Opinion: For Xbox, The Phil Spencer Era Is Over

Phil Spencer has been in charge of Xbox since 2014 to elevate the brand, however, recently it seems that Xbox is at a major crossroads.

[Knushwood Butt]

They say in that interview with Phil that a new IP failing is bad for everyone because the decision makers will be more likely to only greenlight sequels because they are a safer bet.
Did they forget about Halo Infinite?

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

He isn’t wrong about that, even if he only brings it up to avoid explaining how at no point in the last 5 years of development was the lack of variety in the gameplay apparent, let alone a blaring alarm that enemies were sooooo stupid.

[neutralgamer1992]

For it to be over it has to first start

His whole tenure has been MEH

[LoveSpuds]

He gets a free pass in respect of his senior role at Xbox before he became Head in my view. As general manager of Microsoft Studios he was also part of the management team that oversaw the decline in 360 and the piss poor performance of Xbox ever since.

He is a snake oil salesman, plain and simple and he always has been. It's hilarious that some members on N4G would talk about Nintendo getting a free pass whilst at the same time letting Spencer and Xbox off the hook over and over again. It does feel like the tide is turning now and other than a few hard core Xbox apologists, people are starting to question Spencers efficacy as Head.

[Notellin]

You rarely see any support for Xbox or Phil on here.

This narrative is crafted in your head only.

[DOMination-]

Phil was head of Microsoft Game Studios back in the late 2000s. Before he joined, the 360 had a strong launch and first couple of years. After he joined..

- The studios made a bunch of Kinect shovelware
- He greenlit a 4v1 Fable game that was never going to work and then promptly shut Lionhead down when they realised it wasn't going to be successful
- He started Black Tusk Studio who revealed a trailer of their new IP, only to then abandon that project and stick them on Gears,
- He was in charge of building 343i, employing all the best management and talented developers to work together as a "super studio". We know how that's worked out.
- opened and then promptly shut down several studios before they ever released anything - LIFT London, MS Victoria and I believe another MS branded studio that I can't remember.. maybe MS Vancouver?
- He allowed the Crackdown 3 debacle to happen, with the cloud computing guff and then overseeing it switch developers multiple times as they tried to make their previous cloud statements work (and failed)

Then he became head of Xbox and during the last ten years has overseen MS continue to basically not release any games. He could have made deals for third party exclusives during the barren years (which frankly, has been most of them since he took over), and been in charge of a fresh new generation where he had plenty of time to fix things and get the many studios they have to actually make some games. I appreciate that isn't really his job now but ultimately he is responsible for Matt Booty doing it.

I don't think it's a crafted narrative. There's a lot of evidence that suggests Phil hasn't done a great job. And that's a shame because I do think he speaks well and believe that he cares and is really passionate about gaming. But so far, the results speak for themselves.

[CrimsonWing69]

I think you’re misunderstanding.

What he was saying is that if people see new “games” or IPs fail, then they are unlikely to take risks.

Now, I think he was actually trying to say that Red Fall was a new game “conceptually” and while co-op shooting vampires in Massachusetts is a new idea, the game is borderline a GaaS designed feeling game.

There isn’t anything that’s “New” mechanically speaking and it’s pretty freaking derivative. The games it copies are far better than what Arkane Austin approved.

I don’t agree this is a new game and I’m hoping publishers see the backlash so we can stop with these f*cking kinds of games.

But I wouldn’t say this is a game like Parasite Eve or Xenogears or Silent Hill, where it takes concepts and molds something “new” from it that could be a gamble.

That being said, yea, it’s bad because when sh*t fails and fails hard, then yea, risk-taking gets harder to see across the industry. I mean, compare the PS1 and PS2 library to PS4 and… well the 5, PS5 games we have.

There is a stark and I mean STARK difference between how many new IPs and experimental games get made. We have this sh*tty GaaS model and Open-World trope type games and if anything is experimental it gets a shoe-string budget and barely any marketing.

[Knushwood Butt]

I take your point.
I was just pointing out that Redfall is a new IP (regardless of content), and that Halo is a well established IP and therefore supposed to be a safer bet.

[jznrpg]

Phil isn’t the problem. MicroSoft is the problem. Sure he’s not a good spokesperson but their culture and team at Xbox is influenced by MS who wants to dominate industries.

Their vision for dominating stopped being console a long time ago and has turned into a cloud streaming service future that they want to dominate. To do this they want to buy as many 3rd party games as possible and more importantly to them the biggest casual games that sell best elsewhere.
That’s where they think they can steal customers for their cloud service future.
Games aren’t most important to MS or Xbox. It’s the domination of a particular industry first to sell you a sub second that’s on their servers (cloud) third and then the games. They don’t care what games they are as long as they are the best selling somewhere that casuals pump money into constantly and they will try to buy them.

