Let’s get this out of the way. I am not a Sony fanboy nor do I consider myself a big PlayStation fan either… and no, I’m not on the Sony payroll. In all honesty, nobody’s paying me to write this so you can trust that my opinions are my own. I’ve always considered myself an Xbox guy. As I reflect upon all of my years spent gaming I can truly say the Xbox 360 is probably my favorite console of all time. In the past few months my Xbox One still gets more of a workout than my PS4. This isn’t because the PS4 includes a crappy ass mic, and inferior online experience but rather I simply prefer playing games on the Xbox One. All my core gamer friends are ‘Xbots’ like myself. The loyal part of me has always remained faithful to the Xbox. Yet despite this I feel like I am aboard the Titanic and that big flippin’ iceberg is staring right us. It’s a feeling I have in the pit of my gut; this Xbox One ride is creeping to an end.
Here lies my concern. For the past 6-months Sony’s PlayStation 4 has outsold the Xbox One, this isn’t conjecture, it’s fact. Overall PS4 is leading the Xbox One in sales. Is this lead insurmountable? No, but it’s significant. Titanfall did little in terms of tipping the scales towards the Xbox One. Destiny is right around the corner and anyone who is anyone is going to play it on the PS4. Meanwhile, the Xbox One continues to flounder about reversing policies and now ditching the Kinect for a cheaper, more competitively priced console. Well kids, there is a saying in the stock market and in fantasy baseball and that is “sell high”. And folks the time is now to sell high!
Here are five reasons why you need to strongly consider trading in or selling that Xbox One now because that iceberg ain’t getting any smaller:
1: Layoffs? Don’t talk about—layoffs?! You kidding me? Layoffs?!
Earlier this week it was reported Microsoft will close its direct-to-Xbox entertainment branch as part of its extensive layoffs of up to 18,000 people. There have also been reports where big chunks of its global marketing teams have been let go. I don’t know much about big business and massive companies but I am thinking when you lay off 18,000 jobs that cannot be a good thing. Okay, I get how stocks went up after the layoff announcement and I get how the layoffs have much to do with the acquisition of Nokia. Yet I don’t see many instances of thriving companies axing 14% of its workforce. Maybe Xbox is simply ditching the whole “all-in-one games and entertainment system” nonsense that has preoccupied Xbox executives since the botched Xbox One E3 2013 announcement. Maybe they just want to show a profit next quarter by slashing so many jobs. Whatever the case may be Microsoft is laying folks off and Sony isn’t.