Microsoft Dismisses Console Sales War, Touts Xbox One Exclusives And ‘Things That Can’t Be Done’ On PS4

There’s no question that Sony’s PlayStation 4 is walking away from the Xbox One in the console sales race this generation. This is despite the fact that Sony has held the line on pricing, keeping its 500GB console at the $399 price point, while Microsoft effectively instituted a $100 price cut by ditching the Kinect camera, and later implemented a permanent price drop to $349 (not to mention numerous crazy bundle deals).

But the sizable sales lead that the PS4 has over the Xbox One is of little concern to Microsoft’s Xbox execs. Rather, the company is more focused on improving the gaming experience and making sure that Xbox One customers have access to a bevy of exclusive titles that the Sony and the PS4 simply can’t touch.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Xbox exec Kudo Tsunoda talked up the closely watched sales race. "I wouldn't even say the gap has closed," Tsunoda acknowledged. Instead, Tsunoda pivoted, stating, “We’ve got a lot more exclusive games than any other platform."

Tsunoda went on to add that the Xbox One will see a total of seven exclusive titles by the end of 2015 alone (some of them include Halo 5, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Forza 6). And of course, he hints that 2016 will also see an even greater influx of Xbox One-exclusive titles.

Tsunoda made it a point to say that Microsoft has been “listening to the fans” and that was made very clear by the announcement of backwards compatibility for select Xbox 360 games at this year’s E3. "With backwards compatibility, it isn't something that we just think gamers might want," Tsunoda added. "It was the number one most requested feature for Xbox One by far."

Microsoft was widely seen as the big [presentation] winner at E3 thanks to the backwards compatibility announcement and Xbox One to Windows 10 game streaming. In recent months, Microsoft has also introduced a new Xbox One Elite Wireless controller, a 1TB Xbox One console and Windows 10 to Xbox One game streaming.

Expanding on the Windows 10 and Xbox One “Cross-Play”, Tsunoda bragged "It's a really unique value that only we can offer. You still need very gamer-focused values, but there's lots of things you can do with our technology. We're doing things that can't be done on any other console.

“Letting people play games wherever they want, on whatever device they choose, and making that easy. Long term, that's really what we're trying to do as a platform."

We must say that we’re very happy with what Microsoft has managed to do with the Xbox One platform, and where it’s going in the future (like a Windows 10-infused UI makeover). At the end of the day, the sales race (or lack thereof) between the Xbox One and PlayStation makes for some interesting fodder, but at the end of the day it’s all about what platform puts a smile on your face when you pick up the controller — whether it’s a Xbox One wireless controller or a DualShock 4 shouldn’t matter.