Interview with Xbox boss - Phil Spencer talks about the most important thing about the Xbox Series X

What does Xbox boss Phil Spencer actually think about the next gen? How does it compare to alternative price models, as presented by the competition? How important does he think cloud gaming is? He answered all these questions and many more in an exclusive interview for the Webedia Group's outlets (which also include GameStar and GamePro).

[olafu]

More double talk.

[Thundercat77]

Not quite set in stone and yet Xbox officially stated that there is not going to be Xbox series x exclusives for at least a year.

If you are not yet sure, wait til you are clear about it because this reminds me the beginning of this Gen when Xbox was on total 180 u turns.

[sprinterboy]

Lightning strikes twice

[Z23ash]

No they didn’t. There are already multiple series x exclusives announced.

What Phil actually said is their 1st party studios have the option to make cross gen games

[chiefJohn117]

No they didn't, you heard from someone that work for them but it wasn't an official statement. For some reason you guys ran with that narrative

[TranceHop]

Hellblade 2 will be Xbox Series X/ PC exclusive

[ocelot07]

Question and this is genuine. How how can it be exclusive if it's on two platforms? Like would it not he silly if I said well hitman 3 is going to be exclusive to ps5/xsx/pc?

[Dissidia]

Same way death stranding and hzd are exclusive. Not on one platform, but also not on Xbox.

[_dangerclose_]

@Dissidia

Death Stranding and HZD are no longer exclusive and neither is anything on xbox.

[Imalwaysright]

The way TranceHop phrased it is correct. If he said that Hellblade was just a PC exclusive or just a Series X exclusive it would be incorrect.

[Imortus_san]

Hellblade 2 is a MS exclusive game.

[rainslacker]

Then Horizon: Zero Dawn is a Sony exclusive game. Madden is a EA exclusive game. COD is an activision exclusive game. So on and so forth.

I love how we make up new categories for MS for things which have never needed them in the past. MS is basically a third party publisher, with their own console, and now a content delivery service(soon to be two officially launched).

Nothing wrong with that, but the spinning to try and make it a win for Xbox itself for this silly console war is rather ridiculous.

Just to note, I was never against MS putting their games on PC, and I don't care if Sony does it. My only interest in the debate is purely philosophical on the meaning for how it may or may not effect a consoles sales because I find such things interesting.

[sprinterboy]

Only sold 1m on xbox, so gonna be another hard sell getting more fans onboard if they didn't play the 1st? It's one of them games which probably doesn't really sell well to the casual crowd? Hope it sells well though, great studio and great 1st game.

[chiefJohn117]

Sequels tend to sell better plus it now has a trillion dollars company backing it with a bigger budget for marketing. I wouldn't be concerned bout sells

[darthv72]

So what about those who played the 1st on gamepass? They suddenly no longer count because they arent "sales"?

[rainslacker]

1st is available on multiple platforms, and they could probably put it on Game Pass to help promote it for the sequel. It wouldn't be unheard of to promote a game in that way.

Plus, depending on the story, it may not require knowing the first game, which was more a journey inside Sansua's own mind. Personally, I'm not even sure how a sequel could be made of the same character, since the story wasn't really set up for that kind of thing. But, it'll be interesting to see how they approach it.

[ElementX]

In the interview, Phil talks about "creators", not first party devs. I submitted this article, but I think Gamespot might be misinterpreting what Phil meant. They haven't updated the article to reflect any errors, though

[yarbie1000]

first party devs aren't creators now?

If you watch the video he says our studios in his answer.

Either he's limiting all his devs or he's giving freedom to all devs. Either way, Xbox's PR is a mess

[ElementX]

He said "if a creator comes to us"... that could mean 3rd party devs. He didn't say "our" creators.

[darthv72]

3rd party partners and creators are free to make what they want. It could be xbo exclusive, sx exclusive, cross generational... it's their choice. All MGS games that are near release as well as those currently in development to be released within the next 1-2 years will be cross generational. those that are outside that 2 year mark are also under no obligation to be SX titles and could also be cross generational. It is their choice if they want to continue to support the xbo or if they want to be fully exclusive to the SX.

[neutralgamer1992]

We will see after launch which approach gamers prefer because both companies are taking on next gen consoles in different ways. Sony is ready to move on knowing 3rd parties will support PS4 for a while due to its market share so they can focus on must have ps5 games while Ms wants to support all it's platforms for at least the initial 1-2 years

Once both consoles are out and at least 6 months have passed only than can we get accurate stats on what gamers preferred (btw I am not saying which approach is right or wrong it's just that lets stop hating one or the other until we have some numbers)

[chiefJohn117]

6 months? Uhhh you won't be seeing many must have exclusives in the 1st 6 months ijs. Add an additional year to that 6 month estimate

[rainslacker]

I think it would take longer than 6 months to see the long term effects. Plus, MS is still coming into the gen handicapped because of the market share discrepency this gen. At best, we might see how it effects the start of the generation, but generally speaking, if a company doesn't have a strong start, then they tend to struggle the rest of the gen. Or at least not gain market share compared to the competition.

