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How would you grade Phil Spencer’s tenure as head of Xbox?
T0minator
Member
* Launching a next gen console with zero new launch games
* Not releasing a must have game until Forza Horizon 5...1 year after launch
* Releasing Halo Infinite half baked that holiday 2021...
* Not releasing a single must have game for almost 2 years later with Starfield
* Starfield doesn't live up to the hype.
*Spending over 80billion to now have to recoup by being a 3rd Party publisher
Phil Spencer doesn't know what he's doing...on top of all that their marketing is shockingly bad/nonexistent
Xbox needs new leadership
Edit* on top of all that announcing multiple games 4-5 yrs before they release is sooooo frustrating. Announcing games before they even started development years ago just to gain mindshare was a fail
* Not releasing a must have game until Forza Horizon 5...1 year after launch
* Releasing Halo Infinite half baked that holiday 2021...
* Not releasing a single must have game for almost 2 years later with Starfield
* Starfield doesn't live up to the hype.
*Spending over 80billion to now have to recoup by being a 3rd Party publisher
Phil Spencer doesn't know what he's doing...on top of all that their marketing is shockingly bad/nonexistent
Xbox needs new leadership
Edit* on top of all that announcing multiple games 4-5 yrs before they release is sooooo frustrating. Announcing games before they even started development years ago just to gain mindshare was a fail
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Klayzer
Member
What's funny is, the only people that they're trolling is themselves, with the possible loss of the platform they stan for.
Is there anything left for xbox at the moment ?
Starfield crashed,
Redfall ... did fall
Hellblade is a digital only game with a pricetag to suggest its not that big after all.
Console is sitting on shelves ( atleast thats what i getting, german here, they were always sitting on shelves here after 360 )
Playstation is not doing great but atleast they have stellar blade coming and helldivers 2 seems to hold up for a bit longer then palworld ( but iam sure palworld will have a wave 2 at some point after content patches )
Sea of thieves did Fly under the Radar for a long time, but now its on playstation as well. Not completly useless to xbox now but not as strong for the console as before.
Gave him a D because i can See some smaller things going even worse then they did. Xbox back compat is still Nice.
Starfield crashed,
Redfall ... did fall
Hellblade is a digital only game with a pricetag to suggest its not that big after all.
Console is sitting on shelves ( atleast thats what i getting, german here, they were always sitting on shelves here after 360 )
Playstation is not doing great but atleast they have stellar blade coming and helldivers 2 seems to hold up for a bit longer then palworld ( but iam sure palworld will have a wave 2 at some point after content patches )
Sea of thieves did Fly under the Radar for a long time, but now its on playstation as well. Not completly useless to xbox now but not as strong for the console as before.
Gave him a D because i can See some smaller things going even worse then they did. Xbox back compat is still Nice.
Arsic
Loves his juicy stink trail scent
wipeout364
Member
Xbox now controls:
Call of Duty
Minecraft
Overwatch
World of Warcraft
Fallout
Elder Scrolls
Starfield
Dishonored
Evil Within
Obsidian
Doom
Quake
Wolfenstein
Diablo
Starcraft
Hellblade
I don’t know but that list makes me think Phil is doing a half decent job.
Call of Duty
Minecraft
Overwatch
World of Warcraft
Fallout
Elder Scrolls
Starfield
Dishonored
Evil Within
Obsidian
Doom
Quake
Wolfenstein
Diablo
Starcraft
Hellblade
I don’t know but that list makes me think Phil is doing a half decent job.
Sushi_Combo
Member
Their output has been pretty mediocre all things considered.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
100B in debt.
