550°

Phil Spencer Wants No Man's Sky, More Platformers/Adventures on Xbox One; Hints at Diablo III

Microsoft Game Studios Head Phil Spencer is always on the lookout for new games for the Xbox One's portfolio, and today he mentioned what he'd like to see on the console.

Read Full Story >>
dualshockers.com
xX-StolenSoul-Xx3719d ago

Platformers are always welcomed. Story driven games are also great when done right. I hope more developers take notes from Uncharted, The Last Of Us, and Bioshock Infinite, those were easily my favorite story driven games for the past gens and their were plenty of good ones.

Nero13143719d ago

Red dead redemption had a good story too :)

TomShoe3719d ago

That's cool if he wants them on XBO, but I better not see any moneyhats flying.

Neixus3719d ago

RDR is probably the best story driven open world game, Far Cry 3 had also a very good story.

jukins3719d ago

Red dead had an awesome story I was excited when at the end when you take over as you know who,those that finished know, that the story would continue but sadly it didn't.

ovnipc3719d ago

Best story on games from 2013 the last of us and metro last light, ryse was decent im getting beyond two souls next week for the ps3 i want to play that game so bad. I loved heavy rain one of my favorite games ever.

WalterWJR3719d ago

Metro last light had no story. You literally had no care or connection for anyone.

InMyOpinion3719d ago

Telltale's The Walking Dead had the best story in 2013.

s45gr323719d ago

For me personally it was "To The Moon" that brought a gut wrenching story about marriage, love, and drama. Is an interactive experience worth diving into. Uncharted for me personally felt like the perfect popcorn flick. The storyline was okay it was the gameplay mechanics that attract me the most due to be able to shoot from any ledge, tree, go from hand to hand combat into shooting without delay. Able to play during the spectacle like a crumbling building that is awesome. Also check out "The Walking Dead" one of the rarest game were it doesn't hold back.

-Foxtrot3719d ago

He talks about platformers and yet I don't seem to remember any AAA platformer games for the Xbox 360 over the recent years.

Halo, Gears - Shooters

Fable - RPG

Forza - Racing

Alan Wake - Story based game with third person shooter elements.

I think Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts is probably the closest they got to one...and they messed that up.

Abriael3719d ago (Edited 3719d ago )

Well, in his defense, how many "AAA" platformer games have there been overall in the recent years?

Almost only Nintendo makes them.

edit: to the disagrees, do make some names please, and remember that he said "AAA."

ziggurcat3719d ago

I didn't click disagree, but... LBP? or is that one not considered a AAA?

Abriael3719d ago (Edited 3719d ago )

That's defininitely one. But I didn't say "only Nintendo Makes them" I said "almost," because the examples are really, really scarce.

Irishguy953719d ago (Edited 3719d ago )

Supermeatboy was awesome, although it certainly wasn't triple A, it was also on PC as well. Definitely the most fun i've had with a platformer in a long time though.

Really, nintendo are the only ones with a decent amount of AAA platformers. Other than that X360 had alot of Indie ones and Sony kinda did too.

ABizzel13719d ago (Edited 3719d ago )

@Abriael

I'm disappointed in you.

LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank, Sly, Jak, Puppeteer, all great platformers on PS3.

Banjo was the only thing I could think of on 360, had to look up Crash of the Titans, and Spyro (how two former PS mascots didn't see PS releases is beyond me Activision).

But you have Rayman, Sonic, and all the indie platformers.

OT: More power to them, it's sad, but Platformers aren't popular genres on XB and to an extent PS either. But diversity is key to making a console a worldwide success.

scott1823719d ago (Edited 3719d ago )

Ratchet and clank, Sly Cooper and little big planet if we are talking only first party, not sure if Puppeteer could be included(is it AAA?). They could use Jak and Daxter in the future and I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

I agree that Nintendo makes the most though for sure.

hellzsupernova3719d ago

there have been plenty. especially on the competeing platforms and a ton on nintendo platforms.

Microsoft know that thier customers are mainly violent shooter/NFL fans that is why you do not see anyhting like platforming etc come out on an xbox platform very often, and when they try and be creative it flops sales wise so they should know better by now

ziggurcat3719d ago (Edited 3719d ago )

@ abriael:

"But I didn't say "only Nintendo Makes them" I said "almost," because the examples are really, really scarce."

Oh, I wasn't challenging that statement at all, I was just giving an example of (what I though was) a AAA platformer to have come out in recent years. (edit) I only asked whether it was AAA because I wasn't sure if ti was (because I know that AAA status is based on the game's budget).

And you're right - there's certainly one thing Nintendo does well, and it's platformers.

It's a smart move for Spencer to want to have a more diverse game library as it'll only make the system more attractive to gamers.

Abriael3719d ago

@ABizzel1: i's say of the ones you named only LBP qualifies at AAA, which is mostly a matter of budgets, not quality. They're all great, just not AAA.

scott1823719d ago

^
Just curious, what platformers from Nintendo are AAA? It seems like Jak and Ratchet at least would require as big a budget as most the platformers Nintendo makes. I would like proof that the platformers Nintendo makes use a significantly greater budget, or bigger at all.

s45gr323719d ago

mainstream platformers well very few like

Little Big Planet
Ratchet and Clank series
Sonic the Hedgehog Episode 1 and 2

That's about it really I mean Nintendo has Mario and does it. Now indie action platformers a shit ton and some of them are puzzle platformers.

