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[YOU PC BRO?!]

From the beginning, some of the things I would have done include...

• Ensured meritocratic hiring practices were upheld at Xbox and its subsidiaries - strong emphasis on quality and hiring the best
• Greenlit a more balanced selection of games i.e. different genres and different target audiences - such as more kids games. Fringe games would have AA budgets and smaller more focused teams. Incentivise players to play Xbox with a healthy balance of games across many genres
• Forced development studios to work on multiple games simultaneously i.e. one large project and one small or mid sized. I would encourage studios to reach into Xbox back catalogue of IP for the small/mid-sized projects
• Created the concept of the 'core' IP and turned these games into franchises that can be moved from team to team - working on these games would be a reward for developers that produced consistent quality
• Mandated internal development studios to use a small number of game engines and ditched the rest (goodbye creation engine). These would be developed by a new team of game engine developers that would work closely with Microsoft R&D teams - the goal would be to integrate advanced technologies and to make these technologies accessible and easy to integrate into projects. Games developed with in-house engines should look and play the best on Xbox and enable unique experiences via cutting edge technologies i.e. advanced AI integration. This will incentivise players to play Xbox and should allow unique experiences through new technologies that can't yet be had anywhere else
• Mandated all developers to learn these officially supported engines - this is so that studios can 'help' support other studios if development milestones aren't met on key projects - too many engines means fewer developers with the skillset to help when necessary; this would be corrected
• Create a fun competitive culture between in-house studios. Create tools to measure 'success', metrics for integrated technology and value. Measure development time/development cost/avg. review score/copies sold across titles as a single number and pit studios against each other in a healthy way. Reward studios that rise to the top with more freedom and opportunity to work on 'core' IP. Maximum transparency with studios - no favourites or two-faced underhanded nonsense. In-house development studios compete with one another on an even playing field. This helps enshrine identity and naturally pushes teams to do better.
• Games with Gold would have been replaced with GamePass. Some Xbox exclusives would be safeguarded and would never appear on PC (incentivise people to actually buy the console). Some games would be day 1 across PC and Xbox. Some games would be Xbox timed exclusives and appear on PC later i.e. 3, 6 or 12 months - this is beneficial as it will help developers produce better PC ports.
• GamePass would only get the biggest games 3 or 6 months after release - this provides games a window to 'sell' and enables hardcore fans early access to create hype
• Creation of a shared Xbox universe - similar to what Nintendo have done with their exclusives. Large studio would be created to achieve this - targeting similar demographics to Nintendo. Characters and games designed to be the new face of Xbox - i.e. Banjo and Conker would be part of this universe. This would allow crossover franchise games and most importantly help give the Xbox brand some much needed identity
• New strong and consumer focused messaging on digital games - earnest attempt to emulate ownership in a manner comparable to physical i.e. the ability to trade and sell copies of digital games. Online store app created to achieve this
• Force 3rd party developers to adopt new Xbox digital ownership standards
• One software licence that transfers seamlessly between Xbox and PC. Attempt to convince other platform holders to join also - games could then be transferred between platforms. Gamers wouldn't have to leave their libraries behind of they decided to pick up a new device

Moving forward, I would do the following...

• New hardware - current generation is lost and can't be salvaged
• Take on the Switch/Steamdeck with a portable Xbox (existing rumours mention that such a product is currently in the works)
• Portable Xbox would be the new 'Series S' equivalent - can be purchased seperately or with a dock as a package. Dock would contain a powerful external GPU and is the equivalent to a 'Series X'.
• New physical media - usb-c micro drive or small card similar to switch. Format would only hold game software licence, not data allowing physical media to live on

 

[radewagon]

It's funny. I remember when Microsoft acquired Bethesda, I was really annoyed. This meant that there was a large possibility that beloved franchises like DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Fallout were going to become MS exclusive titles. I wasn't angry (I have a Series X), but, yeah, the whole thing rubbed me the wrong way. And yet here we are, 4 years later and still no new DOOM game and no new Wolfenstein game and no new Fallout game. So, I guess, to answer the question, I would have made sure that when large acquisitions were made, that I didn't do jack all with them. Just flushing money down the toilet.

