IndustryGamers is proud to present the latest in our ongoing "Better Know" series, which gets a more personal look at some of the games industry's biggest names. EA COO Peter Moore has become of the more popular industry figures, having overseen launches of both Sega's Dreamcast and Microsoft's Xbox 360. He moved on to join EA Sports and now is helping to guide all of Electronic Arts as Chief Operating Officer.
To celebrate the Xbox 360's 20th anniversary, Eurogamer sits down with former Xbox boss Peter Moore to reflect on the console's creation and puglistic launch.
Part 2 tomorrow. Good read.
One could make a case that Xbox Live was the quarterback. Getting the ball into the hands of millions of players. Connecting their community. Quite the time. Plus we had the push to be this all in one entertainment unit. Everyone had to evolve, in a hurry.
I was a ps3 fanboy back then but boy do I miss the 360 and the competition, the games, the fun that xbox gave.
I unfortunately could only focus on one console because I was but a child with no money back then lol. What a generation that was.
Good gen, I agree.
A case could be made that Xbox 360 made PS3 better over time. Got a unified friend list, in-game messaging, trophy support. I forget who did cloud saves first, but that got patched in. Prices came down, features went up.
Wasn’t all roses mind you (the online pass experiment, paid online), but the positives probably outweigh the negatives.
It’s too bad they didn’t focus on making games instead of paying for IP to not be on PS. I have always bought every console and didn’t care about competition between them until MS showed they were bad for gaming and consoles. I bought the original Xbox and 360. If MS would have taken a different approach I’d still be playing on Xbox.
They had no choice though. OG xbox sold 25 mil? Who is going to develop an exclusive for your new console for free? There is no money in that. Did what they had to do to compete against goliath Sony
I remember xbox was actively inciting the console war. Every xbox magazine was chuck full of console war propaganda. They didn’t do themselves a lot of good by not building games internally. Halfway through that gen 360 stopped having exclusives because with PlayStation install base rising it became too expensive for MS to keep buying game exclusivity.
Absolutely! And this was their down fall come around 2011 after the Gears 3 launch. There was nothing. Bungie was gone. They kept Halo but didn't have the talent to keep Halo what it always was.
They kept Gears ip, but lost Epic's relationship and didn't have the talent to keep gears what it was.
MS was eventually found out that they severely lack good internal development management and talent. It is expensive to keep 3rd party exclusives going while your competitor continues to grow as well.
Combine that with the 2013 xbox one launch and this is how we get here today. Xbox turning into a publisher with their tails between their legs.
Microsoft definitely started it tho.
i remember it well; all the attacks in interviews, on twitter etc.
and then the infamous e3 conference came and they introduced the kinect amd wkth all the nonsense they thought people wanted and were immediately humbled by fans.
"If Microsoft had the choice, would they make hardware? No"
Gonna be honest, Microsoft just lost and there's no one there to replace them. Yet? Until then, Microsoft, please keep fighting on the hardware front. Every little bit helps. Not interested in your subscription plans, but Sony can't be left without any competition.
It's funny because if Valve decided to go all on in with a console rather than the Steam Machine bulls*** they did in 2015 they could have really provided some competition and with the way Microsoft is going now, they could have effectively replaced them given the chance.
Free online play, having your PC Steam library on your console and being able to download any game you have, the exact same level of mod support PC offers, games like GMod or the Black Mesa fan remake of Half Life that you can't get on consoles, Steam sales etc, they had a lot of options to really put Sony and Microsoft in a tough position. Not to mention you have their games as exclusives and whatever else they make if they really push making games again.
And a good push for more controller support on traditional KB/M games on PC as well.
Tbh I honestly don't think they could. PC players wouldn't be moving to a console and what's to tempt in PS players? They can play pretty much all if the games as it and the console would be at a likely much cheaper price point. Sure there's free online, but that's balanced by much cheaper games on PS (physical)
Maybe Sony doesn't need competition in the niche it has in the console market. Nintendo doesn't have competition in the corner it has carved out for itself... PC doesn't have competition because by nature, PC's are designed to be more powerful than consoles and PC gamers are expected to pay the premium required to do so. If someone else comes in, maybe it needs to be in a way that shakes up the market instead of just having another copycat that gives gamers within those respective markets something to fight about.
I agree, it’s about building the brand to a level that it becomes niche because the games on offer are unique and better than the competitors.
