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Phil Spencer: announcement this week

Heisenberg007

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Topher said:
I think MS will be extremely clever with their wording and leave a lot of questions unanswered. No way Microsoft just spills their guts gives everyone the straight answers they have been waiting for about the future of Xbox. I expect full on smoke and mirriors.

Microsoft......prove me wrong.
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"Here at Xbox, we have always strived to deliver the best gaming experiences to gamers, no matter where they choose to play. We have the best Xbox lineup, and we can't wait to show you guys more in the future."

ummm ... but is Xbox going multiplatform or will it stay exclusive?

"Yes."
 
Killjoy-NL

Killjoy-NL

Member
peish said:
Doesnt matter now does it. Optics for emergency events such as this makes stakeholders unhappy

Phil will retire soon, then we will see how a world with out Phils plays out. Its speover, dark clouds are coming for xbox and gaming fanboys alike
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I know, I've been saying the same thing.

Just pointing out Spencer's hypocrisy.
 
Zheph

Zheph

Member
I don't understand how you can feel sad for Phil... madness

anyway has this been shared already?

af0f0cf34b1866db82569cafaede1de60f22e251.png
 
Hohenheim

Hohenheim

Member
Panajev2001a said:
One the other side for many, they bought a console in 2020 and the entire system cost them $399-499…
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Yeah, which is good value if you're ok with low/mid performance. You cannot buy a system for 499 and expect high end performance. And many folks seems to complain about these things, while at the same time refuse to see beyond the console marked.
 
P

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Hohenheim said:
Yeah, which is good value if you're ok with low/mid performance. You cannot buy a system for 499 and expect high end performance. And many folks seems to complain about these things, while at the same time refuse to see beyond the console marked.
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I am ok with good performance and in 2020 I was getting high performance truth to be told (performance per dollar is still important as well as it is the convenience of console gaming and software taking better and better advantage of the HW over time thanks to fixed console specs and deterministic low level access). At least one or two years on PS exclusive exclusivity is super high performance.

For the next step, I will have PS6 and enjoy that jump again.

I am aware that there are benefits to the PC model, you have the freedom to spend more and more money to chase higher performance (diminishing returns there hit hard, evolution in HW is more and more held back by meaningful semiconductor manufacturing nodes upgrades being slower and slower and more and more expensive to use and design on… the answer is not to release HW more frequently anymore, not unless we have a true breakthrough).

I also love PC software hacking and crazy compatibility, that is why I have a Steam Deck too (even though you cannot upgrade HW and it is a bit more console like in that regard).
 
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Hohenheim

Hohenheim

Member
Humdinger said:
Agreed. I don't like the shaming I see of other people's reactions. Okay, if it goes off the rails -- if someone smashes their Xbox or literally weeps on camera, sure, goof on them. But I see a lot of shaming other people for having what I think are understandable emotional reactions to these rumors. As you say, gaming is different. It's not "just a piece of plastic." Some people have decades of memories attached to this. People do become emotionally invested. These games and that ecosystem have meant something to them. I get it.
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It's not shaming from my part, but this "emotional investment" is just something I can't wrap my head around. I also have many years and lots of good memories with lots of consoles, but that's because of the games, lot the name of the brands. I've had every console since the NES, and i'm not emotionaly attached to any of them. The Gamecube is my all time favourite console, and lots of great gaming moments are attached to that and to Nintendo. But if Nintendo started getting their games out on PC tomorrow, and I could play them in 4K with high FPS.. well, I would be very happy!
Emotional connections to brands and platforms is not constructive in this business. Enjoy the games.
And no matter what happens with Xbox, their games will still be around!
 
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balls of snow

balls of snow

Member
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
WJoI13p.jpg

Found a funny on Reset about these rumors before heading to bed. They mad-mad about this, probably upset the rumors started here and not on their purple forum 😁

Never mind all the official signs all but verifying some aspects of the rumors, others who have corroborated them, or Phil Spencer's own tweet coming out and indirectly referring to the rumors without even debunking them when he's debunked many other rumors about Xbox almost immediately.

Nah, we gotta question the source because they're not from our forum. A special type of copium.

Welp, anyway. 'nite 🤣



There is no 'internal fight' or civil war. Everything's already been decided. You don't have a 'business update' on a whim; you do that after higher-ups have decided things weeks or even months in advance. Whatever battle there's happening on the inside (if any), it's over. It's been over.

This isn't some SEGA of America/SEGA of Japan infighting nonsense. Phil and Microsoft Gaming got stripped of their autonomy and now have to comply with whatever their superiors have deemed fit for the gaming brand going forward.

