Former Microsoft executive Peter Moore has admitted that the company encouraged PlayStation vs Xbox console wars, but not for the reasons you think. Moore, who enjoyed a lengthy career in the video games industry before moving on to sports as CEO of Liverpool FC, revealed in a Front Office Sports podcast that Microsoft wanted to promote healthy competition in the industry.
Current Xbox CEO decries PlayStation vs Xbox console wars
As spotted by folks over at IGN, Moore said that Microsoft pushed console wars with Sony so that the companies would challenge each other. He believes that if it wasn’t for this approach, the industry wouldn’t grow or see the competition that we see today, which works out in customers’ favor.
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 of 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.
Perhaps Microsoft wasn’t expecting console wars to take such a toxic turn. Current Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has taken a very different approach than his predecessors. Spencer has reiterated on a number of occasions that console wars aren’t healthy for the industry and that companies work better in cooperation. That said, console wars are almost unavoidable now despite the widespread criticism that they earn from various segments of the games industry and the gaming community.
In other news, Sony has revealed that it has shipped 21.7 million PS5s thus far and has gained another one million PS Plus subscribers, and the PS5 firmware update beta codes are being sent out to users in a number of countries. This is a substantial update that introduces folders and 1440p support.