[Jin_Sakai]

It’s never good guy Phil’s fault. He’s been in charge for two Xbox generations and it’s only been downhill since. He is part of the problem.

[rippermcrip]

He was in charge of their games before that. He's been shit for 15 years.

[Aloymetal]

Exactly!...People always seem to forget that Phil Spencer was GM of Microsoft Game Studios starting in 2008, became the VP in 2009. He was in charge of their games. He is to blame just as much as anyone else for their lack of IP's and all the mess.

[Tankbusta40]

Phil has been a problem for now two generations of game consoles.

[Father__Merrin]

If it was up to me I'd have Spencer arrested!!

[TheEnigma313]

When you're the head, you take the blame. You're paid because you will always be that one who takes responsibility.

[terstomp]

jznrpg, you have illustrated exactly what Microsoft's motive is. Well said. Alot of people understand this, but most xbox fans refuse to acknowledge this fact.

[franwex]

Yep. Nadella has not been involved at Xbox to the extend that Bill Gates, or even Steve Balmer were. I doubt that he even games or cares about gaming in general.

It’s simply not a concern for Microsoft and I’m sure Xbox would’ve been abandoned if it wasn’t for that cloud base future that they are trying to cultivate. It could well be Xbox last Gen, or close to its last Gen and simply be a service in 10 or so years.

It sucks for gamers, but Nadella has grown Microsoft beyond $2 trillion. That cannot be ignored. Its real rivals are not Sony or Nintendo. Rather Google, Apple, and Amazon.

[CrimsonWing69]

No, it’s Phil’s fault, Microsoft hired him to do a job and he’s making terrible decisions and not delivering.

Look, I feel like Phil is a good guy in person, he seems genuine and I personally respect him more than Jim Ryan. That being said, he’s incompetent at this point and something seriously needs to be done to course-correct the Xbox game division to getting to the Xbox 360 days where they actually were a contender in the gaming arena.

It’s 2 generations now and I’m actually starting to feel this gen is their worst.

[Grilla]

The 360 was a fluke. The 360 was a pc in a box and therefore got a lot of pc ports. Sony learned their lesson and went X86 for the ps4 and MS lost that advantage.

[Ra3030]

"Phil isn’t the problem. MicroSoft is the problem"
I 100% agree but Phil Spencer has to go.

[ChasterMies]

100% this but put more simply, Microsoft still wants all the things they announced at E3 in 2013, and all those things are still just as unpopular. Phil Spencer might be able to bring Xbox box to its 360 glory days if not for Microsoft’s corporate goals standing in the way.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I think it's combination of phil Microsoft and their team problems. You need freedom but order at certain points vice versa.

[RauLeCreuset]

"It’s also convenient to claim success on the back of a new Gamepass service-based strategy when you are getting clobbered in the only ways the video game industry has measured success historically since its inception; console and video game sales. The moving of the goalposts seems all too convenient from a business standpoint, especially when you aren’t being entirely transparent with the data to back up those claims."

That's why it's senseless for media and fans to regurgitate talking points about Game Pass games being hits based on lacking data and MS' say so. It's amazing how many keep asserting that a GP title was a hit without bothering to inspect what that actually means.

[-Foxtrot]

If he actually manages to keep his job in the future, especially when the time comes to lead us into the next gen, I'll be surprised.

[Obscure_Observer]

"If he actually manages to keep his job in the future, especially when the time comes to lead us into the next gen, I'll be surprised."

No, you won´t.

The only reason why Phil still leading is because he made Xbox profitable. As long he continues to fill their pockets, retirement will be his only way out, and you know that.

If CMA´s own data is something to consider, he managed to make Xbox the isolated leader in the Cloud Gaming segment.

So just like Jim Ryan, he´s allowed to say any bs he wants as long MS executives keep their large smiles while walking straight to the bank.

[Bathyj]

Don Matrieks made Xbox profitable for the first time since it's inception.

[Obscure_Observer]

@Bathyj

"Don Matrieks made Xbox profitable for the first time since it's inception."

And yet he left through the back door and almost got Xbox dead and gone.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

MSFT is the leader because nobody beside nvidia and smaller companies take cloud seriously

[EvertonFC]

You still don't get that profit/revenue do you. Lots of people on here have explained it too you lots of times I'm staggered you still don't fathom it.

[Flakegriffin]

Another common Obscure L

[TheEnigma313]

Your delusion is sickening and sad.

