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[PakiChilli]

He is doing well. I doubt anyone here knows how to run a billion dollar company. He seems like a likeable person, although the overly friendly/ PR stuff can get grating. We know TES6 is exclusive so STFU.

Regarding Xbox. It takes time. the right steps are being taken, but PS has a great foothold. They definitely needed the purchase spree to compete. Its not nice having games being taken away, but gotta respect the hustle. Got an Xbox for the first time.

I'd compare the whole situation to:
Samsung and Apple

 

[Unknown?]

I never liked Phil Spencer every time i see him on screen he comes off as just a PR guy/some guy who doesn't understand gaming/gamers or the industry itself.

Same for Jim Ryan too he comes off as a guy who doesn't understand games/gamers too and i wish both guys would step down so we can get actual people who are passionate and care about the future of gaming.

I don't care if those at the top aren't gamers, as long as they know what the market wants.

Jack Tretton wasn't a gamer, he was an executive through and through, but what made him great was he was passionate about the product he was selling.

 

[DrFigs]

I don't think we have enough info at this point. I don't like gamepass, but it's generally viewed positively, i think. and the big acquisitions he's made will probably pay off in a few years. hard to imagine xbox would be selling any systems rn if it wasn't for the Bethesda acquisition, for example.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Bethesda should have figured this out. Who at Microsoft could just go in there and tell the guys at Bethesda how it's done? Your example actually validates this since Nintendo themselves saw that they didn't have the chops to do an open-world and brought in people with open-world experience. Bethesda or Microsoft figured they could use some help at designing combat/gunplay and brought in Id who are masters at that.

The open-world is supposed to be Bethesda's specialty. If they fumble the ball on what they're supposed to be the masters of, who are you supposed to call to help them?

That's why I also used The last guardian. Don't get me wrong, Xbox got a bad situation, with Covid, Bethesda cross-gen plans and decision to use the creation engine among others things. They probably had a good influence in the game, by making it next gen only, easier to make by being Xbox first then PC( even if as a PS5 user I lost the game in the process), helping them with some Id devs... But SlimySnake said it too with the fact that Xbox gave them 1 year.
Bethesda knew what they were doing. They also knew the weaknesses of their game better than anyone too. They choose to prefer a quick release than a total rework. I can understand that. But it could have been better too. And that was Xbox choice to make, and their responsibility. When From Software games are still cross gen this year, it was also a choice. I can love their games and still regret that fact. Bethesda got the hype right. They could have made a real undisputed GOTY. Even if the game is good, it could have been even better. This is how I took SlimySnake comment.

 

[graywolf323]

He is doing well. I doubt anyone here knows how to run a billion dollar company. He seems like a likeable person, although the overly friendly/ PR stuff can get grating. We know TES6 is exclusive so STFU.

Regarding Xbox. It takes time. the right steps are being taken, but PS has a great foothold. They definitely needed the purchase spree to compete. Its not nice having games being taken away, but gotta respect the hustle. Got an Xbox for the first time.

I'd compare the whole situation to:
Samsung and Apple

he’s been in charge for about a decade now…

 

[Valkyria]

Sale's figures aren't the only thing you go off. He has done plenty of positive things to improve Xbox's perception from giving gamers a cheaper option with the Series S to supporting backwards compatibility, cross play on the beginning, the adaptive controller and creating GamePass, which is the best gaming deal out there. These are all things that have contributed to a better perception of Xbox/MS. The actual public will even see the ABK aqusition as possitive as GamePass will be an even better deal and casual Nintendo fans will attribute Xbox/MS for bringing them more ABK games. What hardcore gamers percive and what the public percives are two completely different things and as a corperation they're more concerned about the public, which Phil has aced.

Come on, I have never seen a most obvious paid shill. You at least deleted the tm and the end of the registered trade marks.

 

[DeepEnigma]

No more than Jim Ryan.

One platform is selling gangbusters YoY, the other is down most of the year, YoY like it's a 7 year console and not just under 3 years on the market. Totes the same.

 

[SlimySnake]

That's why I also used The last guardian. Don't get me wrong, Xbox got a bad situation, with Covid, Bethesda cross-gen plans and decision to use the creation engine among others things. They probably had a good influence in the game, by making it next gen only, easier to make by being Xbox first then PC( even if as a PS5 user I lost the game in the process), helping them with some Id devs... But SlimySnake said it too with the fact that Xbox gave them 1 year.
Bethesda knew what they were doing. They also knew the weaknesses of their game better than anyone too. They choose to prefer a quick release than a total rework. I can understand that. But it could have been better too. And that was Xbox choice to make, and their responsibility. When From Software games are still cross gen this year, it was also a choice. I can love their games and still regret that fact. Bethesda got the hype right. They could have made a real undisputed GOTY. Even if the game is good, it could have been even better. This is how I took SlimySnake comment.

