Key for Fable will be leadership and getting a team in place that’s pulling in the same direction. I’m excited about how Microsoft has recently prioritized gaming again. Still not confident that they are good at overseeing game development but maybe that all changes with Spencer no longer reporting to Terry Myerson.
Josh Holmes, former Halo 5 lead who left Microsoft because it wasn’t fun working at 343, said things that were pretty indirectly damning about what a mess that studio was and how it impacted Halo 5’s quality. We didn’t hear much from Coalition outside of the disappointment employees had being forced to work on a paint by numbers Gears of War.
In contrast, Sea of Thieves looks like a Rare game that the employees are excited about following a check the box Kinect Sports title. Getting shot out of a cannon in a Pirate game isn’t something the data would’ve pointed to in the board room. It’s finally a good sign and hopefully it becomes a trend and not aberration.
Microsoft has been accused of trying to build games like it’s an engineering project rather than a piece of art. Too data driven which drives some people in their studios crazy. With Phil now the boss and no longer reporting to Terry “what does the data say” Myerson, maybe Xbox games can regain a soul again. Rumors for awhile have been he was the issue more so than even Mattrick. It’ll be exciting to see how these new projects turn out under the new direction and leadership.