420°

Phil Spencer Is Directing Xbox To Be Multi-Platform Partly Due To Gen Z Habits

Phil Spencer is ushering in a new age for the Xbox platform, one that could be appropriately titled ‘The Multi-Platform Age Of Xbox.’ It’s begun with four games coming to PlayStation and Nintendo consoles, and if recent reports are true, there’s many more to come.

Spencer dug a bit into why he’s leading Xbox in this new direction, and how part of this change comes from Gen Z buying habits, and the lack of growth in the console market.

rippermcrip66d ago

Gen Z's habit not to buy Xbox consoles?

RpgSama66d ago

You won the Internet for the day my friend, LOLOLOL

VenomUK65d ago (Edited 65d ago )

When the first leaks began this year Phil Spencer finally was pushed into announcing the 'Xbox Business Event'! All the hardcore in the Xbox community and the extremist lost their mind about it being the end of Xbox. Then when the video when live Phil Spencer said it will only be 4 games released. Whew! He avoided a bad PR event and everybody thought things were back to normal...

IT TURNS OUT PHIL SPENCER WAS LYING TO MICROSOFT'S MOST LOYAL CUSTOMERS. He just waited a few weeks to soft reveal all in an interview where there wouldn't be video footage of him actually saying the words that Xbox is now a third-party publishing company.

Markets change, things happen and yes Xbox has to 'pivot' if it has to. But this man has done more 360s with the Xbox business model than any other console company; first Xbox is a boxed console, than a subscription service, then a cloud service, then an online store on other platforms! The fact is the Xbox Series S/X combined are selling worse than the Xbox One - how can this be? I strongly think that it's because MS Game Pass taught Xbox owners that they didn't need to spend on third-party games - hence the collapse in the UK market. Look, I get it, I know that we all 'know' Phil Spencer as he's always friendly and giving interviews.

It's now time to ask whether Phil Spencer is the worst thing to ever have happened to Xbox?

fr0sty65d ago

Noticing a definite lack of obscure observations on this news, 😂

GamerRN65d ago

Well, as an Xbox supporter....

You're not wrong!

I think he is better off creating an identify for Xbox and pushing harder, but yeah, not happening

_Decadent_Descent65d ago

Just need to make good quality exclusive games, yet that seems to have been the most elusive thing for them to do.

GamerRN65d ago

Yeah the last few definitely have fallen flat. Starfield was a huge disappointment... I liked it but not as much as I expected

itsmebryan65d ago

@ripper
Well console sales didn't keep Sony from losing 26% of its operating income, closing studios, layoffs, etc.....It's not like Sony is doing great with those console sales. Smh

StormSnooper65d ago

That was exactly what I thought, “habits”, as in they don’t want xbox.

BehindTheRows65d ago

Aaaand, you win this discussion! 😀

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 65d ago
-Foxtrot66d ago

Lmao

“It’s not our fault Xbox fans, we have no choice, blame yourselves or the young”

I thought he said a while back it was because of AAA budgets being so bloated or something

Crows9065d ago

But we already know good games don't require bloated budgets....it's called government spending/mismanagement of money

Eonjay65d ago

Well as a consumer, the PS5 seems like the better choice if you get Xbox and PlayStation games. I guess Microsoft wins too because the can make more money off their games. And Sony wins because they get their 30%.

Profchaos66d ago (Edited 66d ago )

Apparently sea of theives was a huge successful on PS so I guessed the board has seen dollar signs and that small batch of games will probably Expand

Hereandthere66d ago

He failed miserably and like always will not take the blame.

anast66d ago

Gen Z is buying up PS5s, so he needs to put his games on Sony platforms.

jznrpg66d ago

Everyone is buying PS5’s. Gen. X Y Z

LoveSpuds65d ago

@Cockney
Your are prehistoric chief 🤣🤣

I am only a couple of years behind ya mate.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 65d ago
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20°

Take-Two CEO Doesn’t Think AI Will Reduce Employment or Dev Costs; “Stupidest Thing” He’s Heard

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick doesn't think AI will reduce employment or lower development costs, and calls it "stupidest thing" he's ever heard.

lodossrage1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

They already have AI trained to do coding.......