Exactly, I was expecting a Skyrim quality game that would go on to become an instant classic let alone become the undisputed GOTY, and all i got was an interesting but flawed game. Something that shouldve never left the peer review stage. A producer from MS or someone from the first party leadership with gaming experience wouldve seen that immediately.

Hell, even Gaiff listed problems with the game that were apparent within the first 6 hours when he posted his thread the other day. Id say gaffers instantly knew there was something off with the game, and while I can understand bethesda not catching on to it because they were too close to the development, Microsoft wasnt. They must have a first party team that oversees development on these games. Shu Yoshida himself went to play games at crucial design stages. Why couldnt Matt Booty do that 3 years ago? 2-3 hours in of constant fast travel, barren open worlds, and disjointed feeling quest design wouldve stuck out immediately to ANY experienced gamer, let alone a professional incharge of overseeing game development.

I wanted MS team to turn up and say, ok lets implement better streaming so there isnt constant loading in the game. We have some solutions that take advantage of the new SSDs and IO in our new console. Direct storage, SFS, whatever. Let us help you build a better more cohesive game. We have engineering teams at the ready to help mitigate any developmental delays. Welcome to a trillion dollar company.

P.S Jason Schrier's expose on Mass Effect Andromeda indicated that the dev team spent 3 years prototype procedurally generated worlds a la Starfield and No Mans Sky, but ended up abandoning the concept because it simply didnt come together. They ended up shipping five massive handcrafted planets that you could explore, and while the game was blasted in the reviews for bugs, id say it had more rewarding exploration, and more cohesive mission structure than Starfield due to that decision to gut procedural generation of planets. So someone either at Bioware or EA forced them to throw 3 years of dev work because it wasnt working. When EA has better producers than Microsoft, maybe its time to make a change.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Phil Spencer is responsible for the Bethesda and ABK deal.

1,000,000 steps forward. 2 steps back.

All this leak drama doesn't impact the real world, only gaming twitter/forums.

 

[Edgelord79]

Nope. Just among the 1% of gamers. Other factors could be though.

 

[Sethbacca]

Phil Spencer is responsible for the Bethesda and ABK deal.

1,000,000 steps forward. 2 steps back.

All this leak drama doesn't impact the real world, only gaming twitter/forums.

More often than not, people buy what their friends and peers buy. If there is no hardcore gamer support, then the mainstream support withers on the vine. So while you're right that mainstream doesn't know who Phil and Jim are, the people that do know are more often than not the people that their friends and family turn to for advice on what to buy.

 

[Klayzer]

It's not "rent free" when he's constantly in the headlines, ya dunce.

Lol. Xbox future plans exposed, equals rent free space. Sure Jan. More likely, the Xfandom wants to pretend everything is fine and normal for Microsoft.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Exactly, I was expecting a Skyrim quality game that would go on to become an instant classic let alone become the undisputed GOTY, and all i got was an interesting but flawed game. Something that shouldve never left the peer review stage. A producer from MS or someone from the first party leadership with gaming experience wouldve seen that immediately.

Hell, even Gaiff listed problems with the game that were apparent within the first 6 hours when he posted his thread the other day. Id say gaffers instantly knew there was something off with the game, and while I can understand bethesda not catching on to it because they were too close to the development, Microsoft wasnt. They must have a first party team that oversees development on these games. Shu Yoshida himself went to play games at crucial design stages. Why couldnt Matt Booty do that 3 years ago? 2-3 hours in of constant fast travel, barren open worlds, and disjointed feeling quest design wouldve stuck out immediately to ANY experienced gamer, let alone a professional incharge of overseeing game development.

I wanted MS team to turn up and say, ok lets implement better streaming so there isnt constant loading in the game. We have some solutions that take advantage of the new SSDs and IO in our new console. Direct storage, SFS, whatever. Let us help you build a better more cohesive game. We have engineering teams at the ready to help mitigate any developmental delays. Welcome to a trillion dollar company.

