BlackTron
Member
I kind of agree but only because it doesn't really matter anymore.
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[Kotaku] It's Time To Stop Giving Xbox Boss Phil Spencer A Pass
- Thread starter Tiago Rodrigues
- Start date
I kind of agree but only because it doesn't really matter anymore.
coffinbirth
Member
I think this is a hilarious article and pivot.
Let's not pretend the media at large didn't spend years talking about how great Xbox/Gamepass was - "best deal in gaming", etc etc. All while being blinded by the idea of getting their entire gaming catalogue for $15 a month and justifying acquisitions because of their short sightedness. Taking good guy Phil at his word that it was sustainable when anyone with a 12 year olds common sense could see it didn't add up. Now all of a sudden they want to "stop giving Phil a pass" when the damage is long done.
Let's not pretend the media at large didn't spend years talking about how great Xbox/Gamepass was - "best deal in gaming", etc etc. All while being blinded by the idea of getting their entire gaming catalogue for $15 a month and justifying acquisitions because of their short sightedness. Taking good guy Phil at his word that it was sustainable when anyone with a 12 year olds common sense could see it didn't add up. Now all of a sudden they want to "stop giving Phil a pass" when the damage is long done.
ComputerBlue
Member
Now is the time? Some of us haven’t been giving him a pass for nearly 10 years now.
Barakov
Member
It was time to stop giving him a pass 8 years ago. In any other industry he would've been given the boot a long time ago.
ShaiKhulud1989
Gold Member
Phil was always radiant with energy of this guy. Jokes on you if you ever believed a single word he said publicly.
It's surprising that it took media like Kotaku this long to realize a thing or two about Spencer. They usually thrive on hateclicks after all.
It's surprising that it took media like Kotaku this long to realize a thing or two about Spencer. They usually thrive on hateclicks after all.
StueyDuck
Banned
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Sony needs to get an actual CEO of SIE in sooner rather than later.
Punished Miku
Member
I dont think it matters much honestly. Theyre probably in good hands now compared to a western CEO.
Monkfish877
Member
How this guy has gotten away with destroying the Xbox brand I'll never know.
As others have said, where were Kotaku and all these other alleged "journalists" years ago when this ship was sinking? Some of us called out GamePass for not being sustainable and were told rabidly we didn't know what we were talking about about and that GP was the future. It was only a few months ago I questioned whether or not 34ish million GP subscribers was actually good and got laughed at and told Microsoft was dominating.
Phil should have been fired a long time ago. "We hear you, and we're listening." How many times has he said that only to be proven a liar?
Such a shame. I prefer Xbox to Playstation too. But there's no reason to own an Xbox other than as an emulation machine at this point.
Phil should have been fired a long time ago. "We hear you, and we're listening." How many times has he said that only to be proven a liar?
Such a shame. I prefer Xbox to Playstation too. But there's no reason to own an Xbox other than as an emulation machine at this point.
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MrRibeye
Member
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
I think it matters a lot. The person running it needs to understand the industry and the people in it. Otherwise, all their decision is going to be based on "Graph goes up? good. Graph goes down? bad". I hope this new guy at least cares about understanding it. Unless he really only wants to be interim CEO and they're actively looking for a replacement.
As for Western CEO, Historically, that doesn't seem to have mattered. If we just go back ~20 years We've had:
- Ken Kutaragi (birthed the thing, but also gave us the PS3 situation)
- Kaz Hirai (Righted the ship after PS3, oversaw the start of the PS4 development, and went on to save Sony corp as a whole)
- Andrew House (Oversaw the completion of the PS4, the change in strategy for Playstation, and oversaw the development of the PS5)
- John Kodera (Oversaw the launch of PS+)
- Jim Ryan (PS5 era. Yet to see how his tenure will turn out. I'm honestly optimistic)
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ShadowkillXNA
Member
Especially when they criticize your favorite toy or manufacturer of your favorite toy right?It's time to stop giving kotaku a pass
Gambit2483
Member
Gaf never disappoints
Null Persp
Member
eerik9000
Member
This is such a malicious and uncalled for attack against poor Phil, the saviour of humanity. He has never said or done anything that wasn't sincere and profound. He was just recently given the super prestigious D.I.C.E. Lifetime Achievement award by his industry peers. These are usually given to old and retired men, but that's how beloved Phil is. Did they give it to that useless Jimbo of PlayStation? No, they gave it to Phil! Without him, video games might not even exist anymore, so we should be grateful that we have a man like him in the office taking care of us!
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Gojiira
Banned
Exactly this, the writing was on the wall for years. The FTC court papers where it was revealed Gamepass made zero profit should have been the wakeup call but no, the Xbots and the media etc just carried on victory dancing…
Its hilarious looking at the outcome though, rampant acquisitions just like Embracer, rampant failures just like Embracer and rampant closures just like Embracer…And people seriously want Xbox buying MORE studios to feed gamepass lol…
ByWatterson
Member
Gamepass is a bigger failure that Kinect and TVTVTV
ProtoByte
Member
As per usual, the idiots in the games media are lttp. These dumbasses have been eating out of Spencer's hand for a decade.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Flight Sim.
Freelance Yakuza
Member
true
they probably lost more money on GP
Desprado123
Member
Even a small company would have changed if the performance was same or a bit better than Phill. The reason MS might be not changing him is due to that they do not have any alternative or replacement.
