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Spencer on Why There Are No Xbox Series X Exclusives: We’re Putting the Player at the Center

thelastword

Banned
He did so by hearkening back to a speech at the Xbox Spring Showcase in 2016, which is when Microsoft decided to commit to releasing all Xbox games on Windows 10 PC, too. That was the start of a new player-centric, instead of device-centric, vision.


You accurately picked up at that showcase in 2016. I know I kind of confused some people, even some people on my own team, but I had a view, we had been working as a leadership team on where we were going to be going. And I thought it was important to stand up and at least try to give some kind of roadmap so that as things were coming into places, we had announced new things, people could kind of say 'Okay, well, I understand how this fits in a vision', a vision that from our perspective is a vision putting the player at the center and not putting the device in the center. And today, people play games on a ton of different devices. And that is something that has really led to gaming's growth. I mean, it's almost a cliche now as I've said so often there were 2 billion people who play video games. That number is expected to grow to 4 billion in the next decade. It's growth for our industry, which leads to some of the best creations that we've ever seen because creators are finding new customers, new gamers are coming in all the time. And I think our job as a platform is to create the broadest platform for gamers so they can find the broadest set of games that they could go play so they can find great games that they want to go play by themselves or go play great games with their friends. That was my long winded side. But so what we're trying to do is put the player at the center and say, if you're a gamer and you want to go play the highest fidelity experiences on your TV or on your PC, we want to give you the ability to do that. If you're somebody who is playing games, and you're never going to own a console, you're never going to own a gaming PC, we're obviously investing in Project xCloud and things to make that possible so you can play games on those devices.

Even business models, because not everybody can afford to go out and spend 60 bucks on a new game, people want to play more games. So you look at something like Xbox Game Pass which is really an evolution of the business model of games so that it gives people another option to build a library of games that they can go play. Now, specifically on exclusives or not exclusives, I mean, one of the benefits that we have just sitting inside of Microsoft is we've obviously been close to the development of what's been going on a PC for years, right. And I think today, if we look at the PC ecosystem, we'd say some of the highest fidelity games anywhere sitting on high end gaming PCs. And some of those same games are actually able to run on PCs that are a few years old, that have much less capability and the state of engines and capability today means that developers finally have the capability to take full use of the gaming hardware that's in front of them. Obviously, we built our strategy with Xbox Series X. We started with that in mind, if we wanted to go build a gaming console, that was going to be the absolute best that we could deliver on a TV and deliver unique capability to creators that they could use to go create the best games. But you don't want to do that to the exclusion of everybody else. And you also want to do that hand in hand with developers, because developers want to find the widest audience possible at the same time. And yes, there are always trade offs on what you're going to do from developing each individual game. And I'm not going to go dictate to every studio, every third party studio, kind of what they have to go support. But what we see in today's world is gamers want to play games with their friends, regardless of what device those friends are on. People want to have the largest selection of games open to them, and developers want to be able to make use of absolutely the best in the technology that's available.We built this plan with all three of those as inputs, and we feel really good about where we are.

Later in the chat, Spencer also discussed his own seemingly anti-VR statement when he said there was no demand for it among Xbox fans.


I probably overstated and I wasn't trying to take anything away from people who love VR and and the experiences that are being built, no disrespect to any of the teams there. Ryan Payton, a good friend of mine, he's getting ready to ship Iron Man VR. And you know, there's a lot of people I know that are working on some good VR titles, great VR titles, and I'm not trying to not be supportive of that to use a double negative. But my main point was, I wanted to be clear with our customers on where our focus was so that if somebody was waiting for us to bring out a VR headset for Xbox Series X at the launch or something I was just trying to say we're not going to do that. I understand certain people would want that, we have to focus our efforts on the things that we're doing right now. And the most precious resource that we have is the team and their ability.

VR is not just as simple as plugging your headset, you have to redo the dash, like there's a bunch of work that goes into it. And the teams at Valve, the teams at Sony, the teams at Oculus that are doing that work there. They know the completeness and what it means to support that platform. Obviously, obviously, VR is big on Windows today, we are the Windows company and we're never going to close our eyes to where things are going. So I don't hope it goes away. I hope it gets bigger. I hope it's something that's just so important that there would be no brainer for us to support it. My main point in that statement wasn't to chide anybody who's working on VR, anything but really just about the stuff that we're focused on right now. And that's not part of the equation right now.

https://wccftech.com/spencer-on-why...usives-were-putting-the-player-at-the-center/



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Here it is folks, Phil Spencer on no exclusives and no VR...…...
 

Captain Hero

The Spoiler Soldier
oh wow .. so he said " not everybody can afford to go out and spend 60 bucks on a new game " .. on the other hand , not everyone can afford to have a good internet speed and pay more than 60 bucks too Spencer .. and that Exclusives talk WTF !

