Aaron Greenberg reflects on the arrival of the next generation and takes stock of what they have in hand to fight PlayStation 5.
With a generation that begins to approach its end, Microsoft already thinks about the next. It was clear during E3 2019 after the announcement of the first details of Xbox Project Scarlett and it was clear in the X019 that was held this November in London. Aaron Greenberg, CEO of Xbox, has been confident with his chances for the PS5 launch at Christmas 2020.
"We are more obsessed with the consumer than some obsessed with the competition," he begins. "I think Sony has built a great business: they have a very strong brand and a fierce presence, we have a lot of admiration for what they have achieved." If we stick to figures, PlayStation 4 already exceeds 102 million units sold in six years. When asked if he fears PS5 output, the answer is clear: "No, really."
But Microsoft knows what cards it has to play for Xbox Project Scarlett to take the lead from day one: games, services and ecosystem. Fifteen exclusive studios at Xbox Game Studios, an Xbox Game Pass that announced days ago more than 50 new games and an ecosystem where backward compatibility will make a giant leap.
“Likewise, we are proud to have built the most powerful console (Xbox One X), and I think we have grown our internal studios, so that we have one of the largest teams, but the one that most; and we will continue to innovate with things like Project xCloud ”, its cloud service that will have beta with fifty games in spring 2020.
Greenberg also brings out the new agreements with Japanese publishers, which carry with them the arrival of three installments of Yakuza, an enormous cast of Final Fantasy titles or the original deliveries of Kingdom Hearts.
The generational battle will begin at Christmas 2020, but it will be at E3 2020 in June when, presumably, all the details, price and exit titles of that new console with a non-definitive name will be announced.
