Former Microsoft exec Peter Moore was one of the company’s most public-facing figures during the Xbox 360 era, having moved over from gaming competitor SEGA in the early 2000s. These days, the industry is in a much different place to what it was when Moore was at Xbox – and the former exec has been talking about that extensively in a brand-new interview this week.
Speaking with Gamertag Radio’s Danny Peña and Parris Lilly, Moore touched on plenty of topics to do with the industry – including just how different things are now compared to back then. The former Xbox exec talked about the modern day differences with Microsoft’s strategy now compared to back in the day, especially with the company’s recent multiplatform push.
“We were young enough to have fun and do all the daft stuff that we did and all the stunts [back in the 360 era], and I think the ‘console wars’ that you’re alluding to were healthy for the industry – and look, I’ve said it before, we — and certainly I did — encouraged the battle because I think that gamers loved to see Xbox vs. PlayStation and maybe Nintendo as well. That, I think, was a rising tide that lifted all ships there.
It’s different today. And when you see what’s happened with the acquisitions and the consolidation – if they [Microsoft] had the choice, would they make hardware? No. Would they be delighted if they could be a multi-hundred billion dollar entity delivering content directly to your televisions or whatever monitor you choose to play on? You bet.”
Moore went on to say that the Microsoft Activision Blizzard deal “changed things” and that had he known back in the 360 days that a gaming acquisition would be the company’s biggest-ever purchase, he’d have “laughed” due to how hard it was to secure gaming deals at Microsoft when he was in charge.
During the nearly one-hour-long chat, the former Xbox exec talked about lots of other interesting tidbits about his time at Microsoft too, and we recommend the full interview if you’d like to hear a bit more about what Moore had to say. What’s clear is that he thinks the industry — and indeed Microsoft — has changed a lot since the Xbox 360 era, and based on the landscape today, you’d have to agree with him.
What do you think to this new chat with Peter Moore? Talk to us about your highlights from the interview down below.
