"I mean the analogy, and I don't know if it's a great analogy… let's say I live in an area that doesn't have cell service. I wouldn't go buy a cell phone. Now, I might roam in different areas where my cellphone becomes active."
Xbox has been lagging behind PlayStation in terms of 1st party content, but 2024 offers the platform and Phil Spencer a chance at redemption.
Nah, that time has passed for many, and with their words on future plans, i really don't see it ever happening.
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
There is no ‘last chance redemption’ for Phil Spencer - he’s going straight to hell for tanking the Xbox console platform.
"2024 Is A Chance At Redemption For Xbox & Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer"
I thought that was supposed to be a decade ago
U do rel7se ps5 is at thr moment only getting g those titles that were mentioned nothing else as of yet
"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.
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...
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?
@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...
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.
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?
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!
“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.
@Obscure_Observer
You certainly have more faith in Xbox than Phil Spencer does, I will give you that.
@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
@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
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....
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
Still at it? Doesn't matter at this point. The games will eventually launch on PS5.
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.
@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 🤷🏿
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.
Life is too short to hold onto grudges. Grudges against a console, game or company is just petty.
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
^^... 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.
@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.
^^...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.
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
And you think MS fans are just dandy? Besides, is it a grudge if MS continues to give reasons for people to despise them?
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
The second they decided to put exclusives on the ps5 they blew any chance of redemption
Even if they managed to get a win this year it dosent overthrow 10 years of mostly disappointments from Phil’s leadership.
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.)
@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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
It was the same old story in 2020, 2021,2022 and 2023. XBox has never delivered this gen.
I wonder if the 2025's version of this article is already written, probably I would say
''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.
Best bet would be to cut ties with Phil now. If anything actually does turn around, let that fuel good will for the replacement. I don't think there's any way at this point to turn things around for Phil.
We hear the same thing every year. Every year is always 'the year of Xbox' and then it falls even further behind the competition. Sure it'll have more first party games but does anyone think it'll really make a difference at this point?
Each year seems to be a chance at redemption for Phil Spencer and Microsoft but there's never a clear definition of what is that redemption.
I believe that for the majority of PlayStation fans, Microsoft redemption will always be what MS isn't doing at the current moment meaning there will never be redemption.
So are you saying hifi rush, redfall and starfield was their redemption last year?
That those games were good enough and Playstation fans were the boogeyman that obscured what a return to form last year was for xbox?
I like how the victim card is being shown already just in case the games don't review well.
Playstation fans don't control critic scores or game of the year nominations.
Funny that you mention Hi-Fi Rush because, since its release last year, N4G fanboys have been trying by all means to discredit the game
- Not a real AAA game, was meant for PlayStation, Game Pass Filler, Digital only crap, etc.
How about Forza? oh year it's not a real game because it's a racing game
Already ppl are finding reasons why Hellblade 2 should fail
So again What is MS Redemption?
What is MS redemption?
More exclusive games than the competition?
Maybe a xbox exclusive being nominated for game of the year?
Some 90+ metacritic exclusives?
And i also see N4G fanboys claiming all PS exclusives are bombing this year, stellar blade imput lag, no first party games, etc...but only Playstation fans are responsible for that as well?
Which Xbox game got nominated for GotY in the last 10 years? Oh right NONE. Kind of need to beat the competition to redeem themselves.
Maybe you forgot how Xbox was going to redeem Halo Infinite? Remember when everyone said Redfall was going to show what Xbox was about? How about Starfield? Mediocre games across the board, but, wait for it.... this single game will turn things around. Really?! Damn Xbox loves idiot fans waiting for this turn around that's been just around the corner for like 10 years!
Got to love how every Xbox fan absolutely 💯 trashed Hellblade when it was exclusive to Playstation. Walking Simulator as everyone explained. But now it's only on Xbox that 'cinematic' experienced is amazing! Same people that said Playstation only does 'cinematic' games as a slight are now excited. Lol
God, how many times have we heard this only to receive another massive disappointment.
To name but 3,
Halo infinite
Redfall
Starfield
...?
Y'all been saying different variations of "wait for E3" for 15 years, nothing will happen.
So we're looking at Hellblade 2 (niche indie game), Avowed (looks rough), DLC and Indiana Jones which looks pretty good. I'm not saying these games are irrelevant but they don't strongly suggest redemption for a struggling brand.
We really should be talking about redemption AFTER it’s earned and not the “potential” of it. When MS delivers and is consistent THEN we should talk about its redemption story until then we don’t need wishful thinking
We say this every damn year! Like no joke, Google this exact sh*t but put 2023, 2022, etc. in place of 2024.
Yes taking almost half of 2024 for your first title while the other guy has been dropping games monthly. Total redemption.
That's hilariously Twisted Twistedvoxel! Oh wait, you are serious. The redemption ladder broke a while back, unles you are into that mulligan crap. The era of chad blowhard ceos and the dorks that worshiped them is done.
