Phil Spencer says the cost of living is hurting Xbox, ‘we aren’t food or shelter’

The cost of living crisis has played a critical role in everyone’s lives, we all have to cut down and make hard decisions. However, the question remains: how does non-essential entertainment like games factor into this?

Recently CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, talked about how the cost of living crisis has affected the likes of Xbox and what one of the biggest AAA companies is trying to do to help players during this time.

[blackblades]

Phil spencer says season 5 episode 3 cost of living

[MrVux000]

Time to grab some popcorn for this episode ... this one seems tight!

[Jin_Sakai]

I assume episode 4 will be airing later today.

Season 6 must be right around the corner at this rate.

[Gardenia]

He is right though. People are saving money...to buy a PS5.

[rpvenom]

Hahahaha thank you for giving me the laugh out loud moment of the day

[Stanjara]

I'm waiting till the end of the month just to binge read all the episodes. Season 4 was fantastic, so much promise, so many emotions. Person of the year again. let's go!!!

[SullysCigar]

I liked season 3, episode 5, where he said:

"Exclusives are completely counter to what gaming is about"

It just seemed so heartfelt and genuine... what a guy!!

[darthv72]

Is there an eBook or audible of the entire 'Spencer Speaks' series???

[crazyCoconuts]

There was a period of time it must have been off the air for a while and no new episodes. It's back now though! A new network must have picked the show up...

[CrimsonWing69]

This legit made me laugh. You, sir, win best comment of the day!

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Anime of the Year!

[lellkay]

Lack of quality first party games is hurting Xbox.

[TornRaptor]

Is it, though? Xbox's seem to be selling just fine without big first party games. I do wonder if sales will change when they inevitably start releasing the big games.

[ZwVw]

They may be doing okay, but nowhere nearly as good had they'd been releasing AAA titles on a consistent basis.

[TornRaptor]

@ZwVw Sure, they will get there. They are years behind what Sony put's out, but it's as clear as day that they are on the cusp of a lot of big games releasing over the next couple of years.

[Godmars290]

Its not in a comfortable, well regarded market position is the thing. It had to buy the likes of Activision and Bethesda just for relevance, to give GP any real traction, speaks of MS's inability to support the platform.

[SullysCigar]

No business aims to sell their products "just fine" though. They've surfed a wave of promises and gamepass for way too long to be acceptable at this stage.

[PapaBop]

"Sure, they will get there. They are years behind what Sony put's out, but it's as clear as day that they are on the cusp of a lot of big games releasing over the next couple of years."

The optimistic Xbox fans have been using basically variations of this exact same sentence for over a decade now or more commonly said, just wait for E3.

[DarthZoolu]

It’s definitely a problem I have purchased a shit ton of games since getting the series X they won but very few of those games have been Microsoft games

[S2Killinit]

Are they doing just fine though? They are selling half as many as the competition, that is NOT fine. They are selling so badly that the metrics of “just fine” has changed. Do you remember when people were saying PS3 was doomed because they were behind by 2 million units? Even though it was the same 2 million that xbox had sold during its 1 extra year in the market. Xbox is selling almost half as many as its competition now.

[isarai]

@TornRaptor

And there it is "just wait guys" the same tune that's been played for over 10yrs. You guys should really wait till they actually deliver on a consistent basis before investing and defending them so heavily.

[DOMination-]

It's selling pretty well, better than most consoles ever but the competition is strong these days and they are falling short with software.

I also doubt they'll ever catch up this gen, no matter what they release in the years to come. The launch window is vital for a new console. Phil and Matt had years in charge to plan for it and they completely screwed it up

[YourMommySpoils]

Big games? Like 2 decades later and you still believe they will ever have any big games??? lol

[Petebloodyonion]

@ZwVw
And how will they fair better?
will It will go from hard to find a Serie X console to harder to find a series X console?

How come nobodies remember or acknowledge that Serie X is just as difficult to find as PS5.

@Godmars290
Or perhaps they saw a good opportunity to make money by buying a money-printing machine that has a brand loyalty problem due to scandals?

[DEEBO]

No,it's Playstation 5 that's hurting Xbox.
XBOX never been number 1 in console sells.PS5's are going to sell no matter what,someone is just going to be on a diet living with their parents but they will be playing GOWR.

