By Nelson Schneider - 08/23/13 at 06:55 PM CT
A recent TechFlash report has revealed that not all is well in the Land of Microsoft. According to the report, ValueAct, an investment firm that buys percentages of struggling companies with the goal of guiding them back to profitability, wants to make some big changes... one of which is rumored to be the disposal of the Xbox Division.
The Xbox Division, despite a few recent years of meager profits, has historically been a massive money pit into which Microsoft has joyfully poured billions of dollars that would have been better spent making their existing products better. The total of these recent profits has done nothing to dent the ever-present black hole of back debt generated by the original Xbox and the Xbox 360 during its first few years of its life. With the overwhelming amount of ill-will generated by the Xbox One even before retail availability, it doesn't look like things will be getting any better during the 8th Generation. It would be best to take the Xbox Division, like the Zune, out behind the barn and put it out of its misery.
To top it off, ValueAct also wants to get rid of sweaty-armpitted, chair-throwing ape-man, Steve Ballmer, the current CEO of the long-time tech giant... and apparently Steve Ballmer agrees with them! Ballmer has announced that he will be retiring from Microsoft within the year.
While this news is by no means a guarantee of the demise of one of Microsoft's worst decisions (and one of my personal pet peeves), it is certain to make waves that will rock the tech industry, not least the videogame industry. I just hope that whatever other mega-conglomeration buys the Xbox Division, in the event it is sold to the highest bidder, is not EA, Activision, or Ubisoft.
