Last week, Microsoft announced the promotion of Phil Spencer to Head of Xbox. In his first public interview, Spencer revealed that he would be adopting a “Gaming First” approach as head honcho.
Xbox One trails behind Sony’s PS4 in sales. The pressure is on Spencer to turn this war around. Here’s what I believe are the top three points Phil needs to get cracking on Monday morning.
Was Phil Spencer good for Xbox? Whatever you think of the retiring boss’s decade-plus tenure, there was rarely a dull moment.
You don't get rid of big portions of a division to replace them to do the same thing. MS has been critical of Xbox for a few years now.
As a Sony fan, I hope they can bring competition back to Sony because I think Sony have become very complacent the generation. They haven't had time try and whilst there's been a few good exclusives, nothing on the level or as memorable as previous PS generations.
I disagree with your blanket statement but overall yeah I think they need to step up more. However, I’m not sure that has anything with xbox but rather with the disruptions we had at the beginning of the generation. Covid, and then the shortage in chips, then the ram…
Yes the industry and it's workforce thank Phil for the massive industry consolidation, thousands fired and still being fired because of MS buyups and for making people like Bobby Kotick even richer.
Thats true. Bobby did get a little richer. But name a CEO who isn't rich or getting richer. When I look around the industry I see a bunch of people getting fired. Not just from Microsoft. That is, unless you think the devs from Bluepoint deserved to be fired. Unfortunately, things like this will continue to happen whether you like it or not.
Can you list other companies that are doing mass layoffs because of spending $80 billion on massive industry consolidation? Can you list other companies that purchased two of the largest publishers to make the industry less competitive?
Your fangirling over MS's corporate greed doesn't work on me kid, it does expose you though.
Was he? It became slightly better after he took over, but it turned in to a gen of just halo gears and forza. And he tried to monopolise massive parts of the industry with ridiculous acquisitions that ironically lead to the opposite, a near complete collapse of xbox console sales, and putting their tentpole IPs everywhere, all but abandoning xbox consoles going forward for a PC disguised like one.
Id say his legacy is complicated, but if you focus on all the bad and ignore the positive things anyone can seem bad. He did have some positive impacts on the xbox platform.
Launched and grew Gamepass-
Invested in backwards compatibilty enabling thousands of older titles to play on modern hardware-
Grew the xbox box first party lineup
Brought xbox into the PC space
Hardware and feature improvements for xbox consoles
Pushed for cross-play support
And there's more but if you asked xbox gamers they'd say that he is viewed as overall a positive thing for the brand. No one expects non xbox gamers to say many positive things about him or the brand. Project Helix happened under his leadership and that is seen as a positive for the brand too.
Launching and growing Gamepass as a positive? When it was $1 absolutely! This is also what fueled the death of Xbox as the standard living room console
Agree. With how XBox imploded after the attempt to monopolize the industry, and one of the worst launches of a new console, we might be edging to Phil being a disaster to Xbox in the long run.
Big changes are being made at the top of Microsoft's gaming division.
MS knack for one upping bad news from other companies so soon afterwards is pretty astounding lol. Can't say I'm surprised though, this gen has been dreadful for the xbox brand.
Being replaced by an AI boss exec though, yikes.
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I always had this theory that they both wait to see if the other announces something bad so they can announce their bad thing, thus the two talking points bleed together enough to cause overall confusion online.
It then becomes just a big bad thing for the industry rather than a specific company. Wouldn't be surprised if Ubisoft were up next again at this point.
Huh... well that is sure interesting.
@crash, is it bad news though? I mean many here have said he needed to leave... now he and Bond are leaving. That should be good news to some.
It's more the fact the person incharge of AI being taking over. That's a very deliberate decision.
Xbox fans have wanted Phil gone for a long time he's probably the least favourite exec of all time behind matrick purely because uber his leadership he decived fans and took the Xbox brand multiplatform
Considering MS's obsession with ai, this is probably a demotion for her. Still, I enjoy poking fun at Spencer but ultimately it's sad to see him go, he's made mistakes for sure but I think he genuinely cared about the Xbox brand. Sharma seems very corporate to me and certainly not the Spencer replacement Xbox fans would have hoped for.
Replies(7)I'm convinced "early retirement" is just them wanting to save both themselves the embarrassment and them getting forced out without the drama.
You bow out naturally while we make it all look like it's part of the plan, both of us look as competent as we can make out during the fallout
Jim Ryan was the exactly the same.
Replies(1)“ Phil has 3 days to clean out his office?”
Why spread fake news? The press release clearly says that Phil and Sarah are staying on throughout the summer to advise the new person.
Here, we spoke with Phil Spencer about his outlook for the future, including discussing the new information revealed at the "Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast" held on the first day of the Tokyo Game Show.
They are integrating everything into one platform (PC-like experience), that says it all. There is no longer a regular Xbox console, games are installed from Steam etc. on the next console/PC hybrid [if desired].
If the rog costs over 1000k with the tax and shipping included to Canadian consumers , what will the hybrid Xbox / pc cost ? If I were to go fully pc next gen I wouldn’t want to be locked behind an ecosystem after putting over 1000k out for the console/pc/hybrid . It’s already off to a bad start
the screen itself was key factor for Xbox ally x final retail price..the console wont have it.
but even if it did cost 1000$, if it can play new PC games in high settings then price is kinda justified.
the screen itself was key factor for Xbox ally x final retail price..the console wont have it.
but even if it did cost 1000$, if it can play new PC games in high settings then price is kinda justified.