Not that it matters. Gamepass would just cannibalize the sales.

 

[Wildebeest]

Kinect was the right idea but the wrong tech. They needed a new form of touchscreen inspired controller that was included with the product at launch.

They shouldn't have tried to compete directly with Sony and Nvidia for top end gaming performance. One console, perhaps closer to the Series S than X, and if developers complain and don't want to port their AAA games to it then that's just too bad. Why throw good money after bad.

Instead of buying huge companies in long term stagnation or decline, I would concentrate that funding, more efficiently, on inviting people with an industry track record who can pitch more ambitious projects that they can't afford to make alone or just will not work as AAA. The idea not being to flood their marketplace with crap but to hope for enough winners from the project to promote to make the platform seem like a place where something new and exciting is happening.

 

[Metnut]

Instead of spending $70B on Activision I would’ve spent 1% of that amount and made Elder Scrolls 6 the top priority for the company with a target release in early 2025. The work on Starfield should’ve been put on hold. Don’t care if they had to hire 10,000 people. Should’ve been Manhattan project type of effort from Microsoft to get this done.

Like others have mentioned, Redfall never should’ve came out in the state it did. I would’ve used some of those billions to improve the game.

I probably would’ve also purchased Lionheart (or their parent) and made Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 an Xbox exclusive with a $500M budget and a 2024 target release.

Would’ve also never pushed the Gamepass strategy which has been a failure on a number of levels. Xbox was never going to win this generation but having a few GOTY type of exclusives and not training their platform holders to not buy games would’ve gone a long way toward staying relevant.

 

[Kacho]

I think Xbox has a cultural issue that's ingrained in all the management. So you'd have to completely clean house and start again. And that's never going to happen.

Nailed it

 

[damidu]

From the beginning, some of the things I would have done include...

• Ensured meritocratic hiring practices were upheld at Xbox and its subsidiaries - strong emphasis on quality and hiring the best
• Greenlit a more balanced selection of games i.e. different genres and different target audiences - such as more kids games. Fringe games would have AA budgets and smaller more focused teams. Incentivise players to play Xbox with a healthy balance of games across many genres
• Forced development studios to work on multiple games simultaneously i.e. one large project and one small or mid sized. I would encourage studios to reach into Xbox back catalogue of IP for the small/mid-sized projects
• Created the concept of the 'core' IP and turned these games into franchises that can be moved from team to team - working on these games would be a reward for developers that produced consistent quality
• Mandated internal development studios to use a small number of game engines and ditched the rest (goodbye creation engine). These would be developed by a new team of game engine developers that would work closely with Microsoft R&D teams - the goal would be to integrate advanced technologies and to make these technologies accessible and easy to integrate into projects. Games developed with in-house engines should look and play the best on Xbox and enable unique experiences via cutting edge technologies i.e. advanced AI integration. This will incentivise players to play Xbox and should allow unique experiences through new technologies that can't yet be had anywhere else
• Mandated all developers to learn these officially supported engines - this is so that studios can 'help' support other studios if development milestones aren't met on key projects - too many engines means fewer developers with the skillset to help when necessary; this would be corrected
• Create a fun competitive culture between in-house studios. Create tools to measure 'success', metrics for integrated technology and value. Measure development time/development cost/avg. review score/copies sold across titles as a single number and pit studios against each other in a healthy way. Reward studios that rise to the top with more freedom and opportunity to work on 'core' IP. Maximum transparency with studios - no favourites or two-faced underhanded nonsense. In-house development studios compete with one another on an even playing field. This helps enshrine identity and naturally pushes teams to do better.
• Games with Gold would have been replaced with GamePass. Some Xbox exclusives would be safeguarded and would never appear on PC (incentivise people to actually buy the console). Some games would be day 1 across PC and Xbox. Some games would be Xbox timed exclusives and appear on PC later i.e. 3, 6 or 12 months - this is beneficial as it will help developers produce better PC ports.
• GamePass would only get the biggest games 3 or 6 months after release - this provides games a window to 'sell' and enables hardcore fans early access to create hype
• Creation of a shared Xbox universe - similar to what Nintendo have done with their exclusives. Large studio would be created to achieve this - targeting similar demographics to Nintendo. Characters and games designed to be the new face of Xbox - i.e. Banjo and Conker would be part of this universe. This would allow crossover franchise games and most importantly help give the Xbox brand some much needed identity
• New strong and consumer focused messaging on digital games - earnest attempt to emulate ownership in a manner comparable to physical i.e. the ability to trade and sell copies of digital games. Online store app created to achieve this
• Force 3rd party developers to adopt new Xbox digital ownership standards
• One software licence that transfers seamlessly between Xbox and PC. Attempt to convince other platform holders to join also - games could then be transferred between platforms. Gamers wouldn't have to leave their libraries behind of they decided to pick up a new device