JohnS13133718d ago

What exactly is a platformer anymore? Sony has had a lot of platformer games on the PS3. On Metacritic you can look up the games on each console by category. I looked up the PS3, 360 and Wii. The Wii only has one screen of games. The PS3 has three. And the 360 has four. I'm not sure how many are AAA games. Sony makes a lot of platformers though.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 3718d ago
4ShotKing3719d ago

VIVA Pinata and let's not forget Xbox Live Arcade, so many amazing platformers debuted on Xbox 360 (e.g. Braid, Fez, Super Meat Boy, Castle Crashers, etc)

LAWSON723719d ago (Edited 3719d ago )

I dont really think Castle Crashers (it is a side scroller beat em up with rpg elements) is a platformer and I know for a fact Viva Pinata is not a platformer (it is a simulation game), and none of the others are exclusives.

The only MS 1st party title is probably Nuts and Bolts, which IMO was a great game though was not really the Banjo Threeie we all really wanted.

stamps793719d ago

Let's not forget Kameo. :)

MRMagoo1233719d ago

I think 4shotking needs to look up descriptions of genres and what they are lol.

4ShotKing3719d ago (Edited 3719d ago )

lol whoops, VIVA Pinata ain't a platformer, but replace that with Kameo, Battleblock Theatre, Jet Set Radio, Splosion Man 1 and 2, Banjo Kazooie and Tooie HD and there were a ton of platformers that came out first on XBLA like I mentioned before but also including N+, Mega Man 9, The Maw, Limbo, Outland, etc. Can hardly say Xbox doesn't have it's fair share of platformers, whether they were exclusive or not, they did arrive on Xbox first.

Gamer19823719d ago

@4shotking - People did mention AAA games here none of those you listed are AAA. Not to mention there either indie or remakes. No disrespect to the indie games but only a few out of the thousands released every year actually are decent.. People think theres loads of good indie games lately and theres a huge boom but don't realise just how many bad indie games there are too. It's like the apple store when it comes to indie games.. Thats due to development time being a lot smaller than full games.

That being said Nobody can defend Xbox here for platforms. Out of all those sales of 360 not many bought for adventure/platform/strategy/si mulation/younger audience titles. The Xbox 360 was the FPS console of choice last gen and although Sony had Killzone and Resistance the sales of Halo and Gears blew them out the water. So for FPS and even racing games (if you like forza) Xbox was the place to go. For platformers Nintendo was the best, sony 2nd. For everything else there's mastercard.. I mean playstation lol. It really had at least one AAA in every genre except strategy and simulation where PC will always be king..

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3719d ago
Kribwalker3719d ago

Kameo was a fantastic platformer, really wish they would let rare make a sequel

DoubleM703719d ago

I love it guys keep posting so they can listen. I'm glad you all want to make the XB1 as good as it can be.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3718d ago
DOOMZ3719d ago (Edited 3719d ago )

And it looks like he WILL get it!

Eonjay3719d ago

All sounds good. Everyone wants No Man's Sky and I know Diablo on 360 sold alot so I imagine that Xbox One gamers would enjoy the title as well. If there is one thing that is missing from their lineup I would agree that it is a good action oriented platformer. Wii seems to have that on lock with PS4/360 really only having Rayman: Origins and Knack on PS4.

Lucas223719d ago

is ps4 getting no man's sky?

Abriael3719d ago

Most probably. No news though. They didn't confirm platforms yet.

TheForwardUnto3719d ago

Hello Games (No Man's Sky Dev) studio was flooded.

jgrigs093719d ago

Microsoft has given them the money to rebuild the studio

cyber_daemonx3719d ago

Twice. Didn't stop them though did it.

Show all comments (75)
340°

2024 Is A Chance At Redemption For Xbox & Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer

Xbox has been lagging behind PlayStation in terms of 1st party content, but 2024 offers the platform and Phil Spencer a chance at redemption.

Read Full Story >>
twistedvoxel.com
isarai11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Nah, that time has passed for many, and with their words on future plans, i really don't see it ever happening.

shinoff218311d ago

It's a wrap. Now is the time they are slowly going to move on as to not to kill the base as is. Titles will slowly drip onto ps and Nintendo consoles, etc. Those 4 already had to of been in development for awhile already cause two of them released really soon after the announcement

VenomUK10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

There is no ‘last chance redemption’ for Phil Spencer - he’s going straight to hell for tanking the Xbox console platform.

_SilverHawk_10d ago

"2024 Is A Chance At Redemption For Xbox & Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer"

I thought that was supposed to be a decade ago

Ironmike10d ago

U do rel7se ps5 is at thr moment only getting g those titles that were mentioned nothing else as of yet

Obscure_Observer10d ago

"Nah, that time has passed for many, and with their words on future plans, i really don't see it ever happening."