What that actually is, we'll see (or start to see) next week. But there's a 100% chance at least some of these rumors are true, given more recent circumstantial evidence. IMO they're 100% true, but we probably won't hear confirmation on most of it in a few days and certain parts would take a long time to implement, probably.



You're giving him too much credit.
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Yeah maybe. I dont trust that a green rabbit wont be pulled out of nowhere. Because as the podcast said, this is some high level leaks regarding hardware, software and overall business direction, screams of last ditch effort by someone to pull support for xbox at the last minute. It does not look like the messaging is clear if there are no dissenting voices and everyone at ms/xbox is on board with the plan. Corporate shit for all the world to see.
 
E

Elios83

Member
Topher said:
I think MS will be extremely clever with their wording and leave a lot of questions unanswered. No way Microsoft just spills their guts gives everyone the straight answers they have been waiting for about the future of Xbox. I expect full on smoke and mirriors.

Microsoft......prove me wrong.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much guaranteed. The only message that will be clear will be that from now on we can expect more games than before will go fully multiplatform.
I doubt they'll make specific names especially among their big series.
They might start telling people that certain things might not go day one on Gamepass anymore but again I doubt they'll make clear names.
And they'll say that obviously they're not leaving the hardware business and they have a roadmap of future products which is a moot point when your hardware becomes just an option but that will be enough to keep some false hopes alive.
 
buenoblue

buenoblue

Member
Jeff Gerstman had a good point. Microsofts biggest games, COD and Minecraft, are already third party.

And looking at the numbers both these games make so much more money being multi platform so it makes sense to put all the games multi platform.

If you a Xbox console die hard you can still play there.
 
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Borowski_1

Borowski_1

Member
buenoblue said:
Jeff Gerstman had a good point. Microsofts biggest games, COD and Minecraft, are already third party.

And looking at the numbers both these games make so much more money being multi platform so it makes sense to put all the games multi platform.

If you a Xbox console die hard you can still play there.
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In his podcast?
 
Nitty_Grimes

Nitty_Grimes

Made a crappy phPBB forum once ... once.
My thoughts all along day one Game Pass would end. It's not financially viable. Attempt to charge £70 for it for 6 months then put it on the service. Like going to the cinema then putting it on streaming services. Rinse what revenue you can first of all however slim.
 
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digoutyoursoul

digoutyoursoul

Member
“Buy our console that we don’t give a fuck about “

*Gets outsold substantially *

“They are right to do this, plastic box folk shook brah”

What a fucking disgrace
 
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Fredrik

Fredrik

Member
Hohenheim said:
Except I wouldn't call this a "trainwreck". It's just more business strategies from a multi million dollar company to make even more millions.
The whole thing feels so extreme because of the echo chambers with the "insiders" and the weidly attached "console warriors".
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I think it’s a trainwreck because of how badly this has been communicated (silence) and how badly they’ve prepared the userbase (no preparation and lies about exclusivity).
And those making a fuss isn’t just Xbox fans, it’s PS fans too getting tricked to buy a Xbox because they saw no other way to play some exclusives. I know people who prefer PS who bought a Series X for Starfield, then didn’t even like the game and now they’ll hear that they didn’t even need to buy the console. Great investment right?
It’s just terrible communication from all sides.
 
Killjoy-NL

Killjoy-NL

Member
Fredrik said:
. I know people who prefer PS who bought a Series X for Starfield, then didn’t even like the game and now they’ll hear that they didn’t even need to buy the console. Great investment right?
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They really only have themselves to blame.

There were people who have been trying to tell them for years that this was going to happen.
The signs were there and it was inevitable.
 
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baphomet

baphomet

Member
I would be blown away if they actually removed day 1 games from game pass. They've already dug that grave. You take day 1 games off there not only will you tank your console sales even more by releasing games on PS, but you'll also tank your game pass subscriber numbers because without day 1 games no one is subscribing. It's not even worth staying subscribed now because of the miniscule amount of games they release on there, but taking away day 1 games would make that value proposition 0.
 
Astray

Astray

Member
James Sawyer Ford said:
Yeah, I get it, Microsoft's messaging has been AWFUL and all over the place. I think the problem is that Phil really doesn't know what he's doing. He inherited a mess, and he's been experimenting the last decade or so trying to remain competitive. And he's had to flip flop so many times because of his own strategic failures not panning out. Yeah, it's bad. But, on the same token, Xbox enthusiasts have become entitled to Microsoft's "daddy warbucks" coffers. Phil made a commitment to the gaming industry and probably did have many "come to jesus" moments with senior leadership. Xbox was on the chopping block. He was able to negotiate with his political capital to allow Microsoft to continue investing untold billions into the project. And let's not pretend like Xbox has been profitable or making money. They haven't been. There's a reason this is all obfuscated in their financial statements. Xbox, gamepass, all of it is a HUGE MONEY PIT.
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This has been my point in my year here. And most people just don't believe it and point to revenue rising when it's also clear the full P/L isn't being disclosed for a reason.

