In an interview with The Project, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell stated that he would choose the Xbox Series X over the PlayStation 5.
“I don’t have a stake in that race,” Newell says of the upcoming next-gen console war. “Obviously, we do most of our development on personal computers, but of the two I would definitely go with an Xbox.”
When asked by the show’s host why Newell would choose the Xbox Series X over the PlayStation 5, Newell simply stated “Because it’s better!” Sadly, he didn’t offer much more of an explanation beyond that declaration.
That being said, we can probably guess some of the reasons why Newell prefers the Xbox Series X. The first almost certainly has something to do with Microsoft’s closer relationship with PC gaming. While Sony has indicated that they’re finally ready to start looking into porting more games to PC, Microsoft’s roots are in PC gaming and they continue to ensure that most of their major upcoming games are available via that platform.
PC gaming loyalty aside, there’s also the architecture of the Xbox Series X to consider. Simply put, the Xbox Series appears to be built more like a PC. That is to say that it’s filled with individually powerful parts that are designed to handle what most modern developers could possibly throw at it. The PlayStation 5, meanwhile, is also powerful but designed in such a way that ay require developers to work around its architecture to truly unlock its potential.
In our breakdown of the Xbox Series X vs. the PlayStation 5 from a power potential perspective, we noted that the Xbox Series X felt like the more powerful system based on what we currently know about the next-gen consoles. That conclusion was partially based on the idea that the Xbox Series X potential is more clear at this point due to its comparatively straightforward design. We imagine Newell’s comments touch upon the idea that the Series X does look more promising from an engineering standpoint at this very early stage of the game.