The Interviews Of Phil Spencer - To P3 And Beyond

[The Wolf King]

What investment do people have in xbox if they go through game pass for all of their games? they can just give that up any time since they don't "own" any of it.

He's right that they'll never outsell PlayStation globally but that doesn't mean that a constant flow of great games won't increase xbox's market share. It's a false dichotomy, they can still be successful in the gaming space without outselling PlayStation or whatever Nintendo's next console is.

That whole line about people not selling their PS5's was just dumb, you don't have to sell a PS5 to get a Series X, not everyone can afford to buy both consoles at the same time but over time they may want to buy an xbox as well if you give them enough reason to.

GP came late so many gamers will still have a large collection. If I checked my dash I've probably purchased or free downloaded over 300 games since the 360 days. And I'm not the sort to just never go back to a game once a new gen comes.

It's the same with things like phones. IPhone sucks but even if it didn't I've been with Samsung for so long now I'm pretty much locked into it.

People need to remember the people that post on game forums are the loud but small minority. If we represented the larger % of gamers the switch would have died ages ago with only about 2m sold. Instead It's kicked everything's arse since day 1.

Phil never said Xbox can't be successful just they need to do like Nintendo and look at it differently (user numbers over multiple devices instead of consoles sold). Which is flawed now anyways. Yeah switch might have sold 100m but how many of those are actually being used? Bet its less than half.

A lot of gamers don't want more than 1 console so no the line wasn't dumb IMO. If I'm on PS and only want 1 console or can only really afford to game on 1 I'm not going to suddenly stop liking my PS exclusives and sell for an Xbox just for Starfield.

 

[menace-uk-]

GP came late so many gamers will still have a large collection. If I checked my dash I've probably purchased or free downloaded over 300 games since the 360 days. And I'm not the sort to just never go back to a game once a new gen comes.

It's the same with things like phones. IPhone sucks but even if it didn't I've been with Samsung for so long now I'm pretty much locked into it.

People need to remember the people that post on game forums are the loud but small minority. If we represented the larger % of gamers the switch would have died ages ago with only about 2m sold. Instead It's kicked everything's arse since day 1.

Phil never said Xbox can't be successful just they need to do like Nintendo and look at it differently (user numbers over multiple devices instead of consoles sold).

A lot of gamers don't want more than 1 console so no the line wasn't dumb IMO. If I'm on PS and only want 1 console or can only really afford to game on 1 I'm not going to suddenly stop liking my PS exclusives and sell for an Xbox just for Starfield.

Another thing nobody seems to mention is just how big consoles are getting. The XSX and PS5 are huge.

I have the small XSS and PS5 and I can't fit my PS5 in anywhere, lol.

 

[starseeker]

On the flip side. Why buy studios if you expect them to change ways as soon as you bought them. You bought them for being them in the first place.

Few pointers.
No one is saying fundamentally changing what they do. When a film makes an inquisition, they normally look for things that the company they buy can bring to the table. No one is expecting a studio that made fighting games to make FPS. You buy them for their skillset & specialties.

Before you buy a studio, its obvious to make clear what you expected from them. Back to the studio that make a fighting game. YOu can say you expect them to make fighting games, but of a vision you wanted, or expend to something reasonable, like beat them up. This doesn't mean they cannot exercise creative vision or do different genres. But that should be negotiated & subject now to your approval. They cannot suddenly decide to make a dating sim or whatever they wish.

 

[The Wolf King]

Dating sim would do great on GamePass.

 

[JinCA]

GP came late so many gamers will still have a large collection. If I checked my dash I've probably purchased or free downloaded over 300 games since the 360 days. And I'm not the sort to just never go back to a game once a new gen comes.

It's the same with things like phones. IPhone sucks but even if it didn't I've been with Samsung for so long now I'm pretty much locked into it.

People need to remember the people that post on game forums are the loud but small minority. If we represented the larger % of gamers the switch would have died ages ago with only about 2m sold. Instead It's kicked everything's arse since day 1.

Phil never said Xbox can't be successful just they need to do like Nintendo and look at it differently (user numbers over multiple devices instead of consoles sold). Which is flawed now anyways. Yeah switch might have sold 100m but how many of those are actually being used? Bet its less than half.

A lot of gamers don't want more than 1 console so no the line wasn't dumb IMO. If I'm on PS and only want 1 console or can only really afford to game on 1 I'm not going to suddenly stop liking my PS exclusives and sell for an Xbox just for Starfield.

I think the line was dumb simply because people aren't forced to make that choice, it's up to them. You can have both consoles if you can afford to buy them both even if the purchases are made years apart. If you choose to not buy one because that's just your preference that's fine but most people aren't going to have to go sell their PS5 to get a Series X.