Porcile
Member
Game Pass is quite possibly the most non-sensical product in gaming of all time. Giving away games for free while also purposely sabotaging your own game sales to the extent that Xbox doesn't even have a store presence anymore in most countries. All while their two competitors utterly dominate them with a sales strategy that is entirely the opposite of Game Pass. Phil might be a cool guy and a good PR man but his ideas have been a disaster.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Gamepass was just MS chasing other people's ideas, which on an institutional and organizational level is all MS does. MS has zero creativity, imagination, or innovation. When they saw the Wii, they decided we need to copy this and made Kinect. When they saw Netflix, they said we need to copy this and made Gamepass. That's all there is, there aren't any deeper thoughts than that at Xbox
Steve Jobs talking about MS
Steve Ballmer thinking iPhone is funny
The saying goes, "All Steve Ballmer saw was the price. Steve Jobs saw the future." That's true of MS today, they don't have any vision, all they have is their accounting spreadsheets.
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rapid32.5
Member
D for excellent hardware team without them Phil’s work is an F.
Last presentation going 3rd party did more damage to the brand than Don Mattrick. MS has no clear plan to excite ppl for the future, nor marketing for AAA games they haven’t made yet. Whatever they have been saying lately pretty much a failure.
Last presentation going 3rd party did more damage to the brand than Don Mattrick. MS has no clear plan to excite ppl for the future, nor marketing for AAA games they haven’t made yet. Whatever they have been saying lately pretty much a failure.
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Investor9872
Member
I had him at a C before he decided to pay $80+ billion dollars for a video game company. Now he's a solid F.
Hestar69
Member
C+
Gamepass A++++ - GP been great so much so it made sony trash ps now and actually have a decent ps++ aswell
Quick resume on xbox is amazing. No clue why sony doesn't steal this idea A+
Game wise hes DROPPED the damn ball! Where is a new conker,Wheres perfect dark? Fable anytime soon? Banjo?so many IPS they can make games with but don't,hopefully this changes. D+
Telling devs to make their characters unsexy and thats why fable main character looks like that F+
Hopefully they can get starfield patched up more and 60 fps on consoles. As much hate as it gets its a good game IMO.
Gamepass A++++ - GP been great so much so it made sony trash ps now and actually have a decent ps++ aswell
Quick resume on xbox is amazing. No clue why sony doesn't steal this idea A+
Game wise hes DROPPED the damn ball! Where is a new conker,Wheres perfect dark? Fable anytime soon? Banjo?so many IPS they can make games with but don't,hopefully this changes. D+
Telling devs to make their characters unsexy and thats why fable main character looks like that F+
Hopefully they can get starfield patched up more and 60 fps on consoles. As much hate as it gets its a good game IMO.
RCU005
Member
Phil Spencer had all the chance in the world to build a game-making empire. When he took over, it was the right time to begin building game studios. They could've taken over Sony easily with IPs they already had, and make so many new ones, that left Sony in the dust.
However, they focused on the wrong things. For example: The only reason the Xbox Series S exist, is because they wanted to be cheaper that the PS5. They had a lot of good will when they announced the Xbox Series X and it being more powerful than the PS5. People were willing to give it a chance and many liked what Microsoft was offering this gen (before the gen started). But they are more focused on beating Sony (whether it's price, exclusives, third party games, etc) than making their own strategy for themselves and let success come organically from that.
Then, they spent 80 billion dollars to buy one of the biggest publisher in the industry, plus Bethesda, plus many others. They practically own more than third of the studios in the industry. However, that just made it clear that they have no organizational structure for so many studios, they don't have the creative prowess to make original games, and they don't have the leadership needed for them to be successful.
However, they focused on the wrong things. For example: The only reason the Xbox Series S exist, is because they wanted to be cheaper that the PS5. They had a lot of good will when they announced the Xbox Series X and it being more powerful than the PS5. People were willing to give it a chance and many liked what Microsoft was offering this gen (before the gen started). But they are more focused on beating Sony (whether it's price, exclusives, third party games, etc) than making their own strategy for themselves and let success come organically from that.
Then, they spent 80 billion dollars to buy one of the biggest publisher in the industry, plus Bethesda, plus many others. They practically own more than third of the studios in the industry. However, that just made it clear that they have no organizational structure for so many studios, they don't have the creative prowess to make original games, and they don't have the leadership needed for them to be successful.