Moving forward, I would do the following...

• New hardware - current generation is lost and can't be salvaged
• Take on the Switch/Steamdeck with a portable Xbox (existing rumours mention that such a product is currently in the works)
• Portable Xbox would be the new 'Series S' equivalent - can be purchased seperately or with a dock as a package. Dock would contain a powerful external GPU and is the equivalent to a 'Series X'.
• New physical media - usb-c micro drive or small card similar to switch. Format would only hold game software licence, not data allowing physical media to live on

he would be gone at point 1, lol

 

[gothmog]

Realized the One X didn't move the needle and understand that a new generation focusing on hardware dominance wouldn't do it either.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

Correct. Activision was making $2.5B in profit per year, and that includes releasing games on all platforms. If MS can replicate that $2.5B profit annually from Activision games, it would take them several decades to make back that $80b they paid.

Also if you put that 80 billion in investments and make a safe 5% that is 4 billion per year of income which is higher than 2.5 billion Activision was making.

Microsoft loves losing money in the XBOX division.

 

[diffusionx]

This is a faulty question. Spencer took control on 2014. Not two years before the new generation. He had plenty of time and chose to create a subscription service with the poorest performing console of that generation instead of, you know, make must haves or at least secure exclusivity with must haves like the 360 team did. Actually all what is Xbox today is thanks to what J Allard and the rest did. The following management only ruined the brand one way or another.

I don’t know what I’d do. But I’ll tell you what I wouldn’t do: create a video games Netflix in an industry where any decent title doesn’t cost like a shitty Netflix show but more like 100 to 300 millions. And where if you cut corners you’ll have your fan base knowing it day one.

Important to note, the CEO of Microsoft is a services guy. He wants everything at MS to be a service. If Phil's pitch to get the job was, "let's spend billions of dollars to run the Xbox division like Sony does" then I doubt he would have gotten the job.

 

[Deerock71]

I would've bought Nintendo. When they tried to laugh me out of the room I'd stuff wads of cash down their throat, like that android stuffed a magazine down Ripley's throat in Alien.

 

[Plague Doctor]

I mean he's the epitome of an empty suit that desperately tries to relate to the consumer base in the most superficial ways. At best, he excels as a behind the scenes upper middle manager that brings moderate to large sized projects to completion. I think I would have cut my losses around 5 years, used my contacts and experience on a resume and tried my luck at a different company or open up my own.

On a tangent, the fucking cult of personality some people gave him for the better part of a decade always rubbed me the wrong way. Like what the fuck? I get you like the xbox console and/or one or two ips, but this dude looks like, speaks like, and is a joke. People back in the mid 2010s treated him like gaming jesus.

Edit:

If the question is, what would have turned Xbox around back in the 2010s? I really don't know. I mean, they cultivated this kind of Dudebro image back in the 2000s during the height of the 360 and they could have stuck with it or evolved that to be the system for more action oriented titles, let developers grow internally, avoided gimmicks and stopped chasing trends. But they just decided at a certain point to chasing everyone and failed.

My controversial take is after the bomb which was the Xbox One, I would have taken the company into third party and bowed out of the console market for the time being.. I don't see the benefit of being a hardware company other than making some weird console fanboys happy. I might have chased the storefront idea on PC harder as that is lucrative, but... definitely not like how they did it. But I would have pivotted towards being the largest third party publisher in the industry and focused on making games. I might have came back to the console/hardware when tech and culture had changed enough and the company had a good idea.