[-Foxtrot]

Jim Ryan says some stupid shit but 9 times out of 10 he shuts his mouth and it only opens when there's a new game or hardware coming out, maybe even an announcement of one or if there's an event going on like E3. The same can be said about Nintendo aswell. The recent Jim Ryan news for example is tied to the whole court case about the Activision acquisition.

Phil Spencer is a walking, talking 24/7 PR machine who has said so much bullshit over the past 10 years alone most statements contradict old ones or the goal posts get moved. If he just shut up maybe expectations wouldn't be through the roof all the time and maybe people would call him out with how much back tracking he does.

[crazyCoconuts]

That's not profit he's filling their pockets with...

[Obscure_Observer]

@EvertonFC

"You still don't get that profit/revenue do you. Lots of people on here have explained it too you lots of times I'm staggered you still don't fathom it."

I'm the one staggered with the dumb and delusional crap you said; Do you really believe MS is paying BIG MONEY to Phil Spencer as Xbox CEO while throwing at him hundreds of BILLION DOLLARS to do what he wants while running at a loss???

Dude, just gtfo with your entitled bs.

[I_am_Batman]

After listening to that Kinda Funny interview, I'd be surprised as well. It almost sounded like internally the decision to fire him might've already been made and he's just gonna be the public scapegoat for a while until they have a couple good games in the pipeline to give the new CEO a good start to his role.

[MrDead]

The Phil/Microsoft problem is they see no value in creating games or adding to the industry when there are already billion dollar publishers full of IP's already making games for Xbox. Phil/MS strategy is not to grow Xbox's library of games but to shrink the available content on others.

MS has seen the value of IP hoarding and streaming through companies like Disney, where you can cut the workforce out of royalties, residuals and keep more of the profits for CEO's and shareholders and control the industry through licencing.
Microsoft, "why be better than the competition when you can just make it harder for anyone to compete."

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Microsoft, "why be better than the competition when you can just make it harder for anyone to compete."

Exactly. Imagine if Sony didn’t exist…. M$ would say our expectations for games was impossible.

[giovonni]

That’s incorrect, the problem with the Xbox
gaming division is their hands off approach when it comes to the creation of games. They need to enforce some stricter management. They see plenty value in creating games. If that was the case there wouldn’t be games like grounded, Alan wake, pentiment, quantum break. All those are risks. And it’s not IP hording, I wish people would understand how this all works in order to have games as a service you need content present, old new, etc. this is why Disney brought all those studios, look at hbo max, and countless others. Most of you still want to push this older model of gaming and swear it’s a conspiracy of a “gamers well being” and it’s not.

[Ra3030]

@giovonni
"hands off approach"

When you absolutely have no clue what your doing there's really no other options to take than the "hands off approach". Xbox has been a brand for about 5yrs less than Sony's PlayStation but Microsoft has been in gaming about 5yrs longer than Sony yet Microsoft Xbox is in such a sad state. Xbox as a brand would be much better off is Microsoft sold Xbox.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

It IS hording when you try to buy the biggest Multiplayer IP for a decade (CoD) instead of developing your own IP that could beat it in sales, if managed better (looking at you, Halo).

[SullysCigar]

100%. Too many people saying things like, "oh, he needs time", "oh, he's trying to clear up the mess left by Matrick".

He's had almost TEN YEARS, people! In some ways he actually made things worse! His time's up. Get rid of him, or watch xbox continue to sink. Pick your poison.

[Obscure_Observer]

"Too many people saying things like, "oh, he needs time", "oh, he's trying to clear up the mess left by Matrick"

But he´s actually doing way better than Mattrick, Lol.

Like it or not:
- Xbox is leader in Cloud Gaming segment.
- Gamepass is the most succesful and popular gaming service.
- Xbox Series consoles sold more units than Xbox One in the same timeframe leading by 1 million units despite shortage issues, COVID and global recession.
- XGS used to be made of only 5 studios and now it has 23 studios under its umbrella.
- Xbox game genres is diverse and rich like never before.
- Phil brought significant advancements to game accessibility
- Xbox is available in more countries that it ever was.
- Xbox first party games are among the best sellers on STEAM

All that is from the top of my head. You may hate the guy for the games will not be able to play on Playstation anymore, but Phil (so far) made Xbox better and bigger and more profitable than it ever was in its history. And that´s the only thing MS cares about: MONEY

MS will not replace Phil Spencer until we see the results of all of his current investments, including studio acquisitions and its games.

There´ll be tons of pressure on June 11, but if XGS manages to impress, all will be forgotten.

