520°

Xbox's Phil Spencer has final say on game exclusivity

Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer has the final authority on whether or not a game is made exclusive to the Xbox console and PC platform ecosystem of products.

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tweaktown.com
XiNatsuDragnel340d ago

So Phil is responsible for these changes gotchu.

chrisx340d ago

Xbox needs new leadership from top to bottom. Phil doesn't cut it.

darthv72339d ago (Edited 339d ago )

Im curious to see what he can do once the 'nice guy' gloves are off... and this whole shit show is making him take the gloves off (finally).

sinspirit339d ago

@darth

You confuse "nice guy gloves" with a nice guy mask. He's always had core gamers as his last worry for the three consoles he's been in charge of games for. He has never done one thing that was done directly for hardcore gamers. Not a single thing. Not one big franchise release or passion project for the gaming crowd. Any time there was an actual push for what should have been an epic first party exclusive it's basically always ended up horribly. Every time there has also been alternative reasons as well. Like instead of just making a good product that goes into the hands of loyal and good customers it's always got some alternative reasoning that brings the game quality and content offering down. He did it by pushing Kinect games on 360 and ever since he took over all game development before becoming the head of XBox. Not a single thing he has done was ever for gamers. It's only ever been done for Microsoft, which is obvious because Microsoft doesn't actually have a true head of XBox to run XBox. They always intend to steer the ship themselves toward trying to control the market using a near limitless budget, sell gimmicks, and sell services while they let Phil wear the captain hat.

Abracadabra339d ago (Edited 339d ago )

What a strange world we live in. The CEO's are making the big decisions in a company. I always thought it was the intern that made the big decisions. /s

Someone should warn Jim Ryan that he's not making the big decisions at Playstation. /s

Obscure_Observer339d ago (Edited 339d ago )

@XiNatsuDragnel

"So Phil is responsible for these changes gotchu."

Of course he is. He´s the man who saved Xbox and is leading Xbox into a brighter future with his talent and vision for gaming.

@chrisx

"Xbox needs new leadership from top to bottom. Phil doesn't cut it."

You´re out of luck! Phil ins´t going anywhere till his retirement from Xbox.

Rynxie339d ago

Nice joke bro. Phil is doing such a great job, that he's avoiding competing and instead, trying to build a monopoly by taking games away from other platforms/gamers.

Crows90339d ago

So Xbox was in trouble then...finally some confirmation. It's been years of denial.

staticall339d ago

@Obscure_Observer
> the man who saved Xbox
Microsoft themselves disagree though - https://n4g.com/news/255654...

outsider1624339d ago

"He´s the man who saved Xbox"

But i thought he said xbox lost..which is it?

FinalFantasyFanatic339d ago

I wouldn't say saved, but at least he convinced Microsoft to persevere with Xbox after the Xone reveal debacle when Microsoft was about to exit the market.

339d ago
338d ago
+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 338d ago
4Sh0w339d ago (Edited 339d ago )

In other news, water is wet. Lucky Phil is a nice guy because if it were me the only way I'd put a game *my company owns on ps5 is when they make a deal to do the same 1 for 1. I think only MLB because of a licensing contract forced sony to make it available on Xbox. Honestly, Phil plays waaaaay to nice, in Ryan's case people don't even question whether anything sony own's will be exclusive and thats how it should be. In this biz people take advantage of "nice guys", think about Ryan doesn't even have to answer that question bc we all know where ps stands but *only because Phil goes out of his way to talk about considering to pick n' choose whats exclusive gamers who don't own an Xbox & thus aren't entitled to anything Microsoft has purchased actually think their purchase of the competitors hardware does in fact entitle them to play it on their preferred console. lol, you simply cant make this stuff up. -I mean I'd disagree still but I could kinda take them seriously if the constantly criticized sony for buying any game, rights or content outside of their own long standing 1st party studios but they don't. So it makes me laugh at the fake concern for gamers, nah, maybe ps5 only gamers and this is why I wish Phil would push back harder.