 

[GrayChild]

I'd spend billions on hookers and crack cocaine. I mean, if you're falling behind the other two players on the console market and you lack the vision to develop your brand properly, at least have some fun instead of crying in the corner.

 

[mitch1971]

I'd of lubed up more.

 

[Deerock71]

My name is Phil. I'm unemployed and I live with my parents.

 

[Sorcerer]

edit

 

[Bartski]

ax booty

 

[T4keD0wN]

I would use my "influence" as a c-suite Microsoft employee to befriend people at FIFA and NFL and use the billions that were wasted on ABK to buy some sort of Fifa and Madden console exclusivity, that should be enough to win Europe and NA, maybe even make them gamepass exclusives since guaranteed monthly payments will add up to a lot more than a one-time payment.

But most of all hire real employees and not contractors that stay only for 2 years at a time.

 

[THE DUCK]

From the beginning, some of the things I would have done include...

• Ensured meritocratic hiring practices were upheld at Xbox and its subsidiaries - strong emphasis on quality and hiring the best
• Greenlit a more balanced selection of games i.e. different genres and different target audiences - such as more kids games. Fringe games would have AA budgets and smaller more focused teams. Incentivise players to play Xbox with a healthy balance of games across many genres
• Forced development studios to work on multiple games simultaneously i.e. one large project and one small or mid sized. I would encourage studios to reach into Xbox back catalogue of IP for the small/mid-sized projects
• Created the concept of the 'core' IP and turned these games into franchises that can be moved from team to team - working on these games would be a reward for developers that produced consistent quality
• Mandated internal development studios to use a small number of game engines and ditched the rest (goodbye creation engine). These would be developed by a new team of game engine developers that would work closely with Microsoft R&D teams - the goal would be to integrate advanced technologies and to make these technologies accessible and easy to integrate into projects. Games developed with in-house engines should look and play the best on Xbox and enable unique experiences via cutting edge technologies i.e. advanced AI integration. This will incentivise players to play Xbox and should allow unique experiences through new technologies that can't yet be had anywhere else
• Mandated all developers to learn these officially supported engines - this is so that studios can 'help' support other studios if development milestones aren't met on key projects - too many engines means fewer developers with the skillset to help when necessary; this would be corrected
• Create a fun competitive culture between in-house studios. Create tools to measure 'success', metrics for integrated technology and value. Measure development time/development cost/avg. review score/copies sold across titles as a single number and pit studios against each other in a healthy way. Reward studios that rise to the top with more freedom and opportunity to work on 'core' IP. Maximum transparency with studios - no favourites or two-faced underhanded nonsense. In-house development studios compete with one another on an even playing field. This helps enshrine identity and naturally pushes teams to do better.
• Games with Gold would have been replaced with GamePass. Some Xbox exclusives would be safeguarded and would never appear on PC (incentivise people to actually buy the console). Some games would be day 1 across PC and Xbox. Some games would be Xbox timed exclusives and appear on PC later i.e. 3, 6 or 12 months - this is beneficial as it will help developers produce better PC ports.
• GamePass would only get the biggest games 3 or 6 months after release - this provides games a window to 'sell' and enables hardcore fans early access to create hype
• Creation of a shared Xbox universe - similar to what Nintendo have done with their exclusives. Large studio would be created to achieve this - targeting similar demographics to Nintendo. Characters and games designed to be the new face of Xbox - i.e. Banjo and Conker would be part of this universe. This would allow crossover franchise games and most importantly help give the Xbox brand some much needed identity
• New strong and consumer focused messaging on digital games - earnest attempt to emulate ownership in a manner comparable to physical i.e. the ability to trade and sell copies of digital games. Online store app created to achieve this
• Force 3rd party developers to adopt new Xbox digital ownership standards
• One software licence that transfers seamlessly between Xbox and PC. Attempt to convince other platform holders to join also - games could then be transferred between platforms. Gamers wouldn't have to leave their libraries behind of they decided to pick up a new device

Moving forward, I would do the following...

