It could be said that the Xbox has been one of Microsoft’s more successful projects in the company’s history. Due to this, it’s crazy to think that the Xbox could have been even more successful then it already is. The Xbox 360 recently celebrated it’s 10th anniversary, and former Microsoft executive J Allard had a lot to say about the Xbox in his recent interview with GamesTM. Allard stated that he believed that it was going to be “a starting point for a second Microsoft.” This “Second Microsoft” was going to have a more consumer based focus, similar to that of Apple, but it was never able to take that jump.
Allard pointed out that up until the Xbox, Microsoft had more of a history dealing with “productivity, developers and enterprise,” as opposed to dealing with consumers. However, he did believe that the project shared the same basic principles of the Microsoft. “There was certainly a lot of pioneering, or cowboy culture, ingrained in Xbox, but its soul was very Microsoft in terms of building an awesome platform for creators to do amazing work,” said Allard.
Xbox never took off into the second consumer oriented company that he hoped it could turn into. “I had always hoped it could be a launchpad for a consumer-minded platform, brand and set of products and services that complemented the productivity and Windows side of the business.”
Allard no longer works for Microsoft, but he did say that while it never became a second company in itself, it is without a doubt a success story for the company.