Microsoft Will Be Debating Right Now Whether Xbox Consoles Have a Future, Says Peter Moore

08.03.2024 - 11:41 / ign.com / Phil Spencer / Sony / Will

It feels like the video game console is at a crossroads. With Xbox Series X and S floundering in the ‘console war’, Sony suggesting PlayStation 5 is approaching the second half of its life after missing sales targets, and uncertainty around the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, there is growing concern that the traditional video game console business could be under threat.

Why? There are a number of reasons. Perhaps chief among them is that the console business has failed to grow meaningfully in years, offering a sizable but static customer base that is increasingly playing a handful of enormous games and leaving little room for everything else. After the pandemic boom and huge revenue increases from new types of monetisation like battle passes, some are now wondering where the next shot in the arm comes from.

Peter Moore is convinced Microsoft will be discussing right now whether Xbox consoles have a future. Why should we care what Peter Moore thinks? He knows a thing or two about video game consoles. As president of Sega America, Moore was in the room when Sega killed the Dreamcast and went third-party. Then, as boss of Xbox, he oversaw the Xbox 360, contending with everything from the red ring of death debacle to over-the-top E3 presentations. Yes, Peter Moore is that video game executive who got a Halo 2 tattoo on his arm just to flex Microsoft’s muscle during the console war. Then, after Microsoft (and another tattoo, this time to promote GTA 4’s launch on Xbox), Moore joined Electronic Arts to run EA Sports and the gargantuan FIFA series. In short, Moore knows what it takes to run a successful — and unsuccessful — console business, and so if he’s wondering whether the games-playing machines under our TVs have a future, you can bet the people making them are, too.

In a sweeping interview with IGN, Moore delves deep into the ongoing debate about video game consoles, wonders what Microsoft in particular will do next, and reveals that Microsoft’s current internal debates about releasing its exclusives on rival consoles are nothing new. In fact, years ago Microsoft talked about releasing Halo on PlayStation!

I've seen a lot of talk about the console business essentially failing to grow in a long time. It has a relatively stable number of customers, but if you look at the install base for each generation over the last however many years, the needle hasn't moved significantly. Phil Spencer explained Microsoft’s recent layoffs in terms of the industry's failure to grow the gaming audience. Do you agree with that sentiment?

Yeah, well the numbers don't lie. Let's not forget hardware is a messy business. If you extract hardware and look at the P&L (profit and loss) on its own, it's brutal, but it's the