[Jin_Sakai]

“There´ll be tons of pressure on June 11, but if XGS manages to impress, all will be forgotten.“

Like every other E3 showing. Just give up already. The glorious Xbox days are over.

[Vengeance1138]

Like it or not:
- Leader in an almost non existent space with next to no competition. Competition that MS would prevent in the future.
- The most successful popular turd doesn't make it not a turd. Nobody wants their gaming to revolve around a service.
- Outselling one of the worst consoles ever should not be a victory lap for anyone.
- 23 studios with 0 output in all of 2022. Quantity doesn't equal quality. Sony has far far less and did much much more.
- Xbox game genres? Where are these games? Are they coming in the next 5yrs? Wait for e3?
- Game accessibility is a very minor segment that few really care about. Nothing major, God of War had major accessibility upgrades too, many studios do even Hogwarts Legacy and Horizon Forbidden West. Nothing big to talk about.
- Available in more countries but still not selling lol
- Best sellers on steam for a good reason, people love actually paying for their games. Steam sales will always be larger than on a service. A great alternative for players to avoid having to use GamePass.

[RauLeCreuset]

"You may hate the guy for the games will not be able to play on Playstation anymore, but Phil (so far) made Xbox better and bigger and more profitable than it ever was in its history."

It amazes me how you can't help but try to throw shots at the Playstation lineup from a seated position, after being firmly knocked on your behind. You aren't in a position to throw shots at Playstation. Remember when you were (yet again) prematurely talking trash about how Redfall was going to outscore Horizon Call of the Mountain?

Obscure: "Which leaves Playstation (so far) with only Horizon Call of the Mountain (79 Metascore) and Spider-Man 2 vs Hi-Fi Rush, Minecraft Dungeons, Redfall, Forza Motorsport and Starfield on Xbox, right?"

Vengence: "Really looking forward to your tantrum and tears when Redfall and Starfield flop like a fish on dry land lol looking like they'll both be on discount very quick."

Obscure: "My bet is that both games will score better that Horizon Call of The Mountain, since that game is all you have for now in terms of first party games released this year to compare to Xbox´s packed line up of games. Lol"

https://n4g.com/comments/re...

Redfall dropped and dropped your ridiculous prediction to the canvas. Call of the Mountain scored 21 points higher. Before you could get up off the canvas and figure out what happened, you were throwing more shots at Call of the Mountain yesterday, like a fighter who has been flash KO'd and continues to flail about on the canvas, after being revived, not realizing the fight was lost.

"Well, in 2023 you paid full $70 for day one retail games like Forspoken and Call of the Mountain.

"While Gamepass subscribers got Atomic Heart, Wo Long, Hi-Fi Rush, Minecraft Legends, Ghostwire Tokio."

https://n4g.com/comments/re...

And went right back at it trying to throw shots with Meta predictions:

"Also Forza Motorsport and Starfield which I´m predicting both might get better Metascores than Spider-Man 2 and FFXVI."

https://n4g.com/comments/re...

Only to quickly walk that back by pointing out how unserious you were making a prediction that something "might" happen:

"Lol. You PS fanboys are so sentimental. I said that both Forza Motorsport and Starfield MIGHT get better Metascores than both Spider-Man 2 and FFXVI in the realm of POSSIBILITIES."

https://n4g.com/comments/re...

Before finally confessing that you're just talking trash that shouldn't be taken seriously as a way to cope and that MS can't blame anyone but themselves:

"Right now Xbox looks like sh!t! ABK deal blocked by CMA, followed by Redfall´s epic fail, and Phil acting like a joker just made things worst.

"All of this Metascore vs Metascore nonsense is just me blowing off some steam. Don´t take it too seriously, Lol.

"Right now Xbox is on a bad light, hopefully the new games will make things better, but I really understand those that are disappointed and see no reason to own a Xbox console at the moment if ever. MS can´t blame anyone but themselves for this shitstorm."

https://n4g.com/comments/re...

[RauLeCreuset]

So maybe stop trying to jump to their defense by going on the attack when they are catching grief for the situation you acknowledge is their fault. By your own admission, your comments should be taken as seriously as — Well, as a defeated fighter flailing away at air from the canvas.

[Obscure_Observer]

@Jin_Sakai

"Like every other E3 showing. Just give up already. The glorious Xbox days are over."

Not yet. At least, not because of Redfall.

But now I respect you and your opinions, Jin. You have the courage to do what had to be done. You sold your Xbox Series X!

You tried, you trusted, Xbox had you disappointed to the point you had enough and just be done with it.

You´re not like the others hypocrite PS fanboys on N4G pretending to be "neutral".

I say: If you don´t support MS, you don´t support them at all. So, Congrats!

