Analyst Michael Pachter: Xbox Play Anywhere Is to “Future Proof Xbox for a Day When There Is No Hardware”

Microsoft has been focusing a lot on uniting their platforms, Xbox One and PC, under one system, which is Windows 10.

But what does that mean for Xbox One exclusives? Will there be anything such as an “exclusive” anymore for Xbox users? According to industry analyst Michael Pachter, Microsoft’s decisions are actually making their console “future proof Xbox for a day when there is no hardware.”

“I think that you’re missing the point of what Microsoft trying to do. The exclusives that there are offering on PC are actually called Xbox anywhere, so they’re their branding it as Xbox. The access to your PC game is through your Xbox live account so if you go to windows 10, and you click on the start button in the bottom left corner, up pops your Xbox dashboard. It actually looks like your Xbox dashboard on the Xbox, and any game you buy as a digital download on Xbox one will show up there, and will be playable on your PC.”

“So what they’re really trying to do is future proof Xbox for a day when there is no hardware, and that could happen. I mean that could happen in the next three or four years. I don’t think hardware is going away. I think each succeeding console cycle will be about half as big as the one before it, because ultimately, as they migrate people to Windows 10, there’s no real reason to buy an Xbox, just go buy the game, but the idea is that you don’t actually need special hardware to play it. Any PC that runs windows 10 theoretically will play Xbox one games.”

Do you agree with Pachter’s statements?