Yep, he’s said another thing. Xbox’s Phil Spencer, fresh off of saying something the other day that could be construed as a little bit of a cheeky shot at the PS5 Pro or at least at expensive consoles in a similar vein to it, has said another thing that could be interpreted as a little bit of a cheeky shot at the PS5 Pro.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, the Microsoft exec was asked about the potential of Xbox doing a mid-cycle hardware refresh, and responded by indicating that it’s clearly something he’s less keen on right now than, say, doing a handheld.
“We think about hardware that can create unique value for our players or creators on our platform,” Spencer said, “We don’t need to do incremental hardware for our own benefit.
“Does a new device really give you a unique experience on screen in some way? [It’s] less like the old days, going from the original Xbox to 360; that was standard definition to high definition. Now, [it’s] harder to show the benefits.”
Yep, maybe not quite as spicy as his $1,000 consoles comment from the other day, but Spencer’s still being pretty clear that he thinks hardware like the PS5 Pro has a tough time justifying its existence in the eyes of consumers. To be fair, he’s got a point there, even if the Pro has arguably made all the laughing that accompanied its announcement and price reveal look a tiny bit less justified, if the stuff being said about its sales paints an accurate picture.
Outside of this, the interview also saw Spencer acknowledge that not everyone will be a fan of Xbox’s new slogan/ad campaign, which is essentially based around just calling every thing you can access Xbox stuff on an Xbox, because branding. Though, he put this down to the fact some folks “long for the simplicity of a single box, single platform, single game“, which kinda ignores people who just think saying ‘This is an Xbox’ over and over again is a bit crap.
He also confirmed: “We’ll definitely do more consoles in the future, and other devices.” So, Xbox isn’t done making video game boxes yet, just in case you thought it might be.
Do you think Phil was taking another harmless little jab at the PS5 Pro here, or is he just healthily sceptical about the merits of mid-generation hardware refreshes? Let us know below!
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