Xbox One X is “in a different league” than Sony’s PS4 Pro, says Xbox boss Phil Spencer

Last Sunday, Xbox head Phil Spencer finally delivered one of the most anticipated presentations of E3 2017, and so far it seems that most of the comments have been positive. Yes, the $499 price point of the new Xbox One X plus the absence of popular franchises such as Halo or Tomb Raider may have disappointed many, but Spencer is pretty excited about what the Xbox team has in the pipeline.

In a lenghty interview with Eurogamer, the head of Xbox discussed the upcoming lineup of Xbox exclusives, the Xbox One X branding and how the new console compares to Sony’s Playstation 4. First of all, Spencer fully admits that the new Xbox One X is going to be a niche console. “Xbox One X is for the customer who’s looking for the most powerful console that’s going to run every game they’re going to play better than any other console,” he explained. And Microsoft is also perfectly ok with the Xbox One S remaining the most popular Xbox One console next year. “That has always been the plan,” added Spencer.

The exec also had some interesting words about Sony’s Playstation 4 Pro, saying boldly that the Xbox One X is “in a different league:”

I look at Pro as more of a competitor to S than I do to Xbox One X. This is a true 4K console. If you just look at the specs of what this box is, it’s in a different league than any other console that’s out there. When I think about techniques to somehow manufacture a 4K screen like what some other consoles try to do, this is different than that.

Of course, being the most powerful console on the market only matters if there are some great Xbox One games to play on the new hardware. Microsoft showcased 42 games during its media briefing on Sunday, with 22 of them being Xbox exclusives, but Spencer revealed that “we’ve signed some things we haven’t announced.” However, following the recent cancellation of Fable Legends or Scalebound, the Xbox team is going to be more careful with announcements going forward. “I’ve lived through announcing things too early and then had to live up to the hype while you’re trying to go build the game, and I’m learning,” explained the exec.