Unfortunately, it's all those finer details and less obvious things which rarely get considered for actual discussion on these topics, which is a shame, because I find them more interesting...albeit require lots of explanation to really explain sometimes.

I do think that chief has a point though. The effect of exclusives on a consoles sales may have more obvious measures when they finally start releasing exclusives on the new hardware(actual vs console exclusive debate notwithstanding). But, some of this can be measured already with what we commonly refer to as system sellers. There are quite a few games that when they release, we see a surge in consoles sales. If MS has these, then two comparable games....lets say Halo and then Gears, or a second Halo, we can measure the sales of a system when one is cross-gen, and then again when one is exclusive, and see the relative bump to sales to make a more accurate, or at least more informed argument on the subject.

In my opinion, the launch window of a console only shows how eager people are to move onto a next gen, and how well that company did on selling people on their new console. It is not a metric of how well the console will do for it's lifetime....although a strong start does tend to mean a strong generation. It's hard to go backwards when you have momentum, and while it's hard, it's not impossible to move forward if you stall out of the gate.

[neutralgamer1992]

Games and lots of them is what's most important for any platform

[S2Killinit]

Emphasis on “talk”

[aconnellan]

I don’t understand. Are you upset that the console isn’t out yet? What else can be done?

[Knightofelemia]

I just wanna see new exclusives and franchises that make you say grabbing a Series X day one was a good move. Cause as it stands right now PS5 day one mainly for the exclusives and maybe Series X further down the road.

[pornflakes]

You wont see an ps5 exclusive in the next 2 years either except godfall and ratchet and clank

Horizon 2 is far away from release also.

[Abnor_Mal]

"You wont see an ps5 exclusive in the next 2 years either... except godfall and ratchet and clank"

Except Godfall and Ratchet and Clank

So I guess exclusives will be seen.

"Horizon 2 is far away from release also."

That is an unknown and might make it as a release window exclusive.

[rainslacker]

And I predict we won't see a positive comment from you for Sony in the next seven.

Difference between our predictions, you proved yours wrong in the same sentence you made it. Mine, remains to be seen.

[Profchaos]

Thus interview was done purely to.counter the duelsense 5 hands in today. Ms really want their brand to appear at every moment and not give anyone else.room to breathe

[rainslacker]

They've been in marketing overdrive all week, so dunno if this was to counter DS5. While I'll be the first to accuse MS of trying to latch onto anything Sony does....because they do....chances are, this was probably actually planned ahead of time.

If anything, Sony is doing what they've been doing so far, and just releasing tidbits when MS has something about to come up, or soon after. MS does this as well, but tends to make it about Xbox, sometimes with some passive aggressive promotion of Xbox or back handed compliment. Sony does it just as it's own thing for PS. Same effect....it draws attention away....but they have very different methods and tones for how they do it. I'd say over the years, Sony also hasn't done it every time MS does something, so it doesn't feel routine.

[Charal]

Spencer and MS are flooding gamer community these days.
This is closed to harassement....
I can wait to have next gen launched to get some rest from them.

[Focus40]

You dont have to read or watch the interview no one is holding a gun to your head

[FanboysKiller]

Ex boss

[Futureshark]

Push the brand, push the brand!!!

July showcase had better be incredible, with actual Xbox SX being played on stage in real time by a person with a controller, no more sizzle rolls or 'target renders'.
July showcase will be make or break, hence the Phil & co hype train of interviews at the moment.
Seriously though, do they think we still need to hear this hot air over and over?

[EasilyTheBest]

The SX will be revealed at a later date, this July show is all about games..

[rainslacker]

It better be. I haven't seen them hype up a show this big in a very long time...if ever. While they are known to overhype, never have I seen repeated statements, from multiple execs, for several weeks about how great its going to be. It's one thing to pull a Geoff keighley style hype comment then move on until the show, it's another to be giving multiple interviews and building up expectations to what is making it sound like the most epic game show ever.

I think even if it is a great show, they are maybe hyping it too much, and while I get why they're doing it, I believe it's better to under promise, and over deliver, as opposed to the reverse. MS has unfortunately done the former all gen, which makes hype like this harder to accept. I really want to give them the benefit of the doubt because of how hard they're going at it, but the back of my mind still nags me not to just fall for it.

Not that it really matters to me that much. I'm not buying an XSX, and it'll be soon enough that we find out. But, at least some of the games they show I'll be able to play, and I'm still planning to upgrade my PC for MSFS later this year(will play at work on our stupidly spec'd rigs until then), so I can still play the games they come out with there. Despite my rather heavy criticism of MS this gen, I do believe at least the AAA games they make are quality games worth playing....even if they don't always interest me. They just didn't have enough of them this gen to make the console worth buying.

[GreenDragonCVR]

Phil is of course the most important thing. No one would remember xbox between halo 59 and forza 86 if be ever shut his crackdown-hole. He is the fart-wind in the tattered sails of the ship xbox. Awash on a windless sea [of theives].

[zarbor]

Mr. Over Promise and Under Deliver.