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THE DUCK
voted poster of the decade by bots
Gamepass actually isn't flawed if you have enough hardware units sold and subs. If MS had hardware sales like Sony, and 60 million subs, the whole conversation is different. All the gravy/profit comes after that initial group of 30-40 million subs.
Lucifers Beard
Member
Xbox had a great run from the OG release through to the first few years of the 360s lifecycle. Shit after that and I know because I owned an Xbox One and Series X.
PS3 stole all of the thunder from 360 with the release of Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 for me. It just had way more interesting games in my opinion.
Phil Spencer hasn't really done anything good with the brand and it isn't moving forward at a good enough pace. It looks like bad management (or maybe just not enough management) from the top and it has left developers doing what they want with no results for years, living off or Microsoft money which is basically limitless.
All those studios need a good fucking shake up and be given tighter deadlines. Stoke the fire up their ass and get them releasing stuff that's of a good quality.
PS3 stole all of the thunder from 360 with the release of Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 for me. It just had way more interesting games in my opinion.
Phil Spencer hasn't really done anything good with the brand and it isn't moving forward at a good enough pace. It looks like bad management (or maybe just not enough management) from the top and it has left developers doing what they want with no results for years, living off or Microsoft money which is basically limitless.
All those studios need a good fucking shake up and be given tighter deadlines. Stoke the fire up their ass and get them releasing stuff that's of a good quality.
MonkeyClaw36
Member
F for Fuck off Phil.
He destroyed what was once my preferred platform. Business decisions and lack of quality software led me to jump over to PS5.
PS5 led me to jump ship to PC.
I couldn't be happier with it so actually I have to thank him for fucking us over. But fact remains that he drove the Xbox into the ground.
Oh and he is solely responible for me vomiting every time I saw "We're listening and we hear you".
He destroyed what was once my preferred platform. Business decisions and lack of quality software led me to jump over to PS5.
PS5 led me to jump ship to PC.
I couldn't be happier with it so actually I have to thank him for fucking us over. But fact remains that he drove the Xbox into the ground.
Oh and he is solely responible for me vomiting every time I saw "We're listening and we hear you".
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fallingdove
Member
In practice, the sub doesn't work that way though. If I am a person that primarily plays a particular genre and has little interest in anything else, sub retention is a bitch. I would bet that Xbox has so much turnover with the subscribers that it would have to see 100 million+ subs and a HUGE population of the hardest-core, genre agnostic gamers out there before the outlook was positive.
Not to mention, forward compatibility doesn't really exist with gamepass — most people aren't using Xcloud to play these games. You have to count on your subscribers upgrading their PC hardware or buying into the next generation of consoles every now and then to even qualify for the service,
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nowhat
Member
So here's a wild suggestion - how about getting those hardware sales and mindshare to the required point before launching a service like GP?
THE DUCK
voted poster of the decade by bots
I don't think metrics flush that out, a lot of people once they sub just won't break the habit. They get used to playing the games on gamepass. It's not the hardcore that MS are after.....its the ones who spend less money right now that are the cash cow.
As to forward compat, that's true, but a lot of people keep hardware for 2 generations, and if they are happy with what they have they continue with the same company. The problem isn't gamepass or even the hardware, it's really a lack of story driven AAA games.
THE DUCK
voted poster of the decade by bots
Not the worst idea, but when you are playing from behind, you try new things to try and move the people over. I'm certain that MS expected more people to move over becuase of gamepass. But like my post just before this stated, a lack of AAA story driven titles has made this a lot more difficult.
That and customer loyalty and great games on PS5 made it even harder.
YOU PC BRO?!
Member
F - Phil has been catastrophic.