• New hardware - current generation is lost and can't be salvaged
• Take on the Switch/Steamdeck with a portable Xbox (existing rumours mention that such a product is currently in the works)
• Portable Xbox would be the new 'Series S' equivalent - can be purchased seperately or with a dock as a package. Dock would contain a powerful external GPU and is the equivalent to a 'Series X'.
• New physical media - usb-c micro drive or small card similar to switch. Format would only hold game software licence, not data allowing physical media to live on

I.like the external gpu idea for the portable, always wanted it for switch but never considered it for xbox for some reason.
Though at a certain point I suspect it's too expensive and creates another sku to support unless it actually runs the seties x profile. (Not likely)

 

[GymWolf]

Not being against curvy women would be a start.

 

[drganon]

I'd spend billions on hookers and crack cocaine. I mean, if you're falling behind the other two players on the console market and you lack the vision to develop your brand properly, at least have some fun instead of crying in the corner.

 

[darkangel-212559]

Honestly? Buying back Bungie and making them release the OG Halo Trilogy plus Reach as next gen remakes would be a start for day one. Throw in free xbox live but an increased cost for Game Pass would have sweetened the deal. Oh and absolutely never bring out the Series S. Those would have been great starts.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

Right now is tough, before, knowing that I could buy Activision and zenimax I would make every game exclusive and never even bother with gamepass

 

[ResilientBanana]

If you make good games, you wouldn't have to try as hard building services around them. People will flock to them. I would have avoided Smaller tier consoles, built up a arsenal of good games with the incredible pedigree of amazing IP's they currently have.

Focus should have been on good AAA games, with a secondary focus on GaaS. I wouldn't have minded if they games they made had good GaaS elements but so long as the story was uneffected.

 

[crackajack]

Focus on making great games.

Everything else is just noise and almost irrelevant. GP forced Sony to change Plus/Now, but ultimately them not reacting might have still not boosted MS enough. The change of plans now, when effects of buying ABK are not there yet, is also typical MS flip flopping and showing no clear path for their goals.

I thought GP would alter the battle a bit more.
I think ABK without doing now PS support would alter the pie pieces even more.
But failing mostly with Starfield and a pipeline that may be even slower than Sony's hurts the most. Neither seem to get many games out soon, but Sony benefitting now from at least some (and maybe more following) MS exclusives is sorta backstabbing to his own company. Even though I believe making gamers play their portfolio and then move back to exclusive with Xboxnext and some platform agnostic GP might be the long plan. Kinect, GfWL, DRM reversal, and now third party strategy all may have worked, but MS never sticking to a plan is a bit weird and decreases any confidence one can have in them. While having all that money, maybe because of that, profits are ultimately not necessary for them and there is too little force moving their efforts anywhere. Sony needs PS to survive, MS wants some extra pennies and owning consumers is probably very important to them, but they seem to not have an idea that they need a constant stream of must haves to actually get them. They never really entered the Japanese market with much success, but now also losing the European markets where they had the foot in the door is certainly bad.

 

[PaintTinJr]

Say you are Phil it’s two years before the series x launch. What do you do to avoid the position xbox is at right now?

There's loads of little underhand things like cultivating shills that could all be cancelled to improve the reputation of Microsoft and Xbox, as would taking a different path than consolidation. GamePass was obviously a mistake, as was day and date releasing on PC.

However, a fundamental improvement for Xbox, by market share is more than 5years IMO because it is about great games, but in the short term to improve financial sustainability and profitability for the brand starting 2years ago I would have set out to make Sony and Nintendo far more valuable companies - than their measly 10% or lower value of Nvidia - knowing that both have the capability to grow the market as they grow, which is more important than a console war.

Microsoft having aspirations to spend PlayStation out of the market was the exact opposite of what they needed. Even paying Sony to make the definitive control pad to work across consoles and PC and with tablets/smartphones with the hardware profits being all Sony and would have removed friction and improved PC game market size, that would have benefitted Microsoft to sell games they are currently giving away on GamePass.

For the Xbox console I would have ditched the brand and de-integrated DirectX to make the console appear more purest from Microsoft APIs so that the console SDK would dovetail and mimic PlayStation and Nintendo to provide APIs specifically about games, and not need to align to the millionth Windows API strategy initiative, as though the console division was being decoupled for a potential sell off, to give it an air of neutrality.