Doubt it. The first game was horrible. It was slow and clunky. All she did was scream and yell in your face. It isn't psychosis as they aimed for. The puzzles are shallow and about as fun as those wooden toys theyd give you as a kid where you match the shapes and drop them through. Hellblade was boring as sin. Oh, and it's not just my opinion. Most people see the game as sub-par and have no interest in a sequel. This isn't going to soar as well as they might think. They could fudge their numbers to try and trick consumers into thinking it's good and doing well, but wouldn't be. Will they honest with their sales numbers? Or in Xbox typical fashion lie about it to try and generate interest in Xbox. But, gamers don't want Hellblade, PlayStation fans want the Xbox version of GoW
Can we just stop with the sensationalism. It's getting really corny.
Even though I own both and enjoy both consoles it take a multiple hit games to even slowly turn the tide
The weird thing is that this is the most graphically advanced game on consoles, and it is a month away from release yet there is almost no Marketing from Microsoft.
Every year people claim is their chance for redemption, and every year they don't redeem themselves. And even if they do release amazing games, I'm still greatly unhappy with how they run their business.
The all-digital future, rushed out first party games, embracing micro-trash-actions like there's no tomorrow, too much of a focus on services, frequently banning members of the community unfairly, releasing a new console generation with zero new games, and of course Xbox Series Gimp, hampering the entire generation.
They still haven't made up for 2013, how in the Hell can they ever redeem themselves at this point?
Microsoft is "all-in" now.
At least that's something we should at least recognize?
The next five years, whatever the outcome, are likely to decide if their recent actions will pay off.
They are determined to not leave the video game and console business.
Simply pointing this out doesn't mean anything if it's going to be succesful or if they will really redeem themselves.
As far as competition goes, though I am a Playstationeer, I want "Xbox" to stay.
Xbox future plans? So which Xbox exclusives they announce they'll be porting to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch next?
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"
I don't know Phil... You've being running, and some will say ruining, the Xbox brand for 10 years now, you know?
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I kind of agree with you, but Phil is partly to blame.
I blame Peter Moore (for leaving). Everything went to pot soon after.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
@Tacoboto,
To be fair, Halo Infinite had a rocky start to begin with, I think they improved for a while, but fell behind again.
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.
@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?!
@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.
@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.
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.
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.
@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.
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.
First its Gen Z now its capitalism but we can all agree that it definitely isn't Phil
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.
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.
They've been swallowing up a lot of AI companies too and spending big on that area.
If MS gets into AI they will cause the end of humanity the way they are causing the end of console gaming.
@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".
MS is making millions of dollars annually with the Xbox brand. Unfortunately, they're spending billions on acquisitions too
I don't think it work like that. MS is the parent company. The branch has its own budget to maintain.
Making millions, taking million dollar salaries and bonuses but it's the dev in the chair that's preventing profit?
Yeah okay, Phil.
Oh do shut up Philip, the amount you've been paid for being a total failure in the gaming industry could support multiple studios... and not forgetting you work for MS, a company that has gotten so big and bloated that it needs to control entire industries or fire tens of thousands to see any meaningful growth.
MS needs to be broken up.
Phil can't make up his mind. It's either capitalism or Gen Z for game industry woes. The XBox brand has been suffering under his leader ship. XB1 and the current Series Xboxes are doing poorly in sales. How are you going to fix the current state of XBox Phil?
Capitalism isn’t the problem. Making good games that are fun to play seems to be just not Xboxes problem but the industry as a whole. But for Phil to take the lazy view of blaming it on capitalism. Is so undefined in its meaning, it reminds me of a kid saying a dog ate my homework. At least that old age sorry excuse does a better job of describing situation then the analogy Phil used. Instead of blaming capitalism, shoot straight from the hip and say all this monetized nickel and dime operation crap has gotten old and sucking the fun out of gaming. At least, that’s how I see it.
He already used that excuse without naming Mattrick specifically. It was around the time Redfall came out and Phil started whinging about how the X1 generation was the worst possible generation to lose because that is when consumers became locked into a specific ecosystem. I am just watching to see how creative his next excuse will be. He has turned excuse making into an art form.
I hope that the majority of posters in this thread who established that Phil's a liar, a snake, can't make up his mind, etc.
can explain: Why, Sony, Epic, EA, Embracer, Riot Games, Sega, etc. had to make massive layoffs this year?
but without saying: profitability, capitalism, or the need to make money since that's been evil Phil's response.
By the way here's the whole list of layoffs in the gaming industry including studio closure.
https://gamingonphone.com/n...
Why are you still harping on the Sony layoffs. Your statement serves rmto point out that Sony was not the only co pany to engage in layoffs. The topic on hand here is Phil who has headed the XBOX division for over 10 years and under whose watch has degraded to such a point that exclusives are being released on its direct rival console. And Phil was part of XBOX leadership before he even became the chief, so lets not blame Mattrick.