As someone that has owned every Xbox, I have recently decided to sell up and get out of the eco-system. Like many, I have lost confidence in the ability of Xbox studios to make a compelling video game. Focusing on only the games, where are the system sellers? All the biggest franchises have withered into dust. Halo has been ruined and has nowhere to go other than a reboot, Forza has become painfully mediocre, Gears is nowhere to be found… etc. Then I look at the direction future Xbox games are taking with all this forced DEI nonsense - games I was looking forward to like Fable now diversified beyond all recognition. What the fuck is happening? Where is the next Banjo game? Who greenlit Everwild? Not even the devs had a clue what that shit was supposed to be. Where is Perfect Dark? What happened to Crimson Skies, Conker, MechAssualt, Blinx, Project Gotham Racing, Killer Instinct, Ryse, Sunset Overdrive, Ninja Gaiden (originally an exclusive), Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon and a dozen more IPs left sitting on the shelf.
Phil Spencer has killed physical media, launched a new console generation without any games, cratered Xbox console sales, eliminated Xbox exclusives, and mandated DEI in every first party title. This guy squandered almost $100 billion with almost nothing to show for it. Let’s be honest, there isn’t much left he could fuck up at this point as the damage has already been done.
As someone that has owned every Xbox, I have recently decided to sell up and get out of the eco-system. Like many, I have lost confidence in the ability of Xbox studios to make a compelling video game. Focusing on only the games, where are the system sellers? All the biggest franchises have withered into dust. Halo has been ruined and has nowhere to go other than a reboot, Forza has become painfully mediocre, Gears is nowhere to be found… etc. Then I look at the direction future Xbox games are taking with all this forced DEI nonsense - games I was looking forward to like Fable now diversified beyond all recognition. What the fuck is happening? Where is the next Banjo game? Who greenlit Everwild? Not even the devs had a clue what that shit was supposed to be. Where is Perfect Dark? What happened to Crimson Skies, Conker, MechAssualt, Blinx, Project Gotham Racing, Killer Instinct, Ryse, Sunset Overdrive, Ninja Gaiden (originally an exclusive), Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon and a dozen more IPs left sitting on the shelf.
Phil Spencer has killed physical media, launched a new console generation without any games, cratered Xbox console sales, eliminated Xbox exclusives, and mandated DEI in every first party title. This guy squandered almost $100 billion with almost nothing to show for it. Let’s be honest, there isn’t much left he could fuck up at this point as the damage has already been done.
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hinch7
Member
I think the ship sailed long ago. They had momentum with the Xbox 360 and squandered that away with the launch of the Xbox One. Even at the end of the 360's life cycle, its support kind of dried up.
It'll be and insanely hard task to repeat the same sort of success today, if ever. Especially now seeing as the brands reputation and appeal is at an all time low.
THE DUCK
voted poster of the decade by bots
Difficult for sure. I don't see it as impossible.
They have so many IP's still and a ton of really good developers, if they can string together some more games that people actually want, it could turn the tide at least from crappy to ok. I think a portable that easily and wirelessly hooks to a tv at a cheap price would be appealing to a lot of casuals. Keep gamepass relatively cheap, deliver some great games, and some new hardware, who knows.
They could even heavily subsidize a round of hardware to move more units if they really wanted.
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BaneIsPain
Member
From buying publishers to transitioning 3rd party. It is a feat
so, C overall.
so, C overall.
digoutyoursoul
Member
Despite RROD , 360 is still their best offering. A brilliant console imo. Great controller that isn’t fucking noisy like the later ones, some great games and felt ahead of the curve in terms of UI/Features.
If they just stuck to that formula and improved on it and not tried to fix things that were not broken I doubt they would be in the position they are in now.
They talk far more these days more about where and how you play than what you actually play. They sell a console yet treat it like an afterthought and people wonder why it doesn’t sell as well as its competitors.
Look at Hellblade 2, it’s out next month and the marketing has been abject, minimal at best.
It pisses me off because if they had the right people running things , Xbox could be a brilliant and consistently brilliant console experience
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hinch7
Member
It'll be a tough hill to climb for sure. With lack of interest and growth in subscription services and hardware. This generation is pretty much done for Xbox. Hence why the cancellation of a refresh and straight into the next. They'd have to show something really special, games wise for next gen otherwise that'll be that and MS will probably just call it and go further into publishing games as third party.
