Selling Xbox consoles is not Microsoft's gaming focus reveals Spencer
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Microsoft isn’t focused on selling huge numbers of Xbox consoles as they move into the next generation.
Speaking in the latest episode of Rogue One screenwriter Gary Whittia’s Animal Talking virtual talk show, Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed Microsoft’s nontraditional tactic for next-gen gaming as the hobbyist industry moves into a services-based platform.
“If [selling the highest number of consoles] was our approach, we wouldn’t put games on PC,” explained Spencer in his fairly representative Animal Crossing villager avatar. “We wouldn’t put games on Xbox One, we wouldn’t have xCloud and allow people to play games on their phones.”
“‘How many consoles do I sell versus how many consoles does another company sell,’” Spencer asked. “[That’s more] Sony or Nintendo or other companies back in the day, that’s not our approach.”
This isn’t the first time Spencer has expressed that Microsoft isn’t focused on the number of Xbox consoles that are sold this holiday. The Xbox boss has expressed numerous times that its okay if families don’t rush out to purchase a new next-gen Xbox Series X this holiday.
With the rise of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service and the upcoming release of Project xCloud on Android devices – unless Apple stops being Apple – it’s intentionally clear that the Xbox focus is laser focused on services.
Despite this, Microsoft is set to release two Xbox consoles later this year: Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Maybe they’ll actually announce the latter console soon.