If you guys called him out way sooner perhaps you would be better off.
Simply because the question was about the GAMING INDUSTRY and not about MICROSFT.
Last I checked Sony, EA, and all others from the list make what we call the industry.
And no, the topic on hand isn't about Phil's tenure as head of MS, it's about this article and Phil's answer to what's the cause of the current game industry woe.
(Did you bother to read the article?)
@Petebloodyonion
I would say the word is «Mismanagement» and «Greed» (don't confuse greed and capitalism though). Top management is making terrible decisions that cost the company more money and earning less than expected. Sony's live service plans comes to mind; Epic, for some reason, bought Bandcamp and sold to Songtradr (owner of 7digital and other music stores), SuperAwesome they only bought to own Kids Web Services (and they kept them); Embracer bit off more than they can chew, now they're trimming off non-essential companies (yet are already thinking of buying more). I'm not following Sega, Riot or EA, so can't comment on those, but i'm thinking, i'm not that far off with "mismanagement".
But, to Sony's credit, at least they fired, i mean, replaced, Jim Ryan. Can't say the same for Microsoft and other companies though, especially Embracer (they are an embarrassment).
Oh, and Microsoft specifically is to blame too, thanks to their effort in consolidation department and buying multiple publishers. Yet, again, Phil and his goons are keeping their positions. But you keep bringing up other companies to save Microsoft face, that'll surely help. /s
The fact Phil hasn't been fired makes me believe the company as a whole is on board to become a 3rd party publisher
I'm not bringing companies to save MS's face I'm just pointing out that a lot of ppl are throwing stones at Spencer for his answer to a straightforward question.
Since he's lying (according to the majority of posters here) regarding the state of the industry it would be logical that said ppl reveal the truth no?
At least you provide an answer in the words of mismanagement and greed but I would like to point out that greed is exactly what Spencer mentioned as the obligation to create profit due to Shareholders' expectations that you will make profit.
"companies that are in the industry that have to show their investors growth—because why else does somebody own a share of someone’s stock if it’s not going to grow?"
No one's even attempted to read the article here either. There's such an enthusiasm for any semblance of Microsoft struggling on this site that's it's not really worth trying to engage meaningfully. The full quote is just him saying that MS, Sony, and developers are having trouble because the console market as a whole is stagnating. They all feel confident that it'll continue to grow again, but public companies aren't allowed to not grow for any period of time without consequences. It's the most lukewarm take on the gaming industry right now. These gaming sites have fanboys by the balls now with their click bait titles though.
@attilayavuzer Did you join the comments section to self-own yourself? You cannot make the comment that Microsoft is struggling along with the rest in the same year that they spent almost HUNDRED BILLION on buying up publishers that already release games on their platform, INSTEAD of investing in their own developers, in the creation of new games, in sustaining their studios or creation of new technology to bolster the Xbox brand, or to prevent layoffs.
They are the worst offenders here, because they'll lay off hundreds of workers but significantly increase their profits through ownership of the Call of Duty IP and others which they will release on rival consoles. They have added nothing to the industry or the development teams, only carved a way for them to indulge on the Call of Duty, Candy Crush and etc. cakes.
Point: they are the embodiment of capitalism, not the victims of it.
I'm sorry but Microsoft cannot act as if Sony and Nintendo aren't their competition because they're in the empire business, and then cry the same fouls.
We all know the reason for lay offs is because capitalism begets bloat, more development costs, bigger games, bigger teams, more and more when it's not needed, aging or redundant work force etc.
The reason for the comments here is because Phil loves to run his mouth in interviews, either engaging in double talk, blatant lies, hypocrisy (i.e Helldivers 2) or casting blame on everything instead of Microsoft's own decision making.
Personally there would be more cause for alarm if games like Spider-Man and God of War sold multiple millions that they do and were still deemed below sales targets and unprofitable.
@Tody
No, he can make a comment that is RELATED to the ARTICLE.
Unlike you, he did take time to read the article because if you did took time to read it, you would know that it's about Phil's answer to WHY is the INDUSTRY currently struggling.
Or are you saying that MS's decision to buy Activision in early 2022 is the reason that Sony, Embracer, EPIC, Square, Sega, and others had to cut jobs in 2024?
@Pete Woah, hold the phone. Did you just accuse me of not reading the article and then you totally failed to read my comment? Good one. I gave a clear set of simplified answers as to why there are so many lay offs happening, it's a net effect of capitalism, I won't rehash it since it's a small paragraph you can just read.
I did actually read the article, and my comment is based on A) the above commenter lumping MS into the group of those having trouble and B) the irony of Phil Spencer commenting on this, which the article itself points out on more than one occasion. Clearly you didn't read it either. There's even a joke about "don't hate the player."
So again I come back to, the industry cutting jobs is not exactly a cause for widespread panic. Bigger, better, more, and aging/bloated workforces eventually isn't sustainable as at some point growth will plateau or decline for a period. What WOULD be a cause for concern, as I clearly mentioned, is if triple A games were deemed failures due to unsustainable budgets or sales projections. Yet, the major players continue to make extremely profitable games.
