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Microsoft CFO Tim Stuart has explained why the PlayStation vs. Xbox console sales war isn’t a thing for the company anymore. Microsoft previously conceded the hardware sales race, stating on numerous occasions that it’s in third place.
Microsoft is looking beyond PlayStation vs Xbox hardware performance
Speaking at the recent Wells Fargo 2023 TMT Summit (via GameSpot), Stuart said that hardware sales no longer reflect how the Xbox brand is doing overall. Microsoft stopped announcing console sales quite a while ago, whereas Sony and Nintendo continue to disclose this information to investors and the general public.
“At first, it was like, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘You’re the Xbox business, and you’re not giving us console [sales numbers], that makes no sense,’” Stuart recalled the conversations surrounding Xbox’s decision to stop announcing hardware sales. “But it was really the first point of us saying, no, no, it’s about content and services.”
Microsoft has been stressing the importance of content and services for a number of years now — most recently during its legal battles against regulators who wanted to prevent its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The company also said that Xbox’s future depends on Game Pass’s growth, highlighting its need to acquire content.