>>1902649
>Xbox is dying
As a dedicated console, no. It's not dying. It's purposefully being killed. What's replacing it is a sort of pseudo-console. A PC with a simplified console interface. This is being done because Sony isn't a threat to Microsoft, and Microsoft never really saw the value in the console gaming space except for keeping Sony from pushing living room computing.
>Phil Spencer got the bright idea of buying Activision and Bethesda
Phil doesn't run the show. He takes his marching order like everyone else, and his job is to manage the directives to make sure they get done. So far, he appears to be doing the job - though they may end up shitcanning him just to save face if they can't get the messaging right.
Reminder that Phil was not given a seat at the big table in order to "right the ship". He was put there to oversee Xbox's eventual integration with Windows, and to coordinate with the heads of other Microsoft divisions as they built out the infrastructure both for the merger - as well as other internal projects, such as cloud computing. As for the Bethesda and ABK acquisitions - their value doesn't come from what they can bring to GamePass, but in the mountain of "beloved" IPs that they can take away from you if you don't subscribe to GamePass. Embrace, Extend, Extinguish, remember? Expect over the next decade to start seeing more and more proprietary hooks into Microsoft owned games, as well as increasingly more third party titles, which are required for the game to operate as intended. Then expect to see compatibility with other platforms and services start to dry up unless it's used on Microsoft software or services.
>This on top of Nadella's obsession with AI will likely tank the company
The AI bubble bursting will hit them hard, but they're never going to abandon it now. Growth will just be a lot slower than their investors would have hoped for. Also, it's almost 100% guaranteed that Co-Pilot AI will be one of the required service hooks I mentioned earlier.
>if not outright split up because of the upcoming AI bubble bursting.
They're not going to split. Even if they were in danger of that actually happening, the US government would step in and bail them out. Too much commerce runs on Microsoft systems, to say nothing of the entire Federal Government and the Military. Enjoy paying off Microsoft's mismanagement with your tax dollars.
If anything is going to be able to kill off Microsoft - it will be widespread adoption of Linux/Proton making Microsoft no longer a necessary component of running Windows. Again, part of why Microsoft is pivoting to challenge SteamOS/Proton - rather than waste time and money playing retard slaps with Nintendo and Sony in a meaningless (to them) market.
>they might separate Xbox into a separate private company where Microsoft has some ownership
This was already the plan originally during the end of the 7th Generation. When Sony removed (forcibly) Linux from the Playstation 3 - the Xbox 360 no longer had a purpose in the market. Many investors and senior leadership wanted to see Xbox spun off into it's own independent venture. Eventually, the brand was deemed too valuable a tool to lose. Breaking into the console market is hard enough. Breaking BACK INTO it after you've already abandoned it is almost impossible on multiple levels. So, the Xbox One was refocused on being more of a general purpose multimedia box focusing on movies and televeision licensing, while in-house game development was scaled back. Forced Kinect and Online Connectivity was there primarily to gather telemetry on viewing viewing/playing habits, such as emotional states while engaging with media, or spending habits based on what it saw in your living-room. Data that could be collected, collated, and sold to data analytics firms and advertising agencies. The disastrous E3 reveal put an end to (some) of that, and plans started to be drawn up that would put Xbox on the course it is now.
>replace the current batch of executives with people who actually give a shit about Windows and Gaming, and just focus on putting out good products again.
That will never happen. Nobody involved gives the slightest shit about making quality products or "passion" for their work. They want control and money, that's it. The only people who matter to Microsoft are their investors. Those are their actual customers. You are not a customer. You are a resource.
>what do you think will happen to Microsoft after the AI bubble bursts
I hope they fucking die, but we all know that won't happen. It's just going to get shittier, more intrusive, less intuitive, and more controlling until Linux or some other OS manages to eventually replace them. That's going to take time, and Microsoft hopes that they'll have you so thoroughly entrapped into their walled garden by then that you don't have a choice in the matter.