We’ve known for a while that Xbox Head Phil Spencer is actually gaming at home on an Xbox Series X system. And now we know why outside of the obvious reasons.
Spencer was a guest during a recent episode of Gamertag Radio, summarized by GameSpot, and he explained the point of taking home a console early. Apart from enjoying the clear benefits of the improved hardware in the Series X and its increased performance, it’s a prime opportunity to test the system and offer valuable feedback to the development team.
The tweet announcing his new home setup was, Spencer said, partly in recognition of the team’s stellar work up to this point:
Relative to the Xbox One…. we are so far ahead in terms of when we have take home [consoles] and this thing being in the home.
… the team has just done such incredible work to get us into a position where this far ahead of launch we’re actually at home and I can actually use it as a primary console.
It also lets Spencer test the Series X’s backwards compatibility.
Microsoft has said the Series X will support all Xbox One titles and the same Xbox 360 titles the Xbox One plays. They aren’t all performing quite as expected at this point, but that’s no surprise given the Xbox Series X release date isn’t until holiday 2020. Still, Spencer says “tons” of them work perfectly already.
Despite improved performance, though, Spencer previously said the goal isn’t releasing a number of Xbox Series X exclusive titles right when the system launches. We have an idea of some titles that will end up on the XSX, like Rare’s wonder-filled new title Everwild and some Ubisoft promises — but that’s about it.
Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Xbox Series X news as it develops.
