Peter Moore, who led Xbox before Phil Spencer, has said Microsoft encouraged the so-called console wars to drive competition. He also elaborated on the Red Ring of Death problem.
Moore shared his thoughts in a recent episode of the Front Office Sports podcast (via IGN). He noted that this rivalry helped the games industry and all platform holders, including PlayStation and Nintendo.
We encouraged the console wars, not to create division, but to challenge each other. When I say each other I mean Microsoft and Sony. If Microsoft hadn’t of stuck the course after the Xbox, after the Red Rings of Death, gaming would be a poorer place for it, you really wouldn’t have the competition you have today. former Xbox boss
Moore joined Microsoft in 2003 to help the Xbox compete with the PlayStation 2. He then launched the Xbox 360 and also had to deal with the infamous Red Ring of Death problem, which cost Microsoft millions of dollars. “If we didn’t resolve Red Rings of Death the way that we did I know darn well there’d be no Xbox today,” Moore said in the podcast.
After leaving Microsoft, Peter Moore took on the role of EA Sports boss. He then left the games industry to become CEO of Liverpool Football Club. However, Moore returned to gaming in 2021 as one of Unity’s executives.