Xbox has PLENTY of first party games this year while Playstation has none!

There´s more first party games from Xbox Games Studios on PS5 this year than Playstation Studios own games.

Those are the *facts* and if those facts is not something to Sony be ashamed of, they can´t feel shame at all.

VersusDMC10d ago

Granblue Fantasy versus, FF7REBIRTH, Helldivers 2, Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade will have launched on PS5 and not on Xbox by the time Hellblade 2 launches.

This only first party games count is cope.

And as a bonus meme...Microsoft will have published 3 first party games on PS5 (Hifi rush, Grounded and sea of thieves) before their first for the year on Xbox(hellblade 2). Glad they have their priorities straight...

lodossrage10d ago

It's funny when people like to say xbox has more games coming to playstation this year than sony does.

YET, they leave out the context that Microsoft literally bought the biggest (Activision) third party publisher and Bethesday (another big one). So congrats on having to buy giants in order to compete?

On topic, wasn't Starfield the "last chance" for redemption?

Am I to assume that if the games they have coming this year don't get positive, feedback then 2025 will be the year of redemption?

Obscure_Observer10d ago

@VersusDMC

"Granblue Fantasy versus, FF7REBIRTH, Helldivers 2, Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade will have launched on PS5 and not on Xbox by the time Hellblade 2 launches."

None of the games you mentioned are first party. None. There´re more Xbox first party games on PS5 this year then Playstation´s own first party games, undeniable fact!

The real bonus meme is Sea of Thieves a game which PS fanboys used to sh!t on

"And as a bonus meme...Microsoft will have published 3 first party games on PS5 (Hifi rush, Grounded and sea of thieves) before their first for the year on Xbox(hellblade 2). Glad they have their priorities straight..."

Imo, the real meme is Sea of Thieves, a 6 year Xbox first party game which diehard fanboys used to mock and sh!t on, making to the top of the most pre-ordered game at PS Store in a year where Playstation has zero first party games.

https://twitter.com/BenjiSa...

Markusb3310d ago

and all will end up on playstation, and nintendo, if xbox was doing amazing they would not need ps or nintendo, if gp was amazing they wouldnt need pc. PS has multiple first party games in development that we dont know about. Look at how halo was treated, look at redfall, and look at starfield. Its fine to be loyal and prefer one platoform but to be wilfully ignorant about it just ridiculas.

badz14910d ago

LOL se we are moving from "exclusives" to "console exclusives" to now only "1st party exclusives" matters just after MS has bought 2 publishers for $77B??

Moving goalpost to always favor MS i. Your argument is getting tiring! Exclusives are exclusives! 1st or 3rd party, they are still exclusives. You do remember the PS2 literally killed the Dreamcast, Gamecube and the first xbox due to mostly 3rd party exclusives, right?

InUrFoxHole10d ago

Observe is actually correct. Sony paid to play. But we don't mention when they do it. When they do it we're totally cool with it. N4G 4lyfe!

Skuletor10d ago

Are they still counted as first party though?

fr0sty10d ago

“This notion that Xbox can only be this one device that plugs into a television isn’t something we see in the Gen Z research. Because nothing else is like that for them.

Some of them will have an iPhone, some will have an Android, but all the games and everything is the same. I can still get to TikTok on both of them, at least for now." - Phil Spencer

Read it and weep... all Xbox games are coming to as many platforms as they can put them on, and this is the first step towards them getting out of hardware entirely, just like Sega did.

Xbox has been Dreamcast out of the industry. You can deny it all you like, but it's happening.

northpaws10d ago

@Obscure_Observer

You certainly have more faith in Xbox than Phil Spencer does, I will give you that.

rpvenom10d ago

It's actually quite impressive watching you defend xbox. I respect the loyalty

wiz719110d ago

@VersusDMC here yall Sony fans go moving the goalpost again lol now this only first party things is a cope when yall was the one who started that crap in the first place. When Sony had all the first party games and Xbox was relying on third party , yall was shouting they had no first party games. Now the tables turn and suddenly it’s a cope. lol

wiz719110d ago

@lodossrage and so it’s also funny that the majority of Xbox first party games this year aren’t coming from any of those big studios lol except for Indy .. the biggest one this year is coming from a studio that Sony left and almost let that studio die after releasing two big exclusives on their console first. Now MS swoop in and saved them , then here they are with the best looking game this generation. Now that’s ironic , but you mention buying studios like Sony biggest studios weren’t BOUGHT my brother.

Yall need to be more worried about Sony closing studio after studio , the PSVR 2 dying , Sony losing billions , and the fact that yall biggest game this year as in Stellar Blade was once being developed as a multi platform game until Sony paid for them to be a second party studio. lol but you want to mention things being bought , your delusional

Crows9010d ago

Shame in the competitor buying up tons of dev teams in order to make that a reality? Yeah...there's no shame in that on the PlayStation side....

andy8510d ago

So now you're shifting the goal posts so only first party exclusives count. Amazing 😂

Profchaos10d ago

There's probably tons of games exclusive to Xbox that won't be on PS because of their early access clause.

