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How would you grade Phil Spencer’s tenure as head of Xbox?
Daneel Elijah
Gold Member
B. Xbox could have been disbanded if not for him. But he could have done better so no A or S.
Killjoy-NL
Member
S-tier, if you consider him being put in place to use this gen as transition towards 3rd party publishing.
Jinzo Prime
Member
You can't do much worse.
...except Don Matrick, fuck him.
...except Don Matrick, fuck him.
GHG
Member
Jinzo Prime
Member
He gave them video games? Where?
Chuck Berry
Gold Member
Damn and I was JUST thinking we hadn't had a fucking Spencer thread in ages
Skifi28
Member
If Phil doesn't talk about something in two days, something talks about Phil. It's a law at this point.
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graywolf323
Member
same though I wouldn’t be as generous for last gen, overall a D only because he kept Nadella from shuttering Xbox but otherwise he’s really just been abject failure especially when it comes to games which is the most important thing
he’s overseen the downfall of Halo which was one of my favorite franchises before Spencer took over XGS in 2008, he might not be why Bungie sought their freedom but everything that’s happened to the franchise under 343 has been directly under his management
Putonahappyface
Member
Gamer_By_Proxy
Member
F for Xbox.
D for Playstation, Nintendo, PC
D for Playstation, Nintendo, PC
Kurotri
Member
F. Buying an Xbox after 360 was a huge mistake and I'm glad I managed to sell the Series X somehow. Pulled me in with promises and all I got was nothing but a clown show of the highest calibre, getting worse each day. The only positive was being able to play a game or two thanks to Gamepass but that is not enough.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
joke thread?
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Horrible studio management that killed the brand. Focus on business gimmicks rather than games.
Cannot give him anything other than an F
Xbox used to be exciting and cool….now it’s a typical Microsoft product….
Cannot give him anything other than an F
Xbox used to be exciting and cool….now it’s a typical Microsoft product….
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GametimeUK
Member
Killed the brand and and solidified Sony as number 1.
S+
S+
SEGAvangelist
Member
I give it a B because he has to ride the line between an Xbox and Microsoft guy. Even though he's done damage of late, I think anyone Microsoft would allow to replace him would be even worse.
elmos-acc
Member
Nobody actually wants or plays video games, we want console war ammo.
Angry_Megalodon
Member
Jigsaah
Gold Member
He was S rank in the beginning...literally saving Xbox from utter annihilation. He launched the Xbox One X...which went a long way to fixing the trouncing they were getting from PS4, even to the point where it became the best system to play multiplats from a graphical standpoint. Gamepass is divisive, I love it...but I can also see why people don't. It seems to be unsustainable in it's current offering. The Xbox Series S was a mistake and I fully blame Phil for this as well. Phil also dropped the ball on minding his own studios. Redfall is unexcusable. Halo should have been passed off to another studio after Halo 5. While the acquisitions have paid off somewhat, I feel there should be more. There's been more than enough time to pivot.
On a Doomsday clock I feel Phil is closer to midnight than he has ever been. Overall, I give him a B, but his trajectory is trending downward right now.
On a Doomsday clock I feel Phil is closer to midnight than he has ever been. Overall, I give him a B, but his trajectory is trending downward right now.
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James Sawyer Ford
Member
Jigsaah
Gold Member
How soon we forget Soup Gate. Checkerboard rendering vs. Native 4k? Ring any bells?
Prior to the Xbox One X...Playstation 4 could run most games at 1080p with a more solid framerate with Xbox One barely making 900p in the same games.
Digital Foundry was a Playstation fan's safe space. Until the Xbox One X came out.
Xbox One X Shadow of War shows profound improvements over PS4 Pro
While we can draw conclusions about PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X from their respective specs sheets, real-life comp…
www.eurogamer.net
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U n i o n 0015
Member
I appreciate Xbox's PC/console parity, and generally, the design of the Series consoles, but that's all Spencer's leadership has brought.
TrippleA345
Member
G.
As a gamer he's been great I would say a A. Yeah the brand could use some more 10/10 games that get people talking but theres more than enough games for me to play. Everything else has been great. I could care less if ms, sony, or nintendo is in whatever order they happen to be in.
At a business/corporate lvl he's prob an F I guess it all depends how long a leash ms gives him to turn it around. Currently bleeding money and losing marketshare a big F warranted.
At a business/corporate lvl he's prob an F I guess it all depends how long a leash ms gives him to turn it around. Currently bleeding money and losing marketshare a big F warranted.
panda-zebra
Member
People voting S should know it's not short for Spendthrift.
nowhat
Member
I'm sure many of us would like to give him D. Not sure if he's a willing participant though.
Alan Wake
Member
He started well. He buried Kinect, made sure they launched the Xbox One S and then the impressive One X. He unveiled the back compat program, which was amazing fan service. And then Game Pass, which unfortunately didn't work as intended in the end. Up until 2020 I had high hopes, the Series X was really cool.
And then... just disappointments. Xbox is in a terrible state right now. The house is burning and Spencer is sitting there, apparently not concerned at all. After 22 years of green gaming I am step by step moving over to PlayStation.
And then... just disappointments. Xbox is in a terrible state right now. The house is burning and Spencer is sitting there, apparently not concerned at all. After 22 years of green gaming I am step by step moving over to PlayStation.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
I gave him a 'D'. The only reasons it's not a 'F' are:
However, he has ultimately failed at being an effective leader for a console platform brand as seen with Xbox's dying sales globally not just in hardware but also software (which I'd posit is the real reason for the multiplat push; 40-something million lifetime hardware sales wouldn't be an issue if attach rates in software sales/revenue were large enough). He failed to spearhead enough industry-leading, mass market-appealing 1P games to drive interest in Xbox consoles. He pushed for a Day 1 PC strategy that undermined the value or importance of their console in the market.