The line wasn't just about Starfield, it was just what was mentioned because it's the highest profile game they have coming this year. Of course that one game isn't going to make everyone change their mind but if they ever get their crap together and start releasing high quality games on a regular basis (which is very hard to do) it would make their platform more attractive and more people would consider it even as a secondary console.

 

[Kvally]

GP came late so many gamers will still have a large collection. If I checked my dash I've probably purchased or free downloaded over 300 games since the 360 days. And I'm not the sort to just never go back to a game once a new gen comes.

It's the same with things like phones. IPhone sucks but even if it didn't I've been with Samsung for so long now I'm pretty much locked into it.

People need to remember the people that post on game forums are the loud but small minority. If we represented the larger % of gamers the switch would have died ages ago with only about 2m sold. Instead It's kicked everything's arse since day 1.

Phil never said Xbox can't be successful just they need to do like Nintendo and look at it differently (user numbers over multiple devices instead of consoles sold). Which is flawed now anyways. Yeah switch might have sold 100m but how many of those are actually being used? Bet its less than half.

A lot of gamers don't want more than 1 console so no the line wasn't dumb IMO. If I'm on PS and only want 1 console or can only really afford to game on 1 I'm not going to suddenly stop liking my PS exclusives and sell for an Xbox just for Starfield.

Jinca forgets that it’s only a minority of Xbox gamers that have Game Pass. It’s 28 million between 55 million Xbox One, 22 million Series X/S and millions of PCs.

 

[Kvally]

I think the line was dumb simply because people aren't forced to make that choice, it's up to them. You can have both consoles if you can afford to buy them both even if the purchases are made years apart. If you choose to not buy one because that's just your preference that's fine but most people aren't going to have to go sell their PS5 to get a Series X.

The line wasn't just about Starfield, it was just what was mentioned because it's the highest profile game they have coming this year. Of course that one game isn't going to make everyone change their mind but if they ever get their crap together and start releasing high quality games on a regular basis (which is very hard to do) it would make their platform more attractive and more people would consider it even as a secondary console.

The vast majority of people do not have multiple consoles and never will. We are in the extreme minority.

 

[menace-uk-]

Few pointers.
No one is saying fundamentally changing what they do. When a film makes an inquisition, they normally look for things that the company they buy can bring to the table. No one is expecting a studio that made fighting games to make FPS. You buy them for their skillset & specialties.

Before you buy a studio, its obvious to make clear what you expected from them. Back to the studio that make a fighting game. YOu can say you expect them to make fighting games, but of a vision you wanted, or expend to something reasonable, like beat them up. This doesn't mean they cannot exercise creative vision or do different genres. But that should be negotiated & subject now to your approval. They cannot suddenly decide to make a dating sim or whatever they wish.

They also can't impose that vision on games too far in development.

You want him gone, but his reign hasn't even begun. Last gen he was picking up the pieces of what Mattrick destroyed. He also had no more studios to get more from or even funding to get them.

Unfortunately for Phil and gamers the funding came too late and thus the start of this gen was hung over from the last.

 

[DriedMangoes]

You just posted my proof. Thanks.


And again, for the sixth f***ing time: People on this forum are not representative of the masses.

Yeah more people own both now like I said. And more are multiplatform than ever before. We are not back in the Stone Age times where one platform is it. I just showed you proof from not just this forum.

Again I ask you, imagine a world Xbox has all of PS studios games like TLOU, God of War, GT, Horizon , Spiderman etc. And they are all on Gamepass vs what Sony has if they had all of Xbox games. I am willing to bet the marketshare is skewed way more towards Xbox than what it looks like today. Great games will sell your consoles/platform. That is all the point I'm making. And it sounds like you agree since you just posted a lot of games that may or may not be great. Only time will tell if they have that huge "It" factor to sell systems.

 

[The Wolf King]

Here for the discredit to begin by the obvious.

 

[menace-uk-]

Yeah more people own both now like I said. And more are multiplatform than ever before. We are not back in the Stone Age times where one platform is it. I just showed you proof from not just this forum.

Again I ask you, imagine a world Xbox has all of PS studios games like TLOU, God of War, GT, Horizon , Spiderman etc. And they are all on Gamepass vs what Sony has if they had all of Xbox games. I am willing to bet the marketshare is skewed way more towards Xbox than what it looks like today. Great games will sell your consoles/platform. That is all the point I'm making. And it sounds like you agree since you just posted a lot of games that may or may not be great. Only time will tell if they have that huge "It" factor to sell systems.

Nobody is talking about PC or Mobile. The fact you are trying this just screams you know you were wrong.

So you are basically saying Phil was spot on. Lol. 1.) Playstation has to diminish its own games. 2.) Game Pass is one of the things Xbox does in the not trying to out console others.

 

[DriedMangoes]

Nobody is talking about PC or Mobile. The fact you are trying this just screams you know you were wrong.