However list the games that count helldivers 2 I'd argue has done more for gaming this year than any other title will.
It could be their only game and it would still be a great year because it was that unexpectedly good even haters of love service games are playing it

TheTony31610d ago

Still at it? Doesn't matter at this point. The games will eventually launch on PS5.

mkis00710d ago (Edited 10d ago )

I see you ignored his" only first party games count" line as if preordained. Is it on xbox? No...then it is ammunition. Meanwhile sony gets to passively soak up 30% of all ms game studios sales.

1Victor10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

@obscured: “There´s more first party games from Xbox Games Studios on PS5 this year than Playstation Studios own games.

Those are the *facts* and if those facts is not something to Sony be ashamed of, they can´t feel shame at all.”
That says more about Xbox than PlayStation that they have to release games on rival consoles to stay afloat, Microsoft and YOU SHOULD NOT BE ASHAMED OF THAT FACT.

Edit After thought: it took Microsoft 6 years to finally fix their sea of bugs just in time to release it on PlayStation 🤷🏿

S2Killinit10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

On topic:
MS’s last chance was Starfield…
How many last chances are there?

@Osbscure
You’re moving the goal posts into places that have no basis in reality anymore.

+ Show (17) more repliesLast reply 10d ago
darthv7210d ago

Life is too short to hold onto grudges. Grudges against a console, game or company is just petty.

isarai10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

Has nothing to do with a grudge. Ive been waiting 12yrs for them to get back to their greatness, im done waiting and have moved onto just watching that ship sink as i play on literally every other platform

darthv7210d ago

^^... I still play on it, as well as the other platforms. Which is why I am not someone who dwells on the negativity like others do. there is always something for me to enjoy in this hobby.

isarai10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

@darth

Again, not dwelling on negativity, they legit haven't made anything i want to play since like gears 3 and halo reach. I did play Crackdown 3 and gears 5 cause i had hope given i was a huge fan of the older games, but that was a dud on both cases.

You're thinking it's way deeper than it is 🤣 make something worth playing and ill play it, i was hoping starfield would be that but again, dud.

darthv7210d ago

^^...I never said YOU were doing that... but its obvious others (here) do. Its all they seem to do is dwell on negativity, especially if its XB related. all im saying is there is more to enjoy than there is to complain about. And this is exactly why I play all the platforms instead of just one. You say you do the same... so just enjoy it.

neomahi10d ago

It's fanbots making their last stand in an attempt to save the Xbox, what more can one expect that the most optimism they've ever had. Xbox can't get a lock in Japan, still, and Europe is about to abandon it as well. What're you gonna do? And what happens IF Japanese generates interest? They'll see Europe losing interest and decide it's not worth it either. And it's not just Xbox, Microsoft as a whole is losing their footing. They've backed on subscriptions with everything they have to offer and it's tanking. Xbox needs to port to PlayStation and Nintendo while they can stay relevant and try to stay relevant, the longer they delay, we could see a complete Microsoft nose dive

S2Killinit10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

And you think MS fans are just dandy? Besides, is it a grudge if MS continues to give reasons for people to despise them?

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 10d ago
Markusb3310d ago

when you cant make enough from your own platform and pc and you have to go to ps and nintendo you know its a slow transition to 3rd party publishing, and that is fine. Xb never had the thurst or ambition after the 360

JackBNimble10d ago

The second they decided to put exclusives on the ps5 they blew any chance of redemption

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 10d ago
-Foxtrot11d ago

Even if they managed to get a win this year it dosent overthrow 10 years of mostly disappointments from Phil’s leadership.

RaidenBlack11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Then this way, no company can redeem themselves. The very concept of redemption arc becomes impossible if the past is refused to be forgiven, even if the company manages to better themselves.
Then the now popular redemption arc of No Mans Sky or Phantom Liberty wouldn't exist in the gaming community if the same logic is also applied there.
Not defending anyone here but I want gaming to improve, companies to better themselves and most importantly competition to exist so that we get offered the best products to enjoy.
(I know in typical N4G fashion, this comment will be downvoted to oblivion, but I want good games offered from every studios irrespective of publishers.)

staticall10d ago

@RaidenBlack
IMO, what @-Foxtrot means, one years doesn't mean much. It's a start, yes, but they need more, much more.

Look at your own example, No Mans Sky - they didn't just release one patch and everyone started praising them, no. They've been doing this consistently. If Microsoft will start releasing good games consistently, that'll be great, no ifs and/or buts! But hyping them up in advance (no worthy releases yet is what i mean) - dunno, i might be wrong, but i don't think it's healthy or helps anyone.

rippermcrip10d ago

Your analogies are terrible. A company releasing a single game that failed to meet expectations.

Isn't the same as Phil Spencer making mistake after mistake after mistake after mistake, telling lie after lie after lie after lie for 10+ years.

isarai10d ago

Your whole comparison makes no sense. It literally took years for both of those to "redeem" themselves in the container of a single game. MS has been lacking for 12yrs starting with the halo/gears/forza criticism begining in the latter half of the 360. So even by YOUR logic, he's right, it's gonna take a lot more than one game to be redeemed ESPECIALLY after fumbling what many were already holding as their chance at redemption with starfield

Chevalier10d ago

It's not Playstation or Nintendos fault that Xbox poses no competition. They've had more support and more money behind them than Playstation and Nintendo combined!