He pushed for Game Pass, a solution in search of a problem, which conditioned sizable chunks of remaining hardcore/core Xbox enthusiasts to either not buy games, or buy them very cheap. Meaning the Game Pass model undermined the B2P sales market for the console among a big chunk of the gamers who'd do the most B2P spending otherwise. Those who didn't remain on Xbox moved to platforms like PlayStation and, especially, Steam, taking most or all of their spending dollars for 1P and 3P games to non-Xbox platforms (a cautionary tale for Sony/SIE if they are considering a continued PC multiplat strategy with no changes or with more aggression in porting cadence).
He was forced to buy large 3P publishers to make Microsoft gaming relevant after big IP like Halo and Gears were seeing major declines, and leaked emails/internal memos showed their intent with M&As was to leverage parts of MS with real profits to buy out as many 3P as possible to isolate Sony in severe foreclosure strategies, likely with various shades of anticompetitive practices laced along (predatory pricing, price-fixing, price-shifting etc.) to aid in this. The fact they've seemingly 180'd on this is less out of their own desire, and more because regulators forced concessions making the original strategy nigh-impossible to carry out.
All of this happened under Phil Spencer's leadership and if it wasn't for the good points I listed earlier, I'd easily give him an 'F'. But those bright spots salvage his run as head of Xbox, if only slightly.
-The BC program was a good idea
-They lucked out for a moment with good Series S sales during pandemic lockdowns
-They acquired Zenimax (in due time I think this one will generate more ROI in terms of games & money vs. cost than ABK)
-He's got a slick mouth that ropes in tons of Western gaming press and "influencers" to repeat his talking points to control discourse online despite reality
-The One S and One X were good pieces of hardware
-The Series X is a good piece of hardware
-There have been some good games from them over the past 6 or so years (Flight Simulator, Cuphead, Ori 2, Forza Horizon 5, Sea of Thieves now in its current state)
However, he has ultimately failed at being an effective leader for a console platform brand as seen with Xbox's dying sales globally not just in hardware but also software (which I'd posit is the real reason for the multiplat push; 40-something million lifetime hardware sales wouldn't be an issue if attach rates in software sales/revenue were large enough). He failed to spearhead enough industry-leading, mass market-appealing 1P games to drive interest in Xbox consoles. He pushed for a Day 1 PC strategy that undermined the value or importance of their console in the market.
He pushed for Game Pass, a solution in search of a problem, which conditioned sizable chunks of remaining hardcore/core Xbox enthusiasts to either not buy games, or buy them very cheap. Meaning the Game Pass model undermined the B2P sales market for the console among a big chunk of the gamers who'd do the most B2P spending otherwise. Those who didn't remain on Xbox moved to platforms like PlayStation and, especially, Steam, taking most or all of their spending dollars for 1P and 3P games to non-Xbox platforms (a cautionary tale for Sony/SIE if they are considering a continued PC multiplat strategy with no changes or with more aggression in porting cadence).
He was forced to buy large 3P publishers to make Microsoft gaming relevant after big IP like Halo and Gears were seeing major declines, and leaked emails/internal memos showed their intent with M&As was to leverage parts of MS with real profits to buy out as many 3P as possible to isolate Sony in severe foreclosure strategies, likely with various shades of anticompetitive practices laced along (predatory pricing, price-fixing, price-shifting etc.) to aid in this. The fact they've seemingly 180'd on this is less out of their own desire, and more because regulators forced concessions making the original strategy nigh-impossible to carry out.
All of this happened under Phil Spencer's leadership and if it wasn't for the good points I listed earlier, I'd easily give him an 'F'. But those bright spots salvage his run as head of Xbox, if only slightly.
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James Sawyer Ford
Member
Hardware was never a problem. It was always the games
One X had very little genuine support until XSX came out
Jigsaah
Gold Member
I never said anything about the games...
Allow me to clarify...I'm speaking specifically about a performance issue. The Xbox One performed very poorly. The Xbox One X by comparison to the Xbox One and even the PS4 Pro remedied that issue.
GHG
Member
nowhat
Member
Uhh. So have we already forgotten how that magical 32MB ESRAM was going to make all the difference and that the PS4 specs are not really that much better - the Jaguar cores run at a higher clock speed after all?
You may have forgot. I haven't. Rich Leadbetter, you suck.
Horseganador
Member
F, has been in charge for 10 years with infinite money and the only thing he has achieved is a stagnant subscription service, a half-dead console in sales and having to get his first in the competition.
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ByWatterson
Member
Saved the brand only to kill it.
D.
D.
Jigsaah
Gold Member
You're saying that Digital Foundry wasn't deliver blow after blow to Xbox's games, showcasing their poor performance game after game after game in these comparisons? I call bullshit.
Topher
Gold Member
I give him higher marks last gen for his efforts in backward compatibility and porting games to PC even though neither of those really did much to move the needle in the console war. This gen he has failed primarily due to poor studio management. They launch a damn good console with XSX and really had the groundwork laid for a kick ass generation only to be undone by pisspoor game output. Not to mention the Redfall debacle and Starfield clearly not rising to the hype Bethesda created for it. Just all around a bad gen for Xbox and there is no joy in me saying that.
Cert.in.Death
Member
Bad/10
Point to when it was good
Point to when it was good
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