Microsoft remains confident its Xbox Series X console will be ready for launch at the end of this year, but is keeping a close eye on its software side – its games and system services – many of which are now being developed remotely.
Supply chains for the hardware itself are starting to pick up as factories in China re-open, but as the coronavirus pandemic spreads, Microsoft’s teams working on the console’s firmware and launch game line-up are having to get used to working from home.
In a wide-ranging interview with IGN, Xbox boss Phil Spencer (speaking from his own home office) said these teams are being “stretched” as they work remotely – that their safety came first, and that he wouldn’t hold back the console if launch line-up star Halo: Infinite slipped.
“The two big issues we’re monitoring right now are – building a video game from home [with] a large distributed team of hundreds of people is not easy,” Spencer said. “Video games as we know right now are big, there are huge asset bases that each one of these games have. How you trend up all those things is something we’re just living.
Inside Xbox Series X – How Microsoft Redefined The Console Form Factor Watch on YouTube
“On the hardware platform side – when I had my Series X at home and I’m using it for testing, I had a great time doing that but that time with the console is important. We want to ensure we have the right time to get the platform tech in place. We’ve had to move a lot of that testing into the home.