How he thinks it's stupid is beyond me, Especially since we see it happening in real time.

jambola1h ago

Ceo says stupid thing
Part 5837384

510°

Days Gone Director Says Bend's Project Costs Over $250M; Says PS Co-CEO Doesn't Want 2 Zombies Games

Days Gone director claims Sony has already poured in at least a $250M in Bend's project; says Days Gone sold more than Death Stranding.

shinoff21831d 20h ago

Well that sucks. Seems they want more online trash. I'd rather of had the sequel if it was single player

MrNinosan1d 5h ago

What online trash games did PS Studios release last 10 years?

Notellin1d 3h ago

The past has nothing to do with the future. This is such a terrible argument. Everyone knows about their current live service push.

_SilverHawk_1d 2h ago

It's so tragic what happened to days gone. It is such an amazing game but bandwagoners trashed it and it underperformed in it's launch year. Days gone is the best open world zombie game released in the past five years. I was recently playing it on pc and I'm still amazed by it.

Games are very expensive to make and it seems like it's normal for a AAA game to cost over a quarter billion to make so if a quality game like days gone greatly underperforms then people shouldn't be upset when they see a lot of GAAS. I still remember a lot of bandwagoners calling days gone trash but years later it's now amazing when it's considered a failure by sony.

If a game isn't the best thing seen since hats with pockets then a lot of gamers who haven't played it automatically calls it rubbish and whoever made it should be incarcerated

Cacabunga1d 1h ago (Edited 1d 1h ago )

Co CEO prefers gamers to boycott.. so be it. I’ll never buy a gaas.
Just imagine buying a game you cannot replay in some years.. this shit must stop.

Days Gone did zombies in a very original way. The story was also so engaging. You actually only meet Zombie hordes later in the game. There are many more enemy groups to deal with.

MrNinosan23h ago

@Notelin
I am one of the few who bought Days Gone on release day and loved it completely.
However, "more online trash" is phrased like Sony has put out alot of trash online games.
We got what, 2 games? Helldivers 2 and GT7, 2 of the most sold Playstation games where both is loved by millions.

You, me and especially shinoff has no idea if Fairgames, Marathon and Concord will be trash.

Just because we (as in you and me) don't love or support online games, doesn't mean millions of other do.

And we don't know what Bend Studio is working with? We don't know if they're forced to make a online game or another amazing single player experience.

The only thing we do know is that it's not Days Gone, sadly due to poor sales the first 6 months.

shinoff218321h ago(Edited 21h ago)

More online trash wasmt meant how insee it comes across. I should've worded it different I was meaning the focus they currently have on it.

Anything online is online trash to me. How long did naughty dog spend on that dumba last of us multiplayer, how about Concord, or even the other couple we hear about. I fk with Sony because rpgs and their 1st party single player games. Been like that for years. I hate seeing them waste time, money, and talent on trash. I understand bot every game is gonna be for me but this focus they've seem to had on multiplayer is extremely disheartening. Even at the state of play the only things I was really feeling were Astrobot and silent hill 2 and I'm content with that, not everything is for me. It's just the online focus I hate. Ms bought up 3 to 4 wrpgs developers, Sony just ignores rpgs 1st party wise.

And a days gone 2 would've been much better then whatever online sht bend is working on. I do know sometimes I get very idk emotional. I do need to work on toning that down a bit lol

SimpleDad11h ago

Ammm let's see... That All-stars, Foamstars, Babilon 5 wass gaas...
Concord... can wait to play that...Marathon uuuu... Last of them gaas... U
Horizon Zero dawn has a project that leaked as a Fortnite lookalike.

They bought Destiny that is a dead gaas...people love ti.

Helldivers 2 was luck.

Jimbo was all in and pushed Sony single player games 5 years behind.

Spiderman gaas was cancelled... I mean every 1st party studio was doing gaas.

Bend had to pitch a gaas game... Open world coop something

I can't remember more... Of that crap.

tay870110h ago

@simpledad. Destiny 2 isn't a dead game. Its the number 5 most played game on steam. I dont play it, but alot of people do.

