What you need to know
- Microsoft recently conducted a new interview with License Global magazine, which revolved around the marketing of Halo.
- During the interview, Xbox’s head of consumer products, John Friend, revealed that Halo generated over $1.8 billion in consumer spending on merchandise and licensed products alone, excluding video games entirely.
- Elsewhere in the article, John Friend confirmed that Microsoft is planning to hold an event to mark the 25th anniversary of Xbox and Halo, which share the same birthday.
- Xbox’s 25th anniversary will be on November 15, 2026 – which would be an interesting time to launch a new generation of hardware, wouldn’t it?
Xbox seems to be in a bit of a strange position going into 2024. With the gaming industry struggling to figure out where to bring in next-generation growth, Xbox is expanding its massive gaming empire across PC, mobile, and even PlayStation. Thanks to a slew of acquisitions including Bethesda Softworks, best known for Fallout and Skyrim, and Activision-Blizzard, best known for Warcraft and Call of Duty, Xbox overall posted a massive 45% revenue jump in the most recent quarter, while its legacy Xbox business suffered a slight decline.
That has left core Xbox fans worried about what expanding to such a powerful rival platform could mean for the hardware business. If fewer people are willing to buy Xbox consoles, it will be harder for Microsoft to bring third-party developers into the fold, potentially resulting in fewer games. The original Xbox has suffered from a significant library gap for years when compared to the massive global footprint of the PlayStation 2, and whether Microsoft under CEO Satya Nadella has the mindset to support a shrinking Xbox business remains to be seen. Although both Nadella and Phil Spencer say that Xbox has more gamers than ever before, which should keep it on track with rising costs, at least for now.
Regardless of the core community’s perception of Xbox right now, Xbox is still planning for the future. Xbox head Sarah Bond revealed the Advanced Compatibility team earlier this year, confirming that the next Xbox will represent the “biggest technological leap” for the platform. Microsoft has a promising slate of upcoming Xbox games, even if there are questions about whether or not they will remain exclusives. Microsoft is also gearing up for a big Xbox showcase at the Tokyo Game Show later this month.
But we learned more interesting details about what Xbox has planned for the future in a recent report. interview With License Global Magazine.
During the interview, Xbox head of consumer products John Friend discussed a variety of topics related to licensing and marketing, something Xbox has been quite good at in recent years. They license their game IP to other companies in some cases, like the upcoming MechWarrior 5: Clans, while also delving into licensed multimedia properties like the Minecraft movie, the Fallout TV show, and the Halo TV show (obviously, mixed success there, huh?). In any case, Friend confirmed that Halo alone saw $1.8 billion in non-game consumer spending. Microsoft has a pretty prolific marketing operation right now, when you consider the legendary Blizzard Store, along with Xbox merchandise store And Bethesda gear shop too.
However, the interesting part that we will discuss today is that Microsoft is already working on plans to celebrate the upcoming big anniversary of Xbox.
“We have these huge, amazing franchises ranging from World of Warcraft — which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year — to Halo, Call of Duty, StarCraft and so much more.” The friend said. “We’re building plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Halo and Xbox — we have a very rich heritage and history, and these communities have been active for a long time, and we need to celebrate that.”
This interview delves into how Microsoft is improving its thought processes around product marketing, and working more agilely and responsively to consumer interests. Friend explains that their approach means they can target smaller audiences with products for more niche games like Pentiment, while building experiences for the larger Call of Duty fan base.
Microsoft has celebrated previous major milestones with some fanfare, including the Xbox 20th Anniversary event in 2021. There, Microsoft opened up free Halo Infinite multiplayer servers, added 70 more backwards-compatible Xbox games, and also opened a virtual museum of Xbox artifacts called the Xbox Vault (which is no longer accessible).
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Xbox plans for the future
Xbox will mark its 25th anniversary on November 15, 2026, putting it firmly in the realm of a potential new generation of Xbox consoles. Sony just launched its mid-gen console, the PS5 Pro, which Xbox has outdone the competition with this time around. Instead, Xbox appears to be going full steam ahead with its next lineup of consoles, which we tentatively believe based on our sources includes at least a traditional successor to the Xbox Series X, and Microsoft’s first real foray into portable Xbox gaming with its own take on the Steam Deck.
It would be very emotional to launch these new devices on Xbox’s 25th anniversary, with the kind of fanfare I feel the brand has been missing a bit as it navigates strategic changes that haven’t always proven popular with its existing customers.
Marketing-wise, Microsoft has previously done some epic-looking Xbox consoles to celebrate its 20th anniversary, so you can expect some custom options there as well. We might get a Halo-themed custom Xbox for the next generation as well, and the next Halo game might be ready by then too (optimistic, maybe, but hey). Microsoft’s Blizzard team is building a massive, epic lineup of events to celebrate World of Warcraft’s 20th birthday this year, with in-game events in Overwatch and WoW itself. Hopefully, Halo will see similar events as well. I think the Master Chief skin in Overwatch would look pretty awesome.
I’ll leave you with a quote from John Friend’s interview, as a person He does Celebrate gaming well beyond the games themselves. Here’s to the next 25 years of Xbox.
“Gaming is no longer just a hobby; it has become an integral part of our lives that goes beyond traditional entertainment. As we look to what the future holds, our goal is to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible, and ensuring that every gamer, regardless of background, feels part of this amazing journey.”
“Writer. Friendly troublemaker. Lifelong food junkie. Professional beer evangelist.”