Obscure_Observer339d ago

Phil played the nice guy for long enough.

It´s past time to bring the heat. Xbox current generation started slow but it´s finally picking up speed and won´t stop!

The3faces339d ago

I couldn't agree with you more 👍. If Sony had bought Bethesda we all know the games would be exclusive to playstation and there would be no outcry it would just be accepted, the same applies to Mojang and Activision.MS is so rich they're held to a different standard than Sony, it's why they are always expected to play nice even though Sony doesn't.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 338d ago
sparky77340d ago

How is this even news, who else would be making that decision Jim Ryan? lol

SullysCigar340d ago

How about the developers/publishers themselves? I.e. Bethesda could decide to put Redfall on PS5 if they so wished, heaven forbid? Quit being so defensive all the time, and think.

This proves (like any further proof was necessary) that Phil is a liar, being that he claimed to believe that exclusives are "completely counter to what gaming is about" or that he didn't want to "force someone to buy my specific device on the day that I want them to go buy it, in order to partake". Yet here we are, with him holding back games - or even straight up cancelling games already in production - for other platforms.

sparky77340d ago

Err no, why would Bethesda get to decide when MS pays the bills.

Developers like Cory says he would love to make his games available to everyone and was happy when GOW went to PC. I am sure him along with Neil would love all those PS exclusive to go to Xbox as well but that is not happening.

SullysCigar340d ago

Todd Howard said: " WE'LL decide what best makes sense when the times comes" when interviewed about exclusivity. Just more lies.

Microsoft "pays the bills" for Mojang, too, but they can't remove Minecraft from PlayStation due to the purchasing agreement. Sometimes it's left up to the developer to decide, sometimes it's contractual obligation to publish on rival platforms and sometimes it's up to the acquiring party. It all depends on the agreements made - which, to answer your original question, is why this is news.

sparky77340d ago

Obv it depends on agreements, Bethesda wanted these games to not release on Playstation Todd himself said he was happy they didn't have to make a PS5 version as they could focus more on Xbox and PC. Even in the trial yesterday Pete said if Starfield were to have a PS5 version it wouldn't be releasing this year.

So I will say again most devs like Cory from PS would love their games to be available to everyone even a lot of studios do to. Bethesda didn't want to release on PS if they did they would have made it part of their purchase agreement like Bungie did with Sony.

So the only person who is lying these days is Jim with his emails.

SullysCigar340d ago

^ Okay, at this stage I'm genuinely not sure if you're being dumb or deliberately obtuse. You asked a question and I answered it. Then you start taking quotes from Bethesda out of context to try to paint a different picture. Bethesda could, at any stage in the past, have decided NOT to release on PlayStation in order to speed up development, if that was their aim. But it wasn't. Making money was. They'd like their games on PS5, but are towing the party line now they've been purchased, as one would expect.

If Zenimax had published their Redfall game on PS5 it MIGHT have had a chance of not being a huge financial failure, due to not everyone getting the memo that it was shite.

For some obscure reason, you're mentioning games like GOW which were already EXTREMELY successful - both critically and financially - in some bizarre, platitudinous attempt to bring Sony's studios into the debate. I'm still unsure why. Diversion tactics, I suppose.

sparky77340d ago

So you have decided to just ignore what I wrote, not surprising.

I will say again Bethesda did not want to release on PS if they did they would have put it in their purchase agreement like Bungie.

That it all there is to say in this discussion. If they didn't want MS choosing where their games released they would have done so like Bungie.

I don't understand why you are struggling to understand these simple facts.

SullysCigar340d ago

^ LMAO I literally just replied to what you said!

The whole point here is that you said "How is this even news, who else would be making that decision Jim Ryan? lol"

I explained that sometimes that's not the case. You've yet to concede the point or counter it. Instead, you bring Sony studios into the discussion (because whataboutisms is the smoothbrain's escape route of choice) and then you claim Zenimax had the luxury of deciding what clauses to include in the purchase agreement - something you can't possibly know or prove! It's a baseless claim - unless you'd care to link to a verifiable source?

