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Former Xbox boss admits he encouraged the console war

The console "war", despite being something silly, is an integral part of video game folklore. We had Nintendo versus Sega in the early 1990s and since the mid-2000s it's been the competition between Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation. A rivalry fueled by Microsoft "in person", as this was admitted by former head of the Xbox division Peter Moore.

Peter Moore was Xbox's Big Boss from 2003 to 2007, a pivotal moment in the console's history and a difficult time for Microsoft, and for Sony. While the PlayStation 3 struggled to establish itself because it was too expensive, the then-ultra-popular Xbox 360 encountered the notorious Red Ring of Death problem, which penalized it heavily.

In a recent podcast, Peter Moore claims that this console "war" between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is indeed his. He states that it was one of the ways to stimulate a market that was very difficult for the two manufacturers at that time:

“I encouraged the console wars. Not to create division, but to encourage each other. When I say each other, I mean Microsoft and Sony. If Microsoft hadn't continued that momentum after the Red Ring of Death story, the gaming world would be darker and we wouldn't have the competition we have today."

At the time, Microsoft and Sony were indeed engaged in a ruthless rivalry. A communication war that lasted several years. We also remember Moore's tirades to praise the merits of his console, the CEO even tattooing the names of the games for advertising purposes.

If the Xbox 360 was at the top of sales in 2005-2009, the story of Red Ring of Death almost ruined everything. The consoles became really unusable and Microsoft then made the decision to exchange all defective products, at very high cost to the company.

This "war" has calmed down a lot these days, the two manufacturers have become complementary in the market. The objective of this rivalry has always been the same for the companies involved: to convince players to opt for their machine over the competition's. A financial aspect that some players sometimes find difficult to understand because they take this "war" so seriously (especially on social media).

Recall that after leaving Microsoft, Peter Moore became president of EA Sport, then Liverpool FC before arriving at Unity, where he is to this day. 

Joel Pinto, from Portugal