You say you aren't defending Xbox, but, you kind of are. Xbox has been completely mediocre for decades. The last time Xbox was competitive was the 360 era. My 360 collection absolutely demolishes my Xbox One collection and so far Series X hasn't had much reason for me to jump to a purchase.

Can you honestly say Xbox is 'competitive'?! I would say not even close.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 10d ago
Silly Mammo10d ago

With the gaming media, Xbox is always just one game away from redemption and success. It's willful ignorance that they think there's a 'magic bullet' that will somehow erase all the moves by Phil & the gang of the last 2 console generations.

"Well there's always next year!" Should be the official Xbox slogan

Chocoburger10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

100% this Mammo!

They've been screwing up for over a decade! Even if they release a game that's of the highest quality, that's nothing in the grand scheme things.

It also doesn't un-do Kinect (with lies based advertising).

Or Kinect 2 (forcing people to spend $100 extra for something they didn't even want!).

Or releasing two consoles with nothing noteworthy twice in a row (One X, Series S|X).

Or releasing unpolished games such as Re:Core, Sea of Thieves, Halo: MCC, Halo Infinite, Redfall, and Starfield.

Let's not forget canceling games as well such as Scalebound,Project Spark, and the Phantom Dust remake.

Finally let's remember the broken promises of vaporware games, languishing in development Hell, such as Perfect Dark, Fable, Everwild, what else am I forgetting?

Redemption is far far FAR AWAY for Microsoft. It'll take a full decade of only making smart pro-consumer decisions and releasing plenty of amazing games in order to make up for it all.

2024? It ain't gonna do squat on its own.

Rols10d ago

It was the same old story in 2020, 2021,2022 and 2023. XBox has never delivered this gen.

Brazz10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

Xbox360, the last time they delivered the goods, over 10 years Ago.

Skuletor10d ago

This headline just reminds me of the "wait 'til E3" comments we'd hear every year, before it was cancelled.

LG_Fox_Brazil10d ago

I wonder if the 2025's version of this article is already written, probably I would say

lodossrage10d ago

That's the same point I was trying to convey when I replied to Obscure

Hofstaderman10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

#wait till e3 2024

Aloymetal10d ago

''2024 Is A Chance At Redemption For Xbox & Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer''
We've been hearing and reading the same crap since the xbone launch, these shills/journos need to come up with something new. Good thing is most gamers know this is all BS, they all read ''"Step right up folks and hold out your money or sub to our service. You don't know what you are going to get, but like always, take our word for it" Signed Lord Phil.

Show all comments (88)
580°

Phil Spencer blames capitalism for games industry woes.

Spencer said publicly traded companies have to show constant growth or else nobody will give them money. "I don't get [the] luxury of not having to run a profitable growing business"

LG_Fox_Brazil15d ago

I don't know Phil... You've being running, and some will say ruining, the Xbox brand for 10 years now, you know?

Profchaos15d ago

I'd say he'sade the best out of a tremendous cluster fk of a situation he was thrown into after Don tanked the Xbox brand from Kinect to the launch of the X1.

The only reason Xbox isn't in the Ms graveyard right now is because of Phil.

So I don't agree with everything he's done but I can see why these drastic pivots and moves have been made

VenomUK15d ago (Edited 15d ago )

You don’t hear Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa blame capitalism for the phenomenal success of the Switch.

You don’t hear now-departed PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan blame capitalism for the roaring success of the PS5.

Cockney15d ago

He was head of games back in don mattricks day so he should be held accountable for his involvement, the back half of the 360 gen and start of xbone lack of games was all him

Rynxie15d ago

The reason Xbox is not in the Ms graveyard is because of the money they are throwing around to keep the brand alive. Don was just a yes man, the stupidity of the Xbox one was MS doing.

romulus2315d ago

We are well past Don Mattrick at this point, people need to stop using that tired excsue. The issues with xbox for nearly the last ten years have been solely on Phil.

Plague-Doctor2715d ago

The PS3 tanked Sony and they recovered during the same generation. The Wii U tanked Nintendo and they delivered a record setting console only a few years later. At the launch of X1 it was keeping pace with the PS4 and in the US was occasionally beating it.

jwillj2k415d ago (Edited 15d ago )

All he had to do was say “the way forward is to make great games.”, drop the mic and make it happen by any means necessary. If you listen to the interview he gave after redfall came out, you’ll hear him say he thought the game was good to go and the internal team rated the game 85 out of 100. 85!! This shows how out of touch he is. He’s literally an empty vessel just collecting his check, running the division off of data-driven analytics, he doesn’t care about xbox and now pulls a Trump, blaming the clouds for his failures.