Microsoft had its mojo in the 360 era but lost it. All hopes on Perfect Dark and Fable now. They could build it back quickly but choose not to. Halo could be great. Flight Sim ‘24 could be great. Microsoft is done chasing losses with these franchises it seems though and would rather put its efforts into porting than making sure their own console is the best place to play. This after building their entire business model on subscriptions.
It’s hard to say M$ gives a crap about its fan base now, that’s their issue and why their “niche” is the casual series s player that pays their Gamepass sub and only plays Fortnite
Everyone needs competition. It's what drives innovation and prevents price gouging and the like in the market. Why would Sony put out better hardware or better software features if they didn't have to compete with Xbox? Do you think we got NVMe SSDs because Sony just felt like doing it? No, they needed an edge over Microsoft that was more than just computing power. It was competition that forced Sony to abandon the PS3 cell architecture, which caused issues for developers regardless of the benefits. Now developers are all operating on the same x86 architecture and saving developers time and money.
What competition?!
Microsoft was never a competitor once they gave up on third party contracts… and even then, that was not competing… that was just baiting Sony into the “war”.
Microsoft “sold” themselves as something..
But never delivered.
Over a decade without one new AAA game.
Fake “power” fights with their pieced together generic pc parts.
So what is this “competition” you speak of?
Sony delivered groundbreaking games before Microsoft, they will after Microsoft just becomes a publisher.
Microsoft got what they wanted…
A leash on Sony per the electrical engineering front to monopolizing computing.
That is and has been their only goal.
Are you a physical only gamer? I'm trying to figure out why some are against gamepass.
PS you keep your games forever as long as you’re subbed versus Gamepass where what you can only access what they choose and games go away controlling when you play.
M$ started pay for online. This is a move to pad bottom line not make a healthy industry.
Yes it hurts physical games release, gaming culture stores like GameStop too, like a million reasons Gamepass is not good for the industry, I could go on…
Should we talk about how they bought up half the industry and gutted staff?
I don't want someone telling me when I can play a game I want to play (for third-party games) nor do I tend to play games on Game Pass. Avowed is a rare item on Game Pass I'll play and I just bought it. Now I can play it whenever without having to go in, resub, play it, and remind myself to unsubscribe when I'm done. I'll also save myself more money in the long run sense I'll play it over a few months or again down the road and I will have paid just a single price and not $15/month whenever I want to play it.
Microsoft was never competition there a trillion dollar company. They have no competition thats the problem. The west has always sucked at consoles. Thats why the west had lost every console war
Yeah, no. Microsoft took away a massive chunk of PS market reach with the 360. Literally the definition of competition. Sony still hasn't fully recovered from the market reach loss.
because no ones participating for a decade, knly ms is.
and the lost the last two gens
The corporate greedy company entered the gaming industry and somehow convinced gamers they were a gaming company that cared about games. Now we are where we are and people still root for M$ for some reason. I get that there aren’t many choices but this company is the one that is most likely to put out incomplete games that lacks quality control and they’ve proven that.
I’m all about healthy competition, but M$ moves to make money any means necessary, they hype what they know is trash, while Sony and Nintendo at least try to push the medium forward.
Sony doesn't need any competition. Lately they seem to destroying themselves without it.
I don’t like this gen as much as the rest but compare to other competitions they are doing pretty good. And they are killing their main rival in hardware sales.
Just because both of us don’t like the direction doesn’t mean they are destroying themselves.
They are actually doing pretty good compare to other companies right now.
Pretty good? Dude don't bend a knee for any corporation. They are trash this gen. If you are happy with this gen then you truly have blinders on
@inurfoxhole
When I said we both don’t like the direction they are going and I don’t like this gen as much what do you think I’m implying?
That they are doing good this gen for me as a gamer?
Im saying in a business aspect, they are doing good. No where near “destroying” themselves.
You can deny all you want but maybe you have your blinders on or your just narrow minded.
It feels like the video game console is at a crossroads. With Xbox Series X and S floundering in the ‘console war’, Sony suggesting PlayStation 5 is approaching the second half of its life after missing sales targets, and uncertainty around the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, there is growing concern that the traditional video game console business could be under threat.
It's obvious that MS is leaving the console biz. MS may have tons of money, but that doesn't mean they want to keep losing money on the gaming division to prove a point. Thanks Phil
It's likely but not entirely obvious. The messaging is leaving a lot open to interpretation, and they haven't forked over their crown jewels to PS just yet.
It's POSSIBLE that the upcoming Xbox exclusives do so well they see an uptick in console sales and... change their mind??