If you want to speculate, one could just as easily say that Zenimax may have tried to include such a clause and that Microsoft were not prepared to accept it, so the clause was dropped in order to let the acquisition proceed. < Just more baseless speculation, sure, but you don't seem keen on facts, so 'fire with fire and' all that...

And you STILL haven't reponded to my point - supported by verbatim quotes - about Phlip Phlop Phil saying one thing about exclusivity and then doing another. This is a two-way conversation, so let's hear it...

sparky77340d ago

I have answered your point over and over you are choosing to ignore it, which is typical.

Keep believing what you want to believe and I will continue talking facts so people don't get confused with your misdirections ok :)

shinoff2183340d ago

Sully

That's what alot of the fans do over their. They play dumb and take things out of context. Seen it time and time again from a few of em

Lightning77340d ago (Edited 340d ago )

"that Phil is a liar, being that he claimed to believe that exclusives are "completely counter to what gaming is about" or that he didn't want to "force someone to buy my specific device on the day that I want them to go buy it, in order to partake".

Yet here we are again for the 100th time taking that same tired ass quote taking it out of context. Because that's what you ppl do.

“As a player, you are the centre of our strategy,” Spencer stated. “Our device is not the centre of our strategy, our game is not the centre of the strategy. We want to enable you to play the games you want to play, with the friends you want to play with, on any device.”

https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

He's talking about not just Xbox but his own devices. We all know what his own devices are.

There you go. Please learn something for a change.

@Shin yeah you're right SOMEBODY here takes things out of context alright lol.

Abracadabra339d ago

So, I guess Insomniac, Sucker Punch, Naughty Dog should decide if they want to release their games on other platforms.

outsider1624339d ago

Don't bother explaining. One showcase and these guys have gone through their head. Look at most of their comments..Obscure's, kionic sparky..etc.
"Lord phil", "best everrrrr" "must own console"
Jeeze the cringe!

Pyrofire95339d ago

The studio should have a say but I think it's in every right for MS/Xbox to making those decisions. Xbox has (should have) it's own strategy and they'll need to be the ones making the choices for that.

DOMination-338d ago

Utter bollocks. The publisher ALWAYS decides where a game ends up, not the developer.

The whole point of making a game exclusive is to ensure that your platform is more unique. If your game is only available on X platform, than X platform in theory is more desirable.

Xbox owns Bethesda and their IP and they can do what they want with it. Yes it's annoying - I'd rather play these games on PS5 too BUT It really isn't that hard to understand.

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 338d ago
343_Guilty_Spark339d ago ShowReplies(1)
Crows90339d ago

Your comments are silly. Jim Ryan hasn't been on and on about exclusivity not being a part of their strategy...Phil has done that over and over again.

The point is he is a PR guy and lies a lot...or at the very least is completely misleading consumers.

I personally 5hink he has every right to make all their recently purchased games exclusive. But don't go lying about it. Just be honest.

Muigi340d ago

No wonder barely anything has come out 😏

Leeroyw339d ago

I honestly can't tell if king kionic and obscure observer are ironic accounts, like the onion, or south Park. Because if they are serious about "us xbox gamers be eating well tonight" etc then that's kind of strange language.

XBManiac339d ago

Crackdown 3, Halo Infinite, Redfall... yes, some things have come out 😏

KingKionic 340d ago ShowReplies(6)
potatoseal340d ago (Edited 340d ago )

I thought this was the case anyway

Show all comments (69)
250°

Neil Druckmann clarifies true intent of new Naughty Dog game comments

Following a recent interview with Sony, Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann claims the original intent was “unfortunately lost” in the process.

just_looken2d ago

He can take dog shit put it in a oven with seasoning then call it waistland cookies the sony fans will pay $40 a cookie give them a medal of cooking.

No mater what trash this sobs puts out/talks about it will sell.

The true fact in the 8 years sense uncharted 4 his first time in the main seat to a point all this "amazing" team did was get 2 dudes to fuck in a van then destroy a franchise they never created.