P.S Jason Schrier's expose on Mass Effect Andromeda indicated that the dev team spent 3 years prototype procedurally generated worlds a la Starfield and No Mans Sky, but ended up abandoning the concept because it simply didnt come together. They ended up shipping five massive handcrafted planets that you could explore, and while the game was blasted in the reviews for bugs, id say it had more rewarding exploration, and more cohesive mission structure than Starfield due to that decision to gut procedural generation of planets. So someone either at Bioware or EA forced them to throw 3 years of dev work because it wasnt working. When EA has better producers than Microsoft, maybe its time to make a change.

I 100% agree. But I think that Xbox problem is that they are understaffed to do it right. I saw a few months ago a quote from Matt Booty where he was saying that each time that he was going to see studios in person they would ask him for more ressources. This should have been taken care off at a lower level than him IMHO.

 

[PakiChilli]

he’s been in charge for about a decade now…

Yeah I'm not disagreeing. But that's just obvious PR bullshit. "Next year is gonna be the year" etc.
Gotta use a bit of common sense whenever these big companies make statements lol.

Let me ask you this:
If Xbox didn't have GP and purchased Bethesda / Activision
.. where would they be now? 10% market share?...out of the market?

He must be doing something right

Anyways I'm in it for the short term. Got an SX, and get GPU for around 50 euro for the whole year. Stacked for the next 3 years all the time. So it's pretty much free gaming. Can't complain.

I definitely won't be paying €12-€15 whatever the price is.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Yes, he's an idiot. Xbox is being ran horribly as of 2009/10.

The trust fund spending only masks that. Incompetent.

The only right answer to the question.

 

[systemr123]

Yes. Setting the Xbox brand's identity to Gamepass and Gamepass "Day One" first party games was a mistake. Gamepass in itself is fine, but Phil should have doubled down on the traditional approach while
building up their cloud plans and convinced Nadella to invest all of that ATVI money into building up their current studios.

Something something organic growth? Heard that that’s the best kind of growth from a wise person long ago.

 

[semiconscious]

"At this point," LOL

sadly, yes, this...

 

[FingerBang]

Xbox Series is tracking behind Xbox One, which is considered a failure. Gamepass numbers are static for two years.

That doesn't mean Xbox isn't stronger as a brand. The issue is that the competition is simply better.

 

[Klayzer]

Yeah I'm not disagreeing. But that's just obvious PR bullshit. "Next year is gonna be the year" etc.

Let me ask you this:
If Xbox didn't have GP and purchases Bethesda / Activision
.. where would they be now? 10% market share...out of the market?

He must be doing something right

Okay. Those decesions are still not moving the needle or bearing fruit yet. They've lost ground, not gained any this gen. Nothing has changed.

 

[SlimySnake]

I 100% agree. But I think that Xbox problem is that they are understaffed to do it right. I saw a few months ago a quote from Matt Booty where he was saying that each time that he was going to see studios in person they would ask him for more ressources. This should have been taken care off at a lower level than him IMHO.

lol thats nuts. That shouldve been an email sent to him BEFORE he even went for his monthly or quarterly visit. insane.

 

[MikeM]

Phil is a good mascot for the brand and overall a positive for the gaming community. Unfortunately, that does not always translate to results.

I’ve said this before and i’ll say it again- bring back console exclusives. That is your bread and butter and most loyal consumer base.

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

He is doing well. I doubt anyone here knows how to run a billion dollar company.

How do we know he is doing well if no one here knows how to run a billion dollar company?

Let me ask you this:
If Xbox didn't have GP and purchased Bethesda / Activision
.. where would they be now? 10% market share?...out of the market?

He must be doing something right

Are we assuming that if they don't go the Gamepass/acquisition route that they would do absolutely nothing instead? If so, then I guess you're right.

If Phil was at the helm for just a couple new successful IPs and a half dozen or so good exclusives that gave people faith in their development studios then they'd be doing way better than they are now and would have many billions more in their pockets.

 

[UltimaKilo]

No. 99.9% of consumers have never heard of Phil Spencer. lol

 

[ShadowkillXNA]

No, Phil has done a great job. The public's perception of Xbox is much healthier than it was and is only getting better, only in pockets on the internet is he perceived as a failing leader. That perceptiom among a certain group of people is due to their complete lack of understanding of corporate culture and how such institutions work in REAL LIFE. His charisma and approachability as a public figure for MS is one of his main assets as a leader, that in part has played great deal in getting MS to significantly invest into their Xbox/Gaming division with the obvious pending acquisition of ABK. If as some here claim that he's ineffective or even detrimental to a corporation like MS he would not be backed by the CEO of the company.

