With the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One outpacing the sales of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 at the same time in their lifecycles, Xbox Boss Phil Spencer says early thoughts of a potential console decline have been proven wrong.
Speaking in the latest issue of Edge magazine (via GamesRadar), Spencer said he has a lot of respect for Sony and the PS4’s success so far, and “it’s a great time for the console industry.”
He added:
I’ve said this a few times, but four years ago when I was sitting doing these interviews it was, ‘Do people need consoles any more?’ and, ‘Isn’t this just dead? Everybody’s playing on their phone.’ And now you’re looking at the PS4 having sold over – I don’t remember their last number – but over 20 million. And we’ve sold a ton of Xbox Ones globally, more than we’ve sold 360s [in the same period]. We’re both doing really well, and I think Nintendo has a plan for the future – I don’t know what the NX is, but it’s great just to see the business being done.
Last we heard, Sony had shipped a total of 22.3 million PS4s as of March 31, while Microsoft sold 1.6 million Xbox Ones and Xbox 360s in the first quarter this year.
With the PS4 dominating in Europe, Spencer knows they need to do better, and their gamescom 2015 press conference is one way in which they’ll try to achieve that.
Asked why he thinks the Xbox One is suffering in Europe, Spencer chalked it up to Sony doing “a really good job in those markets” and having a longer history in the console business. In Latin America though, he says the “Xbox does really well,” and in the United States, “the numbers keep going back and forth – it’s good competition which I think is good for everybody.”
[Source: Edge (GamesRadar) via GameSpot]