MrNinosan5h ago

@SimpleDad
You failed to mention a single PS Studios game that has been released last 10 years.
Either your reading skills are crap or you think Sony own every studio in the world.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 5h ago
just_looken6h ago

I rolled my eyes at concord not only was it just yet another cookie cutter hero shooter but that qucik look for the hero select.

Already has a free section then paid section along with a they/them she/her dei crap top right.

Nothing like a day off of work to fire up concord to read about the new characters sexual identity and or preference then a paywall do you want o buy this character shit like no i just want to shoot my gun have fun.

-Foxtrot1d 20h ago

It would be a shame if it was true that Hermen never gave the franchise a chance simply because he didn't like it and they already had a "Zombie" game with TLOU.

NaughtyDog are most likely moving onto a new IP next so it would have been the perfect time to do it.

ThinkThink1d 12h ago

Here's where xbox steps in and releases state of decay 3 day and date on ps5.

shinoff218321h ago

I mean it's not out of the realm of possibility at this point.

Grilla1d 5h ago

Days gone 2 was canceled before Herman was in charge. That happened like 4 years ago.

vfl5231d 4h ago

4 years ago he was head of Playstation Studios. He would've probably had a hand in the cancelation.

Notellin1d 3h ago

Man two seconds of research could have saved you from this comment. Amazing work Grilla you fit in with the uniformed N4G community who speaks before verifying anything that they say.

Redemption-641d 2h ago

Maybe encourage people to buy the game at full price and not when it's heavily discounted or go on plus. If this game had sold well when it was full priced a sequel would have been in the works. They made a single-player game that most people didn't support until they dropped the price.

Cacabunga1d ago

The guy’s just a moron.. he should have stayed within game development. His choices will have a terrible impact on the brand in the long run.

tay870114h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Dude is pretty pathetic. Sounds like a guy who's girl left him for someone better. Always talking about days gone sequel that never was, even though he is no longer at bend and hasnt been for a while. I for one am not upset about the lack of a sequel. It is one of the worst 1st party games in recent memory. Completely jank, played like an xbox game. The only redeeming quality was the hordes.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 14h ago
excaliburps1d 6h ago

Yep. Kind of weird since it wasn't a sales flop, no?

I know we have to take what Ross says with a grain of salt since we're hearing just one side of the story, but even so, the game wasn't bad at all. Heck, it's my brother's favorite last-gen game from what I recall.

The amount of zombies on screen, imagine that with the PS5 and SSD? That would be insanely fun!

Grilla1d 5h ago

Most copies were sold on sale. Not enough ppl bought it at full price. I paid 20$ for it 6 -7 months after release.

Notellin1d 3h ago (Edited 1d 3h ago )

Yeah we should never believe the creators side until we hear the corporate/big business side as history has shown we should always believe billion dollar corporations.

What a bootlicker statement.

derek23h ago

@Notellin, of course you'll believe an embittered ex-employee with an axe to grind because it's evil Sony he's complaining about. You guys act like days gone was this huge success and somehow Sony hates easy money a sequel would have generated. The game was mid and so was the response to it. They're still supporting the developer who is making a new ip that could be great.

shinoff218321h ago

Days gone was fantastic. I bought day one but didn't get around to it for months. When I finally did I was pissed at myself for waiting so long lol

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 21h ago
P_Bomb1d 5h ago

Well I don’t want 10 live service games, but they have no problem doing that lol. Ugh.

CrimsonWing691d 5h ago (Edited 1d 5h ago )

Oh great so we only get what the big wigs want… y’know, the people that really have their fingers on the pulse of what their consumers want. Faaaaantastic!

rippermcrip1d 2h ago

Well consider they know the sales... they do know what the consumer wants.

It sold shit.

-Foxtrot21h ago(Edited 21h ago)

But if it’s true what this guy says it sold better than Death Stranding

Yet that got a sequel and Kojima aside out of them both DS didn’t really NEED a sequel compared to Days Gone which ended on such a cliff hanger twist.

Show all comments (75)
340°

Trying to push players over from PC to console is a terrible idea, PlayStation

As PlayStation announces its new strategy to encourage PC users to choose PS5 it is a bitter-sweet moment for PC gamers.

Christopher1d 21h ago

I mean, it's a business based on hardware market. Do we expect them to not even try? It's not like Nintendo doesn't do the same by not putting any games on PC and Microsoft until recently did the same. I don't care what they attempt, as long as they don't abuse the community or lie about their goals/requirements.