So you are basically saying Phil was spot on. Lol. 1.) Playstation has to diminish its own games. 2.) Game Pass is one of the things Xbox does in the not trying to out console others.

The study says there are more people who own both PlayStation and Xbox consoles now.

Also more people own two or more platforms than ever before.

I don't agree with Phil saying great games would not help them gain market share. They absolutely will. In fact great games/exclusives will be their main reason for gaining market share back as evident by you guys posting games lists lol.

 

[Kvally]

The study says there are more people who own both PlayStation and Xbox consoles now.

Also more people own two or more platforms than ever before.

I don't agree with Phil saying great games would not help them gain market share. They absolutely will. In fact great games/exclusives will be their main reason for gaining market share back as evident by you guys posting games lists lol.

They are still in the extreme minority. Phil never said great games won’t sell more consoles.

 

[DriedMangoes]

They are still in the extreme minority. Phil never said great games won’t sell more consoles.

He said he doesn't think great games will turn their market share around. That's just not true at all. We saw the shift last gen because of the games quality difference.

X360 era = had great games and exclusives, sell almost as much as PS3 and is the highest selling Xbox ever at around 85 million was it? X1 era = not as many great exclusives and games as the 360, sells 30 million less consoles. That is not a coincidence.

PS3 era = not good start with high price, hard to develop for, great exclusive games took a while to get going until latter half of generation, sold 88 million consoles. The WORST performing Playstation ever because of what? Less great games until the very end couple years.

PS4 era = great start, good price, lots of first party studios support and new IPs, exclusives releasing throughout the generation . Sells 117.2+ million consoles.

X1 era = bad start, noone really wanted Kinect outside of the hardcore Xbox fans who were willing to give it a try. Less great exclusives than 360, drought in must have/play games compared to 360, sells 55-60 million consoles.

The transition between both platforms is not a coincidence. Services help, but it is ALWAYS the games that help push and move consoles dramatically in one way or another. The system sellers basically.

 

[karmakid]

The study says there are more people who own both PlayStation and Xbox consoles now.

Also more people own two or more platforms than ever before.

I don't agree with Phil saying great games would not help them gain market share. They absolutely will. In fact great games/exclusives will be their main reason for gaining market share back as evident by you guys posting games lists lol.

Do they say which ones though? Like do they have a ps1 and a 360?

Again, which ones? Are pc considered as well?

I’m with ya on that but that wasn’t the whole to said comment. But market gain with games alone won’t do it, they need to be in more markets to compete. Granted the two biggest ones are the uk and us, the eu aids in tipping the scales for them….ask @Swede and @starseeker they're our lads on the inside. I know we have some kiwis and maybe ozzys but I forget their usernames and I think they’re bundled in with the Asian market.

 

[menace-uk-]

The study says there are more people who own both PlayStation and Xbox consoles now.

Also more people own two or more platforms than ever before.

I don't agree with Phil saying great games would not help them gain market share. They absolutely will. In fact great games/exclusives will be their main reason for gaining market share back as evident by you guys posting games lists lol.

1. The study says the vast majority don't. Which is the point.

2. Nobody is talking about PC or mobile platforms. You just want to play ignorant because your study didn't yelp you. We are talking consoles.

3. That's it, keep taking things out of context so you can twist it to fit in your opinion. Lol.

At this point you aren't worth responding to.

 

[bullzeye]

It is funny reading this and seeing the bleeders of blue totally ignore reality.

Lets look at Nintendo: Once a huge player, were still putting out consistent quality titles, but couldn't out console Playstation. Even the new Xbox console matched Nintendo. What did Nintendo do, they stopped trying to out console and started trying new things and went from 25 million units sold to 100+ million units sold.

The whole, console has set hardware so bugs shouldn't be acceptable, which is hilarious, totally ignores that Xbox isn't just the console, it is PC too.

And just for some perspective: Xbox has released more quality games from their studios this gen than any previous gen after 3 years. Only 2 games thus far have been poor out of something like 16 games. In 2021 Xbox was the best publisher with the highest aggregate critic score ever.

So yeah, things are looking better, brighter, and moving in the direction.

MS had nothing to do with a lot of those 16 games though, they acquired devs and publisher who were nearing the end of the dev cycle, but of course they were counted since they owned them. The extra money for psychonauts 2 was a great move.

I'm much more interested going forward as to how they go, we obviously know these studios are talented and make great games, MS wants to keep giving them creative freedom to make different games and I'm all for it, a little blip in the radar doesn't spell doom like some dramatic people think (on reddit, twitter)

 

[menace-uk-]

MS had nothing to do with a lot of those 16 games though, they acquired devs and publisher who were nearing the end of the dev cycle, but of course they were counted since they owned them. The extra money for psychonauts 2 was a great move.

