Microsoft's Xbox consoles were conspicuously absent from Black Friday's winners, failing to crack the top three in U.S. sales during one of the retail calendar's most important weeks. According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, the PlayStation 5 captured 47% of Black Friday week console sales ending November 29, followed by the Nintendo Switch 2 at 24% and -- somewhat remarkably -- the NEX Playground, a Kinect-like Android device aimed at children, at 14%. Microsoft ran no promotions on its consoles during the period. The Xbox Series X currently retails for $650 following this year's price increase, up from its $500 launch price in 2020. Sony, by contrast, discounted the PS5 by roughly 40% at some retailers. Piscatella noted on Bluesky that products without price promotions typically see no seasonal lift. Costco has removed Xbox consoles from its U.S. and UK websites.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Qu'y a-t-il de mieux pour faire vaciller un géant qu'un autre géant ? Fort d'un double succès historique sur le marché des consoles de jeux vidéo avec ses deux premières PlayStation, Sony pouvait se sentir légitimement invincible il y a 20 ans. Pourtant, au moment d'enfoncer le clou et d'obéir à la règle du « jamais deux sans trois », le constructeur japonais faisait face à un obstacle de taille qu'il avait sans doute négligé du fait de débuts timides dans son secteur : Microsoft et sa nouvelle console, la Xbox 360, la seule à avoir réussi à battre PlayStation.

La Wii U reste l’un des plus grands rendez-vous manqués de Nintendo. Entre vision brouillée, communication catastrophique et pari technologique mal compris, la console a failli plonger le constructeur dans une crise majeure. Retour sur un échec aussi instructif que fascinant.

La Xbox 360, console de salon la plus vendue de l'histoire de Microsoft, fête ses 20 ans. La multinationale a prévu quelques festivités, mais, semble-t-il, rien de bien marquant. Et on se dit qu'elle mérite bien plus qu'une paire de chaussures de la marque Crocs.

Touché par la pénurie mondiale de RAM, Microsoft prévoirait une hausse des tarifs de la Xbox Series X et S. Une situation qui pourrait bien finir par s'étendre à l'ensemble des constructeurs, ainsi qu'à certains segments du marché de la tech.

Steam a dévoilé un trio de produits dans la soirée du 12 novembre 2025. Le plus intéressant d'entre eux se nomme la Steam Machine. Il s'agit d'un PC tournant sous SteamOS, avec l'apparence d'une console de salon. En quelque sorte, Steam vient de damer le pion à Microsoft, qui ambitionne de lancer une machine hybride.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: It's time for Xbox to eat some humble pie and perform some real soul-searching. Microsoft released its latest quarterly earnings report and proved the worst of our fears about its gaming brand. Not only are Xbox hardware sales down significantly, but the brand itself is barely treading water. Gamers are voicing their displeasure with their wallets, but Microsoft's top brass is still only thinking about the margins. Microsoft was more keen to promote the scale of its cloud and AI services revenue -- which was up 28% year over year -- than talk about its beleaguered gaming brand. The company's overall gaming revenue fell by 2% compared to the same time last year. This was precipitated by a "decline in Xbox hardware," which was down by 22% following a steady decline quarter after quarter. Its first-party games and its Game Pass subscription were doing better, though the overall growth was only up by 1%, and even that was driven by the "better-than-expected performance" of third-party games. You can give credit to titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for why Xbox isn't in an even deeper hole than it is now. The tech giant has no expectation that its Xbox brand will start making more money anytime soon. In its earnings call with investors, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said the company expects Xbox will continue to decline "in the low to mid-single digits" for the following quarter. That's mostly due to the lack of landmark first-party titles. Just this month, Xbox released Ninja Gaiden 4, The Outer Worlds 2, and Double Fine's The Keeper. Xbox also made a huge marketing push for its first handheld, made in partnership with Asus, the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X. In any other year, this would be a big month for any gaming company. The dour outlook comes after months of bad news. After two subsequent price hikes, Xbox Series S and Series X consoles now cost between $100 to $150 more than they did at launch five years ago. Microsoft also pushed prices of its Game Pass Ultimate subscription tier from $20 to $30 per month. A full-year's subscription would now demand $360. In a separate article, Gizmodo reviews Microsoft's new ROG Xbox Ally X handheld, which "offers a better experience overall" than the "other small-scale Windows PC gaming devices released this year." However, "it's still nowhere close to what you truly want from a console."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Les rumeurs se multiplient à propos de la future Xbox, qui serait un pont entre le monde des consoles et celui du PC. Microsoft en profiterait alors pour mettre fin au multijoueur payant.

Microsoft's next Xbox console will run full Windows and allow users to exit the Xbox interface to access Steam, Epic Games Store, Battle.net, and other PC storefronts, according to Windows Central. The device will launch without a multiplayer paywall. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer told users last week to look at the Xbox Ally handheld for an indication of where Xbox is headed. The company has been using the Ally as a beta test to gather feedback on the experience that will power its next wave of console hardware. The new Xbox will include the entire Xbox console library spanning original Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S titles. These games will run natively and launch through the Xbox launcher's library. Users staying within the Xbox ecosystem will encounter an onboarding experience similar to current consoles. Those who choose to access Windows will be able to install PlayStation PC titles like God of War and Spider-Man purchased through Steam or Epic Games.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Dans une publication officielle partagée sur X par la Maison-Blanche, le président Donald Trump apparaît dans un photomontage IA, déguisé en Master Chief, le héros de la saga Halo. Pourquoi ?

Microsoft imposerait à la division Xbox d'atteindre une marge de 30 %, ce qui expliquerait beaucoup de choses quant à la stratégie trouble de l'entreprise.

Sarah Bond, CEO de Xbox, a réaffirmé l'ambition de lancer une nouvelle console conçue par Microsoft. Il s'agira d'une « console premium » offrant une expérience soignée. Et hybride ?