[wiz7191]

They sell because of gamers like you , regardless of Sonys approach to customer service this gen is very “anti consumer” to me .. On Xbox side at lease I don’t have to double dip into things I already purchased , giving the library of games I have for my PS2 and PS3 I can’t just transfer over to my PS5. Everything I bought for my Xbox One works perfectly only my Series X I can’t say the day for Sony. When it comes to choices to how I want to play , I can either play on PC , Xbox , My phone , laptop , whatever I can just jump in and play regardless where I’m at. You can’t do that on PlayStation , I don’t have to keep my gamepass subscription just to keep the games I get for free through the service unlike with PS+. Lol the hassle I had to go through to get my PS5 serviced because it decided to overheat since the fan wanted to stop functioning. AAA games are great everything else isn’t great unlike on Microsoft side.

[BlackTar187]

Lol cool story bro

[shinoff2183]

Just because you cant play your owned ps2 games and what not Sony is anti consumer. Hook up Saud system and play then. You don't have to buy anything.

For what ms tried to do pre launch of Xbox one. Also their past. Right now I personally feel they are wolves in sheep's clothing.

[wiz7191]

@shinoff on Xbox I don’t have to hookup nothing extra bro miss me with that one lol … I should be able to pull the system out the box and just play , and yes anti consumer when you have to pay again for stuff you already own , when the other side is doing the same things for no extra cost …

[wiz7191]

@blacktar yeah I know right the best story ever can be turned into a series … lol

[rlow1]

Yet the 360 beat the PS3 in sales for a majority of its life cycle. So I guess you failed to remember that one.

[Knushwood Butt]

Ah, it's another Game Pass advert, and the future is mobile!

'The main way Xbox is getting ready for this future is via the Game Pass Ultimate. Now it can compete with the mobile giants and bring games to iPhone and Android. It’s good timing too; things aren’t getting cheaper, and if the future is mobile, Xbox needs to start now to catch up.'.

[S2Killinit]

Im sure the xbox fans will praise him for this.

[georeo]

No! I want better games on Xbox.

[shinoff2183]

More and more people play mobile that's for certain but at the same time console gaming is also growing. It'll be around for a long time. I'll stuck with consoles

[Elda]

Gaming is my hobby. Though I complain about GP I still pay for it quarterly including I buy games from $40 to $70 practically every month to play on my PS5 & I own a lot of games that have been released this year with more releasing next year. I still have to buy Calisto Protocol next week & FF7:Crisis Core Reunion to complete 2022. I have a great job & gaming isn't hurting me because bills get paid & I have no problem having food on my table to eat. Currently XB's problem is having a consistent release of interesting AAA first-party exclusives to play.

[Tzuno]

Then lower the greed

[HeliosHex]

I dunno....with sales of consoles in the thousands if not millions including various games and pre orders of steam deck and various vr headsets gone within minutes it seems to me people are spending on entertainment just fine.

[Stanjara]

Not to mention RTX 4090 gone! Sold out!

[HeliosHex]

@stan Lol and that bad boy has a hefty price tag. Yup spending seems pretty healthy.

[Good-Smurf]

By not giving them any high quality AAA exclusive?
Another convenient excuse for Phil why they're not delivering games again and why we need Gamepass to ride through our hardships blah blah blah.

[SullysCigar]

He's probably praying for another pandemic right now to buy him another year or so of excuses. So lame. Everyone else is managing to put great games out, except him.

[-Foxtrot]

Phil we know you’re raising the prices of the Xbox, you don’t need to explain why…we know

Just feels like another Phil Spencer says to try and soften the blow on the lead up to it

[SullysCigar]

Phil Spencer Sayszzzzzz💤 🥱 😴

Maybe stop saying useless stuff to journos and manage the making of games? Instead it's been PR, lie, repeat for over a decade.

[Hofstaderman]

I wonder if he secretly dreads these interviews? I mean the man can’t speak about any current big releases nor anything that you can get excited for in the future. The poor guy has no other choice but say these stupid utterances. Somewhere out there other MS heads must be laughing their heads off thanking God they not in his clown shoes.

[Duke19]

Coming soon: ApartmentPass on XboxLive

[Relientk77]

It would be great to go on gaming sites and not see 10 articles about what Phil Spencer said today.

[SoloGamer1]

doesnt seem to be affecting Sony..and PS5...just saw an article that said PS5 sales have skyrocketed....perhaps xbox is struggling because of its lack of..oh I dont know..games...... just my opinion. 😎

[SoulWarrior]

Hurts them so much that that they can afford to splurge 68 billion.