But being a port studio they are decent at they should keep in there lane at being just that a glorified port studio.

fr0sty2d ago

Salty Bots... gotta love it.

just_looken2d ago

@frosty

Over what? naught dog under his command is a glorified port team tlou2 was mostly tlou 1 asset's with the same game play loop but forced a trans down your throat.

I would gladly help pay for this blight and his team to get removed from gaming in general.

fr0sty2d ago

Seeing a LGBT person exist in a work of fiction isn't "forcing them down your throat". Nobody is forcing you to play it. Nobody is forcing you to agree with it. If you think that just seeing a LGBT person exist is "force", it sounds like they make you very uncomfortable, and maybe you need to be doing some serious reflecting on exactly why... looks to me like you're suppressing something with all that fear.

just_looken2d ago

@fro

When i think of the last of us i think of a group of survivors crossing the apocalypse wasteland with a growing bond between 2 people that end up with Joel making ellie his new daughter.

Then you fire up the 2nd one bang joel is dead oh that comic series? bang dead

Oh you want to continue all that we grew in the first one? na f that toss it in the trash

Now here is a trans woman so strong superboy would blush go out there kill all what made tlou1 then halfway get a forced sex scene that you can not skip between 2 dudes.

The gameplay? just like the first game the combat/backpack system crafting sytem? 0 changes/improvements.

I could go on but lets face it they copy pasted that tlou 1 assets bin a shit ton of times.

There is nothing on the box or the ads or anything before the game that said you would going to spend most of the game controlling a new trans character that has no ties to anything of the first game the only existence was to kill what the first game made.

Oh but hey there is a mp mode coming out before 2022 wait what is that? oh we made it its own game then cancelled it now go but the game again as we port it a few times.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

mkis0072d ago (Edited 2d ago )

What has Straley or Henig released since they left ND? Not a thing! stop scapegoating! Which of them is credited with co-writing a majorly successful show?

just_looken2d ago

@mkis007

You bring up Bruce Straley really? someone that gave us 4 generations of amazing games and was there in the creation of 4 legendary franchises but was tossed in the trash for the pos niel druckmann not 7? years ago

So yeah in those 7? years you right all he has done is get 2 awards one is a game award for a puzzle game he made oh boy right like for fuck sake's all niel has done is one game that was a overhyped fan boy orgasm underneath all that ps jizz was just a typical 5/10 game.

Then you drag Amy Hennig that poor woman was also kicked out then became this century's Brendan Fraser with her sexual misconduct information coming out.

We all know how horrible people are treated behind the scenes she might have been sexual attacked groped or something.

So yeah all she did after was battlefield hardline forspoken now that new marvel 1945 game but hey Brendan Fraser was a great actor till he also said he was sexually attacked just now he is allowed back in no doubt she also had to take a leave of absence out and or was forced out on ice.

Man there are way to many out there that look at niel at the new gaming jesus when all he had done is some work on uncharted 4 then tlou2

Oh also the tvhshow? for real all they did was use stuff from the 2013 game its like saying GOT was a 10/10 but never watching past season 3

-Foxtrot2d ago

@mkis007

That's highly unfair to them both

Amy Hennig got messed around working on projects that got cancelled by the publishers (EA) and then ended up on a awful game (Forspoken) where you had 4 other writers working on it which is just a recipe for disaster. She is now working on Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. Not her fault she was pushed out of NaughtyDog, something both Nolan North and Richard McGonagle have both said in interviews.

Bruce Straley left after burn out, the rest of the story we don't know and will never know just like what happened with Amy Hennig. He decided to take a break and wasn't sure if he wanted to come back to gaming however he had an idea he wanted to make so he founded Wildflower Interactive, a smaller studio where they are currently working on a new game.

Tacoboto2d ago

@the obvious stain of a commenter

The trans character wasn't Abby. Try playing Part 2 instead of gatekeeping what you think Part 1 was about and meant.

