To say that the Xbox brand has been through a very rough patch lately would be a massive understatement for most gamers. Between the large number of layoffs happening at Microsoft, and the cancellation of major games that were announced, rough times have been happening on the Xbox front. The major news breaking over the past few months has led to Xbox fans having their faith in the brand shaken severely. Many gamers who play new games on multiple consoles question whether it's a smart move to invest in anything within the Xbox ecosystem right now, especially if everything we know about Xbox now is in danger of changing for the worst in the near future.

But not everything is doom and gloom, at least not yet. Games continue to release on Xbox consoles, and long-time supporters of Xbox continue to stick with the platform despite the dire news. Although things are far from over, more bad news could be on the horizon. However, things can be changed and tides can be shifted if Xbox is able to switch its energy towards regaining the faith of its supporters. Here are three things that Xbox can do if it wants to continue being a relevant part of the ongoing console wars, and re-sustain itself as a major player in gaming.

3 Re-evaluating new projects

The layoffs were that bad

One of the big side effects of the news of layoffs hitting multiple areas of Microsoft as a company was multiple projects being canceled. This included games that were announced, and even shown with gameplay at events, but have since been pulled from release schedules. Highly anticipated titles like the Perfect Dark reboot and Everwild fell victim to this. Other unannounced projects were also reported to be afffect by the layoffs and canceled in the process, with possibly more ending up with the same fate. Not every upcoming project for Xbox consoles was hit by this, but a good number appear to have been.

A lot of this is due to a shifting focus at the top branches of Microsoft itself, not necessarily just Xbox, with resources going towards developing technology like A.I. systems. To save money for moves like this, layoffs and cancellations were made. Other factors, like the Activision purchase that happened for Xbox only a few years ago, didn't help by adding more pressure. Although things like this happen all the time in nearly every industry, it's still never a good thing to see happen when so many people are affected, as well as projects that people were eagerly awaiting.

One major thing that Xbox leadership could do is re-examine which new games being put into development, focusing more on projects that would cater to audiences on a wider scale, as opposed to niche titles. Perfect Dark was a game that people wanted to see happen, and it was being made by a studio that was created specifically for it by Xbox themselves. Perfect Dark is a name that people recognize and get excited about, so to see it get canceled after teasing it for so long would shake any fan base's morale. A greater effort should have been made, if one was made at all, to try and keep that game in development and get it to release on Xbox Series X/S. A game with that much momentum could've really done a lot for Xbox fans and the sustained success of the Xbox platform.

2 Go back to being Xbox as a console

The new marketing wasn't it

A recent marketing campaign that was shown around the time of the Xbox Games Showcase was the "This is an Xbox" ads. The campaign showed multiple devices that were able to run the Xbox Game Pass app on them, allowing players to play their favorite Xbox games from Xbox Game Pass on the devices. This includes laptops, mobile phones, tablets, televisions, and even VR devices. For many gaming fans, this was a terrible move that really didn't help the perception of the Xbox brand from being viewed as stepping away from the console space. It's something that long-time Xbox supporters were not too keen on seeing.

Like before, a lot of this is due to shifting priorities at Microsoft, with a desire to capitalize on finding an even larger audience across multiple fronts. Making Xbox Game Pass available on any kind of device can build a sense of a wide-reaching Xbox platform that goes with you wherever you want. But one thing it doesn't do is reaffirm a reason to buy an Xbox console, let alone offer a promise of longtime support for those who already purchases an Xbox Series X or Series S.

People who have played games on Xbox home consoles since 2001 have always viewed the brand as one of the big three game companies with a major console on the market. To them, Xbox is and always will be a video game console, not an application across devices. To regain a lot of lost trust from their biggest supporters, Xbox needs to assure them that their money spent on the platforms isn't going to be wasted. A player's biggest question is going to be "why should I buy an Xbox if it won't be supported in a short time from now?" for everything moving forward. And Xbox needs to find a better answer to give them, rather than other devices being an Xbox and not their own console.

1 Solving the Game Pass problem

Great value, but growing issues

For a long time, Xbox Game Pass has been seen as great value to anyone that owns an Xbox console. But in more recent years, a lot of the chatter about the service has soured for game developers and curious fans. While being subscribed to Xbox Game Pass gives access to a large library of games to play, it also gets people to stop purchasing new games for the console like before. Having games available on day 1 is a great perk of the service, but also makes players wait for most new releases to hit the service instead of buying them as new units. At the same time, some major game releases don't end up on Xbox Game Pass, despite being good fits with other games already on there. It's a bunch of little things that can eventually grow into bigger issues at a time when Xbox needs fewer problems to deal with.

Game Pass has almost become the greatest asset and curse for Xbox as a whole. Some game developers and industry enthusiasts question how the service is even profitable when it feels like so much is being given away, along with a perceived ceiling of users that could join it. Xbox should look at Xbox Game Pass and try to find ways to better the value of the service with other perks, not necessarily by adding more games to it. Whether that means finding ways to reward players better for using it often, or adding other features that make it seem like a service you can't live without, something needs to be done for it. As of now, even with the great value that an Xbox owner can get from being subscribed to Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox isn't over yet

Some people have already checked out of supporting Xbox as a brand following the latest bad news. But it's not completely over for Xbox yet, nor are the perceived console wars for fans. There are still options for Xbox and Microsoft to change things around and have a better perception of Xbox as a whole. As big of a company as Microsoft and Xbox are, they can still fall victim to poor decisions with great effects. If they truly care about their customers and growing the Xbox ecosystem enough to be even more profitable, then restoring faith in the fan base that has been with them for a long time should be a priority to them.