 

[killatopak]

If I was Phil, I would think what would Phil do and do the opposite.

 

[jm89]

 

[RJMacready73]

Lots of coke and heurs, basically the human version of bender

 

[FunkMiller]

Make one console. Make exclusive games for that console.

The answer is so fucking obvious, he should absolutely be fired for not realising it, and implementing it.

 

[Kenpachii]

1) convert xbox enviroment towards a PC shop.
2) launch a xbox console and a xbox laptop, that run windows where xbox shop is installed on.
3) U can now use both as traditional pc's, with all the pc games + steam support and everything, while people can use it for everything else like a PC.
4) release a xbox steam deck later on.
5) delay games on gamepass by atleast a year before they arrive on there and release there games two years later on competing consoles like nintendo and sony to grow there library's.

 

[xrnzaaas]

In my opinion Phil's real life successor won't be allowed to make any major changes. Microsoft has spent too much money with Game Pass in mind to now ditch the idea completely. And if they remove day1 first party games they'll lose a lot of subs (plus the current number of active subscriptions isn't super high to be able to take that hit). The company may in fact move away from the console business (I wouldn't), but in no scenario I'd see them cancelling Game Pass.

They definitely need to have a person 100% focused on managing the quality of the games they currently have in production. Phil isn't capable of overseeing that and I'd even say it was a scandal he greenlit releasing a game like Redfall instead of canning or seriously reworking it.

 

[DannyDanger]

They conditioned users to stop buying games with Gamepass...

They conditioned users to stop buying Xboxes with PC games Day 1...

If they didn't do those things, the Bethesda and Activision acquisitions mighta paid off with some decent exclusives that ppl actually buy

 

[Laptop1991]

Yeah, agree with other's, make the best games possible and don't put them on gamepass straight away, wait 6 months to a year, and get some money in.

 

[CLW]

(1) never start gamepass or at least never put new games on it - it has DEVALUED my product soooooo much no one sells games on my platform anymore

(2) put all my time attention effort resources into hiring competent developers to make quality REAL exclusives only on Xbox not on pc

 

[Hudo]

Age of Mythology 2
put Freelancer on Steam
Freelancer 2
Rise of Nations II
new Crimson Skies using the Flight Simulator engine
Forza Horizon set in Japan
not buy Activision and buy EA instead (much more interesting IPs, imho)
tell id Software to make a new Quake game
ask Bethesda what the fuck is wrong with them
ask Turn 10 what the fuck is wrong with them
take away the Fallout IP from Bethesda and give it to Obsidian
ask 343 what the fuck is wrong with them
Cancel the Blade game by Arkane and tell them to make a spiritual successor to Dark Messiah
go to Bandai Namco and ask them what it would take to make a WWII-inspired (I mean, it's set in Strangereal...) Ace Combat game
go to Capcom and bankroll Mega Man Legends 3
ask both The Coalition and The Initiative what the hell they're doing.

 

[Porticus]

Age of Mythology 2
put Freelancer on Steam
Freelancer 2
Rise of Nations II
new Crimson Skies using the Flight Simulator engine
Forza Horizon set in Japan
not buy Activision and buy EA instead (much more interesting IPs, imho)
tell id Software to make a new Quake game
ask Bethesda what the fuck is wrong with them
ask Turn 10 what the fuck is wrong with them
take away the Fallout IP from Bethesda and give it to Obsidian
ask 343 what the fuck is wrong with them
Cancel the Blade game by Arkane and tell them to make a spiritual successor to Dark Messiah
go to Bandai Namco and ask them what it would take to make a WWII-inspired (I mean, it's set in Strangereal...) Ace Combat game
go to Capcom and bankroll Mega Man Legends 3
ask both The Coalition and The Initiative what the hell they're doing.

Between you and Phil is a nice fight on who's having the worst ideas ever, but maybe he's edging you still a little bit.

 

[Topher]

Between you and Phil is a nice fight on who's having the worst ideas ever, but maybe he's edging you still a little bit.

