Microsoft on Xbox One vs. PS4 -- "We Are The Underdog," But the Race Is Far from Over

In a new interview, Microsoft's Phil Spencer admits that Xbox One is the "underdog" against PlayStation 4, but made it clear that he's intent on "winning" this console generation.

"At some level, it is a competition, and I've said before I want to win," Spencer told Game Informer. "At the same time, I want to build a great platform for gamers. If somebody else does that too, and they do really well? Hats off to them, but I can have success in our own space if we're selling a lot of consoles and people are buying games."

"As the Xbox team, we are the underdog" -- Phil Spencer

Just because Spencer wants the Xbox One to beat the PS4, it doesn't mean he wants Sony and its console to fall by the wayside. After all, healthy sales for both platforms is beneficial to the industry as a whole. Still, Spencer acknowledged the challenge that Microsoft faces.

"We shipped at the same time and we're in direct competition with the PS4," he said. "I'm not going to duck that. I want to win. I want to win this generation, but I want to win more than I want the other guy to lose. I own a PS4, and it's not like I want it to get dusty or not have games. But I do want to sell a lot of Xbox Ones, and for many people that's a direct competition with the PS4. As the Xbox team, we are the underdog."

"They beat us in June. They beat us in May," Spencer added. "These months are small if you look at the sales. I think the whole month of June is about one week in November. They're winning, and they'll do their PR around it, and that makes sense. The battle is really September, October, November, and December."

During Sony's Gamescom briefing yesterday, the company announced that it had sold through to consumers more than 10 million PS4s as of August 10. The only sold-through figure Microsoft has announced for Xbox One is 3 million, which was the number of consoles sold between launch (November 22) and the end of the year (December 31).