It seems that Xbox is living one of those nightmares you only see in horror movies – and that’s no exaggeration. If you follow the world of games, you’ve probably noticed that things are looking bad for the green team. Top-of-the-line releases, which used to be synonymous with quality and hype, now barely manage to scratch 200 simultaneous players on Steam. Yes, you read that right: 200 people. It’s as if a game called Keeper, by Double Fine (the same guys behind Psychonauts 2), had simply fallen into oblivion on the same day it was released. So, tell me: when was the last time you were genuinely excited about an Xbox exclusive? The feeling is that Microsoft is sinking into a bottomless pit, and what’s worse, it doesn’t know how to get out. But is it just a lack of luck? Or is there something very wrong behind the scenes?
Let’s get serious about Game Pass for a minute. The idea is brilliant: for an affordable price (or not so much, after the increase), you have access to a huge library of games. It’s like the Netflix of games – and who doesn’t like Netflix? But herein lies a problem that Microsoft seems to be ignoring: the perceived value of the game.
Take the example of Keeper: an indie game that costs R$100 on Steam. On Game Pass, it’s “free”. Then you ask me: “But isn’t that good?” It depends. For the player, it’s great. For the developer? Not so much. If nobody buys the game, how will the studio justify the investment? How will it survive without direct sales? The truth is that the Game Pass strategy may be killing the player base willing to pay for smaller titles.
And look, it’s not like everyone hates buying games, even with an active subscription. Starfield reached 300,000 simultaneous players on Steam at launch – and it was on Game Pass! In other words, there are games that manage to break logic. But then we come to another point: the game needs to generate hype. It needs to be desired. And that’s where Xbox is failing badly.
The disappearance of marketing
Tell the truth: have you seen any advertising for Keeper? An ad on YouTube, a banner on a website, a sponsored post on Instagram? Me neither. It seems that Microsoft simply threw the game into the Game Pass catalog and hoped that players would discover it on their own.
It reminds me of that colleague who does a group assignment but disappears when it’s time to present it. Double Fine is a respected studio – remember Psychonauts 2? But what’s the point of having talent if no one hears about your game? Xbox bought billionaire studios like Bethesda and Activision, but can’t even promote an indie game with any care. It’s like having a turbocharged car and driving at 20 km/h.
And then we ask ourselves: did Keeper flop just because it’s a “strange” game? Or did it flop because nobody knew it existed? I’d venture to say it was more like the second option.
The Price and the Brazilian Reality
It’s undeniable that the relationship between the price charged for games and Brazil’s economic reality has created an ever-widening chasm between the Xbox and its audience. When an indie title like Keeper is released for R$100, an amount that for many represents a significant portion of an already tight budget, the question that remains is not whether the game is good, but whether it is necessary. In a country where the minimum wage barely covers a family’s basic expenses, spending that amount on an experience lasting just a few hours becomes an almost unrealistic luxury.
Microsoft’s pricing strategy seems to completely ignore the Brazilian social pyramid. While in the United States or Europe a game priced at US$ 20 can be considered an affordable expense, here in Brazil that same amount, converted without any adjustment for purchasing power, becomes an insurmountable barrier for most gamers. Not to mention the built-in taxes, which inflate the final price even more, so that Brazilians have to shell out much more than gamers in other countries to have access to the same product.
In addition to the price of single games, the recent increase in Game Pass has also raised alarm bells for many subscribers. The service, which used to be seen as a lifeline for those who couldn’t afford to buy full games, is now starting to weigh on their pockets. For the casual gamer, who perhaps only has time to try one or two titles a month, the bill isn’t closing. The question many are asking is: is it worth keeping a subscription that is constantly rising in price to access a catalog where the most eagerly awaited releases are becoming increasingly rare?
Another crucial point is Microsoft’s near absence from the formal Brazilian console market. The decision not to officially sell the Xbox Series X|S in Brazil forces gamers to turn to the parallel market, where prices are inflated by speculation and the high dollar. This lack of commitment to the local public sends a clear message: Brazil is not a priority. Meanwhile, we see other companies, such as Nintendo, maintaining an official presence and, in some cases, even adjusting the prices of digital games in promotions to better align themselves with the national economic reality.
The result of this perverse combination – high prices, lack of official consoles and more expensive subscriptions – is a gradual alienation of the fan base. Brazilian gamers are some of the most passionate and engaged in the world, but their loyalty is being tested by policies that seem to ignore their financial reality. Many are migrating to the PC, where promotions are more frequent and affordable, or simply failing to keep up with releases, waiting for games to arrive on subscription services later and at a lower cost.
In the long term, Microsoft’s stance could be costly. Brazil is a market with enormous potential, but it needs to be cultivated with intelligent pricing strategies and a real commitment to the consumer base. Ignoring the local economic reality isn’t just a shot in the foot; it’s a risk of losing an entire generation of gamers who grew up with the brand, but who now find themselves unable to keep up with its costs. The question remains: how long will Xbox turn a blind eye to what happens outside the bubble of developed countries?
The feeling is that Xbox is lost in its own ecosystem. Hired new people to improve internal processes? That’s great. But what about the games? Where’s the focus on what matters? There’s no point in having 50 studios if none of them are releasing anything that makes us want to turn on the console.
We need epoch-making titles. That make people say: “Wow, I need an Xbox to play that!”. Otherwise, we’ll continue in this spiral of silent flops – and then the problem may no longer be just a lack of marketing, but a lack of identity.
