Xbox boss reminds everybody that console wars are stupid
Just in time for the start of post-launch drama about this, that, and whatever else because mom got you the one console but not the other one, Phil Spencer has blamed the “tribalism” of console fanboys for everything that’s wrong in 2020. Okay, almost. But it’s close enough.
Talking with The Verge editor Nilay Patel in a recent episode of the website’s Decoder podcast, Spencer was asked what he thinks about videos of people smashing up Xbox and PlayStation consoles for the quote-unquote lolz when other people can’t even get one because the shops are sold out.
“To be honest, I love the industry I’m in. This is the job I love. My wife will tell me it’s the only job I’m qualified for, but this is definitely the job I love. But that tribalism in the industry, if there was anything that would ever drive me out of the industry, it’s actually that, what you’re talking about,” he replies.
“When a team releases something into the market for the world to tear it apart on the internet – it’s just such a brave thing for a team to do. I’m never going to vote against any creative team or any product team to do poorly because I have a competitive product. It’s not in me. I don’t actually think it helps us in the long run in the industry.
“But especially in the console space, there’s like a core of the core that have, I think, taken it to a destructive level of, ‘I really want that to fail so the thing that I bought succeeds’. I’m saying on both sides. I’m not saying that it’s all people crushing Xboxes and everybody that loves Xbox is always completely inviting to all the PlayStation stuff. I’ve said before that I find it distasteful, but maybe that is too light. I just really despise it. I don’t think we have to see others fail in order for us to achieve the goals. That’s not some kind of ‘kumbaya’ thing. It’s actually real. We’re in the entertainment business. The biggest competitor we have is apathy over the products and services [and] games that we build.”
If Microsoft and Sony can play nice with each other, so can you, kids.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) November 10, 2020
Generation after generation, it’s a pleasure to game alongside you. Happy launch day @PlayStation https://t.co/715L30KiwL
— Xbox (@Xbox) November 12, 2020
Now if console exclusives could also be cancelled forever, that would be rad too.
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