 

[poppabk]

As a PC gamer the Xbox brand has never been stronger. Gamepass and day one PC release are a game changer. They have released some great games especially stuff like Flight Simulator that has received insane levels of support.
As a brand of console it seems to be really struggling, it has that stink of failure on it that makes a sub 90 scoring Starfield feel like an embarrassment.

 

[onQ123]

Actually Xbox hardcore fans is what hurt Xbox they hated the only thing that was bringing Xbox a high level of success & it's own identity


Kinect

Xbox really haven't had a big selling exclusive since the Kinect games

 

[Virex]

My brother. Do you want to trade wives for the day? Getting bored of hitting mine

No problem. My wife is currently just recovering from an injury. She slipped on the steps and hurt herself, don't know how it happened.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

More often than not, people buy what their friends and peers buy. If there is no hardcore gamer support, then the mainstream support withers on the vine. So while you're right that mainstream doesn't know who Phil and Jim are, the people that do know are more often than not the people that their friends and family turn to for advice on what to buy.

What does "no hardcore gamer support" mean in relation to XBox?

XBox just built the Death Star. They have 2x more first party studios than PlayStation or Nintendo. They're funneling who knows how much money into GamePass. I have no idea why you think hardcore gamers care more about silly emails than great games.

 

[deriks]

No

Could do better, but he's ok

 

[phant0m]

No one will ever compare to the damage done to Xbox by Don Mattress

RROD issue aside, MS came out of 7th gen the market leader for "core" gamers in the US. 360 outsold PS3 here by nearly 10M units. PS3 did better in Europe and Asia but even at a global level the sales between them were very competitive.

Xbox One reveal along with Sony's "how to share a PS4 game" advert sent them back to the fucking stone age and frankly they still haven't recovered

 

[Daneel Elijah]

lol thats nuts. That shouldve been an email sent to him BEFORE he even went for his monthly or quarterly visit. insane.

I failed to find where I saw that quote but got that one about Starfield:

It’s been a meme that Xbox fans are always told to “wait next year” for the brand’s turnaround. But Booty said it begins this year with “Starfield,” a game that’s sucked up Microsoft resources, as its internal teams are helping Bethesda optimize the game’s performance.
“I was joking that I think we have 75 percent of the capacity on the planet working on it, and that may or may not be a joke,” Booty said of the quality-assurance process on “Starfield.” “I’ll say we got a whole lot of people internally playing it; we’ve gone out and had a number of people in the industry look at it and give us feedback. Based on what we see today, it’s in really good shape in terms of just how stable and bug-free it is.”

So it seems that they really had gone all out to help the game. Sad that they could not do better.

 

[Warablo]

Given that he got Microsoft to spend the most amount of money on Xbox in the history of Xbox, I'd say he's doing a great job.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

No problem. My wife is currently just recovering from an injury. She slipped on the steps and hurt herself, don't know how it happened.

No worries I'll make sure she has a delayed recovery

 

[SHA]

All the signs shows you can't effectively buy studios and expect to keep it's talented devs under your umbrella forever, the outcome will always be different, I don't deny that there are few exceptions but that's not the norm.

 

[cireza]

If you put aside the artificial drama taking place here and have an objective look at his actions and results, Phil has evidently been doing a lot of good things for Xbox. This is especially easy for an Xbox player to witness. A lot of things have improved since the beginning of Xbox One, we are getting a ton of Japanese games I would have never expected back then, we got BC which is amazing and I use very often, he lead to major investments in publishers, relationship has improved with many publishers, GamePass is bringing a lot of money and is a great service, very good PC support as well. All of this tells us that MS is serious about Xbox.

 

[Sethbacca]

I have no idea why you think hardcore gamers care more about silly emails than great games.

They’ve failed to deliver great games regularly for a while. Spending all the money in the world while delivering nothing is not something to be lauded.

 

[Hestar69]

Nope! You can tell Phil cares and he's even said in the email the gap between halo until starfield with no AAA games was awful and they need to fix it.

Xbox finally turning the corner and next year gonna be great.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

If you put aside the artificial drama taking place here and have an objective look at his actions and results, Phil has evidently been doing a lot of good things for Xbox. This is especially easy for an Xbox player to witness. A lot of things have improved since the beginning of Xbox One, we are getting a ton of Japanese games I would have never expected back then, we got BC which is amazing and I use very often, he lead to major investments in publishers, relationship has improved with many publishers, GamePass is bringing a lot of money and is a great service, very good PC support as well. All of this tells us that MS is serious about Xbox.