Maybe try watching the show while you're at it, because you're terribly off with your opinion on that too

MajorLazer2d ago

Naughty Dog is better than all the MS studios put together.

derek2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@just he has been behind 2 of the greatest games ever made. Tlou2 was easily the best non-vr game made last gen. Losers just can't get over Joel's death, mixed with the usual console war nonsense. The fact that you so casually call him a sob shows how deranged some gamers have become about Drunkmann.

derek2d ago

@frosty, for people like Just, including anyone that can be categorized as being a minority in any kind of media is "forcing it down his throat " lol. I to don't care for poor "checking box" inclusion for inclusion sake but that was not the case with tlou2.

fr0sty2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

The pathetic part about it is, you can tell just_looken never even played TLOU, because that was the game where Ellie's sexuality was first brought to light... No "that was forced down our throats" to be said about that.

Only terrified folks in the closet that use their hatred as cover from outing themselves fear LGBT people that much. They exist. They will exist in all aspects of life, including popular media. Get over it.

just_looken1d 17h ago

@all

Once again you drag out something like its a big win

Here is my old channel a clip of me playing TLOU on ps3
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Search my channel for more clips

Proof its my channel? look at this profiles banner that is 7yrs old then look at other vids on that channel like my bf3 clips to see my psn id. But knowing this group that is way to much work.

Also elle being a lesbian is another trump card? one dlc is all we got of that a dlc that took over a year to be tossed out.

Rainbowcookie1d 15h ago

Hey at least we have cookies to eat 😄

+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 1d 15h ago
Rangerman12082d ago

Glad he clarified it but i'm still somewhat skeptical. Plus, his comments about how Ai will revolutionize storytelling were still pretty iffy.

anast2d ago

No need to bow down, Stan your ground. The AI comments were gross though.

S2Killinit2d ago

Pretty excited as I read these. I just cant wait to see what ND is up to.

Export2d ago

put a chick in it and make her gay !

shadowknight2032d ago

Next they need a diverse couple, and perhaps some climate activists

StormSnooper2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I would love that if only to piss off all the lunatics. Lol

Show all comments (26)
170°

Naughty Dog Boss Neil Druckmann Says AI Will 'Revolutionize' Development

Druckmann claims the tech could 'push the boundaries of storytelling in games.'

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gamedeveloper.com
Jin_Sakai4d ago

I’m more interested in what else he said.

“Neil Druckmann says new Naughty Dog title could ‘redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming’

4d ago Replies(6)
H94d ago

It will be something like "we erased gameplay all together it's just a movie now"

purple1014d ago

every time naughty dog make a game, you play it and get the feeling "this is not possible'

from the boulder running towards you in crash, on ps1,
to the massive open world of jak and daxter, on ps2,
to the QuickTime events sequences of uncharted on ps3/4

and now we will see what they do with ps5,

H94d ago

Press X for doubt at "PS5"

-Foxtrot4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Arrogant asshole who sniffs his own farts bigs up next game…sounds like typical PR to me

You know what I find interesting? Almost every site reporting this as the main title where the REAL interesting bit of the interview is Neil praising AI and saying it will be used to help push story, characters, dialogue and more.

It’s super shitty to big up AI especially when it comes to story telling and other creative elements.

senorfartcushion4d ago

Just because someone says this type of stuff, it doesn't mean that it's guaranteed to be good news.

You can say this about microtransactions. MXTs revolutionised the gaming industry.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
Levii_924d ago

Geez how full of themselves are these guys.

Einhander19724d ago

He also said it has "ethical issues we need to address" but of course that doesn't get the clicks.

CrimsonWing694d ago

I’m all for it. Cuts the time to make a game. Look, Hellblade 2 took 5 years to make, if AI can do that in half the time, as a consumer, I support it.

Chard3d ago

Things will get far sloppier brother

Show all comments (24)
70°

The Witcher 3 REDkit Q&A - CDPR & Yigsoft Confirm Steam Workshop Support; Further Changes Planned

CD Projekt RED and Yigsoft have launched The Witcher 3 REDkit on PC. We interviewed both studios to discuss the release of these mod tools.

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wccftech.com