Now, I´m tired of all it´s "wait for E3" myself. It´s been 3 years and just like most gamers, I had enough of crossgen games. I want full next gen games. I´m an Xbox gamer first and foremost so I not leaving Xbox until I play Hellblade II, Fable, Perfect Dark, Starfield among many others which I hope to be impressed and excited about.

Come June 11, If MS fails to impress or show me something to looking forward to in the near future, I might as well reconsider my stance.

[RauLeCreuset]

"Come June 11, If MS fails to impress or show me something to looking forward to in the near future, I might as well reconsider my stance."

There's that "might" again. I wouldn't bother calling this out normally. Your personal preference is your personal preference, but in the same comment you tried to police who can or cannot be critical of Xbox by holding them to your made up standard that you're trying to impose upon them.

[Obscure_Observer]

@Vengeance1138

Like I said, dude. MS doesn´t care about your rubbish. Phil prints them money, and that´s all they care about.

Back in 2014 MS wanted Phil´s head just four months after he got promoted to Xbox Head, and Xbox sold or closed.

Satya Nadella arrives, Bill Gates expressed him his support to get Xbox sold. Nadella refused, he trusted Phil Spencer´s vision for Xbox.

And here we are. Yesterday, MS wanted Phil and Xbox gone. Now MS literally throws hundred of billions at Phil Spencer to do what he wants with it! And that´s why you hate him so much.

Today Phil has the power to buy/acquire any gaming company in world who wants to be sold, and this simple fact terrifies you, makes you feel powerless and insecure, I know.

Phil made it to the top thanks to Satya Nadella who trusted his vision to save Xbox from go extinct and make Xbox bigger and better than ever.

So again, keep your prayers, maybe you´ll be heard by the almighty. But if you have faith in MS to just fire Phil Spencer now, jokes in on you.

[RauLeCreuset]

Obscure's last "comment," to put it nicely, is over the top, to put it mildly.

"Today Phil has the power to buy/acquire any gaming company in world who wants to be sold, and this simple fact terrifies you, makes you feel powerless and insecure, I know."

Yeah, yeah. We've heard it all before. Every criticism must be fear that the company that has stumbled in gaming so bad for the last 20 years that their CEO is cutting interviews saying they'll always be third is on the precipice of winning.

People, I posted the receipts above. Who do you think it is that's really feeling terrified, powerless, and insecure?

[Vanfernal]

I must say, I admire your resilience for taking L after L and still have the same ignorant opinions. You are an angry little fanboy and someday you'll have to let go of that mentality. You spend all day every day here just spewing your negativity instead of playing games. Grow up dude.

[jjb1981]

Yet, nobody cares because they can't make any games that are worth buying. You and the Sparky Orchard crew are the only ones that will defend this nonsense to your graves. The majority of gamers do not care about cloud streaming and won't anytime in the near future. Stadia is dead and Luna is on life support. The only reason its still successful for MS and Sony is that cloud-gaming is supplemental to what they offer. If either of these companies relied on cloud-gaming only, their gaming division would cease to exist.

[EvertonFC]

At least they made more games with 5 studios lol

[Elda]

You got one thing right..."All will be forgotten" when it comes to XB. Folks will continue to support those platforms that know what gamers want.

[lodossrage]

@RauLeCreuset

Wow, talk about coming in with receipts LOL. I'd give you 100 likes if I could. Especially since the person you put on blast KNOWS it. And yes, you can tell because he (or she) is replying to everyone BUT you lol.

[yeahokwhatever]

xbox as a brand has always been an empty promise. "our good stuff is just around the corner" -xbox, for the past 22 years.

[RauLeCreuset]

@lodossrage

I have noticed that pattern in a few comment sections. It's because I remind the person behind the account that "Obscure_Observer" is little more than performance art serving as copium for the person behind the persona.

[EvertonFC]

Exactly the other Xbox guys at least had a plan A and B, Phil just put a single egg into a basket them wonders why it's going wrong.

[tbagmonster]

its time for him to go, this new woke ms is garbage and the games will show that, every new game has to be for everyone so games will suffer . he dropped ahlo but didnt check up on it, he dropped redfall, didnt check up on it, hes got to go

[343_Guilty_Spark]

I agree he’s had a long enough run and it’s time to go but there are some inaccuracies in this opinion piece.

[anast]

He's just right for MS.

[Aloymetal]

100% I vote to leave him right there where he is. The ''show'' must go on...

[Elda]

LOL!! Shady!!!

