A former Xbox executive has basically admitted that the console wars would've never happened if not for them.
CHIBA, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 22: Peter Moore, Vice President of Microsoft Corporation shows the Xbox 360 game console on September 22, 2006 in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Microsoft will launch an HD DVD drive add-on for the company's Xbox 360 and will be available in Japan on November 22.
That former executive was Peter Moore, who helmed Microsoft's gaming brand during the heat of the 2000s-2010s console wars (aka the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation). As reported by WCCFTech, Moore claims that Microsoft and Xbox "encouraged the console wars" not to divide people, but allegedly to promote competition.
This bombshell statement was made by Moore in a recent episode of the Front Office Podcast. Here is the entire podcast episode if you'd like to check it out:
Moore, who now works at Unity as the SVP and GM of Sports and Live Entertainment, reminisced about his time as the head of Xbox before eventually stepping down in 2007 (via GameSpot). That was a time when the 7th generation of consoles had barely begun. His most prominent memory of his tenure was the Red Ring Of Death scandal that affected the Xbox 360, which basically almost cost Microsoft's entire gaming business.
Here's what Moore said about the 7th generation console wars between Xbox and PlayStation:
We encouraged the console wars not to create division, but to challenge each other. And when I say each other, I mean Microsoft and Sony. If Microsoft hadn't stuck the course after the Xbox, after the Red Rings of Death, gaming would be a poorer place for it, you wouldn't have the competition you have today.
For the unaware, the Red Ring of Death controversy was the hardware problem that broke so many Xbox 360s and cost Microsoft $1.15 billion to solve over several years. The 360 basically turned out to be the tech giant's most successful gaming console, even if the PS3 did outsell it at the tail-end of the generation.
But despite this, the console war might not be as prevalent as it used to be. That is only reserved for fanatical consumers at this point, since both current-gen Xbox and PlayStation consoles are a good buy now.
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Who's Winning The Current Console War?
It's still way too early to say which team is winning the 9th generation of gaming consoles. And as we said earlier the "console war" is a term that only really applies to over-the-top fanboys. However, one cannot really deny that after the disaster that is the Xbox One, Microsoft is now pushing the right buttons.
Game enthusiasts and industry personnel walk between the Microsoft XBox and the Sony PlayStation exhibits at the Annual Gaming Industry Conference E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center on June 16, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles Convention Center will be hosting the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) which focuses on gaming systems and interactive entertainment, featuring introductions to new products and technologies.
Last month, CEO Satya Nadella has revealed multiple times that sales figures for the Series X and Series S have remained strong almost two years into the generation. And this culminated in Xbox actually outselling PlayStation in the one market the latter has always dominated: Japan. Five years ago, if you said that Xbox would outsell PlayStation there, you're going to be looked at like you're crazy.
Aside from hardware sales, Game Pass is also lining up Microsoft's pockets rather beautifully. With this, the tech giant doesn't seem to rely on shifting hardware anymore, and is only focusing on getting as many gamers onto the Xbox ecosystem as possible.
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