Dead Space perfectly encapsulates this. Dead Space 1 was a success, but Dead Space 2 and 3 subsequently declined and then failed because EA upped the budget, costs and advertising expenses, overestimating how many copies would sell and failing to understand the games target audience. That's a capitalism fail story.
Sony buying Insomniac, providing them resources, investing in their studio and giving them creative freedom led the developer to transform from the Ratchet and Clank guys to one of the best in the industry creating Sony's best selling blockbuster series and GOTY material. Capitalism success story.
Microsoft spending almost hundred billion to effectively do nothing for the industry or its own developers or promote growth whatsoever, merely to eat into profits via ownership and multi platform releases - smart capitalism move, good for their profits, terrible for the industry and gamers and quality of games.
So, Phil talking about this is ironic.
He's trying to push the agenda that the model of make good product --> sell good product is dying, but this is a falsehood as Balders Gate 3 and The Witcher 3 and God of War and Spider-Man and Elden Ring and Nintendo's library and countless others prove. The problem is and has always been bloat and excess and unrealistic sales projections and mediocrity - all to convince you that microtransactions, deluxe editions, mobile monetisation methods, Games Pass are "needed" interventions to survive....then God of War Ragnarok gets a free Valhalla DLC and Balders Gate 3 doesn't do any of those predatory practices and you start to wonder.
Even Sega shifted to a third party publisher with much more dignity. They acknowledged that they messed up, apologised and clearly communicated their intent. Three things this slimy used car salesman is incapable of doing despite damning evidence that XBOX is on the very same route.
I do so enjoy you taking the time to set up email adresses and creating fake accounts. I love living in your head. Cmon man we can do this in perpetuity. Like Batman and Joker.
I have it on good authority that Pips excuse for next week is, 'The dog ate my homework!'
Alright so if capitalism is to blame for Xbox under performing for the past decade, then please inform us what's the reason why Sony and Nintendo are doing so well?
PS4 over 120 million consoles.
NSW over 140 million handhelds.
Seems that the industry is healthy. For some.
Doing well is not good enough for capitalism. It has to grow. PS4 has not grown compared to the PS2, and the PS5 likely won't either. Xbox doing poorly has nothing to do with capitalism, but the problems with the industry at large do have to do with capitalism.
Playstation's marketshare tanked after the PS2. From 160 million to ~85 million. The marketshare they lost went to the Xbox 360. They've been slowly regaining that marketshare ever since.
If you add up the total consoles sold between Playstation and Xbox, that number has not changed much since PS2 generation. Playstation's growth has been fueled by getting people off of Xbox.
On other note, I'd be curious to know about software sales since then as well.
He aint lying. The company I work for raise the target plan 10% every year and have increased prices 10-20% every year for the last 5 years
i cant haha. everhthing he says is so ridiculous xDD
but he sure likes his million dollars kn his bank account eh ;)
But is he not capitalist himself? And come on he works for one of the biggest and richest corporations on the planet. If that's not capitalism then I don't know what is.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for capitalism, but I think Phil is being just a teensy weensy bit hypocritical here.
He blames capitalism...how stunning and brave of him. For his next trick, Phil will blame "The Patriarchy" for low sales. LOL, how current day of him.
Rotflmao,the irony is thick with Phil, he wouldn't even have a job if it wasn't for capitalism, granted he more cronie capitalism then genuine capitalism.
"Capitalism is the problem"
Also spends almost a hundred billion on owning third party publishers that release their games on his platform anyway instead of investing in new games, new studios and their current studios.
If Capatilism is the issue, shouldn't XBOX be thriving, since they have more money than their competition?
I think he's Phil of sh!t.
I guess that the problem are Xbox exclusives are lacking in quality, last gears and halo were not great, the Forza games are good, but after these they don't have anything else and most players don't see the value on game pass, I'm a subscriber but on pc...
So it's capitalism fault, possibly climate change, the pandemic and inflation too, so it's everybody's fault but his, of course. Nex time you don't like capitalism, don't get in charge on a multibillion company division, they tend to you know, depend on capital to function.
Company is worth 3 trillion and he's crying about people not giving them money?
He doesn't get the lucky of not having a profitable business? Yes, that is generally how it works.
No one has the luxury of running a non-profitable business that doesn't grow in some form or another, what is this dude on about?
"Powa of Da Cloud" - Nothing came out of that
"World's most powerful console. 12 teraflops of Power" - PS5 Basically trades blows with it on multiplatform games and kills it with their first party games
"We're focusing on building world class 1st party studios" - Yeah, I guess by his definition is forking out money and buying studios.
"Xbox top selling console" - When they're selling well
"Hardware sales numbers are not important" - He downplays the importance of hardware numbers when they're not selling well.