I'm much more interested going forward as to how they go, we obviously know these studios are talented and make great games, MS wants to keep giving them creative freedom to make different games and I'm all for it, a little blip in the radar doesn't spell doom like some dramatic people think (on reddit, twitter)

No they didn't, but the point is things are looking up. More studios means more games and going by 2021 it isn't just quantity either but quality.

Going forward is the key part. This is where Phil should be judged on. But for us Xbox Gamers the future looks far brighter than it did at this stage last gen.

 

[Swede]

Do they say which ones though? Like do they have a ps1 and a 360?

Again, which ones? Are pc considered as well?

I’m with ya on that but that wasn’t the whole to said comment. But market gain with games alone won’t do it, they need to be in more markets to compete. Granted the two biggest ones are the uk and us, the eu aids in tipping the scales for them….ask @Swede and @starseeker they're our lads on the inside. I know we have some kiwis and maybe ozzys but I forget their usernames and I think they’re bundled in with the Asian market.

I know if no one owning more than one of the next gen machines. People favor playstation here, most of them play cod and fifa, very few give any s***es about any of the Sony exclusives.

 

[menace-uk-]

Thought this was a good look.

 

[Kvally]

He said he doesn't think great games will turn their market share around. That's just not true at all. We saw the shift last gen because of the games quality difference.

X360 era = had great games and exclusives, sell almost as much as PS3 and is the highest selling Xbox ever at around 85 million was it? X1 era = not as many great exclusives and games as the 360, sells 30 million less consoles. That is not a coincidence.

PS3 era = not good start with high price, hard to develop for, great exclusive games took a while to get going until latter half of generation, sold 88 million consoles. The WORST performing Playstation ever because of what? Less great games until the very end couple years.

PS4 era = great start, good price, lots of first party studios support and new IPs, exclusives releasing throughout the generation . Sells 117.2+ million consoles.

X1 era = bad start, noone really wanted Kinect outside of the hardcore Xbox fans who were willing to give it a try. Less great exclusives than 360, drought in must have/play games compared to 360, sells 55-60 million consoles.

The transition between both platforms is not a coincidence. Services help, but it is ALWAYS the games that help push and move consoles dramatically in one way or another. The system sellers basically.

And the Xbox Series X|S is ahead of the 360/OG/One and had no games in 2022.

 

[DriedMangoes]

And the Xbox Series X|S is ahead of the 360/OG/One and had no games in 2022.

2021 did and they made some good money in that year.

 

[DriedMangoes]

1. The study says the vast majority don't. Which is the point.

2. Nobody is talking about PC or mobile platforms. You just want to play ignorant because your study didn't yelp you. We are talking consoles.

3. That's it, keep taking things out of context so you can twist it to fit in your opinion. Lol.

At this point you aren't worth responding to.

The study proved exactly what I said. More people are multiplatform owners these days compared to the one platforms of days gone.

Why would you exclude PC when that is the integral aspect of what Xbox is doing these days ? That is actually part of the reason why their console sales are also down.

Look at the big picture. Why do you keep going back to Xbox if you're a fan of the platform ? Because of the games on it. You yourself believe the games on it are worth the investment. It's simple when you block out all the noise.

 

[Kvally]

2021 did and they made some good money in that year.

The good news out of this is they continue to make more and more great new games. That is my biggest priority, not how many consoles and Windows PCs they are on.

 

[DriedMangoes]

The good news out of this is they continue to make more and more great new games. That is my biggest priority, not how many consoles and Windows PCs they are on.

Exactly. Games are the core of what is important. Glad you acknowledged that.

 

[Kvally]

Exactly. Games are the core of what is important. Glad you acknowledged that.

I’ve said that since the Atari 2600. Probably before you were born. So actually, I’m glad you are finally on board

 

[DriedMangoes]

I’ve said that since the Atari 2600. Probably before you were born. So actually, I’m glad you are finally on board

Games are what sways me to that platform. Exactly what my position has been since I started

 

[The Wolf King]

Thought this was a good look.

Here for, many of those games MS bought mid dev so they can't take credit... apart from Redfall for some unknown Re59ason.

 

[menace-uk-]

The study proved exactly what I said. More people are multiplatform owners these days compared to the one platforms of days gone.

Why would you exclude PC when that is the integral aspect of what Xbox is doing these days ? That is actually part of the reason why their console sales are also down.

Look at the big picture. Why do you keep going back to Xbox if you're a fan of the platform ? Because of the games on it. You yourself believe the games on it are worth the investment. It's simple when you block out all the noise.

It didn't. The discussion is about consoles. Your study was vague when it came to console ownership. Mobile and PC are irrelevant.

That isn't the big picture. That is the little picture. I'm a multi console owner. The vast majority aren't. My reason were friends and digital library despite PS5 having a better line up of games. Which goes against everything you are saying.

 

[menace-uk-]

Exactly. Games are the core of what is important. Glad you acknowledged that.

Everybody acknowledges that, including Spencer.