Despite a few bumps, the Nintendo Switch had a successful launch yesterday, and both of Nintendo’s top competitors, Sony and Microsoft, showed class by congratulating the company on a successful launch.
Sony’s official PlayStation Twitter account congratulated Nintendo by tweeting “ We can’t wait play”, followed by a heart emoji. The same message was posted from PlayStations Facebook page.
The official Xbox UK twitter account went ever further, designing a special mash-up graphic, incorporating themes and iconic images like the Mario theme and Xbox trophy achievement animation into one really cool image.
Congratulations on the launch of Switch 👏🎉 pic.twitter.com/CziAbyk3xY
— Xbox UK (@xboxuk)
Source: Xbox UK Twitter
Xbox head Phil Spencer, forever a class act, used his own personal account to congratulate Nintendo too, tweeting “it’s always great when Nintendo innovates in gaming”. Spencer recently talked about the Switch during an episode of IGN’s Xbox podcast, Podcast Unlocked. He said “Anytime Nintendo brings a new product to the gaming market it’s good for all of us”.
This isn’t the first something like this happened. When the PS4 launched back in 2013, various Xbox executives and team members, including Phil Spencer and director of product planning Albert Penello, congratulated Sony and praised their rivals console on Twitter. Phil Spencer tweeted “ Congrats to the PS4 team on the launch of the PlayStation 4”, calling out Sony executives Jack Tretton, Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes by name.
Sony returned the favor a week later, when Playstation’s official account congratulated Microsoft and the Xbox team on the launch of the Xbox One. Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhie Yoshida posted a congratulatory tweet too, tagging Microsoft’s Phil Spencer, Phil Harrison, Major Nelson and Albert Penello by name. He tweeted “Congratulations @XboxP3 @MrPhilHarisson @majornelson @albertpenello on the global launch of Xbox One! ? @amboyes”
In an age of constant competition and rivalries, it’s good to see these big companies spreading the love.