The amount of PR and damage control and excuses is laughable. Phil would definitely be suited to join the team at Apple.
Imagine taking 10 years and spending billions of dollars to go from 3rd Place to 3rd Place.
Xbox fans are total nationalists for keeping games on their system. Consoles are just boxes, we should all be allowed to enjoy any game we want on them. The switch is a unique experience which is why you kind of need one for those games but a PC, PS, or Xbox shouldn’t have to matter. It should only be based on what interface and controller you like best. That’s what Roku and Amazon fire stick does.
My head is about to explode.
There is so much I can say about this... Instead, I'll just say, "you've got a point, Phil. But you're the last person who should be the messenger."
But you wanna know the worst part of this? It's likely just a capitalist pandering to the younger generation that is far more receptive of anticapitalist messaging. The fact that this is coming from one exec at a trillion dollar company is straight out of The Onion.
When I was in school I wasn’t indoctrinated by Marxist. So explain to me how capitalism is the reason? You had a good console in the 360 despite the horrible rrod rate. You had a large base of fans.. what did you do? You introduced a console that was inferior to the PS4 and more expensive, and you alienated your fan base with an always online concept that didn’t mix well with your audience at first. After the first couple of years new games weren’t as frequent.
Sony could have been in the same situation if they had not listened to fans and to devs for that matter. PS3 was a good console, probably one of my favorites with the amount of game content. It wasn’t great at first and in fact it was hard to develop for and games that were multi-plat underperformed at first. They were losing exclusives left and right due to the sales that were lagging behind the 360. They swallowed their pride, made an easier dev kit for developers and things began to change. Introduced a price drop, and their first party games begin to take off and sales begin to grow.
Image of brand is a big sale that’s built on reputation.
Why can a Toyota Tacoma be the best selling midsize truck every year and not be the most capable truck when looking at power and towing from others in its class?
They make a truck that’s good in all the areas, not the best, but they make it dependable. Ask an auto mechanic, a lot of them would agree Toyota makes a good motor and truck. So because of positive brand image, it’s the most sold mid size pick up and the highest resale value. They give their audience what they want and that’s the bases of any business. Creating a brand image.
Xbox has an issue with projecting its struggles as industry wide struggles. Microsoft is like a kid losing to a video game over and over and trying to explain to you that it's the game's fault, meanwhile many other players are doing just fine. They've stumbled through failure after failure and now they want to talk like an industry leader, and its pathetic.
He isn't wrong in no company seems to accept where they are at. It's always growth growth growth. What happens when this is where we're at growth wise for a little while. Fking greed. I agree with Philly boy on that part. Xbox I where it's at due to him though. Daybone titles on gamepass was a huge mistake.
Xbox has been my primary game console (I've owned all Playstations as well) since 2006 and have never thought of abandoning them but, I'm not a fan of the activist crap they've recently been spouting/mandating and if they keep this path they're on, I absolutely will switch over to PS as my main. They MUST keep identity politics out of gaming if they don't want to lose everything. The saying "get woke go broke" has been proven several dozen times over the last few years. I'm not saying that if I leave it'll suddenly go broke but over time people will grow tired of it and stop supporting it. You cant favor one group of people over another so leave it all out or you'll alienate at least half of your customers who will look elsewhere.
If this is where they are with him, I hate to see how it’d be without him.
Xbox wouldn’t still be circling the drain…they would have officially been flushed down it by now!
I blame their own marketing department and lack of self awareness of brand image.
Xbox promises a more powerful console and delivered on that, however, forcing Series S parity shot themselves in the foot and forces more work for devs. Instead of unleashing Series X power, their games are held back by forcing like versions on a weaker system.
Xbox lost to Sony from a hardware standpoint this Gen, partly due to Series S, partly due to Dualsense controller, but mostly just because Sony’s machine is easier to develop for and has better games.
Even with all of that…If Halo wasn’t rushed out the door and games like Starfield, Flight Sim and Redfall were allowed to be finished completely and release only on Series X things might be different for Xbox
Who's to blame for Halo going from a top 5 IP in gaming to a laughing stock?
Bonnie? Okay, who's fault is it for not firing Bonnie 2 games ago?
Buck stops with you Phil.
If you guys could actually make good games in abundance vs a random good game every 6-10 years maybe you wouldn't need to lay people off.
While I agree with your statement when infinite first came out, you have to be completely honest. Halo Infinite is crazy good. It's funny that no man's sky is talked about as a great game that started off bad but halo just gets the bad game treatment
XBOX has been a powerful game system since inception and will continue being strong way after your
dust in the wind!
Yeah but they shouldn't get a pass on everything they've done wrong. This isn't sony
Man, I wish I could be a failure at something and then scream catch phrases like "capitalism" "racism" etc as a way to blame my failures on something else
Any sort of business private or public is all about making money. If you don't make money you can't continue the business.
