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

He explained that having the 10 million install base creates a network effect where a sense of social pressure could drive sales–“All of a sudden you’re out of place and you’re on the outside if you’re not coming to school, or going to class in college the next day, or even coming to work, and saying what a night we had playing Halo, or whatever game it happened to be.”

The Xbox 360 did end up beating the PS3 to 10 million sales, a fact that was celebrated in a 2008 press release from Microsoft. While the PS3 eventually beat the 360’s lifetime sales by just a few million, many gamers still consider the Xbox 360 the winner of that particular generation–that is, unless you consider the runaway success of the Nintendo Wii.

Moore became one of the key players in the early days of the console wars, after he was hired by Microsoft specifically to help the company compete with Sony’s dominance in the console space. Moore has even previously said that he encouraged the idea of the console wars among his team, saying it helped to promote healthy competition with Sony.

In the interview, Moore also discusses how important it was for Microsoft to build Xbox into a strong, standalone brand in a time where Microsoft was seen as a “nerdy” company that belonged in the office, not the living room. Moore was a key figure in this branding shift, becoming notorious for stunts where he would have game announcements literally tattooed on his body, saying part of his role was to “be a little irreverent.”

As of 2025, many in the industry consider the console wars effectively over, as Microsoft is finally bringing the last of its formerly exclusive first-party franchises to the PlayStation with Halo: Campaign Evolved. The PS5 recently topped the Xbox 360’s sales figures, meaning every PlayStation console has officially outsold every Xbox console, but the end of the console wars is still far from clear-cut. Xbox remains a strong gaming brand and looks to continue dominating the software side of the industry, with a number of the industry’s biggest developers now incorporated under its banner.