Xbox Series X--Phil Spencer On Why Microsoft Revealed Their New Console At The Game Awards

The Game Awards 2019 was filled with huge exciting moments, but without a doubt the biggest was the unveiling of Microsoft's next-generation console. Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, appeared on stage to debut the console to the world and officially name the console formerly known as Project Scarlett as "Xbox Series X." It was a major moment for Microsoft, Xbox, and the industry as a whole. But why did Microsoft choose to do this at The Game Awards instead of at E3 2020 or one of its own events, like the recent X019?

Speaking to GameSpot in an exclusive interview, Spencer said The Game Awards champions the kind of creativity that Xbox also seeks to highlight. As such, the show's purpose aligns with the vision the company has for Series X.

With this in mind, it only made sense to give creators and fans a look at the future of gaming on Xbox in a venue where games and creativity are being celebrated.

"The Game Awards is a stage, that for us, is where we celebrate the best of our industry's creative capability, and that is fundamentally why we built this console," Spencer explained.

"It isn't an ego thing for us. It wasn't about what we need. It was really about how can we enable the next most creative, most award-winning, most played, most loved games to get created. And getting to do that [with] this announcement on that stage just felt like the right place to go do that, in the celebration of great games."

Looking ahead, Spencer said that E3 would remain a major milestone in the story of Xbox Series X, especially given the success of other recent events.

"I think back to E3 2019, I love that event. The fan energy, Keanu [Reeves], all of that stuff was awesome. The launch of Gears, the launch of Outer Worlds, the launch of Project xCloud, seeing the continued growth in Game Pass, X019 in London was fantastic a month ago. I just feel like we're in a good spot right now. I feel strong[ly] about where the platform is as we roll into 2020 and the portfolio of games that are coming look so amazing. I'm really, really excited about E3 2020. That'll be a big beat for us and we expect that to be really important."

During The Game Awards, viewers got to take a look at Xbox Series X, which looks to be an incredibly powerful, unconventionally designed console. Spencer outlined his vision for the console and also showed off its potential with a demo of a sequel to Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

Before the show, GameSpot sat down with Spencer and Xbox partner director of project management Jason Ronald to see the console and talk at length about the hardware. You can read more about it in our Xbox Series X feature and watch us breakdown everything we learned.