Name: Xbox Series X
Brand: Microsoft
Price: 487 USD

Ex-Blizzard boss and former Microsoft executive Mike Ybarra recently incited some controversy by declaring Xbox consoles "dead" while praising a recent achievement of the PS5. With two price hikes and sales continuing to plummet in 2025, Xbox's console business is the weakest it's been in years.

Microsoft's current-gen consoles, the Series X/S, were well-positioned for success back in 2020 thanks to Xbox's then-growing coterie of first-party studios, competitive pricing, and of course, the excellent value proposition of Game Pass. However, the PS5 managed to largely retain the positive momentum of the PS4, and as such, remains the highest-selling current-gen system at over 80.3 million units sold. Meanwhile, demand for Xbox consoles is so low that Microsoft has been reporting declining Series X/S sales quarter-over-quarter for well over a year now. Microsoft has even been porting Xbox games to PS5, which can be construed as indirectly waving the white flag in the console war.

'Pick Your Lane And Stick To It' Former Blizzard President Believes Microsoft is Confused About Xbox's Direction

Former Microsoft and Blizzard exec Mike Ybarra expresses frustration, stating that Xbox doesn't seem to know what it wants as a company right now.

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By Aaron McKinley

Mike Ybarra Believes Xbox Hardware is "Dead" and the Brand is "Confused"

Sony announced last year that at $106 billion accrued, the PS5 is the most profitable console generation in the company's history. At Tokyo Game Show 2025, Sony doubled down on the notion and provided an updated figure of $136 billion. Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra recently took to Twitter to congratulate Sony on the achievement, stating, "But hey, the console market isn't a successful business. It is if you do it right." This is assumedly a jab at those who believe dedicated home consoles are antiquated and unaligned with where the games industry is headed. Someone replied to the tweet calling Ybarra a "bitter ex," referring to his prior employment at Microsoft, to which he bluntly responded, "Your console is dead."

Though Ybarra didn't explicitly mention Xbox in his reply, the inference is pretty clear given that both Sony and Nintendo are selling console hardware like hot cakes. In a separate reply, Ybarra also took a dig at the "Everything Is An Xbox" marketing campaign, stating that it signals a "confused" brand. Ybarra left Blizzard in early 2024 — mere months after the company was acquired by Microsoft as part of the ABK deal — and has since been rather vocal in his criticism of the platform holder. Just last week, Ybarra lambasted Microsoft for the second round of Xbox price hikes and implied that the tech giant levied them to increase profit margins, rather than them being a consequence of tariffs.

abk blizzard lead mike ybarra statement of intent

Ybarra is a seasoned industry veteran who was in Microsoft's employ for 20 years, ultimately exiting the company in 2019 as Xbox's corporate vice president and then working at Blizzard for five years. Given Ybarra's background, some may be surprised that he's this critical of Xbox, but he isn't alone in doing so. Back in June, Laura Fryer — a founding member of the original Xbox project — also put forth concerns surrounding the platform holder's future. Fryer opined that Xbox hardware is dead and questioned Microsoft's long-term strategy for the brand, which near-perfectly aligns with Ybarra's comments on the matter.

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