Speaking to the official Xbox Magazine, Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Spencer acknowledged the strengths and success of its two main rivals: Sony and Nintendo.
When asked about what he's learned from the competition, Spencer answered that "I really respect [Sony's] focus on investing in new things and creative things, what they've done with David Cage and Quantic Dream around Beyond and Heavy Rain; they stay committed to franchises even if they don't sell 10 million units, they'll stay committed to things."
"I think that long-term commitment to franchises is important, where it's easy to pull off the Band-Aid and move onto the next thing. I respect their 'stick-to-it-iveness'. I'll say, they've done a nice job with PS4 When I think about their announcement, their clear focus on a customer, leading with the value proposition of what they're trying to do, staying true to a vision, I think they've done a nice job in how they defined the PS4."
As for Nintendo, Spencer isn't really fond of their hardware but there is no doubt about their first party games value and quality.
"Nintendo, I think - and there's some argument about this - that their first-party is such an amazing asset," he said. "Their first party studios and IP can lead what they do as a company and the platforms are almost in service to the IP - not in a bad way."