Xbox Vs. PlayStation Executive Brawl Didn't End Up Happening

A few weeks back, it looked as though we'd gotten the strongest sign yet the next console generation was gearing up. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer gave an interview in which he tried to justify the Xbox team's lack of interest in VR. Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida offered a snarky subtweet in response. For a brief moment, we felt like we were back in the console war days. We even recommended the two settle their internet beef in a boxing match, because apparently that's what people do now.

Alas, no such bout took place. Both Spencer and Yoshida were present at 2019 Game Awards last Thursday, and as a photo shared on Reddit earlier today shows, there wasn't even an ounce of bad blood.

The two stopped to take a photo together, with Yoshida pointing toward Spencer as though to say, "Look who I found!" And just like that, we were back in the strange world where Microsoft and Sony seem to get along rather well. In between the VR kerfuffle and The Game Awards, we actually learned that Sony will be taking its stellar The Show MLB franchise multi-platform. Microsoft continues to publish Minecraft on multiple consoles, including on the PlayStation. And let's not forget that Microsoft and Sony are partners on a cloud gaming project.

Both companies undoubtedly want you to purchase their respective boxes next generation — that competition is still very much there. But it seems both also view the gaming space as less of a zero-sum game than before. Microsoft can make money putting titles on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC. And even Sony is willing — at least with The Show — to think outside the box a little bit. Not to mention: Sony is publishing several games in the future that will also come to PC.

It's safe to say the console wars — at least, in the way they used to exist — are officially over. Will that stop us from having fun with interviews and tweets, though? Absolutely not.