Microsoft’s Phil Spencer Confident That Xbox One Will Have A Successor

Are dedicated gaming consoles here to stay? The ever-increasing performance gap between garden variety PCs and consoles is leading many to question whether the gaming console as we know it will even live to see another generation. However, there’s no need to worry according to Xbox Chief Phil Spencer. Spencer is confident that there will be another Xbox-branded console in the future.

"I fully expect that you’ll see another console from us,” said Spencer in a new, wide-ranging interview. “Our best customers are Xbox console customers, and I want to keep those people engaged both on the Xbox One and anything we might do in the future. I’m 100 percent committed to that."

That’s a tall order considering the digital convergence of PCs, streaming boxes, televisions, but Spencer still feels that there is a place for the dedicated console in your entertainment center.

"I don’t want to dilute what the Xbox console customer feels," Spencer added. "I want to expand what we’re able to do for more customers. I love that console experience. It’s obviously the core of what Xbox is about, and Xbox One is our most important gaming device inside the company.”

Microsoft had a rocky start with the Xbox One, following the immense success with its previous generation Xbox 360 console. “[We] fundamentally lost... the trust of our most loyal customers,” said Spencer earlier this fall when discussing the Xbox One’s launch. “You lose your customer's assumption that the reason you're building your product is to delight them and not just build a better and more maybe manipulative product.

“That perception that gets set early on, because consumers have five seconds to internalize your brand and your message and then they move on. They're not going to spend time to read what we say afterwards.”

Luckily for Microsoft, things appear to be turning around, even if that change of direction is happening two years too late. Microsoft was able to best the PlayStation 4 in sales in October on the back of platform-elusive Halo 5: Guardians. And holiday price drops have resulted in record-breaking sales for the Xbox One. Still, the PlayStation 4 has a commanding lead in the current generation console race.