Cacabunga15d ago

Says the biggest capitalist company.. this moron should stop talking

sinspirit15d ago (Edited 14d ago )

No.. Phil was in charge of European studios and Kinect implementation since 2008. Those European studios he was in charge of were then full time Kinect developers as he was now in charge of all XBox game studios in 2010. This is why game quality has sucked ever since he was in charge and directly why the legendary Lionhead and the actual Rare devs are not there anymore. Phil is actually more to blame than anyone for the bad game quality and the Kinect push. And especially for the terrible XBox One launch.

He was the spearhead implemented employee for Kinect and Microsoft's new vision. The others were the talking heads appointed by XBox. And, honestly watching some of those old interviews it seemed like those XBox employees were possibly maliciously complient by telling exactly what Microsoft's new agenda was with Kinect and always online without dressing it up.

And directly on topic. No, Phil. Capitalism is voting with your wallet. XBox doing bad financially is in fact because of bad products, disappointments, failed deadlines, and especially lying, misleading, and broken promises for products. If you just released really good games and tried to innovate then you'd had a lot of sales.. oh and GamePass is losing out on a ton of sales which can not be recovered from a few microtransaction purchases, monthly sub costs, or even whales. The math is simple when you could have sold a $70 game 5 million times but instead maybe sold 1 million tops and now have to recoup a quarter billion of revenue from lost sales potential of the one title alone. But now you also don't want to release a lot of first party titles because of the direct loss in sales revenue from day 1 GamePass, and you don't want them to release really good games that take a little more time and money to make because you want them to be cost effective for GamePass release. So you intentionally plan to release a lot of AAA shortcomings at this point because the AAA badge is needed but you can't do it too well or GamePass will never actually profit. Even though they had said GamePass is profitable, it is absolutely not by much and never will be. And, they said that Zune was profitable a long time ago but they combined it with an entire category of products when Zune itself was bleeding money. They lose far too many direct sales that even the most generous math can not see how they could be making much money if any at all to make up for this business practice. This is what happens when marketing and trend chasing fool a business into pursuing the wrong thing to stay relevant when the clear answer all along was that they always did good when they just supported developers making genuinely full and good games.

Babadook714d ago (Edited 14d ago )

I kind of agree with you, but Phil is partly to blame.

I blame Peter Moore (for leaving). Everything went to pot soon after.

PapaBop14d ago

How many years ago was this now? I'll give him some credit for what he inherited but lets be honest, he hasn't exactly done anything praise worthy and has done a terrible job managing the studios Microsoft owns.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 14d ago
Eonjay15d ago

I thought he said it was Gen Z. I can't keep up.

Hofstaderman15d ago

Its Gen Z who are extremely capitilist. Lol, Phil is a clown of note.

15d ago
fr0sty15d ago (Edited 15d ago )

He's kinda right, shareholders expect constant growth, which is unsustainable, but it is what they expect nonetheless. That's why, even though the games industry is healthy as it has ever been, because it isn't growing, everyone in the industry is panicking. Even though we're still selling just as many consoles as ever, they expect each generation to just keep on growing and growing, and when that doesn't happen, they start to freak out.

This is true of any industry, and it's why anytime a company goes public, their products usually end up going to shit. The shareholders expect more and more and more growth, cuz they want that stock price to keep climbing, and so eventually corners start getting cut, wages start getting cut, employees start getting cut, they start cutting away everywhere they can to try to squeeze a little bit more money out of the product, until they ruin it, and then they move on to the next product.

buffig14d ago

Yeah, but everyone knows how capitalism works. This part didn't need explaining. The problem is that they bought massive plublishers for a gazillion dollars, to the detriment of the industry and now he's acting like he has no choice but to fire thousands of people because he just found out about nasty capitalism

TheEnigma31314d ago

Why I'm glad companies like Valve stayed private.

SyntheticForm14d ago

He'd never blame himself, so he's trying to score points with the kids by blaming capitalism. One of the biggest capitalists is blaming capitalism for his and Xbox's failure.

fr0sty14d ago

I agree with you, which is why I said he's "kinda" right... he's right in the fact that capitalism is behind a lot of investors freaking out that the games industry, while still healthy, is not continually growing unsustainably, but he's also being hypocritical in the same breath after buying half the industry and then laying off thousands of them, and using his own business practices as an excuse to cover for his failures.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 14d ago
mandf15d ago

It won't be until halo and gears are on playstation that xbox fans see phil for who he is. A snake fighting only for himself. The video game industry means nothing to him just his paycheck to those who believe phil is passionate and loves video games you are part of the problem. You never hold ms accountable.

Minute Man 72115d ago

Halo and Gears only when Microsoft drops outta the console market

-Foxtrot15d ago

They don't need to drop out of the market for that to happen

They will always have some kind of console going forward but Halo and Gears could only be a few years away at this rate.

Next gen might look completely different

Tacoboto15d ago

I'd actually hope for Halo to come to PS and Nintendo at this point.

The community rejected a mictotransaction option so MCC is no longer maintained - no new revenue streams and Microsoft listened. Infinite is on Content Updates now instead of Seasons - dwindling playerbase and less excitement. If MS wants the franchise to thrive, that's free money and the same could essentially be said for Gears bringing them abroad.

