Xbox Series X: Phil Spencer confirms success isn't measured by console sales alone

Xbox Series X
(Image credit: Microsoft)

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. 

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.

Momo Tabari
Contributing Writer

Self-described art critic and unabashedly pretentious, Momo finds joy in impassioned ramblings about her closeness to video games. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Media Studies from Brooklyn College and five years of experience in entertainment journalism. Momo is a stalwart defender of the importance found in subjectivity and spends most days overwhelmed with excitement for the past, present and future of gaming. When she isn't writing or playing Dark Souls, she can be found eating chicken fettuccine alfredo and watching anime.