When the Xbox One X launches in November, it will cost $499.99 USD – $100 more than the PlayStation 4 Pro. Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, was asked by Eurogamer if he’s worried about being more expensive than PS4 Pro, and responded by saying:
I look at Pro as more of a competitor to S than I do to Xbox One X. This is a true 4K console. If you just look at the specs of what this box is, it’s in a different league than any other console that’s out there. When I think about techniques to somehow manufacture a 4K screen like what some other consoles try to do, this is different than that. This is 40% more GPU.
Despite the big push by Microsoft for Xbox One X, Spencer noted that “the majority of our consoles that are sold next year will be [Xbox One S]. That has always been the plan.”
Spencer also touched on the lack of PlayStation 4 cross-platform support with Minecraft, saying, “We want Minecraft to be playable on all platforms with cross-play. I’m committed to that. Our relationship with Nintendo has been great. But you’ll have to ask them.”
When Eurogamer brought up how Sony has deals with several third-party games, and how that could result in a parity requirement between PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, Spencer said, “There’s nothing technically that would keep any game a console game maker is building who wants to take advantage of the capability here from making Xbox One X the very best version of every one of those games.”
He continued by talking about how Microsoft didn’t ask for exclusive content in their Assassin’s Creed Origins and Middle-earth: Shadow of War deals:
I don’t know what deals get written. I’ve been pretty open about, I’m not a fan of doing deals that hold back specific pieces of content from other platforms. You don’t see that in the deals we’ve done with Assassin’s and Shadow. We’ll have a marketing deal on those, but I don’t say, hey, I need some kind of Strike or skin somebody else can’t play.
I don’t think it’s good for our industry if we got into a point where people are holding back the technical innovation of game developers based on a marketing deal. I don’t know anything about what’s in other people’s deals. But this, clearly, from a technical perspective, is the most powerful console by quite a wide margin. So, when I stood on-stage and I said this will be the best place to play all those games, there’s nothing technically that would keep any developer from not making that true.
Do you think Xbox One X will help Microsoft win the holiday period? Or do you think the cheaper price point will put Sony at #1?
[Source: Eurogamer]