FinalFantasyFanatic15d ago

@Tacoboto,
To be fair, Halo Infinite had a rocky start to begin with, I think they improved for a while, but fell behind again.

shinoff218315d ago

The writings on the all in huge fking letters. Just read it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 15d ago
phoenixwing15d ago

I don't blame Phil for that in the slightest. If you were offered to be an executive of a company 9 out of 10 ppl would take the job for the salary and give little crap about how they feel about any given product they sell. He's not wrong that capitalism drives greedy companies but you have to take the good with the bad.

staticall15d ago

@phoenixwing
But the person is doing a bad job and the company (including customers) are suffering because of that, how can you not blame him? The reason for high paying is the decisions you make and the responsibility you take for your actions steering the company in the right direction (if company is doing bad, it's your fault; if company is doing good, it's because of your decisions).

It reminds me of that South Park Bill Owens parody ("Follow that egg" episode), a governor who wants all the money and recognition/respect, but doesn't want to take any responsibility, how backwards is that?!

Petebloodyonion14d ago

@Staticall
Agree but what are your metrics for doing a bad job?
Is Microsoft's share value tanking due to its decision?
Is brand awareness worse than in 2016?

As someone who works in investment, this is how I see it and why Spencer's still around.
1) Grow the Xbox brand awareness by including PC and Gamepass making it a stronger brand by name versus 2015.
2) Showed a plan to evolve profitability by having multiple sources of recurrent income with Gamepass, PC gaming, streaming, and now other platforms
3) made new market integration possible via PC and cloud.
4) Can make hard decisions for the good of the company like cutting jobs.

staticall14d ago

@Petebloodyonion
I would say, we shouldn't look at Microsoft themselves, they have a ton of revenue streams - Windows sales, hardware sales, Office sales, Azure, government contracts, certification programs, etc. We need to look at Xbox - hardware sales are in decline (Xbox 360 > Xbox One > Xbox Series S + X combined). GamePass subscribers aren't growing enough and, according to the Microsoft docs, are at plateau. Games sales are abysmal (both physical and digital, thanks to "Day one on GamePass"). Xbox exclusives doesn't exist anymore (every game is coming to PC). And it didn't start yesterday, this was happening for a long-long time.

In my eyes, brand recognition doesn't mean much, if it doesn't translate to console sales, because Phil took away every reason to buy Xbox console for a regular customer (i used to own Xbox 360 and saw 0 reasons to own Xbox One or Xbox Series).

I would also argue that he didn't make any hard decisions, at least when it comes to games: Crackdown 3, Redfall, Halo Infinite - he was saying that those games are looking fine only to be laughed at on presentation/release. But i would consider that a low blow, because he did cut some jobs. But not from top management (who are responsible for the decisions).

In my eyes, as a console owner/gamer, doing good job as a platform holder = supporting your console with high quality exclusive games (like Nintendo and Sony are doing). I'm fine with releasing the games afterwards on PC, but not right away (otherwise, what's the point of a console?!). Extra services are fine (like PS+ or GamePass, or cloud stuff), but they wouldn't be a reason to buy a console for me. Phil is overfocusing on extra services, not on games. And it doesn't work out and haven't worked out for what, 10 years already? Sorry, i feel like i'm rambling at this point.

Nooderus15d ago

He's a Microsoft executive. Duh

S2Killinit15d ago (Edited 15d ago )

Agree except I think the real snake is MS itself. They are a terrible company. This clown is just the hired man for the job.

phoenixwing15d ago (Edited 15d ago )

Thats basically what I'm trying to say and if you really want to get down to it. It's the board of directors for the company who makes this stuff happen.

jznrpg14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

@Phoenixeing it’s his job as the head of the division to tell those people I think you are wrong and for success we need to this - that’s literally his job. MS motto is a big problem and Phil going a long with it is also his fault. He’s the one guy who can say something.

Abear2115d ago

Agreed they are the problem.

M$ doesn’t care about the quality of the game, they care about the profitability of the game.

When you work for a Co. like M$ you know this. It’s all about money—not the “art” or what’s healthy in the industry for devs and/or the consumers.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 14d ago
M3talDiamond15d ago

First its Gen Z now its capitalism but we can all agree that it definitely isn't Phil

JackBNimble15d ago (Edited 15d ago )

If it wasn't for capitalism there would be no xbox or Microsoft for that matter. But as the head of xbox division it is his responsibility no matter good or bad .... that's what it means to be the boss. If that's to much for him, then he needs to resign.

-Foxtrot15d ago

Kind of funny because when it comes to capitalism Microsoft is one of those great big American companies that just screams it.

They spent billions on Minecraft, Zenimax and Activision yet couldn't afford to save all those jobs they cut. With the money they make within a year they could have, someway.

PhillyDonJawn15d ago ShowReplies(3)
FinalFantasyFanatic15d ago

They've been swallowing up a lot of AI companies too and spending big on that area.

S2Killinit15d ago

If MS gets into AI they will cause the end of humanity the way they are causing the end of console gaming.

