Before I start, I must confess I was never going to write an E3 blog post. I wasn’t even going to write one after I saw the conferences. What I saw is what I expected to happen which is something I got shot down, here on N4G, for being boring. What change my mind were the endless articles about who won this year. I didn’t mind who they picked (various sites went one way, others went another) but it is the misunderstanding of what Microsoft needed to bring to the table that has me disappointed with these articles. I feel the Microsoft conference showed a lack of understanding of what they needed to bring to E3 and could show a weakness in their leader Phil Spencer.
To understand where I am coming from we must take a trip down memory lane to last year where Microsoft revealed the Xbox One. Let’s not beat around the bush, the reaction was fairly poor. Microsoft was heavily criticised for its policies and price but it was also criticised for putting media features first and not games. This poor reaction combined with performance discrepancy has created the position Microsoft is in today; not leading in the markets they used to dominate in and not making ground in those regions they never controlled. It is a tricky position to be in as Sony showed with the last generation (they never recovered from the early losses in regions such as the UK or the US).
Fans have been crying out to Microsoft to show the games and leave the unnecessary feature talk for another time. I am also with these people as Microsoft needed to show the games to convince people the Xbox One vas value for money. Phil Spencer responded to the fans saying that their E3 conference will be full of games and only about games. Anyone who watched the conference would agree he did keep his promise. He showed lots of games that were coming to the Xbox One. The problem was Phil’s E3 was less about selling the Xbox One and more about selling the idea that these gaming exist. Phil brought the wrong type of games to the Xbox One’s conference and totally misunderstood what needed to be done as head of the Xbox division.
In tradition E3 fashion Geoff Keighley (thanks totallynotglenn not sure why I got that wrong) was there for the post conference interview. I was pleasantly surprised Geoff actually asked a decent question. He asked Phil, from what they showed, what would convince people to get an Xbox One instead of a PS4 in light of the possibility that the third party games could perform better on the PS4. It is an issue Microsoft never addressed in their conference. Their strongest showing were mainly third party games which is a point Geoff brought out in his questions to Phil. Microsoft ended up selling games not their system and Microsoft are not in a position to do that. Considering it is likely (due to what has happened before) the PS4 version would perform better why is Microsoft wasting time showing these games? I would understand if they were running away with the sales as more people would be buying these games for their system at not any other system. Even in the future it makes sense when you have 20-30 million units out there.
Phil has listened to the fans without thinking about the business side of E3 with I think boils down to his gaming routes. Gamers liked Microsoft’s conference because it showed a load of games but is it going to make people buy their console instead of their competitors (for what they showed). It is highly unlikely for what I said in the previous paragraph. Microsoft is still in the same position it was before E3 as the strongest parts of their conference advertised the PS4 as well (which is worrying for them).
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
Actually, you know what would be a great E3 blog post. One criticizing all the E3 critics. The Electronic Entertainment (something many of those critics seems to have misunderstood) Expo is still going on, yet claims of "mediocre" and "[insert favorite console here] Won E3!" Abound.
As a Sony fan, I have never hidden what I love about my chosen system. However, I wanted Microsoft to really have a great E3. It is because of Microsoft that SONY knew they must create a killer system and that they could not rest on their laurels.
I think that SONY came out swinging again and I like the services that they are offering. But, as a gamer, I need MS to be strong in order to make my chosen platform stronger.
I would blog about the E3 critics, but it would be too short and would amount to just one question:
If your so disappointed with gaming, then why don't you find something else to do with your life?
E3 is not an advertising billing for previously released products.
It's a trade fair to showcase ideas and future products in motion.
If Microsoft's goal at E3 was to shift momentum away from the PS4 toward the X1, then they utterly failed, which is why I think this blog is on-point. Microsoft didn't need a great E3. They needed an E3 that made people stop considering a PS4 and instead choose an X1. And they didn't have that sort of conference. The games shown look great to long-time Xbox fans and current X1 owners, but to the rest of the world? Nah. People will continue buying PS4 in droves and X1 will continue to struggle, even it its home territory.
I think that Microsoft's E3 was very solid indeed, concisely about the games.
I think that, in terms of the exclusives or timed arrangements that I didn't previously know about (so not including Uncharted 4 which I did know about for example) Microsoft might even have won for my tastes.
Disney Fantasia
Ori and the Blind Forest
Inside (timed Xbox One exclusive from Playdead, makers of Phil Spencer favourite Limbo)
Crackdown
Scalebound
PS4's Bloodborne , Abzu and Let It Die were most of interest on their side.
And , yes, they tend to look slicker than some similar-looking Xbox One games.
A new Sunset Overdrive trailer which somehow managed to be even better than the original great one. Plus gameplay with Ted Price showing more of the game world.
Not having anything new to show of Quantum Break plus showing their virtual reality headset and that there are demos for it means that it is certainly possible to argue that Sony had the best showing. However do we really need Little Big Planet 3? I'd like to see a new Motorstorm announced.
Of course Microsoft don't actually position themselves as 'us v them' against Sony. Whereas Sony certainly do- they made a point of saying how multiformats will look best on PS4. So Microsoft's 'ace up the sleeve' has to be exclusives that have no exact Sony equivalent e.g. Sunset Overdrive.
Actually MS did exactly what they needed to do.
They offered system options for "every" gamer.
They removed the paywall.
They gave more power to developers.
They gave their fans Halo in a huge Christmas package that is very affordable.
They announced tons of apps without clogging up stage time.
They announced big exclusives coming soon: Forza Horizons and Sunset Overdrive.
They announced a beta for Halo 5 coming ""this"" year.
They showed great third party support, the two top selling franchises COD and AC were shown on their stage with content coming from those games first on X1.
The highest rated Kinect franchise was announced as returning very soon for fans of the device.
They showed Crackdown, Scalebound, Halo Gaurdians, Phantom Dust for next year as exclusives.
They were perfect. They did everything they needed to and then some... all while still leaving Quantum Break and possibly Gears and the next Rare IP to be at GamesCon. It was epic.