If it cost that much if better be upgradable otherwise it won't have the biggest advantages of either PC (upgradeability) or console (price/performance).
And this is the point I don't think Microsoft understands. Investing in their ecosystem after 2025 doesn't make sense to me. People playing on console are going to look at this price and scoff. It is probably also too late to make an ultra-powerful console: visual fidelity and frame rates are really in a good spot right now. With next generation platforms, no one should really be expecting anything astronomical. That will take serious power and the hardware to do that is simply not practical, especially in this economy with this US president.
Launching this thing has exclusively one benefit: You can play PlayStation and PC-exclusive games on Xbox (assuming it really does allow for Steam). But even then, why would any spend this much on static hardware?
I don't get this direction at all. Maybe they really do have pressure to get that 30% profit margin. If that's the case, I wouldn't count on them cutting down the price of hardware and selling it at a steep loss by allowing games on other platforms. But hey, they're the trillion-dollar company, so I might be just be talking about something I don't understand.
A console primarily is a choice by budget. And people have
• different budgets and
• only even want to spend different budgets
I think it's a bad business choice them leaving the console business.
And in turn a good business choice from Sony to keep building a classic home console with PS6. (Which I highly doubt won't even exceed nor even touch PS5 Pro's release price.)
When they bought Zenimax and ActivisionBlizzardKing, they should have upped their Xbox support program to 100bn and spend the rest of it for building studios & creating new games, giving their developers freedom & full creative control.
But they hit the roof at 75bn. This was it.
And then went to maximize profits by 30% starting Fall 2023, according to Bloomberg, and put their bets only on "Call of Duty in Gamepass will do".
I can already picture their next premium Xbox failing at a 90:10 chance.
Not budged, if i want i can buy pc for 10k , but i prefer consoles, because games are better optimized on consoles and more cozy to sit in couch and play on huge 2 meter tv and have dolby atmos setup + ps5 controller is cool + nostalgia = i will always play on consoles
"Not budged, if i want i can buy pc for 10k“
Yeah. That's my second point above, like "or only even want to spend a specific budget".
But console gaming, no matter the direction of people's reasons, is a budget choice.
There's been a market for "a gaming box cheaper than a top gaming PC" for almost 40 years now.
And it will continue to exist.
Optimized doesn't really mean better or the best version or experience you can have though . I'm ready to get into PC gaming again soon as I really don't want to play most new games on my base PS5, having to choose between gfx and performance is such a drag as choosing either/or is a hindered experience and I've felt it for some time now . I could waste money on a Pro or timegate myself till the ps6 comes out but I think I'm gonna step into the future now.
I'm like the complete opposite of you as my console setup is like a PC setup with a 27 monitor , gamer chair , big desk , headset and even have a KB hooked up to my ps5 .it's so hard to play competitive and mmo games on a big screen lol.
Console gaming is absolutely not just a budget choice. We want the exclusive games, better experience and to support the brands we like. Budgets do come into the picture but this is the same for every industry, including PC’s. This is why “budget gaming pc’s” with similar prices never sell like ps/nintendo.
Another Xbox console will be DOA. Just stick to making games and leave the hardware behind. Xbox is over.
I don't have an XBOX but this 3 points are some of the things i will fix on my PS4.
Lots of features from ps3 are not in the PS4 like video chat and the ability to read my external memorie hard drives etc.
Only thing which should be of concern is the E3 show. If its a proper balance between games and apps or the what the console does besides games, something Sony's never gotten *exactly* right, then Spencer is certainly the guy the XB1 needs. Possibly the industry.
Sorry I have to disagree with the article. Top 3 things Xbox needs to work on ASAP:
1) Games with Gold on Xbox One. This is a sticking point that many consumers are starting to see as a difference maker in purchasing. The Xbox One needs to say something concrete on launching the plan sooner rather than later and it can't wait to launch in the fall. Ideally it should launch before E3...I would even say announcing at Pax East would be a mega ton news drop and tremendous fan service.
2) Get indies into the store front as well as offer up sale specials for Xbox Gold only on new games... even if its just $5 off at launch its a welcome strategy.
3) External HDD support... again this has to be a priority for the system since we are now getting to the point of HDD drives being full. Adding to that I would also welcome an update game install system that allowed faster install and selective install (similar to PS4 SP vs MP first) so if we do have to delete a game we can chose what to install when we do it.
Games For Gold is definitely one of the first things they need to address, if not rebalance the pricing structure for Gold. a price reduction to $30 would certainly bless MS with some positive feedback from gamers.
A Kinectless bundle is a must. I've grown to love my Kinect, but it's something that most consumers don't care about. It's barely utilized from a gaming standpoint, so Phil should re-enforce his position by coming out with a $400 SKU without it. Prove to us you really want to get back to a gaming-only focus.
The indie revision is already obvious.
I'm glad they continue to update X1, though. I want voice messaging back and the ability to delete content off of the HDD.
Besides the console itself, they need to invest in actual first party talent. Enlist some developers to the Xbox brand, or secure another super franchise. They can't rely on the same tricycle of IP's - Halo, Forza and Gears.
Shenmue is soooo overrated. Gameplay would not hold up well.