Michael Pachter: Microsoft is preparing for life after the Xbox

Enjoying your new console? Well, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter thinks it’ll soon be obsolete, and he thinks that Xbox maker Microsoft knows it.

Speaking this morning with moderator Geoff Keighley at our GamesBeat 2014 in San Francisco, Pachter explained why he thought Microsoft would shift its gaming focus from consoles to PCs and mobile.

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“I think consoles are going away, because you used to need a console because you could not connect a microprocessor to your TV screen,” Pachter said. “Now, if you have a Chromecast stick or a Roku box, you can. So why do we buy consoles? I mean, your phone will be powerful enough to power any game in two more generations. And, so, why buy a console? I think Microsoft actually knows that.”

These comments come after Microsoft bought Minecraft developer Mojang for $2.5 billion earlier today. Microsoft has always had a lot of success with hardcore gamers, but acquiring the mass-appealing Minecraft — a game that’s especially popular on mobile platforms — could be a sign that the company is looking to reach a wider audience.

Pachter also talked about the middling critical response to Destiny, the recently released first-person shooter/massively multiplayer online game hybrid for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The PlayStation 4 version currently has a Metacritic score of 76.

“That’s not good enough, I think, to support a recurring franchise,” Pachter said. “They’re going to have to step it up next time.”

Publisher Activison Blizzard spent millions promoting Destiny. The game already had a successful launch, but reviews didn’t start coming out until after the shooter’s release.

You can see all of Pachter and Keighley’s conversation on our Twitch page, where they also discuss Microsoft’s holiday plans and the billion dollar acquisitions that have lately taken place in the industry.