The creator of Xbox thinks the console concept might change in the future

"Phil's not going to be there forever... I think the bigger question is, what is to become of the hardware-based console model?"

Next year, the Xbox consoles will be 25 years old, and it's been a long time since the brand was created and struggled to take its place at the table among Nintendo, Sega, and Sony. Back then, Microsoft and the brand put a lot of effort into attitude, and in an interview with the podcast My Perfect Console, Xbox creator Seamus Blackley was asked if he thinks that spirit is still with the brand today (transcribed by Pure Xbox):

"No, but it's not supposed to. Today's Xbox is an edifice that is supposed to represent a stable good business place to put your new content. So, when you're operating a platform like that, you're trying to convince people who are going to release content that you're the right place for it. That means making them feel safe and making them feel like the risks they're taking are all creative and not business. And Phil [Spencer] does a good job with that. It's a difficult balance."

In the interview, Blackley also reveals that he believes there are big changes coming in the console world, including Nintendo and Sony:

"There's a lot of gamers out there and fans who say a lot of unfair crap about Xbox and PlayStation and Nintendo - although Nintendo seems to have this shield against being criticised too hard - but I assure you most of the people who work at Nintendo at one point worked at Xbox or PlayStation, it's the same guys.

But, I think they're doing a good job. I really think they are doing a good job. And you know, there's a change coming - Phil's not going to be there forever... I think the bigger question is, what is to become of the hardware-based console model? Does it continue, does it decline, does it increase, is there more local compute, is there all remote compute in the future?"

There's no doubt that Phil Spencer won't be at Xbox Game Studios forever, and we can only speculate what the consequences will be. What do you think about the future of consoles at a time when the PC is becoming increasingly important for console manufacturers?