CEO toots own horn

CEO of Microsoft has loudly claimed that the Xbox investment into ABK is paying off and things are going well.

I have never known any employee to give themselves a poor review. Especially if production metrics aren't well defined. 

The continued problem of the games industry is zero standard for financial markers. Is Xbox doing well? Nobody really knows because nobody has meaningful financial history for Xbox. 

Is ABK stronger under Xbox? No answer could be possible because ABK hasn't produced a product while fully under Xbox leadership, yet. Is Xbox stronger because of ABK? Which part of Xbox; the hardware, software, or platform? Again this is near impossible to answer because Steam sales cannibalize Xbox platform opportunity while PC sales cannibalize hardware opportunity. 

Xbox is an unfocused and uncertain mess of feelings and not actual strategy. All that cloud power doesn't really mean anything when Nintendo is outperforming your hardware and your software, while Valve and Apple handly beat your platform. Even Apple's mixed hardware and platform strategy make sense from an ecosystem standpoint, but Xbox isn't building an ecosystem.

When will Microsoft recognize that their influence in gaming comes from their productivity side? It has always been business that has driven the development of PC technology. Now business will drive the cloud. Microsoft's real strategy strength is pushing business to the cloud and giving workers a way to secretly game while on the clock.

But perhaps that is the problem. Microsoft doesn't know that their influence came from being the defacto source of workplace entertainment. Like the writers of The Office, maybe Microsoft isn't aware that their original tie to PC gaming was unsanctioned, rouge sessions behind high cubicle walls. 

How ironic it would be if the unseen customer drove Microsoft to the podium to PC gaming master and now the unseen metrics will hide how well Microsoft gaming is actually doing.