I can see many words flying around with 0 understanding what the players want
 
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killatopak

Gold Member
Didn’t an MS exec said no exclusive only for the 1st to 2nd year? I mean it’s definitely disappointing but the first two years of the current gen have been mostly cross gen as well so it’s not unprecedented.

I’m surprised about no VR though. Like ever?
 
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Shmunter

Member
"And I'm not going to go dictate to every studio, every third party studio, kind of what they have to go support. But what we see in today's world is gamers want to play games with their friends, regardless of what device those friends are on."

I've been waiting for something like this. There's still hope 3rd parties will make XsX games without being anchored by Xbox Once VCR!


Although this bit still concerns me. It's like they are blind to the dire state of the Jaguar CPU's. False PC equivalence.

"And I think today, if we look at the PC ecosystem, we'd say some of the highest fidelity games anywhere sitting on high end gaming PCs. And some of those same games are actually able to run on PCs that are a few years old, that have much less capability and the state of engines and capability today means that developers finally have the capability to take full use of the gaming hardware that's in front of them. Obviously, we built our strategy with Xbox Series X. We started with that in mind, if we wanted to go build a gaming console, that was going to be the absolute best that we could deliver on a TV and deliver unique capability to creators that they could use to go create the best games. But you don't want to do that to the exclusion of everybody else."
 
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demigod

Member
"And I'm not going to go dictate to every studio, every third party studio, kind of what they have to go support. But what we see in today's world is gamers want to play games with their friends, regardless of what device those friends are on."

I've been waiting for something like this. There's still hope 3rd parties will make XsX games without being anchored by Xbox Once VCR!


Although this bit still concerns me. It's like they are blind to the dire state of the Jaguar CPU's. False PC equivalence.

"And I think today, if we look at the PC ecosystem, we'd say some of the highest fidelity games anywhere sitting on high end gaming PCs. And some of those same games are actually able to run on PCs that are a few years old, that have much less capability and the state of engines and capability today means that developers finally have the capability to take full use of the gaming hardware that's in front of them. Obviously, we built our strategy with Xbox Series X. We started with that in mind, if we wanted to go build a gaming console, that was going to be the absolute best that we could deliver on a TV and deliver unique capability to creators that they could use to go create the best games. But you don't want to do that to the exclusion of everybody else."

I wouldn’t trust Phil, remember id xbox parity? Also Osirisblack’s dev friend says it doesn’t have to work on ps4 but didn’t say the same with xbox.

 

Shmunter

Member
I wouldn’t trust Phil, remember id xbox parity? Also Osirisblack’s dev friend says it doesn’t have to work on ps4 but didn’t say the same with xbox.

Yes I member Osiris post.

It may be the case that Phill is getting increasing pushback from 3rd parties and may be slowly conceding on their mandate. Let be realistic, there is undoubtedly More work to crate a game up and down a console range vs one fixed spec. Not every dev will love the fact.
 

wolffy71

Banned
Calling no xbox one exclusive "spin" is literally retarded. Its not spin when its a decision. If they were interested in changing it they could.

The term "spin" - particular bias, interpretation, or point of view, intended to create a favorable (or sometimes, unfavorable) impression when presented to the public.

You may feel its a bad decision but its not spin lol
 

Moogle11

Banned
They/he just need to drop the lame spin and just state that they believe having their software and services on a variety of devices is the best future for the Xbox brand.

It likely is as there’s much more profit margin in software and services than hardware, and that will probably only continue as younger generations who are used to streaming things and owning fewer things age and make up the key 18-35 market.

Plus, them being able to be the market leader in console sales in the futute is likely more dependent on Sony fucking up than them doing something right. Sony has won the worldwide sales race every generation that they’ve been in it other than the PS3 with its high launch price, “people will work two jobs to afford it“ PR debacle, the cell processor being hard to port to leasing to some bad multiplat versions etc. Even then they finished neck in neck with 360 for second place behind WIi by the generation‘s end. Add in that more people are going to feel more locked into ecosystems now that more people have more digital game purchases on their account and it’s a tough road to hoe.

So drop the consumer friendly BS and just state that they’re doing what they think is best for the future of the xbox brand and getting their games and services to as large a market as possible. I wish Sony and Nintendo would do the same so maybe we’d finally not have gaming communities so full of console warring, fanboy nonsense and we could spend more time actually talking about games.
 

CamHostage

Member
I guess there's not much reason to not make a game for both platforms if you can and if the market is there for both.

