Starfield won’t be so good that people sell their PS5 and go to Xbox, says Phil Spencer

Xbox chief executive Phil Spencer spoke to Kinda Funny Games about the battle between Microsoft and rivals Sony and Nintendo, saying that Xbox was in third place and that the idea that Microsoft could just make better games to increase its market share is not sustainable.

Spencer even said that even if Starfield was the best game in history, it wouldn’t be enough to help Xbox surpass PlayStation.

“We are not in business with the idea of ​​beating Sony or Nintendo. There really isn’t a big solution or win for us. And I know this is going to upset a lot of people. But the truth is, when you’re third in a console market and the top two are as strong as they are and, in certain cases, have a quiet focus on doing business and other things that will — that make being Xbox difficult for us as a team – our vision is for everyone on console to have a great experience and feel like a first-class citizen,” said Spencer.

“I see comments going around – ‘If you just make great games, everything will change.’ It’s not true (that) if we go out and make big games, all of a sudden you’ll see a dramatic shift in console market share. We lost the worst generation to lose in that Xbox One generation where everyone built their digital library of games. 90% of people every year who walk into a store to buy a console are already members of one of the three ecosystems. Your digital library is there.”

If so, what’s Microsoft’s plan? Spencer stated that the company has a “unique vision” in the market where it doesn’t focus exclusively on one console. Instead, it is building an infrastructure that supports games on multiple devices, such as smartphones and tablets via streaming. This means that Microsoft wants to make games available on multiple platforms to help reach as many people as possible.

“The console is the core of the Xbox brand, without a doubt, so we’re going to focus on making sure the console experience is amazing. Some people take us and believe we’re a ‘better green version of what the blue guys do,’ and I’m just going to say, ‘There’s no win for Xbox in following in someone else’s footsteps.’ We have to pick up and do our own thing,” Spencer said.

In the same chat, Spencer commented on the disappointment involving Redfall.