Xbox Boss Wants to Beat PS6 on Hardware Capabilities, Not Necessarily Games 1

The gap between the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 is growing dramatically, and there’s a good chance it’ll get even bigger in 2025.

Microsoft, in response, has effectively ripped off the band aid and is in the process of rebranding as a third-party publisher. Last week, boss Phil Spencer indicated that virtually all of his firm’s future games will release on Sony’s system.

However, the trillion-dollar titan has continued to express its ambition to make more hardware, leaving the question: why would you choose a hypothetical next-gen Xbox over the PS6?

Spencer says his organisation plans to beat Sony on console capabilities, and not necessarily games.

“I want people to pick hardware based on the capabilities of that hardware and how that fits into the choices that they want to make about where they want to play, and we want our hardware to win based on the hardware capabilities that we have,” he told Gamertag Radio.

The outspoken executive didn’t offer any examples of the kind of capabilities he expects to offer.

As things stand, the experience between the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 is quite similar. Sony focuses a lot on the immersion of the DualSense and technologies like Tempest 3D audio, while Microsoft points to features such as Quick Resume and its Play Anywhere initiative.

Spencer continued: “In the position that I'm in, I look at hardware as a critical part of what we do, but [we’re] not trying to gatekeep the games off of other places for the benefit of it.

“Let’s go build innovative hardware that people want to use to play, whether that’s in their hands, whether it’s on the television, or even other places.”

It’s another commitment from Microsoft to creating a handheld, although it sounds like Sony is also plotting something similar. The Japanese giant’s Remote Play handheld PS Portal was already the best-selling accessory in the United States in 2024.

The words Spencer’s saying certainly make sense, but we’re not sure how he intends to execute on it. Xbox Series X|S is trending behind the Xbox One with exclusives; we’re not convinced its trajectory is going to improve once it removes them.

Furthermore, we’ve already seen from the price of the PS5 Pro, hardware is expensive to make these days, and Microsoft won’t want to sell at a loss. Offering a beefy unit with more horsepower than the PS6 will come at a cost, and we’re already in an era of diminishing returns.

Plus, it’s hard to imagine Xbox innovating in the input department, as releasing a unique controller would run counter to its goal of being available everywhere. It feels like the company is between a rock and a hard place right now.

At least it should make for an interesting few years as we slowly being to learn more about next-gen and what it means for both Sony and Microsoft.

[source youtube.com]