[Hofstaderman]

One thing is for certain, even more people will buy the next PlayStation console outright without considering the XBOX offering. That’s how much damage was done to the XBOX image this generation. That’s IF there’s a console for them, by all accounts Phil wants to head the Stadia route.

[Aloymetal]

Phil learned a fun fact a while back...MS launched a console later than Sony and got obliterated. They launch a year to a year and a half earlier and got caught. They launched at the same time and got massacred and it looks like this one is no different. MS/Phil and Co. biggest problem is not PS itself but the amount of loyal fans PS has around the planet.

[yeahokwhatever]

the biggest problem is games. they have no games. they dont seem to even want to make good games.

[EvertonFC]

Exactly, they lost about 25% of xbox one gamers to ps4 and that will happen again as you mentioned.
Nxt gen for Xbox could see total sales around the 35m mark which is basically why even bother as that isn`t going to save GP

[Goozex]

Fire him!

[Northpoint]

Wow, 9 years and still down hill. When Sony screwed up with the PS3 launch and the free and crappy PSN, they wasted no time and worked on improving their network and PS3 games in a time span less than 5 years.
I'll admit, I crapped on the PS3 and praised the 360 at the time because I was enjoying the games and online service on the 360. It wasn't until Uncharted 2 release that got me to play on the dusty PS3 that I had.
So how is a trillion dollar company performing like a multi-million (not billion) dollar company.

[WelkinCole]

The fact that he got way more slack than he deserves is a testment of the low standards xbox gamers have but indirectly shows how much clout he has with the MS higer ups because he puts company priorities like cloud business first

The man had billions to spend.

He has now had more than 6 years to fix xbox woeful 1st,2nd party games catelouge situation without basically anything to show for. How much was spent on Halo Infinte again?.

Just madness

[Orpheo]

I don't know. Phil could be trying to play some 4D Chess.

"Did you see my last interview, lawmakers? I said that great games don't sell systems, so just let us buy Activision-Blizzard already." :D

[GamingSinceForever]

Phil: I’m angry and disappointed. I’m angry and disappointed in myself.

XBOXers: It’s not Phil’s fault.

😂 😂

[ghostrider32]

Not getting new Xbox management after the 2013 fiasco, was a mistake.

[EvertonFC]

Just like my football team Everton, COYB 3 points today.

[EvertonFC]

I think whatever happens he'll stand down at the end of the gen

[TheColbertinator]

What are you talking about? He makes them a lot of money. All that matters to Microsoft Games Studios is how much money they make.

[Exthun]

Yes it is time for a change!!

[Viljong]

They made a very good xbox console and the gamepass is good, you would be paying for online and xbox live anyway. Good evolution from xbox one era but with the given resources the xbox studio games are lacking big time. We should have a hand full of gotys atm, what is wrong? I dont understand we should have triple A halo games, gears of wars, fables and what not. Where are the killer ips i ask.

[Viljong]

MS should create a console/pc hybrid and sell it without profit, maybe have like 3 different versions of it. Lite for 399e, standard 499 and the x version 799-899e(crazy performance) You have Windos OS in it but also have console API for specially optimized games. But it could run every pc game in compability mode without console API optimazation where you use it like a regular pc for Apps and games like wow, cs, dota which are huge but not on consoles. It would leech pc players from steam and be tempting for console players too.

[Father__Merrin]

Look at Xbox under mayrick and look at Spencer Xbox. Big difference. Although x1 launched poorly mayrick would have pulled it through with great games

[YourMommySpoils]

It's about damn time

[talocaca]

That interview was eye-opening. Wouldn't be surprised if they try to get him out if the Activision deal actually collapses (as expected).

At this rate their hardware is clearly last, GamePass growth has crashed, they haven't created successful IPs in years.....

[Ninver]

This guy has been making false promises since he came into office. How many more years?

[Bronbron92]

He’s done a lot for Xbox over the years I wouldn’t get rid of him but I feel he should have Xbox focus more on their games being improved in quality and actually something new, the pass few years have been gamepass and buying companies to put under their belt to make themselves look better, which worked for a bit but they need actual good games to back these purchases up.

[ZwVw]

Been saying this for awhile. Phil's meek, hands off approach to development is destroying the Xbox division.

In all honesty, Phil should have been removed from his position at Xbox after the disastrous Halo Infinite gameplay debut but the Bethesda purchase announcement gave him a slight spark moving into the 9th Gen.

Say what you will about Don Mattrick but you never had 1st party games launching in unbaked, incomplete states on Xbox back when he was at the helm.

[EvertonFC]

"Been saying this for awhile. Phil's meek, hands off approach to development is destroying the Xbox division"

He basically tried to copy Playstations hands off approach but forgot that playstation actually has talented studios who can be left alone.