FinalFantasyFanatic14d ago

@S2Killinit,

It's between Microsoft and Google, the chances are one of those two will take the AI crown considering the amount of cash they're throwing at that sector. I suppose Microsoft might be the worst out of the two, but Google hasn't been exactly great compared to the old days when they threw around their old adage of "do no evil".

Silly Mammo15d ago

MS is making millions of dollars annually with the Xbox brand. Unfortunately, they're spending billions on acquisitions too

8bitAssassin14d ago

Game Pass games are not free.

Christopher14d ago

He also blames his bank account balance on capitalism.

PhillyDonJawn14d ago

I don't think it work like that. MS is the parent company. The branch has its own budget to maintain.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 14d ago
thorstein15d ago

Making millions, taking million dollar salaries and bonuses but it's the dev in the chair that's preventing profit?

Yeah okay, Phil.

Show all comments (146)
320°

Phil Spencer, long cast as Xbox's saviour, may be remembered as the man who killed it

Nathan Brown: "Phil Spencer spoke to the press at GDC last week, offering some context/spin on Microsoft’s recent manoeuvres, while dropping a few now-customary hints about the Xbox division’s future plans. I take one issue with this: I am no longer sure Xbox has much of a future to speak of. Moreover: I think Phil Spencer, for so long cast as Xbox’s saviour, may ultimately be remembered as the man who killed it."

Read Full Story >>
videogameschronicle.com
17d ago
gold_drake17d ago

his decisions over the years were definitely questionable at best.

but MS let him be the head of xbox for this long, so they either dont have anyone else for the job or .. we'll i dont rly know any other reason haha.

-Foxtrot17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

Basically when we had that awful Xbox One reveal in 2013 and Don Mattrick was thrown under the bus as the companies scape goat Phil was pretty much the only one they had who wasn't a typical looking "corporate suit".

Despite the fact him being the head of Microsoft Game Studios and gladly going along with the lack of games nearing the end of the Xbox 360 life where it was basically Kinect, Sports, TV along with the same 3-4 IPs like Halo or Gears he was the best person they had for the job.

They didn't have anyone else basically and from that day onward he was seen as good guy Phil turning the studio around when all he was doing was reversing the silly decisions made and going along with whatever the higher ups or the board wanted for Xbox. Didn't make a difference in the end because everything they "reversed" with the awful Xbox One reveal ended up being implemented in small different ways surgically in recent years with Gamepass.

The guy apparently is such a huge gamer yet played Crackdown 3 and Redfall, thought they were good and released them anyway in those states.

PapaBop17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

Not a typical looking corporate suit? The guy straight up looks like a used car salesman lol. To be fair, after Mattrick, I think anyone with half a brain could succeed him and look semi decent, whenever I think of his name, I immediately remember that "this is how to share your games" video from Sony.

S2Killinit17d ago

when I look at him, its cringe. The guy dresses casually to fool people. But he is as corporate as it gets.

fr0sty16d ago

His cocky smirk I've always found to be incredibly annoying...

MrDead17d ago

I would say his "why bother making games when others are already" decision is what has lead them here. MS does this, but they just buy companies that they want to do a thing then asset strip it and dump it, you can't do that in gaming.

Tody_ZA16d ago

He's the head of Xbox because Microsoft isn't a gaming company and they haven't done anything for gaming in more than a decade. They're a parent company looking to buy more kids to raise as investments. They will profit off ownership, off their games releasing on other platforms, because they can't create anything themselves. Slowly they'll make Xbox as a console completely irrelevant under the mantra of play anywhere. That's why Phil is still there. He shares their corporate vision of making bucks and doing nothing for the gaming industry.

SubtilizZer17d ago

“If they don’t have a story these days they’ll make one”
Drake.

RhinoGamer8817d ago

Phil's top skill is keeping his job, growing his net worth to over $25million, all while underperforming...

SeTTriP17d ago

Gotta respect it, he went from a gaming studio head to making 70billion dollar deals...he is the main character I gotta admit.he looks fun to hang around too.

MrDead17d ago

...why do I feel like I need a shower after reading that? One of the grossest thing I've heard, S tier blowing bubbles grovelling.

jznrpg17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

I don’t respect moves that make gaming worse long term

XBManiac16d ago (Edited 16d ago )

(Phil 'wait for next year' Spencer)
Microsoft made the 71,933 millions deal because it was already started and, with Microsoft, it is not possible to go back and stop it. Does anybody think that deal would be an option in 2023 or 2024, with the nowadays sitiation of the industry? And in 2022? No, nobody would pay that money for Activision-blizzard-king... because it would not be recovered in more than 20 years of really hard and good work. Everybody are selling for less, not buying for more (Embracer, Tencent...). But bad decisions in a company like Microsoft are impossible to fix. It is like a very big Ministery, where if something starts, it can't be stopped. It happened before and Microsoft will do the same again, as they have enough money to burn... well... I hope, because if Microsoft dies... it will be the end of our known world. What could substitute it?

_Decadent_Descent17d ago

I mean, that does take a certain skill. lol

FinalFantasyFanatic17d ago

I guess he has skill as a salesman, look how long he managed to get people to wait on Xbox.

Show all comments (54)