Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has again emphasized that Xbox doesn't measure its success solely by the number of consoles it sells. For several years now, it has become increasingly apparent that Xbox's business plan is not just about the number of consoles sold.
At Gamescom 2023, Phil Spencer gave a series of interviews, one of which explained Microsoft's bigger plan for Xbox as a brand. ask how Microsoft can expect to remain competitive in the gaming hardware market if it were no longer necessary to buy a console to play Xbox games. And yet with sales numbers showing that PS5 substantially outperforms Xbox Series consoles.
The critical metric for success, said Phil Spencer, is how many people are playing and how hard they are playing. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Xbox reported record numbers of monthly active users along with impressive sales, and the quarterly number of hours people played via Xbox Game Pass increased by 22%.