Photo via 343 Industries.
Photo via 343 Industries.

Steve Ballmer isn’t really into Halo, but he’s still excited about Microsoft’s impact on the future of gaming.

Just days before Halo 5 debuts to millions of gamers around the world on Oct. 27, the former Microsoft CEO told Bloomberg that he’s “not a big Halo player myself.”

ballmer432“But I’ve got three boys all of whom are revved up for the release of Halo 5,” Ballmer noted.

Bloomberg, which featured Bonnie Ross — head of Halo-maker 343 Industries, which is owned by Microsoft — on its most recent magazine cover, asked Ballmer about the importance of Xbox and Halo 5 to the future of Microsoft, which last week beat revenue and profit expectations for its first fiscal quarter.

Ballmer responded by saying that his former company, of which he still owns 4 percent, has “two big muscles”: Consumer and B2B.

“Depending on the quarter you’ll hear more about one or you’ll hear more about the other,” he said. “If you ask me what I’m actually most excited about at Microsoft right now, it’s Microsoft’s transcendence into a hardware company. The new Surface Pro 4, the Xbox, the Surface books. That’s not a B2B business.”

Ballmer, who referred to Microsoft as “we” throughout the interview, talked about Microsoft’s new flagship store that’s opening today in New York City as a way for the company to show off “this incredible innovation.”

A security guard stands outside the new Microsoft store in New York City.
A security guard stands outside the new Microsoft store in New York City.

When asked how Microsoft can create similar excitement and anticipation that Apple does for its hardware, Ballmer said he’s “confident in the people who are there, that they’ll figure it out.”

“Just look at the reaction to the new Surface Pro and the new Surface Book — it was fantastic,” he said. “Fantastic. And yeah, it’s based on a new version of Windows, but it’s a whole new area of innovation for the company.

“Great people, great talent,” Ballmer continued. “The stores, all of that stuff now is really coming together. We put a lot of money in it. People like to say we lost a lot of money in Bing, we lost money on Xbox, we lost money on Surface, we lost money on the stores. But the plan … as George Peppard said, I love it when a plan comes together.”

Ballmer also said there are big opportunities in the gaming industry for Microsoft, particularly with Minecraft (which Microsoft acquired for $2.5 billion last year) and eSports.

“I was talking with some folks yesterday about these new eSports things where you literally you pack arenas with people playing League of Legends,” he said. “Think about people playing Halo, packed 18,000, tournaments. There is so much more to give the customer. And the company can figure out how to monetize.”

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