Triple A games are imploding right now because of how the industry is being run right now. The budgets for the games are inflated to stupid amounts that these companies will probably not be able to make back. They are taking longer and longer to make and with companies like Sweet Baby Inc. and those that hire them it makes for subpar games.
Phil has always been a yes man for Microsoft, he says whatever gamers want to hear but he does what Microsoft wants him to do. He has no power, just a title and the money that comes from it.
Realistically Xbox would be better off as a publisher than in the console market right now and it seems that they are going that way anyways.
Its also a problem in the film industry as well...they start shooting with an unlimited budget and no set script. There is zero structure and the only solution is to either throw more money or shut down studios. You cannot kick the can down the road and expect success! Projects must be planned out and put on schedules.
Yeah, Hollywood is burning down and it won't get any better any time soon for them. Most forms of entertainment is either imploding in current time or has already been decimated by the stupidity that is/has been going on for the past decade or so. Comics are basically destroyed from it and not sure if they will be able to pull themselves out of the the utter failure they have become.
Phil Spencer out there reminding us why we turned away from XBOX in the first place.
What a complete tool.
Hey Phil, how much was your bonus? and that's a cause and effect of what again? What's that word again? I forgot.
Also, sounds like you are admitting something. Delivery dude. The delivery...
I blame Microsoft for destroying the landscape of gaming and not putting a good enough effort giving their player base something unique from everyone else.
They tried to bully the market and the games spoke for themselves. Now they are spending millions on games, just to say they're on Game Pass. Pat yourself on the back for this one.
Wow, A lot of people here are making their anti-Xbox bias not see the true meaning behind what Phil Spenser is saying.
For many years persons who align with social democracy have argued against the current form of capitalism where each company is expected to increase their profits each year so they can continue to attract investors.
Phil Spencer believes the gaming industry hasn't really grown because, at the end of each generation, it is roughly the same total amount of hardware being sold between the 3 companies. This is why we see them trying to find more ways of monetizing their existing base, laying off employees, or not passing on savings from hardware iterations to the consumer.
The woes of the gaming industry are not an Xbox problem. It is an issue affecting every publicly traded business.
Sony and Nintendo manage to compete… why can’t the mega-corporation M$, of all companies?
Phil Spencer is in charge of xbox, not Microsoft. If people don't understand that I don't know what else to tell you. There are always gonna be layoffs. It's the nature of the industry. Microsoft is far from perfect but so are sony and Nintendo.
I would have thought if you make games and consoles that sell well and make a profit then you don’t keep having to MS head office to bail out XBOX.
I would be embarrassed to be an xbox fan.
The things he says are just embarrassingly transparent.
It's the same thing with this guy over and over, blame anything but himself or Microsoft, and try to steal credit from everyone else. (saying things like Nintendo and PlayStation owners are xbox users ect.)
Phil you are the capitalist that is ruining gaming, as soon as Microsoft gets out of gaming things will start to get better for the industry. You are the problem.
Probably blame yourself and your pathetic team where INCLUSIVITY and controllers are your main focus and not you know.. games.
wow.. so is he proposing Socialism instead? Nah.. youve just made bad decisions has xbox head, Phil. Simple as that. lol
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."
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.
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.
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.
when I look at him, its cringe. The guy dresses casually to fool people. But he is as corporate as it gets.
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.
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.
Phil's top skill is keeping his job, growing his net worth to over $25million, all while underperforming...
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.
...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.
(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?
I guess he has skill as a salesman, look how long he managed to get people to wait on Xbox.
Nyxus been on a role with these phil Spencer opinion articles lol
He's definitely killed it. His obsession with Sony killed it. He had all the momentum when he took over coming off of the 360s success. He has failed upward smh. It all started with forced kinect, tv, and drm, and arrogant attitude with the xbox one. It's sad because og xbox and 360 actually helped push the industry foward.
Absolutely. If they didn't extremely drop the ball mid 360 xbox would be bigger. Gaming would be a little different as in both systems really needing to be bought.
Imagine if the brand had kept on the upward trajectory that the 360 established early on, at least they brought good online services and features to the industry.
Microsoft people did not learn a shit of 360 early days... well... wait... early Xbox 360 and later firs gen Xbox people are not in Microsoft since mid 360 days...
There’s no debate on this particular matter. His decision making as head of the Xbox division has killed the system.
Listen to Phil you will be dead last. Two Xbox generations under him have and are under performing. And are dead last in sales.
Whoever is in charge of firing Phil should be beyond scared that despite Microsoft giving away every first party game with a great consumer friendly subscription the Series X is still getting demolished in sales by the PS5 despite their gaming drought and awful subscription models.
It's pathetic how few quality games Microsoft has been able to pump out the last several years.