Will it work? Not likely. Should we care? No. Let them waste their time, it doesn't affect anything.

RaidenBlack1d 21h ago

let them try ... at the end of the day, we get few extra PC games ... yay ... and also promotes game preservation via PC ... so double yay.

LordoftheCritics1d 4h ago

If only Playstation games provided the ease of pc gaming features.

Primary being very few PS games support m/kb.

Christopher21h ago

If only PC games supported controllers more. Main reason I play primarily on console. So many games have shit support on PC. Playing Dark Envoy now, and it's quite frustrating since I have to switch to keyboard during cut scenes just to make sure advancing conversation doesn't also auto-select a decision. Let alone it's quite rough to select between characters and inventory screens are bad bad bad.

Anywho, similar complaints for both I find. But, I 100% agree that both PC and consoles should support both as best as possible.

crazyCoconuts16h ago

PS may push more kb support in the future to get more PC converts, we'll see.

Flewid63815h ago

As someone with a high end PC, I feel like the ease is on PS5. Too many PC games are a troubleshooting nightmare, which few people have the time for when all you want to do is pop in a game & play it.

Yui_Suzumiya7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

I just use an Xbox controller on my laptop for everything 😆 .. I haven't used a keyboard / mouse combo for PC gaming since 1996

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 7h ago
LordoftheCritics19h ago(Edited 19h ago)

I don't think you understand what I mean by the lack of m/kb support on PS.

Over a thousand titles have PS controller support on PC.

Not even 30 titles have m/kb support on PS5.

Once you are done with the single player title, you'll go back to playing your daily shooter/looter/mmo etc which the pc gamer has mastered with their mouse and keyboard.
Why would any pc gamer make the switch?

jznrpg11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

PC is secondary to PlayStation for them. Mouse and keyboard would affect development. Live service will have it but most single player games aren’t going to have it as PC is not the focus

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 7h ago
Fishy Fingers1d 20h ago (Edited 1d 20h ago )

I wish them the best of luck.

But PC players are often a patient bunch, many will even wait for Epic launcher exclusivity to end until a game comes to Steam.

If they didnt buy the console when its games were exclusive, why would they do it now theyre not?

MrNinosan1d 6h ago

Way more do than you probably think.

ravens521d 6h ago

All you need is that one game that'll make a few switch at a time. Like a game a PC player REALLY wants.

porkChop17h ago

It just doesn't work that way though. Plenty of the best games ever made were never available on PC. That didn't make PC gamers buy consoles to play them. This kind of strategy has never worked in the past and it won't work now. It's fine for PS to hold their games back and release on PC later, but to think that will boost console sales is wishful thinking. All this will accomplish is some double dipping, which is obviously good for business.

JackBNimble16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

People aren't going to switch from pc to ps5, why would anyone do that for a game?
Most sony exclusives aren't all that to begin with, and pc has the option to upgrade what they want when they want it. Having access to some ps5 games, gamepass and steam.

Thinking this would happen is naive

outsider16241d 2h ago

I mean if there's 10 million pc gamers out there...getting atleast just 1 million from there is probably a good thing..right?

romulus2323h ago

PC players are not a monolith, I don't know why people keep thinking they speak for the entirety of all PC gamers like they all know each other personally. You think out of the millions of PC gamers not one single person will be impatient?Well Sony is willing to bet there will be. Why would they do it now? People's feelings change and new PC gamers come along all the time that may also feel different about waiting, that's why.

Yui_Suzumiya7h ago

Just like how I'm waiting for Alan Wake II to hit Steam 😆

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 7h ago
-Foxtrot1d 20h ago

PC gamers are just too patient and loyal to their gaming set ups, something they've spent a lot of money on to perfect. They have backlogs of games which many never get round to finishing or get round to at all and will always have other multiplatform releases to keep them going.

