Interview: Phil Harrison on Xbox One's upcoming exclusives

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Sep 12, 2013
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Interview: Phil Harrison on Xbox One's upcoming exclusives


http://www.oxm.co.uk/68670/features/interview-phil-harrison-on-xbox-ones-upcoming-exclusives/


From the earliest moments of its conception, Xbox has been an American console. It was invented in America, designed in America, and continues to enjoy its greatest successes in America. Its signature game, Halo, is about as Yankee-doodle as they come. But it's always had a strong UK showing thanks to Rare and Lionhead - internal studios that have flourished even while others like Ensemble, FASA and Aces were closed. Now, with ex-Sony man Phil Harrison in charge and a new console to support, more have joined the strength, and they've been charged with changing the way we play games.

To paraphrase a line about Chuck Norris, Phil Harrison's role is so important that it cannot even be described. "I have no idea what my job title is, actually," he muses while sitting in Microsoft's Xbox-equipped London showhome. "I have a privileged position to stand up and talk about other people's great work. That will be my simple answer."
 
The man with the plan

There's a lot to talk about. As the man behind Microsoft Studios in Europe, he's overseeing everything from the tarted-up Fable Anniversary to the unspecified, untested, and entirely unproven entertainment projects at Lift London. As well as having a hand in the debut of Xbox One, of course, which he's typically bullish about after a long, fraught launch process.

"The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding is the games. I think that, not just at launch, but into the foreseeable future Xbox One has some pretty amazing titles coming up for it. Whether you are the most die-hard Xbox fan or new to the platform and new to the brand you should be excited about it. You should be excited for Ryse, you should be excited about Forza Motorsport 5, you should be excited about Kinect Sports Rivals. You should be very excited about Titanfall."

The best, of course, is still yet to come. Impressive though the Xbox One's launch lineup is, it won't be until developers get used to the now-final hardware that it'll really start to impress - something that Harrison, who was part of the launch team for every PlayStation until the latest one, knows all too well.

"When you've been around a long time, you know what platforms are like. The games you celebrate and are proud of in the first year, when you look back at them from the perspective of ten years from now; you'd be amazed at the difference. It's a combination of the tools getting better, developers beginning to understand the unique architecture to work with.
 
Fresh thinking

It's not just about updates or sequels, though. The launch of a new console is the cue for new games and new brands to appear - something that's sorely needed after years of sequel churn - and Harrison's got particular form for cultivating new ideas from his time at Sony.


These new games will come from both within the company - we're told of many new games in development at Lionhead and Lift London - and from third parties. "It's impossible for us to have exclusivity of wisdom within our own four walls, so we have development partnerships and relationships with companies like Crytek or like Remedy - and the ID@Xbox program is a great way of giving an on-ramp for talent into our platform. Each one of those is equally important.

Plus, there's the new publishing arm set up by John Needham, which signed up Warface for Xbox 360, and is on the hunt for new talent. "I keep pushing them to go and find the lightning in a bottle. Go find the two people who have never formed a studio before that we can help go create an organisation around, that we can help build the technology and creative and production pipeline around to allow them to do something amazing. I'm just as interested in that kind of investment as I am in the excellence that we would have from a company like Crytek or Remedy."
 
Sadly, that interview didn't reveal anything new or newsworthy. Sounds like a whole lot of tooting ones own horn.
 
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Soldier 95B said:
Sadly, that interview didn't reveal anything new or newsworthy. Sounds like a whole lot of tooting ones own horn.
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I don't even bother reading anything from him or listening to anything he says anymore. He never has anything interesting to say.
 
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The Xbox One's future is about as promising as any console ever. Microsoft is bringing the games this generation. That's evident by their E3 showing alone last June.
 
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