[MADGameR]

It has been over a long time ago...

[derek]

Guy talks way too much for a man in his position, it's embarrassing how unprofessional/casual he behaves. He talks like the xbox mantra of "play anywhere" is somehow incompatible with making great games for their own platform. It's weird.

[Destiny1080]

phil was internally reviewed

[SullysCigar]

And, let me guess, they gave him "double digits higher" than the rest of the world?

[HyperMoused]

Xbox needs to get back to just being about consoles and games

[EvertonFC]

Too little too late imo.

[gleepot]

everyone is really blowing this interview and redfall way out of proportion, phil isn't going anywhere and xbox will be fine

[Knushwood Butt]

This is a keeper.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

It's the Xbox effect. The lack of games puts a lot of weight and pressure on smaller games like Sea of Thieves and Redfall. The game had little fanfare when it was first announced. Suddenly now its failure is the end of Xbox.

[SullysCigar]

Little fanfare? It was the 'oh, just one more thing' announcement at the end of one of their E3s. After that they used it as their E3 opener. It was reported far and wide for YEARS that it would be one of, if not THE, first game to be built in Unreal Engine 5. This game (and Starfield) was the great xbox hope of 2023. Articles about the game were often frontpage gaming news. There were even articles claiming it could be GOTY just a few weeks before it launched.

Little fanfare my arse.

[EvertonFC]

"The game had little fanfare"

What, all them GOTY articles leading upto launch? What, all them gamers stating how great the 1st part of the year looks?
Its May and you have had a good indie title "Hi-Rez" WoW

[Krtek]

That person should be fired. I own a PS5 and XSX and the emptiness that has been happening on Xbox for the last year is terrible. Following Phil's comments, I suspect that this generation of Xbox consoles came out just to give Sony competition in the game console market and nothing more. Xbox is just one of many devices where you can enjoy their Game Pass. It is the targeted liquidation of the market with physical copies of games and the conversion of all content into digital form that Microsoft wants to control (including game prices - there will be no other alternative). I don't want to support this approach and I hope that Sony will take a slightly different route. Physical media has its value just like music on vinyl records.

[Chocoburger]

Think about it this way, Xbox Series X|S is the only gaming console in history to launch with ZERO NEW first party games. No one else have ever launched a console without at least one freakin' game to show for it! And this is after a huge lull during the Xbox One era, where people assumed (incorrectly) that they were saving their games for the next generation. Well we all know that to be a load of crap now. They simply had jack squat for years, and with no excuses.

So why release the console at all back in 2020? Simply because of Sony releasing theirs in 2020 as well. They couldn't allow the competition to release a system without them, even if they weren't ready for launch. That's their mindset, not to better themselves, but to prevent Sony from getting the better of them. Their mindset is flawed right down to its very core.

[andy85]

I will give a shred of credit, gamepass is a great service for value (subjective) BUT, It's been one of the worst things because more and more and I'm seeing gamers settle for mediocrity because of how cheap it is and they should be expecting more. As I've said before in the 360 days, damn would it have been a boon for MS and they would have actually won a generation but that's when effort was put into games

[Pyrofire95]

Don't fall for it. Phil said he's taking full responsibility but it's not completely his fault, it's an issue with management on a company scale. What happened is not a problem that can be solved by any single person.
A system of better communication and support needs to be created and/or rebuilt.

[DarXyde]

Something I don't understand: why are there people defending Phil's leadership on the basis that Xbox financials? Unless you're a stakeholder, your concerns should exclusively be "have games gotten better under Phil Spencer?"

Subjective, but I would give an emphatic NO. Xbox under Spencer has been, in my estimation, an exercise in "extensive and prolonged infrastructure construction". There just seems to be "wait for [x]" statements in perpetuity from their fans. What I really don't understand is how brand loyalty goes so far with this lot that they lay the blame for Redfall squarely with Arkane Austin; game has been in development for a while, but we often hear that "with Microsoft's vast resources, things will be even greater". The irony is that this game released under XGS is perhaps the studio's first scarlet L.

If you're a fan of Xbox, you should be objective about the state of content, not concerned with profits. Microsoft would love nothing more than for how much money they make to be their consumers' metric of satisfaction with the brand.

They've got more studios than anyone and yet it's the recently acquired Zenimax that's making games—I find that alarming when considering how things would be WITHOUT purchasing them. They have so many studios and you have to admit that their output is embarrassing. Then we get stuck in the perpetual loop: "wait for [x]." I'm all for delaying games or cancelling them if they aren't shaping up... But again, they own the most studios. Spencer simply isn't a good leader for Xbox gamers. Mattrick, believe it or not, was better for content quality. And whether you wish to acknowledge it or not.... Keep in mind that FromSoft released a game this generation in a more stable condition on multiple platforms than Arkane did under Spencer. Really think about that.