In past generations, port-ups were clearly last-gen products with a shinier coat of paint, and consumers went for the "real game" whenever they could afford the upgrade. Sometimes there was an artificiality to exclusivity, where titles were made only for next-gen yet could have been on old systems with a little super-effort (even Titanfall, shockingly, proved that 360 wasn't as dead as the papers said.) Still, you look at SM64 or MGS2 or Rogue Squadron II or Condemned and you know that the new consoles left the past behind. Gamers now are used to a much wider range of visual styles/qualities, they play big games on tiny devices, they play old games "remastered", play at whatever framerate and ping is available so long as all their friends are online, they spend as much or more time watching games being played on YT than playing games themselves ... actually, I'm not even sure why kids these days are excited for next-gen?)

To me, though, this is a sad admission that there's nothing these new consoles will bring to the table.

There's no "impossible" being made "possible" anymore. He's saying there's nothing it can offer (yet) which you can't also get out the box already on your shelf. It'll look better, it'll run better, but you already had that bump up in 2017 with X One X, and until a game comes along that proves otherwise, this is just the next X.

(*And that I would imagine goes for Sony too. They haven't come out and said their approach to next-gen support, but there's not much on PC - usually the harbinger of what's to come in a console generation, though the money's not there to push a PC product to elite, console-denying specs like in the past - and not much whispered from developers that's hinting at something revolutionary to come. For better or worse. Maybe it's a good thing we're getting consoles that just concentrate on doing everything as well as possible...)
 
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Moogle11

Banned
Calling no xbox one exclusive "spin" is literally retarded. Its not spin when its a decision. If they were interested in changing it they could.

The term "spin" - particular bias, interpretation, or point of view, intended to create a favorable (or sometimes, unfavorable) impression when presented to the public.

You may feel its a bad decision but its not spin lol

When people are talking about spin they’re not meaning the no exclusives bit. They’re meaning him saying the no exclusives thing is because exclusives are anticonsumer is BS. They had plenty of exclusives before and only started play anywhere, game pass for PC etc after it was clear the Xbox One wasn’t going to sell near the 360, much less the PS4.

I think it’s a wise business move. But that’s what it is. A business move. They aren’t doing it out of the goodness of their hearts to help consumers or gamers. They’re doing it as they had to find a way to make more profits from their games and services than they could from the base willing to buy and Xbox One and knowing they were unlikely to sell a ton more consoles next gen unless Sony fucked up somehow.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
The bigger problem is Xbox still doesn’t get the games that gets released on PC. DQXI got released on PS4, Switch and PC but no Xbox, same story with game like Atelier Ryza.

So if Atlus decides bring Persona series other platform, PC has bigger chance gets that game more than Xbox.
 

DanielsM

Banned
Puts the player at the center by making PC or ps5 a more viable option.
Pretty much this. Satya doesn't give a shit about plastic, sevices or bust at this point.

Bullshit as a Service (BaaS) but not sure what else Phil could do at this point, revenue is going to get smashed.
 

DaMonsta

Member
I know people are gonna act stupid in here cause it’s Microsoft, but all he’s saying is that they will try to bring the games to gamers wherever they chose to play. If they can get a game working on your platform of choice they will do so.

This is how games have always worked outside of exclusive games with the goal of selling hardware.

Nothing new or surprising here, but here we are with a thread full of fud. Smh
 

DanielsM

Banned
I know people are gonna act stupid in here cause it’s Microsoft, but all he’s saying is that they will try to bring the games to gamers wherever they chose to play. If they can get a game working on your platform of choice they will do so.

This is how games have always worked outside of exclusive games with the goal of selling hardware.

Nothing new or surprising here, but here we are with a thread full of fud. Smh
No, he isn't....he is talking about services...he thinks they can be the middleman on other devices which makes very little sense, except for Microsoft made games like a traditional publisher.
 
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DaMonsta

Member
No, he isn't....he is talking about services...he thinks they can be the middleman on other devices which makes very little sense.
Games and services.

They plan to use the games to get people hooked to the services wherever they chose to game.
 

DanielsM

Banned
Games and services.

They plan to use the games to get people hooked to the services wherever they chose to game.
There is no way of doing that for non MS games, closed systems are controlled by device makers, on open systems the large publishers already have their own systems and avoid ms.

What fucking services are needed on Ps?
 
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DaMonsta

Member
There is no way of doing that for non MS games, closed systems are controlled by device makers, on open systems the large publishers already have their own systems and avoid ms.
Gamepass and Xcloud don’t just have Microsoft games. Plenty of large publishers are already participating in those services.

What fucking services are needed on Ps?
IDK but they signed a deal with Azure for a reason.
 

DanielsM

Banned
Gamepass and Xcloud don’t just have Microsoft games. Plenty of large publishers are already participating in those services.


IDK but they signed a deal with Azure for a reason.

That's the problem, Sony already has those games in their ps store and on Ps now. MS can deploy games to the PS just like every other publisher but services are not needed nor wanted.

Closed systems make money on royalties.
 
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