I feel like it's way too late in the console cycle for that, by the time some of them are out we are 1 year further. I think a better bet is to maybe make them with next gen in mind and make them cross gen between this and the next as to give their next console a great launch if the games turn out well. I feel that's their best bet to stay in the console business.
You should pray they don't exit. If they do, you will see the collapse of the gaming industry.
Here we go again with that false sense of relevancy for the xbox platform.
I told you yesterday that the gaming industry was fine before MS entered the space and it will continue to do even better when they're finally gone. MS is/are not the ones keeping this industry healthy, far from it and most won't even bat an eye if they're gone.
...And Having lots of money doesn't mean success it just means you can keep failing for a long time.
They will just leave room for another competitor. Maybe someone who is more succesful at competing.
Nah. We might see some real competition again. Maybe from a company that actually loves gaming. Like Sega.
Ridiculous. Acting like MS are the linchpin holding everything down and if they let go, then gaming will be ruined and prices will soar astronomically and creativity will be stifled and thwarted at every turn. It's a fallacy. I'm not saying it's preferrable to have MS out of the console space, but I am saying that all this fearmongering over what will happen if MS were to bow out is overexaggerated and overblown.
Collapse? It was here before Xbox and it'll be here long after. What exactly do they do to benefit it? Barely any game output, theyve taken studios and made them worse and they've hurt it trying to make everyone move to streaming.
Haha.
I'm actually laughing in real life at that
Why exactly?
What are Microsoft contributing to the industry that will be missed?
They're just taking a slot that should belong to someone better.
My vote is for Valve and a Steambox.
Since you guys clearly don't understand how this all works, I won't explain it to you. You guys will simply see it if it happens, then you'll quietly sit there acting like you saw it coming.
But you can research what Pachter and the other analysts have stated...
🤷
If anything, Xbox leaving the industry is actually what will save it and make it thrive. They don't contribute anything good to the industry and if anything, any bad practices today, they're the ones responsible.
Take a time machine, go back in the past and erase Xbox from existence, you'd come back to a present where the industry is much better. Remove Sony and/or Nintendo though, there is likely not going to be anything left.
@Aloy
With competition sony has failed to deliver a diverse generation. Has shifted focus to Gaas, has put the support of their vr platform into the hands of PC, has jacked up the price of their service, is moving you into day and date on PC... Be careful what you close your eyes to. If you wish for MS to be gone, sony is heading in the same direction with less funding
We won't see a collapse but we've seen how greedy Sony has become this generation with a clear advantage. I dread to think what they'd do with no competition at all.
@theenigma
The same can be said if not worst about Sony. Who lose $2 billion of value, lose 26% of there operating income, missed sales goal by 4 million, and has no 1st party games coming out till next year? Console sales are not helping Sony. They are a much smaller company and how long can they afford to lose so much money?
They are not losing money. They make profit. They bring in more then they spend. It's a business thing. Get a grown up to explain it to you.
You know a dropping stock price is not like that actually had to give 2 billion to someone. That didn't sell their shares. And failed to meet sales expectations? Still sold over 20 million in a year. You must be dizzy from all that spin.
Whats crazy is that when some xbox fans were cheering the acquisition of a large part of the multiplatform gaming, they didn’t realize they were cheering on what was to pave the way for xbox to leave console space.
Oh the irony. Karma?
True ^
Yup, they celebrated taking games away from others even though they weren’t getting anything they wouldn’t have got anyway. Now it turns out it was all a plan to end Xbox as a console. Heh 🤦
Exactly right everyone thinks Microsoft is willing to bankroll an underperforming division simply because they can afford it however that's not how these companies operate they might bankroll something for a year or two while not gets established however now is the time they bare expecting a return on the investment and it's clear Xbox is underperforming.
Good article and this is not a duplicate. The link that @Maximus Prime shared is just a small portion of the full interview. This post is the full interview.
Times are changing quick, the same ol way the industry been is changing. Where people play is changing.
“What I think Phil is doing is setting up some smoke signals that we're thinking very differently”
I’m surprised how slowly Microsoft is moving toward Xbox as a software platform. They usually don’t care so much about upsetting their customers with unpopular changes like they do with every other version of Windows.
yeah like they just very recently removed support for Android apps on W11 without much of a warning. simply because they claimed that not many are using them. Sony got a huge flak when removing OtherOS support form the PS3, I think the same should be happening to MS to for removing the apk support. such a dick move!
That is surprising, I know big companies can't move fast, but they're moving at a glacial pace, everything they've done with Xbox for the past decade has been moving at such a slow pace. I suppose they have money to burn with how big the company is.
