Xbox boss Phil Spencer shared some insights into Microsoft’s views on the current competition in the gaming industry recently and revealed that the company’s main competitors might not be who people think they are. Xbox and PlayStation have long been viewed as rivals with Nintendo competing with the two through innovative ways as well, but two other tech giants are now viewed as the “main competitors” of Microsoft. Those companies are Amazon and Google, both of which have started drifting more into gaming and are expected to continue that trend.

Spencer spoke to Protocol to offer a perspective on Microsoft’s plans for the next generation of Xbox and how it’ll take on the competition. He said he’s got respect for both Sony and Nintendo, but moving forward, it seems it’s Amazon and Google that the company has its eyes on.

“When you talk about Nintendo and Sony, we have a ton of respect for them, but we see Amazon and Google as the main competitors going forward," Spencer said. "That's not to disrespect Nintendo and Sony, but the traditional gaming companies are somewhat out of position. I guess they could try to re-create Azure, but we've invested tens of billions of dollars in cloud over the years.”

Spencer didn’t explicitly say Sony and Nintendo weren’t the main competition anymore – and they’re probably not too far behind Amazon or Google anyway – but the implication was clear. He continued to clarify that both Amazon and Google are looking into ways to get more people around the world playing games and that those goals were more in line with Microsoft’s plans than fighting console wars.

“I don't want to be in a fight over format wars with those guys while Amazon and Google are focusing on how to get gaming to 7 billion people around the world,” Spencer said. “Ultimately, that's the goal.”

Google launched its own gaming service last year called Google Stadia, and while it’s had some setbacks since launch and has been met with concerns from subscribers about a slow-growing library, it’s able to reach many people. There’s long been speculation about Amazon starting some sort of streaming service. Amazon’s already poised to enter the gaming industry strongly with its new game projects like New World and the fact that it owns Twitch.

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Sony’s PlayStation 5 are expected to release during the holiday season.



Posted: Feb 07, 2020 7:34 am
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/2020/02/05/xbox-boss-amazon-google-playstation-nintendo-main-competition/