CityHunter1981
Member
Well to be honest, I have no idea how much Phil really have to say or if his job is mainly to act as interface between the public and the decision makers, but I don’t like him that much. The way he speaks sounds often like he is not telling the whole truth, but rather only say what he knows the fans want to hear…
Lagspike_exe
Member
The Xbox has reached a dead end. The massive investments cannot pay-off unless they start selling games on other consoles. Xbox hardware did not grow enough to support the massive investments in Bethesda and Acti. Realistically, Xbox can go third party and keep doing a token hardware business for the hardcore and transform it into a publisher. Microsoft cannot easily offload it anymore because there is nobody to buy it due to its size. The only thing they could do is to spin it off.
Alan Wake
Member
Maybe Destin could assist in that?
digoutyoursoul
Member
StueyDuck
Banned
You clearly know nothing about me or about what's been happening in gaming lately.
Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
Not really, Kotaku's just pissed that their bum buddies in the industry are getting the boot
kensama
Member
Some of my best gems.
If i would be sarcastic, for the last picture i would say read the opposite.
ZVWQP-9B8TM-VH9CT
Member
xD. Its funny, but this is actually said for Gaben by Steam fanboys with sad life, rofl.
ZVWQP-9B8TM-VH9CT
Member
digoutyoursoul
Member
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Jigsaah
Gold Member
Phil probably should just stop making promises at this point. I think he's writing checks he can't cash and the powers that be at Microsoft are giving him and the other execs at Xbox a lot of pressure, and likely deservedly so. If you can't make your brand profitable then that's just how things go.
Phil is definitely on thin ice at this point. Is Xbox doomed though? In light of recent events it doesn't look good, but I honestly hope they can turn things around. I fear a future with Playstation and Nintendo as the only contenders in the industry. I don't trust that Playstation will have a reason to offer the same value for their offerings without healthy competition. This will end up being bad for consumers in the long run. Nintendo will do it's own thing as always so status quo as per usual.
I don't really think it matters who Phil is replaced with, because the next person will still inherit the same pressure Phil has now. There are some fundamental problems that needed tending to, I don't think anyone currently in Xbox's portfolio can resolve these issues.
Phil is definitely on thin ice at this point. Is Xbox doomed though? In light of recent events it doesn't look good, but I honestly hope they can turn things around. I fear a future with Playstation and Nintendo as the only contenders in the industry. I don't trust that Playstation will have a reason to offer the same value for their offerings without healthy competition. This will end up being bad for consumers in the long run. Nintendo will do it's own thing as always so status quo as per usual.
I don't really think it matters who Phil is replaced with, because the next person will still inherit the same pressure Phil has now. There are some fundamental problems that needed tending to, I don't think anyone currently in Xbox's portfolio can resolve these issues.
King Dazzar
Member
I was a touch naïve to Phil when I stepped onto the Xbox ship with X1X. Having come from a couple of decades of PC gaming where he was irrelevant to me. But even back then in 2017/18 I was already picking up on the everything will be better next year talk. However the key moment my trust started to be eroded, was when he claimed Crackdown 3 was a lot of fun and he was loving it. So I then picked up Crackdown 3 and immediately thought wtf is this shit.
He's a charismatic charmer, mastered in the arts of deception and spin.
He's a charismatic charmer, mastered in the arts of deception and spin.
That fucking smile. He looks like he's gonna rape someone.Some of my best gems.
BigBeauford
Member
Just a reminder that you don't need to drive traffic to these kinds of retards for being told Xbox is shit right now.
FIREKNIGHT2029
Member
Kotaku and all these gaming journalists need to STFU. We’ve been saying for years that Phil isn’t the guy. It’s only now that these clowns are realizing it after years of enabling him. They are part of the problem and part of the reason Phil has been getting his way for so long.
They are only hopping on the “Phil has to go” bandwagon now because it’s the popular thing to say. If they had fucking done their jobs years ago instead of kissing his ass we wouldn’t be here right now. Nobody should give these idiots any clicks.
They are only hopping on the “Phil has to go” bandwagon now because it’s the popular thing to say. If they had fucking done their jobs years ago instead of kissing his ass we wouldn’t be here right now. Nobody should give these idiots any clicks.
Majima Everywhere System
Member
It’s an MS finance decision, but having Xbox in a state where they knock at Phil’s door for a pound of flesh is on Phil.
From the teams that were selected, the last year of these studios probably didn’t materialize the concept for a bigger next title. With Tango, there isn’t a visionary left at the studio and the play metrics probably told a different story than sales. With Arcane, morale was low and trust in the next project would have been equally bleak. These teams could have burned through a year and the check in killed them.
MS is shaping into a medium to big budget multi house, they want community games that fill a gap. That’s why Helldivers 2 gutted Phil.
From the teams that were selected, the last year of these studios probably didn’t materialize the concept for a bigger next title. With Tango, there isn’t a visionary left at the studio and the play metrics probably told a different story than sales. With Arcane, morale was low and trust in the next project would have been equally bleak. These teams could have burned through a year and the check in killed them.
MS is shaping into a medium to big budget multi house, they want community games that fill a gap. That’s why Helldivers 2 gutted Phil.
Roman Empire
Member
I don't think many of the decisions came from Phil himself. I bet Microsoft are more than happy in the idea of getting people to adopt their Microsoft OS and their ecosystem. At then end of the day, the losses that Microsoft accumulated with their Xbox branch were just to get more people into Microsoft, not on Xbox. That's why going multiplat should be the right call for them since it'll bring more money at the end of the day. Xbox is a sinking ship.