Microsoft Was Afraid That XBLA Would Destroy Console Industry

While Xbox Live Arcade had been around for a while and allowed gamers to download tons of games directly to their systems, it has now been revealed that Microsoft had some serious concerns regarding the impact that the new service would have on the gaming industry.

IGN recently spoke with XBLA creator Greg Canessa about his vision for the service and the success that it has had. He surprisingly reveals that, “There was a legitimate fear that Xbox Live Arcade was going to cannibalize retail sales and completely destroy the console industry. That was actually a quote I got from one of the internal folks.”

The fear stemmed from the cheaper price points and greater convenience of just downloading games rather than actually going to a brick-and-mortar store. Thus, they wanted to make sure that XBLA distinguished itself from all of that by offering different kinds of gaming experiences.

Over 700 games were released through the Xbox Live Arcade digital service, making it a smash success on the Xbox 360. While it didn’t make the leap from Xbox 360 to Xbox One, Canessa thinks that Microsoft should consider bringing it back.