Reggie Fils-Aimé decrees the end of Console Wars; TikTok is the new rival

The former president of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aimé, declared that the traditional “console wars” that marked the industry no longer exist, at least not in their classic form. In an interview with The Game Business, the executive pointed out that the current scenario has changed, and that the main competition among companies now is for “audience attention”.

Fils-Aimé subtly criticized the new position of Microsoft in the market: “I really do think that the years of head-to-head competition are over,” he said, explaining that Microsoft now acts more as “a major third-party publisher that also manufactures hardware”. This assessment is reinforced by the recent confirmation that Halo: Combat Evolved will be released on the PlayStation 5 in 2026, a move that symbolizes Xbox's new focus on multiple platforms.

According to the former Nintendo president, Microsoft no longer directly competes with Sony, relying on PlayStation itself to maximize the reach of its titles. He suggested that this strategy could extend to Nintendo, stating that it would be “in the company's interest” to bring more games from the Xbox ecosystem to the Switch 2, in addition to Minecraft.

Fils-Aimé's statement is in line with the recent discourse of Microsoft executives, who have started to see their main rivals not as Sony and Nintendo, but rather as entertainment platforms like TikTok and Netflix, which compete for the same engagement space of gamers.

However, Fils-Aimé emphasizes that competition has not disappeared: “Players have limited budgets. There will always be a war going on, maybe beneath the surface, but there will always be a battle for audience attention and time,” he stated.

The former president of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aimé, declared the end of the “console wars”, stating that Microsoft acts as a third-party publisher and that the competition now is for “audience attention” against platforms like TikTok and Netflix. He cited the arrival of Halo: Combat Evolved on the PS5 in 2026 as proof of the shift in focus and suggested that more Xbox games on the Switch 2 would be in Nintendo's interest.