Xbox’s latest marketing campaign has been generating buzz with its “This is Xbox” claim, which only further reinforces the idea that Microsoft is on its way to becoming the world’s largest video game publisher. Now, a new report suggests they might consider allowing others to make Xbox-branded hardware.
This is according to Samuel Tolbert on Windows Central, which is generally a very trustworthy site. In the article, Tolbert discusses Phil Spencer’s comments regarding the new marketing campaign and Xbox’s aggressive development of handheld devices.
Tolbert talks about how Xbox is exploring partnerships with various companies: “Operating system.”
Tolbert goes on to speculate that this could include things like ASUS portables bearing the Xbox branding, branding the Xbox operating system.
In theory, this could also include consoles made by third-party manufacturers, as Steam previously did with the ill-fated Steam Machines. There has been speculation that Xbox’s growing move to publish games across multiple platforms and the console’s lackluster sales figures could be a sign that it will not make a next-generation console and instead cede space to PlayStation and Nintendo. That said, I’m not sure anyone would be interested in making a console using the Xbox name.
What do you do? Will Xbox license its name to third parties in the future?