Over the many years Sony has published so many awesome titles such as The Last of Us, Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Infamous, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet, Dreams, Puppeteer, Resistance, Heavy Rain, Gran Turismo, Motor Storm, God of War, Horizon, Ratchet and Clank, Spiderman, Ghost of Tsushima, Bloodborne

If none of those games BEFORE all these PC ports convinced a hardcore PC gamer to get a PS5 console then why on Earth would porting them them to PC now make any difference? All PC gamers now know 100% is that they just have to be patient, which they are good at anyway to get a PS5 game 2 years later.

I get GaaS games or multiplayer focused titles but if people really want to play these games they'd have gotten a PS console years ago.

Crows901d 2h ago

Not sure they're aiming to convince the hardcore PC gamer.

Not sure why people are obsessing over his comment...it seems pretty simple to me.

He will do all he can to entice gamers to move to his ecosystem. As you say....exclusives existing hasn't moved many gamers over. But if they get to try them and love the games then they might change their mind about waiting 2 years.

We're in an echo chamber on this site...I've Personally seen people with Xbox and PC setups but no PlayStation. I've also seen people with small PC setups but no console. Not every pc gamer invests thousands and many may decide to put one in the living room.

They're not looking to convince all of players to buy a PlayStation...just a few...and really it is just a PR statement after all...they have to give a reason why single player won't release day 1....not to mention they also have to ensure current PlayStation gamers don't jump ship to PC. It goes both ways and they're ignoring the big L by putting any of their games off their platform.

anast1d 1h ago

"Not sure they're aiming to convince the hardcore PC gamer."

Right here

Kakashi Hatake1d 2h ago

PC gamers think tomorrow is promised. Sorry, don't have time for that.

Michiel19891d 1h ago

it's not just about loyalty or sunk cost, pc is an open platform while consoles are closed platforms. If you for example want to mod, you will play on pc, no question about it. Also if you like indie games, steam is a fucking goldmine for that. I've been playing a lot of indie games over the last years and there just seems to be an endless amount of them on steam. Also not having games locked to a certain fps is a prettty big deal for me and I assume a lot of other pc players.

Walalon23h ago

And don't forget steam sales, you can get a ton of games on an awesome price.

badz14915h ago

@Walalon

Sony has been doing sales constantly on the PS Store nowadays.

jznrpg11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

@Walalon Steam sales are basically the same as PS sales. I was going to buy a Steam Deck and I heard about these Steam sales but the games I was interested in were not any cheaper. Indie games were cheap and older AAA were cheap but the same can be said for PS store sales. I didn’t end up getting the Steam Deck as there weren’t any games that I wanted to play that wasn’t already on PS and prices aren’t much different

romulus2323h ago

And how do you know out of the millions of PC gamers that not one single person ever went ahead and bought a PlayStation console for one or more of those games? People keep speaking for the entirety of millions of PC gamers like they know them all personally. Here's one example for you, I'm currently typing on a recently purchased PC that cost me over twenty five hundred dollars and is more than capable of running any game including Sony exclusives that come to PC and yet I still bought a PS5 so apparently I'm not patient or loyal enough to my set up, hope it's not mad at me for not being loyal.

jznrpg11h ago

Some of those people will consider getting a PS5 some wont. I was a PC gamer for a long time and I’m a console only gamer now. Everyone’s different.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 11h ago
helicoptergirl1d 19h ago

Who cares? Then just stay on PC and play the waiting game. No big deal. Sony wins in the end anyway.

Number1TailzFan1d 19h ago

I mean if there's any single player Sony games that I actually want that aren't on PC then I would buy said console to play them on. But the ones that I like that aren't on PC are few and far between anyway so no loss for me.

If I game, it's usually multiplayer titles, otherwise I like playing around with some other software.

Amplitude21h ago(Edited 21h ago)

Astro Bot is the game that just did it for me. I'm gonna have to grab a PS5 again for that.

I did this for Ratchet Rift Apart too but ended up selling the PS5 after getting my plat. Rebought it on PC and other than GoW Ragnarok and Horizon FW (which eventually I could get anyway), I haven't had a reason to downgrade my graphics, controller features, ease of recording, and increase my game costs and monthly subscriptions throughout this entire generation.

I play on a TV with a controller but this has been the absolute worst console gen for both consoles. Never in my life thought I'd be a PC gamer but I've been spoiled by the cheap costs, cross-platform controllers and mostly the unbelievably useful Steam controller config.

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