Microsoft Isn’t Done With Xbox 360 Yet

Microsoft is hoping to sell another 25 million Xbox 360 consoles.

It appears that even after the disappointing reveal of the Xbox One, Microsoft is optimistic about the sales of the console that’s still going strong, the Xbox 360. In fact, they’re expecting the console to continue selling well into the next five years.

Apparently they know better than to place all of their bets on the “Xbone” as their primary source of gaming income. With the general response to the May 21 reveal, consumers are more than likely to either stick with their Xbox 360 or “move on” with the PlayStation 4 or Wii U. Face it, gamers don’t like to be restricted, and the Xbox One is gearing up to be the most restrictive gaming console ever created.

If something doesn’t change drastically in their game plan (no pun intended), Microsoft is going to be seeing that once-predicted apathy toward their next generation console. And if it happens that way, they’ll be glad they kept supporting the Xbox 360 well into the future.

Microsoft‘s senior vice president of interactive entertainment Yusuf Mehdi told the Official Xbox Magazine:

“We believe over the next five years we can break a 100 million unit installed base. That’s something we’re shooting for, it’s not a financial plan as such, it’s just rough numbers if you will. To sell another 25 million, half of those will probably come from replacements, but half will come from new buyers. The way we’ll break into those segments, is by hitting new price points, getting new classes of entertainment to come with the Xbox, and breaking into new customer segments.”

So technically, if current Xbox 360 owners stick with their consoles, Yusuf expects a good number of them to get the infamous “red ring of death” and replace them with another one at a discounted price.

Now as for what a new class of entertainment might be, that’s anyone’s guess, but we can only hope it doesn’t involve slowly turning the Xbox 360 into the once-rumored Xbox Mini, with all of the problems Xbox One is threatening to come with. In that case, Microsoft can expect a lot of gamers to start siding with Sony or Nintendo.

What do you think of Microsoft’s predictions toward the future of the Xbox 360?