Xbox Vet: A Console That Only Launches Steam Is 'Subsidizing Valve'

Ever feel like your Xbox is just a fancy gateway to Steam these days? You're not alone—and one former Microsoft insider thinks that's a recipe for disaster.

Jon Kimmich, who spent 16 years at Microsoft including the conceptual years for the Xbox brand, laid out a stark warning in a lengthy GamesBeat analysis. His core argument: Microsoft can't keep treating Xbox as both a platform and a publisher without one side withering. "Microsoft Gaming may grow while the Xbox platform withers," he wrote, drawing a line between the business of selling games and the ecosystem that gives players a reason to buy an Xbox in the first place.

Kimmich's definition of a platform is broad: "the relationship with players and developers: the console, Xbox Mode, commerce, identity, ownership, community, tools, and third-party support." Without that, he argues, the whole thing collapses into "a suite of services customers can purchase piecemeal from elsewhere." And that's exactly where things seem to be heading. He points to the infamous "This is an Xbox" campaign, which he says was "worth aiming for" but got lost in "timing and execution"—turning the multiplatform push into "the punchline to a joke Microsoft told on itself."

The Phil Spencer era's "play anywhere" promise grew the audience, sure, but Kimmich says it never gave anyone "a compelling reason to choose Xbox." The result? A platform that "became everything, and nothing; to everyone and nobody." Meanwhile, Valve kept its eye on one prize: the PC customer. Xbox never answered the two questions that mattered, according to Kimmich: "which layers must we own, and which internal business would take priority (and when)?"

That's why the next console, Xbox Project Helix, is such a big deal. Kimmich calls it a key—perhaps final—test. Without a console as a "signature product," Xbox loses its anchor. And with hardware markets gutted by AI demand, an indecisive platform could be a death sentence. "An Xbox that's only good for launching Steam is like subsidizing Valve's cash register," he says. If Helix is as PC-focused as it seems, it risks being overshadowed by third parties on its own turf—the antithesis of the Nintendo Switch 2.

So what should Microsoft do? Kimmich's doctrine: pick platform over pure publishing. "Stabilize the console, make it the reference device, but don't confuse the two," he explains. "Turn Xbox Mode into a coherent XboxOS on Windows machines and third-party devices. Make ownership and developer reach the reason people pick your brand." He also wants to see first-party games, Game Pass, the cloud, and mobile all supporting that promise—and yes, "give your fans a bit of hope."

The next 12 to 24 months will be telling. Kimmich expects third-party XboxOS devices, rising Play Anywhere and PC Store usage, Disc to Digital migrating into Helix, progress in Minecraft's creator economy, faster publishing for developers, a decision on Battle.net and the Xbox Store, and an exclusivity policy that lasts more than one reporting period. The clearest sign of failure? A premium-priced Helix with no clear selling point, an Xbox launcher mainly serving Steam, and money flowing back to Microsoft instead of into Xbox. As Kimmich puts it, "the worst outcome is to promise a platform and run a harvest portfolio."

With Xbox laying off thousands and consolidating studios—and Halo Studios just dismantled after Halo: Campaign Evolved hit PC, Xbox, and PS5—the stakes couldn't be higher. Will Microsoft commit to the platform play, or let Xbox fade into a launcher for other stores? What do you think—is Xbox still a platform worth fighting for?