a specific website's outgoing traffic, not a reflection of the global gaming state of affairs.

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