Xbox's Phil Spencer: 'We'll see more console hardware down the road'

Microsoft's Phil Spencer confirms Xbox hardware isn't going anywhere, and that Xbox Series X|S won't be the last lineup of Xbox consoles.

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Xbox has been a service-first business for some time. Microsoft has spent billions to establish Game Pass and its new cloud streaming Project xCloud as a multi-platform, versatile service that links all devices together. Xbox is about delivering content and services to devices you already own, but that doesn't mean Xbox hardware will be phased out. Quite the contrary.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance, VP of gaming Phil Spencer confirms that streaming and service innovation will continue to shape consoles. Hardware is an important access point to the ecosystem and will remain a part of the business for some time.

"In terms of future hardware, absolutely I think we're going to see more console hardware down the road. Just like in video, just like in music, it's not that streaming has cut off device innovation. I think we'll continue to see that and that's absolutely what we're planning for," Spencer said in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance.

This isn't the first time Spencer confirmed more Xbox consoles are coming.

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Spencer also succinctly describes Xbox's core ethos:

"We're about putting the player at the center. It's not about the device in the middle any more. You see that in every other form of media: My TV is with me wherever I go, my music is with me wherever I go. I'm in control of the experience and I think gaming is going through that same transformation.

"If you're a Game Pass subscriber, you can play your games on your Xbox, your PC, or on Android via streaming. One subscription gives you access to your catalog and community wherever you go."

Thanks to this conjunction of hardware, services, and a unified framework, the fruits of Microsoft's 7-year plan are starting to flourish.

The plan began years ago when Microsoft tied PCs and Xbox consoles together using Windows 10, opening up cross-play, cross-buy, and cross-platform Xbox LIVE integration. Then it grew with Game Pass, a 15-million subscriber service built specifically for subscription retention and digital revenues via sales and monetization. Now Project xCloud will bring the Game Pass Effect over to mobiles for a brand new era of earnings--if not done in a shaky and fledgling way.

Traditionally consoles have always been an inception point to the Xbox ecosystem. That will continue on. If anything, Microsoft could make more consoles as it's positioned to rake in even more from Game Pass. Companies often use digital revenues/game sales/subscriptions to offset the losses from hardware manufacturing.

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