440°

Xbox Marketing Leaders leaving right before Xbox One Launch?

After what has been a rough year so far for Microsoft with regards to marketing their next-gen console, Xbox One, it appears as though some marketing leaders at Microsoft have left right before the launch of Xbox One, some of whom have been with Microsoft for 10-12 years.

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jumptogamer.com
xHeavYx3819d ago

Leaving? Or being asked to leave? Honestly, after all these marketing disasters, I'm surprised they weren't fired before

fluffydelusions3819d ago

TBH, I can't even be mad at the marketing of this thing. I blame those who designed it. Should have been more powerful and kinect should not be required. Also all the ridiculous policies at the initial reveal

-Foxtrot3818d ago

I feel like they knew what people wanted but there own greed got the better of them...and in the end will be the reason of their own downfall.

How anyone can still support them is beyond me. I've just had someone today defending them, not raging or anything, quite calmly because he thought because Sony has that way of turning your PS4 on with your mobile so your game downloads when your not there it means it has DRM aswell.....I mean I litterally could not be arsed to argue towards him. I mean he's a big Halo fan so I'm not surprised but even then I just couldn't believe how out of touch he was.

People can have their opinions...that's fine the thing is what Microsoft tried to do (and are still doing) comes down to right and wrong at the end of the day. In my opinion this is what should be taken into account when discussing this, not fanboy bullcrap. I mean we have it on here, you speak common sense and you get called a Sony fanboy...why? Because they are doing the opposite of MS and are doing the majority of the things right.

I don't think people understand the terrible outcomes of supporting a company like them and how it could effect gamers in general. Imagine if no one complained over the DRM in the first place, they would of tried to change the industry for their own greedy corporate needs. I know Sony is a business aswell which needs to make money as well but they haven't stoop that low, even when they've been having financial problems...they never became sell outs did they.

AgitatedOcelot3818d ago

This is the thing that bothers me most about it. I'm pro PS4 but honestly, I wish it WAS true that the Xbox was equal to the PS4. It's a benefit to gamers if both consoles are equal. I don't want to see games limited for the PS4 and PC because of the Xbox being weaker.

Sadly though, It's not equal to the PS4. Fortunately it looks like this may not affect PS4 multiplats, since devs haven't been shy about just turning down the Xbox version, and the talk about developing for the lowest common denominator at least looks to be false.

Microsoft has the WORST marketing. Apple made fools of them for years, and continues to stick it to them on the surface. They can't market anything they make right.

abzdine3818d ago (Edited 3818d ago )

i think the moron penello should get fired for his lame useless anc constant BS talking

@FightingLemur: why do people always talk about this damn competition? see PSone and PS2, we got some of the most memorable games ever made on these two consoles and they had NO competition!
Sony still made Dark Cloud and Chronicles, we got Grandia, Breath of Fire and much more without competition.

without xbox Sony will do just fine.

LOGICWINS3818d ago

Either way this is GREAT. MS realized they had a marketing issue, and they are making a change..just like Sony dropped Marcus and weird baby commercials.

-Foxtrot3818d ago (Edited 3818d ago )

Shame it took them until now though if true to realise this...bit late wouldn't you say.

mixelon3818d ago

Part of me misses the weird baby commercial Sony. It was certainly unpredictable. The PS2 ads directed by David Lynch were awesomely WTF.

Kevin Butler was pretty fun too.. I generally think Sony have always been good at ads, just nit always good at getting messages out with the ads. The weirder ones were super memorable - we're still talking about them now!

But yeah, insane.

Drekken3818d ago

I would argue their problems extend well beyond marketing.

rainslacker3818d ago

According to the person mentioned in this article she left MS about 3 years ago. Not to put 2 and 1 together, but isn't that the time that MS started focusing almost completely on the casual crowd?

Before that, the 360 marketing was great.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3818d ago
Ashlen3818d ago (Edited 3818d ago )

I would say very little of the bad press was actually due to their marketing team. Most of the mistakes were from Microsoft insiders like Major Nelson, Penello and Mattrick ect.

Though their advertising has in my opinion been pretty horrible. Showing football stuff over gaming stuff with out really showing the benefit. And the new his vs hers ad which in my opinion is the worst ad for any 8'th gen console. All I took away from that ad is that someone can easily use Kinect to interrupt what your doing with the tv.

iamnsuperman3818d ago

"I would say very little of the bad press was actually due to their marketing team. Most of the mistakes were from Microsoft insiders like Major Nelson, Penello and Mattrick ect"

I completely agree. Sure the marketing team could have been better (I don't fault them though as they did have a tough job to do with someone's vision of the One being the everything box) the people who have caused the most PR damage are these guys. Penello for one has constantly made missteps with saying one thing then saying the complete opposite, bringing up past wrongs out of the blue which is all related to him being to heavily involved in the forums

NarcolepZZZZZZ3818d ago

The ad wasn't about people using kinect to interrupt you, it was just a lighthearted ad focused toward getting women to buy the Xbox.
We already know there is a confirmation question for any game-breaking command like Xbox off or Xbox show my stuff. It was just showing how fast the ui is and doing a little role reversal at the same time. All of this is completely obvious.

