Phil Spencer doesn't seem to see much hope of Xbox console sales overtaking Sony or Nintendo any time soon, as he believes Microsoft lost the console war during the Xbox One generation, which is where the digital libraries that have become so important today were forged.
Speaking on Kinda Funny's Xcast, Spencer said: "We are not in the business of out-consoling Sony or out-consoling Nintendo. There isn't really a great solution or win for us. And I know that will upset a ton of people. But the truth of the matter is that when you're third place in a console marketplace and the top two players are as strong as they are and in certain cases have a discrete focus on doing deals and other things that will--that make being Xbox hard for us as a team--our vision is everyone on console has a great experience and they feel like a first-class citizen."
<social>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKwfEQ1eEyM</social>
Unlike many have said, it doesn't seem Spencer believes that a slew of well-received Xbox exclusives can save the console either.
"I see commentary out there--'If you just build great games, everything will turn around.' It's just not true [that] if we go off and build great games, all of a sudden you're going to see console share shift in some dramatic way. We lost the worst generation to lose in the Xbox One generation, where everybody built their digital library of games. 90% of the people every year who walk into a retailer to buy a console are already a member of one of the three ecosystems. Their digital library is there. I see a lot of pundits out there who kind of want to go back to the time where we all had cartridges and discs and every new generation was a clean slate. And you could switch the whole console share. That is just not the world that we are in today. There is no world where Starfield is an 11/10 and people start selling their PS5s. That's not going to happen."
While there is likely some truth in Spencer's statement, there doesn't seem to be much evidence as if we're looking at Xbox exclusives of this generation, it's hard to pick out any that have stood out as major critical hits. Hi-Fi Rush released to a great reception, but it didn't have a similar level of hype around it as Starfield or Redfall. The solution probably isn't as simple as Xbox just needs to make great games, but perhaps it would help move some Xbox Series X and S units if there was a steady stream of critical hits coming our way.