We’ve heard a lot about the downsides of Xbox this year, even though there have been many positives along the way, and that’s primarily because of the controversy over various first-party titles jumping to PlayStation (and Switch).

Microsoft has clearly started implementing new strategies for the Xbox brand, as evidenced by the big “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign that kicked off a few weeks ago, However, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella argues that because of these changes, the future is “actually looking pretty bright” for the brand right now – despite the controversy.

Speaking to GamesRadar recently, Piscatella pointed towards Xbox’s impressive sales on PlayStation, as well as the focus on expanding Xbox’s reach beyond console, as signs that the brand is setting itself up for a successful future.

“If you look at what’s going on now in the sales, you look at like the PlayStation sales chart, you see a lot of Microsoft on there. And the more that they can broaden the appeal of their products, their IP across other platform holders, why not do that?”

“You look at their results in their earnings reports, and you go, okay, that looks pretty darn good, even though they recognize that console sales themselves are lagging for them.”

The analyst went on to suggest that if you “look at it that way”, things seem pretty positive for Xbox’s future success. However, he also acknowledged that it’s been a difficult couple of years for the brand without a doubt.

There’s more in the full interview if you’re interested (we’ll leave the link down below), but yeah… we’re generally in agreement with Mat here at Pure Xbox. Microsoft is clearly doing what it feels is best for the future of the brand, but the problem is that by seemingly ditching exclusives in the long run, the public perception will change and more disgruntlement will inevitably set in. Then again, does that even need to be a concern for the folks at Xbox anymore?

It’s an interesting question to ponder, and we’re certainly intrigued to see how things develop over the coming years…