This "console market hasn't grown narrative " is overblown. The market has grown just not as fast as say smartphones. But so what? There is still money to be made in the business and just because Microsoft has failed doesn't mean the entire industry is facing sudden collapse. Gaming will be fine, every industry has to go through periods of restructuring. AAA games are made becuase its what attracts gamers the most and is where they spend the most money. (Demand/supply) Microsoft abandoning hardware should have happened years ago, they clearly lost interest at a base level in producing games and/or paying 3rd parties to back during the tail end of the 360 generation. Tired of hearing about the future of gaming, just make great games and/or invest in one's made by other to attract people to your platform.
@derek Right! It's so obvious that all Xbox has needed to do is create great first party games like every successful console has done since the original Nintendo. It's not rocket science lol I have lost so much respect for Microsoft over the last 10 years and their rabid fanboys that do not represent their base as a whole. Literally just MAKE Great games and people will invest in your platform. It's not rocket science or excuses. It really is that simple lol
This victim mentality that Phil has instilled this generation has really turned me off the brand for good. Really enjoyed OG Xbox and, while I couldn't wholeheartedly support 360 due to that atrocious failure rate, they had some killer games and services. Ever since Gears of War judgement dropped in 2011 and they shifted completely to Kinect, it's been so bad.
It all started going down hill after Don Matrick stated "stick with the xbox 360 if your don't have any internet.
That man singlehandedly destroyed the xbox brand then jumped ship as it was sinking 😂
Ninver,
Don had the look of a sleazy businessman, but I don't understand why that moment gets a bad rep.
They were super honest in that moment, and I have to say, it sucks that this is the direction the company would take, but it was such a mask off moment that really highlights their plan.
Nowadays, you have Phil, who isn't direct but is very much still going in the same direction.
What it comes down to, at least from my observation, is Don and Phil were/are just the messengers. Don took a dive following the backlash, so they repackaged the messaging approach with a new person to make it seem like the company is taking a new approach. Nothing has really changed.
So I don't think Mattrick did anything that he wasn't asked to do by his own higher-ups.
He's like a landmark really. Just a reference to a point in time when things got bad. In reality, it was Microsoft's vision for Gen 8 going forward that destroyed them, not Mattrick.
That's my read of things, anyway.
Don was honest, Phil is sleazy! don't blame just Don for that downfall, Phil was part of the team back then too. the one announcing the price for the xbone on stage was Phil, remember?
Reminds me of when the Wii U's poor sales led to speculation that consoles are dead. It's so repetitive and annoying.
Some people act like we're all about to switch over to cloud gaming when the internet infrastructure and data caps alone would take decades to accommodate such a change.
Google Stadia was shut down and died a horrific death just 1 year ago. lol
If you are looking to something like the PS2 as the measuring stick... keep in mind that there was a percentage of units sold that were replacements for bad lasers and then you had others buy replacements because of model revisions. I'd venture a guess and say the real market saturation point is somewhere between 125-140m. And yes that includes handhelds because even those have users who invested in different variants over the coarse of their lifetime.
You can't truly use units sold as a measure of individual owners. you are right though, the market has certainly grown from something like the 8/16bit era to today, but nowhere near as quickly or as large as the smartphone/tablet market. You figure there are entire swaths of people who dont play consoles/handhelds but they do play on their phones.
Agreed. I think if you look at the number of concurrent players playing the popular games of the time, it's always breaking records, not decreasing. Sure there are ppl that play on their phones, but a crap ton of kids and adults are sitting down at their computers or consoles to play. Are they all playing the same kinds of games i used to play? not really. But that doesn't mean consoles/computers are going away - they're gonna play games.
It’s grown based on what. What PS console has ever hit 200 million? Even with Xbox doing poorly it’s the same customers who were already going to buy a PS console
@353, Console sales are not the end goal but the gateway they're not the only measure of growth. You sell consoles to sell games and subscriptions to your platform and that has grown substantially since the ps1/ps2 generations. Revenue and profits have grown meaning the business has grown. Sony's concern is with their margins which have shrunk recently (some from the cost of producing a ps5 not decreasing like in past cycles, some from paying off the bungie purchase, some from growing development costs). So they cut jobs and will look to were they can save on development. Not saying that decision will be proven correct but this is a normal but unfortunate part of the business cycle and its happening across tech. You're talking about the addressable market, but as Layden said if you want to attract new people to console gaming then different games will have to be made then your traditional gta, cod, GoW etc that will interest them.
He was more fun when he was at Xbox!