James Sawyer Ford said:
So to continue failing, Phil has to continuously explain to the CEO and CFO why they should continue bleeding money when they aren't growing. Buying Bethesda, releasing Starfield which didn't move the needle, firesale prices not moving the needle, the experiment is now done. The idea that Microsoft can compete on exclusives and grow their marketshare is false - it's failing worse than the Xbox One right now. Gamers are, instead of buying an Xbox, simply ignoring Bethesda. And Microsoft senior leadership realizes this. And that's a CATASTROPHIC outcome for their $7B acquisition of Bethesda.
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%100 agreed. The market has kinda ignored Bethesda products since their stuff went exclusive. I barely see anyone talking about Starfield rn, not even Xbox twitter console warriors are talking about it anymore.

James Sawyer Ford said:
The issue is not commitment to the brand, it's an existential crisis of complete relevance to the $80B+ worth of studios they just acquired. They present huge operating costs, and the truth is that if you're not on Playstation (or Switch, where applicable), you're doomed. Period. At this point the market has spoken and quite frankly Microsoft's exclusives, while good, are simply not capable of being that multiple GOTY quality each and every year to get somebody who's indifferent to buy their ecosystem just to play a mid-Starfield game.
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I think there is a commitment issue with Xbox overall, like even in the XB360 era, they didn't really commit to their Japan push as much as they should have. This is a recurring theme with them so I don't really see where he is wrong here.

James Sawyer Ford said:
The fact that Matty thinks the gaming industry is going to be WORSE by having Microsoft go third party just isn't based on anything other than a fanboy fictitious narrative. People's jobs, employment, growth and persistence in this industry depend on them being successful. And they cannot be successful as Xbox exclusives at this point. If you want BETTER MICROSOFT GAMES, you would want their studios to thrive and not be on the chopping block. That's not "hand waiving" away the concerns of those that only own an Xbox console and their fate - they will still get Xbox games, maybe even better quality ones by being a third party instead. And that's what SHOULD matter to them more than anything else.
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There's a lot of FUD going around on this topic (hurr durr $1000 console $100 games) that completely disregards the impact of PC on the competitive landscape. But the industry WILL get worse in one aspect: Massively reduced developer leverage when it comes to negotiations around platform cut or timed exclusivity or subscription service inclusion deals, this WILL eventually impact pricing strategies and some other stuff.

There are things that happened around the PS5 launch that almost definitely will never happen during PS6 launch, things like PS Plus Collection, which was a great for Sony to counter the initial gamepass push from MS + welcome new gamers into the PS ecosystem with minimal initial outlay. That definitely won't happen.

I do think that Sony won't be left alone in the high power console space for long tho.
 
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Hohenheim

Hohenheim

Member
Fredrik said:
I think it’s a trainwreck because of how badly this has been communicated (silence) and how badly they’ve prepared the userbase (no preparation and lies about exclusivity).
And those making a fuss isn’t just Xbox fans, it’s PS fans too getting tricked to buy a Xbox because they saw no other way to play some exclusives. I know people who prefer PS who bought a Series X for Starfield, then didn’t even like the game and now they’ll hear that they didn’t even need to buy the console. Great investment right?
It’s just terrible communication from all sides.
Click to expand...
Yeah, their communication could definitly be a lot more clear.
I think it's been like this for a while because of some internal issues over future direction. I mean, in any other case you'd believe a huge company like MS would be able to be better in communication with their customers. The way various people within the company have been giving different statements over their vision/plans going forward, that must be because of some serious internal issues, probably fuelled by the ABK purchase.
 
Hohenheim

Hohenheim

Member
JapeMincers said:
Digital Foundry isn't going to have much to do without the platform comparisons if XBOX does cease to be its own platform.
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They'll keep doing their very strange videos comparing apples to oranges (PS5 to mid/high range GPU's)

But MS will definitly keep releasing hardware for gaming. A handheld / hybrid was in the works, right? Or was that just wishful thinking from another "insider"? Hard to keep up.
 
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LordCBH

LordCBH

Member
Astray said:
I think there is a commitment issue with Xbox overall, like even in the XB360 era, they didn't really commit to their Japan push as much as they should have. This is a recurring theme with them so I don't really see where he is wrong here.
Click to expand...

At this point, I’m convinced they did that early 360 push with Japanese games and then went “ok we got them, now they can’t afford to skip us” and didn’t bother anymore. Then the PS3 started its redemption arc, and the PS4 then completed that arc.
 
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