The Xbox Series X just received a surprising endorsement, and that too from someone that has criticized Microsoft in the past. Yes, Gabe Newell, of Valve, who else?
He used to work at Redmond between 1983 and 1996. But in recent years, Gabe has been one of the biggest critics of the closed nature of the UWP platform and games built on it. He went as far as to term the Windows Store a catastrophe.
That criticism has dried out in recent times, with relationship with Microsoft on the up, with the software titan even launching many of its key titles over at Steam.
Anyway, despite all that, good old Gabe remains one of the most respected persons in the video game industry. And he recently gave a rare TV interview where he made his next-generation console preferences crystal clear.
See what he said:
When one of the journalists from a New Zealand TV show asked Newell what was the best new console to pick up this year, between the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5, his reply was pretty blunt.
Xbox.
Newell explained his preference, putting his weight behind the Microsoft console:
“I don’t have a stake in that race. Obviously, we do most of our development on personal computers, but of the two, I would definitely go with an Xbox.”
Unexpected words of support for the Xbox Series X, which Microsoft certainly has packed with power and advanced features like 120fps support, raytracing and Quick Resume. And then there is the whole push with the Xbox Game Pass.
It’s another matter entirely that Redmond is yet to really highlight these differences and the technical superiority of the Xbox Series X before the launch of next-gen consoles.
