For those that have spent any time on gaming forums, or even just tried to talk about their gaming habits in public, likely know of the sometimes overly toxic views some platform owners have towards their platform’s competition.
Speaking recently with Gamespot, Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, was asked what things he would like to tackle in the future. Responding, he pointed directly at the console wars.
“I’ve said before, the one thing that I probably find a little distasteful in the discourse around games is the divisiveness that people try to build between platforms…” Explaining further, “It becomes more about what piece of plastic I own than what games I’m playing. It becomes more about somebody else failing than the things I love succeeding. I don’t think that’s a good place for our industry… I’m not going to embrace that. I’m going to actively push against that.”
Over a year ago, Spencer said much the same thing following the reveal of Rise of the Tomb Raider’s timed exclusivity, saying, “I want to win this generation, but I want to win more than I want the other guy to lose… I do want to sell a lot of Xbox Ones, and for many people that’s a direct competition with the PS4.” Taking a tone similar to his most recent remarks however, “I want to build a great platform for gamers. If somebody else does that too, and they do really well? Hats off to them…”
Do you agree the console wars are distasteful? Or is it just good for business? Let us know in the comments.