The Xbox 360 Vs PS3 Console War Was A Race To 10 Million Sales, Ex-Xbox Exec Says

The period of console wars appears to be nearing its end, however one among its key gamers, Peter Moore, who led the cost in the course of the launch of the Xbox 360, is sharing his reminiscences of his time on the gaming frontlines. When it got here to pitting the Xbox 360 towards the PlayStation 3, Moore says 10 million was the magic number–“You’ve got acquired this flywheel impact … of [if] your mate within the college yard’s acquired one, you higher get one.”

Talking to Eurogamer, Moore defined that getting the Xbox 360 into the market forward of the PS3 was key to its sturdy efficiency, saying that the primary 10 million gross sales have been important. “I believe it was actually necessary to get it out first,” Moore mentioned. “Get going, get momentum, and purpose for that 10 million put in base that I felt that may give us a tremendous benefit over no matter Sony may do to catch up.”

He defined that having the ten million set up base creates a community impact the place a way of social strain may drive sales–“Swiftly you are misplaced and also you’re on the skin should you’re not coming to highschool, or going to class in faculty the following day, and even coming to work, and saying what an evening we had taking part in Halo, or no matter sport it occurred to be.”

The Xbox 360 did find yourself beating the PS3 to 10 million gross sales, a undeniable fact that was celebrated in a 2008 press release from Microsoft. Whereas the PS3 finally beat the 360’s lifetime gross sales by only a few million, many avid gamers nonetheless think about the Xbox 360 the winner of that specific generation–that is, until you think about the runaway success of the Nintendo Wii.

Moore grew to become one of many key gamers within the early days of the console wars, after he was employed by Microsoft particularly to assist the corporate compete with Sony’s dominance within the console house. Moore has even previously said that he inspired the concept of the console wars amongst his workforce, saying it helped to advertise wholesome competitors with Sony.

Within the interview, Moore additionally discusses how necessary it was for Microsoft to construct Xbox into a powerful, standalone model in a time the place Microsoft was seen as a “nerdy” firm that belonged within the workplace, not the lounge. Moore was a key determine on this branding shift, turning into infamous for stunts the place he would have sport bulletins actually tattooed on his body, saying a part of his function was to “be slightly irreverent.”

As of 2025, many within the trade think about the console wars successfully over, as Microsoft is lastly bringing the final of its previously unique first-party franchises to the PlayStation with Halo: Campaign Evolved. The PS5 recently topped the Xbox 360’s sales figures, that means each PlayStation console has formally outsold each Xbox console, however the finish of the console wars continues to be removed from clear-cut. Xbox stays a powerful gaming model and appears to proceed dominating the software program aspect of the trade, with a lot of the trade’s biggest developers now integrated below its banner.