Let's review some highlights:
- "21 exclusives" E3
- Games Pass taking priority over creating games
- Game Pass reaching a plateau before expectations and boasting "value" over any first party quality releases
- Billions of dollars spent on publisher acquisitions that haven't managed to shift any Xbox unit sales, thus the smokescreen before beginning the long journey of multi platform releases for their games to increase revenue via ownership
- No new IP or GOTY level games in more than 10 years
- The Initiative has yet to release a game or even the release date of one to justify their supposed AAAA quality development
- Scalebound cancelled
- Oversaw the decline of all of their major and secondary franchises, i.e Halo, Gears, Crackdown, Forza
- "The Power of the Cloud" and all its gaming benefits of delivering ten Xbox's of power that has never been seen
- Passed on the opportunity to publish Spider-Man or some other game from Marvel
- Failure to secure any major third party exclusive deals in recent years
- Cried about Helldivers 2 after cancelling PS5 versions of games from publishers they acquired
- Threw their weight behind failures like Redfall, Starfield
- The Xbox Series S
- The Xbox Series S vs the $100 more expensive Digital Edition PS5
- The Xbox One X will probably go down as the most pointless console release of all time given the timing of its launch
- Becoming known for PR double talk and blatant lies from one interview to the next
- The "Nice Guy" persona which arose and then tanked with the aggressive monopolisation attempts and spin
- "Xbox could be dead by 2027"
- The death of Xbox console sales and end of Microsoft reporting any real numbers in favour of reporting meaningless stats like bullets fired or aliens killed
Yeah, think you may be right about this in a few years time when the fanbase runs out of excuses for this non-gaming company.
Add the "Baldur's Gate 3" has not enough quality for Xbox under Bonnie Ross opinion... as well as others that included hundreds of millions in promotion of games that really suck.
Excellent list. I also remember Xbox defenders claiming that MS was "saving up big games" for the Xbox One X launch, which of course never arrived (unless if you count Crackdown 3? Yikes!).
Then a couple years later, the defenders claimed that MS was "saving up big games" for the Xbox Series launch, which of course, never arrived. Xbox Series was the first console release in history to launch without a single brand new game.
NOT. ONE. NEW. GAME. UNDER. PHIL. SPENCER'S. LEADERSHIP.
What?! How could they possibly have been unprepared for new software for their console launch, when their mid-gen launch also saw nothing noteworthy, and their previous base console was slowing down in first party releases!
If that isn't cause to fire Spencer, then I don't know what is!
It's obvious to anyone who isn't an Xbox fan that Microsoft isn't a gaming company, not with the shockingly bad track record you mentioned. Whilst Nintendo and Sony continue to deliver GOTY level games or reinvent their IPs to stay fresh or release new IP or grow their studios, Microsoft simply wants to profit off ownership and subscriptions. Xbox fans have just taken a generation and a half to realise that Microsoft does nothing for gaming or developers, because they're too busy being happy with the "value" of Games Pass.
Yet the reality is, PS Extra achieves a similar model without sacrificing investment in developers and new games and IP, PS Extra isn't a substitute for Sony acting as a gaming company. And like any subscription service, it cannot sustain itself forever in the absence of new games and sales of those games. Any sane person would rather have one GOTY level game than 50 decent ones. Not to mention that subscription models are bad for the growth of gaming. Even take PS Extra - I was about to buy Tales of Arise on special and then it got added to PS Extra, now I'm just playing it via my subscription. I love the hell out of the game, I would have gladly bought it. These subscription models should only exist to give players opportunities to play games that have flatlined in sales, revive interest in dead games, or keep them playing older or other games until the next big release. They should not exist like Games Pass to cannabilise sales of brand new games and take the place of investment in new games and studios. The model won't sustain itself.
Microsoft's other problem is that they have no plan for their Xbox console releases. Not one console since the Xbox 360 has added anything noteworthy to gaming. Their only triumph is backwards compatibility which I'll give them wholeheartedly. Yet since the Xbox One their consoles have been utter failures, their big thing with the Xbox One was Kinect which added nothing to gaming and basically just gave you Google voice commands to control your console over pressing a button. Anything besides games.
With every PlayStation Sony adds something innovative or game changing or simply evolves on what they did before. With the PS4 it was the share button and the touchpad and VR, and with the PS5 it was DualSense, 3D Audio, the SSD, the Portal, VR2, PlayStation Link.
Microsoft doesn't have that track record or any new games because they simply have no interest in it whatsoever. They're looking to passively profit for the next decade by just having their games on other platforms or eating into other profit share with ownership of Call of Duty and Candy Crush and others.
I'm willing to bet that the next Elder Scrolls game will be on PlayStation.
"Powa of Da Cloud" - Nothing came out of that
"World's most powerful console. 12 teraflops of Power" - PS5 Basically trades blows with it on multiplatform games and kills it with their first party games
"We're focusing on building world class 1st party studios" - Yeah, I guess by his definition is forking out money and buying studios.
"Xbox top selling console" - When they're selling well
"Hardware sales numbers are not important" - He downplays the importance of hardware numbers when they're not selling well.
The amount of PR and damage control is laughable. Phil would definitely be suited to join the team at Apple.