If they had some inititive they'd intergrate more of the PC side of things into consoles. Since they are basically are PC's with a closed ecosystem. Release an Xbox mini-PC akin to a Steam machines like console or Steam Deck, and have a cheap PC/console for the mainstream.
Yeah for sure, the price of the console. The hardware, games and support were all top notch. It was the perfect storm for Microsoft since Sony was floundering with the PS3 in its initial years.
It'll take some big upheaval of the top brass for things to change dramatically. But nope, Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, Matt Booty etc are still there in charge.
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recursive
Member
How was spending $80b on a publisher that already largely had their games on your platform of choice a great move?
Jibran#one
Member
Last gen d this gen F+
Mahavastu
Member
voted B because I thought it is the 2nd worse, seem I wanted to vote D instead but can not change it anymore...
He saved XBox after the desaster launch with some needed change in direction. Anyway, after that he made just too many mistakes which lead to the situation XBox is in today.
Those mistakes often looked like he does only think short term about the implications of his changes (like day1 PC, higher revenue per game, but makes XBox much less usefull for everyone with PC... Or Day1 Gamepass, which gives you sweet long term subscription revenue but decreases the real sales per game, and you have very high costs because people also expect 3rds party games day 1)
He saved XBox after the desaster launch with some needed change in direction. Anyway, after that he made just too many mistakes which lead to the situation XBox is in today.
Those mistakes often looked like he does only think short term about the implications of his changes (like day1 PC, higher revenue per game, but makes XBox much less usefull for everyone with PC... Or Day1 Gamepass, which gives you sweet long term subscription revenue but decreases the real sales per game, and you have very high costs because people also expect 3rds party games day 1)
JohnnyFootball
GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
No. It can't. Xbox screwed up so bad last gen and people invested into Sony and Nintendo ecosystem. Xbox as a console can't be saved. WIthout a console it's just 3rd party publisher.
So take your "oh please..." bullshit and take it back to fantasy land on the unicorn you came on.
DrFigs
Member
this is basically Phil Spencer's excuse. but don't we also have data that most people aren't using backwards compatibility. doesn't that indicate that people buy consoles to play new games and that therefore that people's library of games don't really factor as a decision to buy new consoles? even if we ignore ps3 games not working on ps4, the fact that switch comes out not BC w/ the wii u or 3ds and somehow still found success shows that the ecosystem argument is not true doesn't it?
edit: Ugh the way I wrote this argument is a mess; lots of rhetorical questions. But hopefully my point is clear.
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graywolf323
Member
it’s because largely BC is more of a deal to the hardcore gamers who like to buy the new console at launch, by the time it’s really starting to sell to the mass market they’ll just buy new games
Xbox Series X is up there with the launch PS3 for being one of the best consoles out there for BC and yet neither sold amazingly well (PS3 took off when they put out the Slim which no longer had the PS2 BC so it seemed people cared more about the price)
I wish PlayStation would put in the work like Xbox to come up with a nice solution for PS3 BC and even have more PS1/PS2 stuff on PS5 as well but at least they brought back BC by having really solid PS4 BC for it showing that really the PS4 not being BC at all was more of an anomaly
DrFigs
Member
The weirder thing about the ecosystem argument is that assuming that ecosystem was the problem, then why go all in on Gamepass? Why go all in on day 1 pc releases? If you are worried about users leaving the console because weren't heavily invested in the xbox one era, then doing both of these things (removing ownership of games in favor of rental system and putting games on other devices) makes that problem even worse. Terrible leadership. I think that's F+ decision making even going by his own rationale.
I see what you mean. I know that there's a market for people who want to play these older games. I consider myself a hardcore gamer, but I stopped caring about ps3 games 10 years ago. I don't think I've played any ps4 games either since overwatch 2 came out and replaced overwatch 1. I think there are more people like me who mainly buy new consoles to play new games and the old stuff doesn't really matter that much.
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wipeout364
Member
I agree and that’s why I gave them a B
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