Xbox Series X’s lack of big launch exclusives won’t impact sales, says Phil Spencer

With Halo Infinite being delayed to 2021, Xbox Series X has lost its biggest launch exclusive and has not found another title big enough to take its place for November 10, 2020’s console release. Since the delay, Microsoft made it clear it wasn’t expected to impact Xbox Series X’s release. The platform owner was confident in the amount and quality of content coming alongside the console.

In an interview with Shacknews, head of Xbox Phil Spencer pointed out that “I know there’ll be press that will want to write, ‘Xbox launch lineup versus PS5 launch lineup.’ But if they’re both sold out completely, I’m not sure the launch lineup had much impact on anything other than maybe some review score.”

“I think the possibility of Halo Infinite launching beside Xbox was more of a brand and heartfelt moment for us than it was critical to the launch,” he added.

According to Spencer, Holiday 2021 lineup will be “probably more important” as both PS5 and Xbox Series X “will have supply, so there will be a demand constraint rather than a supply constraint in the next year.”

“I think this is going to be a console that launches with thousands of games because of back compat, and hundreds of games that you’re going to get to go play day one,” Spencer said.

“I remember the days when no compatibility was there. Xbox One was one of these: it had Killer Instinct, Ryse, Lococycle, and a few third-party games,” and – compared to that – the Microsoft executive says “I like this world better.”

On Sony’s hand, PlayStation 5 launch windows have still to be filled with exclusive content, even though along the way, it changed its mind about cross-gen releases. Unlike the Xbox One days, Microsoft has also launched two different models, with the Xbox Series S version planned to be a cheaper, entry-level machine to appeal to the non-hardcore audience.