Ashlen3818d ago (Edited 3818d ago )

@NarcolepZZZZZZ

I get what the message of the commercial was "Women play games too" I get it.

But if you take away the gender issue what's left is one person is using the TV to watch sports another person walks in and uses Kinect to change to a game with out asking permission.

LOGICWINS3818d ago

@Foxtrot - Well, the success of these consoles will be determined in the next 7 -10 years. So yes, even though these consoles aren't even out yet, its "too late" to change marketing tactics

Did you catch the sarcasm?

thehitman3818d ago

Like I said before when they came up with Xbox One I wouldve fired them on the spot. These guys been a disaster from the start. From marketing to PR to just overall insight from the management position as well. MS came in fumbling and stumbling and they only have themselves to blame.

iamnsuperman3818d ago (Edited 3818d ago )

True but I feel there was a disconect with top brass and their PR team. Clearly someone at the top just gave them a concept that had no clear message/tried to be everything without mastering a key area (lacking in direction) and told the PR team to just deal with it. Some key public figures should roll due to miss messaging (penello is one) but I think the team didn't do so bad with a product that didn't exactly know what it really was (a lot of products fail for this exact reason)

thehitman3818d ago (Edited 3818d ago )

@ superman T
Their top brass is their PR team. They just had a bad policy and didnt know how to handle the situation. The problem is that none of them knew what to do after their concept got shut down so hard from even before they officially unveiled the xb1 they just been stumbling and fumbling ever since. Then Sony releasing significantly better hardware doesnt help. No amount of PR can save that. The facts will never change around it unless they just said oki lets delay it and do better, which would never happen. MS put all their hopes in a $150 dollar camera. I think its a colossus gamble and a horrible one at that and its showing. If I was a CEO/President of the xb1 division I could have ran it better from my couch then what they done. The Xbox brand has lots of potential and I think they squandered it all within 5 months.

Godmars2903818d ago

But was it really the marketing people behind the mistake, or the executives stepping over everything?

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 3818d ago
805Junior8053818d ago

I would have left too. This launch has been a nightmare for everyone in the Xbox team. Not just the marketers.

GmIsOnPt3603818d ago

their marketing is awful, this is a good thing

pyramidshead3818d ago

Amen. Some of their advert slogans have been dire. But they're based around the consoles name, which is also dire.
This is definitely for the best for the XB team.

Kayant3818d ago

Dat neogaf source --> http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

Interesting maybe this could be a good thing? Hopefully it's the case.

Show all comments (38)
160°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

Read Full Story >>
theverge.com
darthv7214h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle1h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Cacabunga42m ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

purple1013h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos3h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

XBManiac2h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1011h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

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300°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

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insider-gaming.com
Hereandthere1d 10h ago

Microsoft should have left them stay 3rd party

GamerRN1d 8h ago

If they are let go, they can be whatever they want. They ARE 3rd party now... 🤦

Barlos1d 5h ago

Yeah, they're also jobless.

GamerRN22h ago

They can form a company if they want, they are just as jobless as if "Microsoft had left them as 3rd party".

peppeaccardo1d ago

"MIcrosoft leaves Bethesda do what they know how to do best" ... close! Oh the irony ....
(Citation from a week old article)

ChasterMies20h ago

I think Microsoft and other game publishers are letting people go because they think ai will replace them. Doesn’t matter how much profit they make. They were always going to be let go.

PassNextquestion1d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much

Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region

blacktiger1d 8h ago

that's a shame for you to say that, i'm sure Elite loves hearing what you just said.

Mr Logic18h ago

What a stupid thing to say. The elites give 0 fucks what we say on an obscure website in the comments section.

Crows9017h ago

You can always reach out and give them jobs at your company man. Don't wait

Profchaos1d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.

I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games

Tacoboto1d 10h ago

It's France too, there's a high likelihood only 1-2 people on the team even had an Xbox.

Profchaos1d 9h ago

Possibly guven all the leaks we know the Xbox brand is really struggling in the region.

Yi-Long1d 6h ago

Well, if your consoles and games are barely found in any stores any more, of course you're gonna struggle finding consumers ...

XiNatsuDragnel1d 9h ago

Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo

Profchaos1d 7h ago (Edited 1d 7h ago )

I think it would have been better for all parties really especially gamers

TheColbertinator1d 8h ago

The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.

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280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple10112d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref11d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde11d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander197211d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville11d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff218311d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos11d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 11d ago
isarai12d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref11d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan11d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis00711d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander197212d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

12d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197212d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

12d ago
12d ago
Zeref11d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde11d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander197211d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander197211d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier11d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto11d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff218311d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto11d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 11d ago
Hofstaderman12d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts11d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts10d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic11d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

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