A Microsoft blooper ended up leaking internal emails that reveal that the company thought it was in a position to win the PS5 vs. Xbox Series X|S war. The email was penned by none other than Xbox executive Phil Spencer about three years before Microsoft publicly admitted to “losing the console war.”
Phil Spencer was once confident about winning PS5 vs. Xbox Series X|S war
On March 18, 2020, Spencer wrote to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood, sharing what he thought about the PS5’s reveal. The executive said that after seven years of being behind Sony in terms of price, performance, and even messaging, he felt Microsoft had all the “ingredients of a winning plan.”
Acknowledging that he couldn’t call the race prematurely and that he might seem overconfident, Spencer added that Microsoft has a “better product” in terms of hardware, software platform, “and services on top of the hardware.”
Unfortunately, Microsoft dropped the ball in the software department, and Spencer admitted as much in a fiery email dated May 2022. Spencer acknowledged a gaping hole in Xbox’s exclusive lineup, calling it a “disaster situation” of Microsoft’s own making.
Microsoft then attempted to cover up the gap with various Game Pass deals.