[DarthZoolu]

If anything is hurting the Xbox brand it’s the lack of killer exclusive apps. I love my Xbox this console I’ve ever had but the exclusives are Completely underwhelming

[Father__Merrin]

It's affecting entertainment as a whole

[S2Killinit]

Nice distraction from the fact that Playstation is delivering the goods.

[BrainSyphoned]

I feel ya Phil. When I went down to the corner market to try and buy Skyrim for the 13th time the other day all I could afford was a lousy sweet roll.

[TheTony316]

How many interviews does this guy make in a week?

[darkrider]

In other words candy crash it's the future... Phil if you create, not buy, great games you will make tons of millions. It's not that hard, well, just see what the competition is doing.

[ActualEngineer]

Yeah mate, I have worked for the game industry, you simply plug that machine to the wall and it is shaking and producing smoke for a few hours and you have the next God of War coming out in the conveyor belt.

It's definitely not like making virtual universes where you need 100-200 of the smartest people in multiple industries (of which their numbers are finite), working in highly structured groups for 5 years, to produce a single new IP.

[curtain_swoosh]

"THE WORLD IS ENDING
but you can now get GamePass for Mobile :)"

another episode of "just stuff" by Phil Spencer.

[kayoss]

I thought the lack of triple AAA exclusives was hurting Xbox. I guess i was totally off base.

[northpaws]

No AAA games for ages, and the future is mobile focused... guess I can sell my Series X tomorrow.

[XxINFERNUSxX]

"Microsoft is officially in $2 trillion-dollar club and is the second company to enter it." Didn't know they needed more money.🤣🤣

[TheCaptainKuchiki]

No we know why Xbox is such a wreck.
Their big boss spends his time talking instead of working to lift his brand up

[mastershredder]

Lavishly overpaid Multi-millionaire CEO comments on the cost of living crisis as if he's in one. Please, let someone else at the company represent the feels.

[YourMommySpoils]

Phil spender hurts himself.

[Petebloodyonion]

I'll agree that the cost of living sure impact lots of ppl including gaming habit.
I recently went to sell some old PS2 titles at a retro gaming store and the owner mentioned to me that he wasn't paying top$ for rare titles anymore (for example Megaman Command Mission ) but he was instead paying more for the common 15-25$ games because ppl changed spending habit in the store.
He gave me the example of Def Jam Vendetta on PS2 would have sold for 200$ and now ppl aren't looking if it's 125$.

The good news is that Companies like Sony, MS, Epic Games, Amazon gaming, and Humble Bundle do offer cheap subscription services that give incredible value for the$ heck it's hard to beat free weekly games on Epic especially when they give titles like Evil Dead (until tomorrow).
Sony right now is giving a 25% rebate on PS+ making it a 9$ option per month for having the premium tier (less than an MC Donald combo).
You can get the same $ Value with Gamepass (with some legwork) by checking sites like Eneba for 3-month deals and getting some extra free months with MS reward (2 months by enabling auto-renew than canceling it).

In the end, no matter the platform you are playing, it's still incredible value that you can have for the price of a weekend rental at Blockbuster

[XboxSwitchPS5Gamer]

I love my Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch and PS5 but the fact is Xbox is hurting because of no AAA exclusives for Xbox. My money and bank no problem. It is Xbox problem for exclusives. Nintendo and Sony is kings of gaming!!

[masterfox]

lame excuses to justify its pathetic hardware sales even with their ridiculous game publisher purchases, not even its exaggerated propaganda of GP can't catapult its console sales, hmmm I wonder why hmm, is actually pretty simple their exclusives games effing sucks!!!!! simple as that, look at PS5 selling like hot effing pancakes, even the ridiculous overpriced 4090 is selling like crazy and people are buying that thing with scalper prices, yes food and other bills are getting very high due to inflation but that didn't stop certain forms of entertainment to slow down in sales, if the xbox is not selling like MS wants is just because the console sucks imo.

[spoonard]

Still trying to play the 'wo is Microsoft' card? Dude, give it up, no one believes that crap! lol

[Destiny1080]

xbox is not food, and your one dollar subscription is not rent

[ufo8mycat]

Funny, Playstation 5 is doing well

Enough with the excuses. What is hurting XBos is the lack of quality 1st Party games.