'Console is dead', says former Xbox executive while raving about PS5

Former Xbox exec Mike Ybarra didn’t hold back when responding to accusations that he was a "bitter ex" after his exit from Microsoft’s console division.

Ybarra, who served as VP of Xbox Live and Game Pass before leaving the company in 2019 to join Blizzard, later departed from Blizzard in 2024 after Microsoft acquired Blizzard and Activision.

Since his departure, Ybarra has frequently praised Sony and the PlayStation 5, while expressing concerns about Xbox’s future. Back in June, he admitted he would always “bleed green” but stressed that Xbox needed change “fast.”

On September 27, in a post on X/Twitter, Ybarra responded to Sony’s declaration of the PS5 being their “most successful” console generation by commenting, “But hey, the console market isn’t a successful business. It is if you do it right.”

A user, implying Ybarra was still holding a grudge against his former employer, joked, “Ah, the bitter ex,” to which Ybarra shot back, “Your console is dead.”

Whether intentional or not, Ybarra’s comments since leaving Microsoft have sparked debates on multiple fronts—among console fans as well as supporters of popular franchises.

In August, Ybarra made waves again, claiming that Battlefield 6 would “stomp” Black Ops 7 in the battle for the top FPS of 2025, adding that such a victory would be a wake-up call for CoD, pushing the franchise to stop being “lazy.”