The new Xbox consoles will allow "greater immersion in the games"

INTERVIEW

Almost a year after their official presentation, video game enthusiasts will finally be able to appropriate the new consoles.

The Xbox Series and Playstation 5 are released in November, just before Christmas.

Two technological monsters who must take video games to another dimension.

“We've been waiting for a while to launch this new generation of machines. We can't wait to see them in the hands of players!” Enthuses Ina Gelbert, director of Xbox France, guest of Europe 1 on Monday, on the eve of the Xbox launch.

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Two Xboxes instead of one

The Xbox One, released in 2013, was already a powerful console.

But, seven years later, she is coming to the end of the race.

When updates are no longer sufficient, it is therefore necessary to change the hardware.

"We are going to use new technologies which will allow greater immersion inside the games: reduction of loading times, integration of 'ray tracing' (

), improvement of the quality of image, increased level of detail, possibility of switching from one game to another very quickly ... ", list Ina Gelbert. 

And Microsoft is not releasing one but two Xboxes.

The Series X, a "traditional" console sold for 500 euros, and the Series S, sold for 300 euros but without a disk drive and with a slightly less powerful processor.

"The Series X, the most powerful to date, is aimed at an audience of passionate gamers. The Series S is more compact, less expensive and therefore more accessible," explains the boss of Xbox France.

"But it's still a next-generation console, the cheapest for launch. It is also aimed at a younger audience, comfortable with dematerialized."

Bring players into the "Xbox ecosystem"

As usual in the "console war", the Xbox faces the new Playstation, which comes out on November 19th.

"It's an advantage to have two players. There is a competition that is beneficial for consumers, for game publishers, for service providers such as the

 and then for ourselves as well," says Ina Gelbert.

Even though Sony sells three times as many machines as Microsoft, she remains confident.

“When you join the Xbox ecosystem, you don't just buy a console. It comes with a whole bunch of exclusive services and games,” she boasts.

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In order to strengthen its offer, Microsoft has also invested 7.5 billion dollars this year to buy ZeniMax, a company that owns several video game studios, including Bethesda (

).

"The content we offer is essential. And if we look further, the idea is that players can access the Xbox universe without necessarily going through a console but simply with a smartphone, tablet or PC. ", says Ina Gelbert.

Xboxes are already out of stock

To take advantage of the new Xboxes, you still need to have one.

And it's not won: even before the launch, they were out of stock everywhere.

"There was a tremendous amount of demand as soon as we put them on pre-order. Each country is entitled to a predetermined number of consoles for launch day. The demand is always greater than the supply at that time." , underlines the director of Xbox France.

Are the manufacturers implementing a scarcity strategy to get people talking about them?

"No. If we could produce more, we would! It would be in our interest," she replies.

According to Ina Gelbert, this is simply an incompressible production deadline.

"Already, in normal times, our factories have limited production capacities. The Covid has created additional constraints, we have had to adapt," she explains.

But she also wants to reassure those who would like to put an Xbox at the foot of the Christmas tree: "some distributors will have new stock by the end of the year".

But there will not be many, nor everywhere: "We will have to be on the lookout!".