The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, confirmed what many of us knew all along: the company is utilizing a monumentally different strategy than what we see from Sony or Nintendo.
Yes, Xbox is still buying out studios and trying to make its platform appealing with unique, exclusive games, but Spencer is working to ensure that this platform exists beyond the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S hardware.
- Xbox Series X: price, release date, specs and how it compares to gaming laptops
- Xbox Series S: release date, price, specs, rumors and what we want
- Xbox Series X and Series S pre-order: Where to buy the new console
In an interview with GameReactor, Spencer confirms that Xbox is measuring success based on "how many people are playing on Xbox." And when he says this, he's not referring to just Xbox consoles. He's referring to those "logging in and playing a part of our ecosystem." He continues talking about how this could be through "an Android phone. It could be on a Switch. It could be on a PC."
This is heightened by Xbox Game Pass, which is available throughout a number of platforms outside of Xbox consoles. Sony and Nintendo have a very traditional strategy in comparison: create critically acclaimed exclusives that make the associated console worth purchasing.
So far, Microsoft's plan is working, as Xbox Game Pass has managed to hit 15 million subscribers before the launch of its next-gen console. I can only imagine this number will begin to increase after the Bethesda acquisition, the launch of xCloud and the release of Xbox Series X|S.
Spencer confirms that Xbox is not finished expanding its platform. The company is currently focused on trying to find a home on iOS devices. Afterward, it can start to look further outward, potentially moving toward Smart TVs, Chromebooks or Fire TVs.
Whether or not Xbox's revolutionary strategy will pan out is currently difficult to discern. However, it's impossible to deny that the company will go down in history as the first to try and change the game.