There are a number of doom and gloom articles on Spencer's leadership, but I would say this conversation is long overdue.

[Aaroncls7]

ah, the sony fanboi forum

[EvertonFC]

Last time I checked Xbox gamers are the ones NOT happy at the current state xbox.

[Miraak82]

Well my opinion of MS and why they really don't make good games is that they're not an entertainment company . Unlike Nintendo who were a card/toy company before making games and Sony who are a tech company who also does movies and music and it shows why they are the top dogs of the industry. Besides maybe Forza which is like the only franchise that's maintained any sort of consistency through out it's history , everything else they have is cause they bought exclusive rights or outright buys up developers..... and what happens when the actual talent from those bought up companies eventually leave .. just left with a former shell of what the studios were and IPs are left to die because they aren't creative enough to do anything with them. A good example is gears of wars , they bought the IP but what have they done with it since .... nothing

[gold_drake]

i think the phil spencer era should have ended long ago.

[GhostScholar]

Whether he goes or stays, and regardless of what the overall opinion of him is, he saved the Xbox brand. I’m not saying he has delivered on everything he promised but he patched a lot of potholes that were put in the road by his predecessors. Also from all accounts he’s actually a good person, which is very rare for company heads. He will be missed, by me anyway.

[Soulsborne]

Only realizing this now...?

[mjchitown]

lol no surprise this number 1. this site desperate for clicks. more doom and gloom.

[thesoftware730]

The only thing this site talks about anymore is Xbox and how PlayStation is better in every article. None of you are talking about games anymore. The PS-Only people especially, is it because PS5 has had sort of a new game drought for a bit now?

I will post this same comment in the threads to prove this.

[VersusDMC]

Exclusive releases planned and released for this year

Forspoken
Horizon Burning Shores
FFXVI
Stellar Blade
Spider Man 2
And there might be some more 2023 big games as well. Silent hill 2 seems likely.

And there are indies like Tchia, humanity and all the PSVR2 games.

So i don't know what PS drought you are talking about...unless you are going to say 3rd party exclusives don't count.

Which is hilarious as the Bethesda games would be on PS if Microsoft didn't buy them...so those aren't 3rd party exclusives because they spent billions to buy them?

[sadraiden]

Ultimately, it doesn't matter who the head of Xbox is. Phil's job is to corral publishers to want to publish (ideally exclusively) for Xbox. That gets people to buy Xbox's. Phil is not in charge of making games. Publishers aren't in charge of making games either, but the publishers are the publicly traded companies pushing unrealistic release dates on their devs which lead to undercooked disasters like Redfall.

People are disappointed with Phil's leadership? What kind of relationship between hardware manufacturer and game publisher are you looking for? Ultimately, Phil will be seen as one of the reasons why Xbox is faltering, unfairly in my opinion.

[Starman69]

It never really began lol 😆

[Agent75]

Xbox has been pants going back to Xbox One. Series X not much of a follow on. Game releases have been dire. PS4 to PS5 not far off either. When was the last time we saw anything ground breaking on both consoles? We've bought these consoles and have been sitting ducks.

[Thundercat77]

Xbox needs new management. The output is horrible. That's why they are looking for a one way ticket pay to win transaction with ABK.

I keep saying, remember the PS3 era? Sony was on red while Xbox was ruling supreme. Sony took the fight with games and they won. They did the hard work, why Xbox doesn't want to do the hard work?

[dedicatedtogamers]

Folks identified this behavior over 10 years ago and got called fanboys and haters for it. Coincidentally, people also called out the culture-rot sneaking into videogames a bit over 10 years ago too and got called fanboys and haters for it. Hmm weird.

There are several blogs on this profile identifying these problems if someone needs a blast from the past. People are just goldfish brains and they want to delude themselves that a company won't act the way it has always acted. "it'll be different this time" lol okay sounds like someone following bad dating advice.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Spill Pencer. Bill Fencer. Rather have those dudes.

[YourMommySpoils]

Over from day 1 but now they get it?

[GhostScholar]

Say what you want about the lack of great first party games, had Phil not taken over I don’t know that there would be an Xbox let alone game pass. 90 percent of the games I play are on game pass. That was his vision so I have nothing but love for the dude. I have loved some of PlayStations exclusives, but in a day to day basis I’m usually playing something on game pass. I understand the criticism, but he definitely saved the brand even if things don’t look good at them moment.