Phil Spencer, Master of Gaming Wizardry, Continues to Work His Magic on Xbox! Japanese Games, Backward Compatibility, Publisher Investments, oh my! GamePass = Serious About Gaming? You Bet! Keep Gaming, Legends! #PhilSpencerMagic #XboxAwesomeness"

 

[HeWhoWalks]

nope! he's ALOT better than Jim Ryan. xbox finally turning the corner and next year gonna be great.

This is a serious post?

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

He's damaging the brand to the 1% of gamers that actually know who he is.

 

[SlimySnake]

I failed to find where I saw that quote but got that one about Starfield:

So it seems that they really had gone all out to help the game. Sad that they could not do better.

Thats crazy that so many different people played it and no one raised any concerns. Just another reason why they need to get rid of everyone currently working there and get someone from sony or nintendo.

 

[elmos-acc]

Series X is a great console, and according to NeoGAF and the core fans GamePass is the best thing to happen to gaming ever because of the value it brings. I don't find value in a rental subscription services, but maybe it really is a future.

I would still argue that Xbox as a brand is very weak ever since they lost the momentum they gained with X360, my favorite console ever. Back then the green X stood for innovation, memorable high-quality gaming experiences and it felt like a natural evolution for Microsoft to start competing. Even if I never cared for Halo, Master Chief it was a suitable mascot for the brand. We knew that Xbox contributed to the AAA gaming landscape. Even in console exclusives, Xbox helped in funding original works of art like BioShock and Mass Effect - they took risks and they paid off. Remind you, that I fully support platform holders getting exclusives in new IPs from third-party publishers. Even giant publishers like EA hate risks, so original ideas need funding and platform holders need exclusives. We all win.

MS got greedy, they want ALL OF THE AUDIENCE and they doubled down on Kinect and lost their identity. They fucked up the Xbox One launch and never recovered. I like their backwards compatibility approach a lot, and their smaller exclusives seem unique and fun. But Microsoft is not an entertainment company like Sony or Nintendo. They are a software service giant and an OS monopoly. When they bought Obsidian, I thought that maybe they will use the studio to develop new RPG's to compete with Bethesda which would have been pretty awesome. But they really do not want to compete with Bethesda, they want to own Bethesda and really do not seem to give a shit whether or not Obsidian is utilized to its fullest potential.

What is the Xbox brand associated with among casual consumers in the 2020's? I honestly have no idea. In Europe, the brand is barely in life support and it almost seems intentional. Maybe after they make CoD exclusive they will revitalize the brand.

 

[Rick Dangerous]

At this point of the reveal, you have to be on Microsoft payroll to support this company. Fuck them.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Thats crazy that so many different people played it and no one raised any concerns. Just another reason why they need to get rid of everyone currently working there and get someone from sony or nintendo.

That is not that crazy to me. I think that these people were not paid to raise concern, just to do what they were told. The crazy part is that Xbox only cared about the stability and lack of bugs in the game. They got a lot ot feedback. They just did not care? In comparison we have rumors that Bungie raised concerns about the rumored TLOU online and Sony did slow down one of their best studios because of it. I don't know. Maybe they will get a great game with the next DOOM or Indiana Jones? But they are not making me confident about their chances...

 

[Sethbacca]

Thats crazy that so many different people played it and no one raised any concerns. Just another reason why they need to get rid of everyone currently working there and get someone from sony or nintendo.

The problem with management everywhere is that they surround themselves with yes men instead of the people that tell them the uncomfortable truths. It sounds like MS needs someone like a Shu to be ruthless when evaluating games.

 

[nowhat]

I'd compare the whole situation to:
Samsung and Apple

As far as analogies go, this one is... completely lost on me. Which one is which?

 

[Negotiator101]

It's not "rent free" when he's constantly in the headlines, ya dunce.

Snappy comeback next time you have brain fart don't post it here

 

[Banjo64]

As far as analogies go, this one is... completely lost on me. Which one is which?

Isn’t it clear?

burgers vs the nihongos

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Snappy comeback next time you have brain fart don't post it here

Actually retarded lmao

 

[Banjo64]

Actually retarded lmao

Leave Clippy alone. He nearly has enough goodboy points for 1 month of game pass.