He has some pretty good, straightforward ideas there. Which ones do you think are bad?

 

[Porticus]

Almost all his ideas will do jackshit, put Freelancer on Steam? Yeah sure, that's the priority, Dark Messiah? Mega Man? Are we joking?

 

[Hudo]

Between you and Phil is a nice fight on who's having the worst ideas ever, but maybe he's edging you still a little bit.

I will admit to being a bit PC centric maybe. But what ideas are bad?

I genuinely don't know what to do with the hardware business side of things other than maybe not make an "S" version next time. The hardware of the X itself is pretty solid.

 

[Hudo]

Almost all his ideas will do jackshit, put Freelancer on Steam? Yeah sure, that's the priority, Dark Messiah? Mega Man? Are we joking?

I would pay good money for Freelancer on Steam. Get fucked.

If it were up to you, Age of Empires would still be dead, I guess.

 

[Katatonic]

I'm convinced Phil has 0 decision making power and is just there as a male Lulu.

 

[DrFigs]

I probably would have immediately taken the kinect out from the xbox one. I wouldn't have put all xbox games on pc day one. I would not put all xbox games on gamepass day 1. The situation on xbox where people don't feel the need to buy the console because all the games are on pc immediately and people don't feel the need to buy games because they'll be on gamepass, leads to a situation where they need they supplement income by expanding to ps5 and switch. it's an entirely self-caused problem.

what's really sad is, in my opinion, that we're seeing sony literally copy some of these same mistakes in slow motion. i just don't get it.

 

[Topher]

Almost all his ideas will do jackshit, put Freelancer on Steam? Yeah sure, that's the priority, Dark Messiah? Mega Man? Are we joking?

Almost all his ideas are related to more games. I'd say getting in the face of the studios and asking them WTF is high on the "good idea" side of ideas. Phil Spencer has more control over IPs than he has ever had and actually doing something with it would be a good start.

What about you? Got any thoughts about what Phil should have done?

 

[Dane]

- Fire 343i leadership when Halo Infinite was shown in 2020
- Check out what's going on with the long ass dev times
- Do a better marketing outside USA

Outside that, his efforts are the best since the Xbox 360 days with the golden team. Affordability and having it accessible to PC, mobile and even part of the legacy catalogue on PS and Switch. Telling PC players that they are wrong and need to wait or buy a console as a negative incentive is a major insult, no wonder they despise such people.

 

[Moriarty1889]

Stop putting day one exclusives on Gamepass. Actually Promote the hardware and games instead of GAMEPASS GAMEPASS GAMEPASS. Push for quality AAA FIRST PARTY output. Drop the bullshit pronouns in your company bios and focus on actually trying to make Xbox an appealing platform again. Promote physical sales of AAA exclusives and stop releasing them on PC as well day one. Focus on selling consoles by creating compelling great exclusives that can only be played on an Xbox console.….Kind of the whole point of owning a console eh? Fire that retard Matt Booty!

 

[Pelta88]

Focus on making great games.

Thread.

 

[Saber]

I would for starters not create Xbox Series S, instead create an X version only digital if people really want a cheaper version. Delete GP and focus on their big titles, leaving PC to 3~4 for box exclusivity(similar approach to Sony), not buy Bethesda because that shit is a traphole. Also, less trashtalk on social media and clown journalists. Only talk about important moves and be extremelly clear about them.

 

[jroc74]

MS, Phil somebody there are waaaay to focused on specs, power.

Remember when it was speculated that MS waited for Full RDNA 2, and Sony focused on getting their dev kits to devs ASAP.

Yeah.. Somehow games aren't higher on their list.

 

[Generic]

There's nothing to do. Gamepass is great but most consumers don't like it.

 

[Porticus]

Almost all his ideas are related to more games. I'd say getting in the face of the studios and asking them WTF is high on the "good idea" side of ideas. Phil Spencer has more control over IPs than he has ever had and actually doing something with it would be a good start.

What about you? Got any thoughts about what Phil should have done?

As other people said before me, making great games, that's the only solution.

You don't need to be fucking Einstein to understand this right?

Or Microsoft can live out of AoE, Freelancer and MegaMan, are we lunatics?