How disappointed the xbox faithful must be feeling with the recent turn of events and the direction of xbox as a platform. To have defended this guy for this long to then realize he would be the end of xbox as they knew it.
I was a huge Xbox and Xbox 360 fanboy. The XBOne I bought years after release and even then all I played was Sunset Overdrive and Halo. After that it turned into a Netflix machine and a healthy PS4 + PC combo took over my gaming time.
I spend almost all my time with the PS5 now and I haven’t played a game on Xbox in over a year. It’s actually unplugged now.
Full disclosure, I’m shopping for a cheap Series X right now JUST so I can get the backwards compatibility for my 4K TV. Been picking up scores of used multiplatform games for Xbox One and Series X because THEY’RE INCREDIBLY CHEAP! But there’s a reason for that… nobody wants an Xbox. Lol
Anyway, my PS5 dominates
DEI myths have been debunked for a years now, are the Tater Tots and Tim Poole kids still going on about it?
I don't even live in the US and know how funny all the DEI bots where. 5 years old some of the articles!
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An incompetent like Spencer and those around him being able keep their job should tell you how little importance Microsoft places on xbox. It was all good until the abk purchase went through now head office is going to start calling the shots.
Peopla complained about Don Mattrick as if Spencer wasn't part of his team and also said amen to all the bad decisions that were taken during XBO's launch. He's no better than Mattrick. He's even worse because at least Mattrick wasn't hiding behind PR facade like phil
Phil Spencer is/was a business manager, not a gamer, he doesn't know what makes a good game, hence the poor quality of Xbox exclusives under his leadership and a focus away from them.
Don Mattrick on the other hand was a gamer and programmer, he brought loads of quality 3rd party exclusives (some timed mind) to Xbox, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Titanfall, Sunset Overdrive, Saints Row 1, Bioshock, Forza Horizon (Playground were independent at that time), Dead Rising 3, etc etc, that's just off the top of my head.
What quality 3rd party exclusives has Phil brought to Xbox?
Technically, Microsoft was going to kill Xbox off after the Xone announcement, but Phil convinced them to keep going, all he did was prolong its agonising death. And to be fair, they were coming from the success of the 360, so a turn around shouldn't have been out of the question if he didn't make decisions that were significantly bad for the brand. Also, it's sad that with Microsoft's money, those studios they acquired should have flourished rather than languishing in stagnation.
But... Phil Spencer was the "second" aboard for Xbox One launch and before. He was only the face that come after Don Mattrick. Phil was in one charge of Xbox before 2014, responsable for meany Xbox One launch and before "things" many did not like.
Fed up of hearing bs news, I remember visiting n4g back in 2008-09 there were games getting teased, revealed, so many details about upcoming gems nowadays its not like that damn I miss that
In favor of Spencer, I agree on one thing written in this piece of opinion: "He seems a decent sort."
I can't explain why, because it's just the way it is, my personal natural gut feeling.
On the other hand, I also agree on everything else written there, especially this: "... you cannot disprove this industry’s oldest truth: great games sell consoles." And this combines 1st party games and exclusively dealt 3rd party titles.
To my understanding, that's everything there is to say. Xbox doesn't have them. And that's actually not me stating that, despite writing it. But rather looking at the hardware sales.
A console becomes insignificant, the lesser people go out and buy it. Throughout the first months of 2024, the PS5 is outselling the Xbox Series again. But this time by a constant 4:1 ratio. In 2023, it already was a 2.8:1 ratio, looking at total sales.
And this is the significance not only the third party business out there cares about, in terms of with whom they are more likely to close deals with.
But this is also the translated significance of how people perceive a console manufacturer's catalogue. Foremost in terms of software, but also everything else in their ecosystem.
Well, unless you only care about combined AB/MS revenue finally beating Sonys.
But that's actually a tragic disposition as a gamer and none of the reasons we once started playing videogames.
"May"? Replace the word, "may" with "will". He has undoubtedly ruined Xbox to the point of no return for millions of people, including myself.
I remember 10 years ago when people on message boards had a picture of him as their avatar, and under his image they had the word "BELIEVE", as in to believe in what Phil Spencer was going to do to make Xbox better. I knew it was ludicrous and laughable back then, and its even more so today!
He cancels games, claims its to make Xbox "better" (lies).
He claims that first party games released in a laughably unfinished state are "looking good" (more lies).
What we needed 10 years ago were the same group of guys who started Xbox in the first place. J. Allard, Seamus Blackly, and Ed Fries. Alas, its not meant to be, they're long gone now.
Phil Spencer just dodged the questions really. I still don't understand why its mandatory to sign in at least once a day.
Microsoft, this is not the toe to dig your heels deeper into the ground.
Phil you can't defend the Xbox 1 at this point.
Dodging questions for the real reasons I see....
And here is why you won't need to be online: PS4
/end discussion.
Also lol @ the Happy Gilmore picture.