Not a great example given the developer situation there, more like a dodged bullet!
Short version B+
Long version - In many areas Phil has done incredible work, game pass (this alone is amazing), expanding studios, acquisitions, budget increase, PR is better, friendly with more devs/studios/japan.
Sadly in other (key) areas not much has improved, frequency of games (might be about to change next year) and marketing.
I overall Iâd say heâs hit many key factors but missed others however next year looks to be the year to change that.
Right now a B+, next year it could become a A or slip to a C mainly dependant in the first party line up. Iâll add that I think Phil has to work with some difficult restrictions IE Xbox doesnât do 3rd Larry deals often, doesnât like working on IP it doesnât own etc.
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they could do much better i guesss
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Pentiment is very niche, so even if they do nonestop marketing for the game, it would still be niche.
Itâs for a select group of audience, no amount of marketing can change that.
They have Gamepass, so just toss it on there and if people want to play it they will.
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I am so sick of the hyperbole. Next year nobody is going to give a shit about them not being at the game awards. Itâs not some dire situation as people want everyone to think , wake me up when they stop showing up for E3. I guess that I donât get bothered over this enough to throw online forum tantrums over it is because I actually play games that are out instead of being over dramatic bitching about what isnât. Way too much to play out now for that and frankly the online/Youtube/Twitter drama queens complaining about nothing to play make my eyes roll out of their sockets.
Along with armchair developers and amature advertising âexpertsâ.
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There was no way to know that before Sony signed the deal, those are the risks you, Xbox has plenty of failures like that as well on both exclusives and marketing deals, Sonyâs track record is much better on those fronts. Iâd argue losing the COD marketing deal was also a huge mistake, shouldâve never let Sony get close to ABK, look in the situation weâre in right now because of it where Sony feels emboldened to block a huge acquisition and was able to get an ABK game timed exclusive (Crash 2018) and gets far more exclusive DLC on COD for longer periods of time than Xbox ever did when they had the marketing, just too many gut punches all around. I hope that whoever replaces Phil is aggressive as hell, more than Sony currently is.
Personally I want Xbox to be in position where his media prencense and public perception rivals Playstation. But that probably wonât happen ever again.
I am really late to this party, but Iâll share a few thoughts.
Clearly this is a subjective evaluation. We all see the same pros and cons of Philâs tenure. So, ultimately how we âgradeâ it boils down to how you weight those factors.
For me the key pros are:
- Saved Xbox from almost certain death and/or irrelevance.
- Developed Game Pass.
- Acquired 17 (I think) studios and counting.
- Reinvigorated Xbox Game Publishing and new partnerships.
The key cons are:
- Game release cadence/quantity.
- International issues (marketing/localization, etc.)
I know there are many other items that could be added to each list, but I think those are probably the biggest ones.
My opinion is that the pros vastly outweigh the cons. I would argue that the first three pros above move him solidly into the A range, then itâs just a matter of figuring out how high an A he receives.
- It is highly likely that none of us would be on this forum (and that it wouldnât exist) if Phil had not convinced Satya to keep Xbox around.
- Iâve been gaming for 45 years. Over that time nothing has changed my gaming habits or my enjoyment of gaming more than Game Pass.
- Historically, Xboxâs biggest strategic weakness has been a lack of first party studios. That weakness has now been addressed.
The cons are real. But Phil is aware of them and they are being addressed. It remains to be seen how effectively, but he has acknowledged them.
As a professor, I grade people for a living. (Iâve always said I teach for free, but get paid to grade.) Different professors have different philosophies on grading. Some love rubrics, and follow them strictly. For example, I know a professor who deducts 3 points for every spelling error, typo, or formatting error. If we use a system like that, I can easily see how some might grade Phil with a C or worse.
However, I have always preferred a more holistic approach to grading. Sure, the details like spelling are important, but the content and ideas are for more important. Imagine a student who turns in a research paper that proves beyond a shadow of doubt that faster than light travel is possible, but the paper is riddled with spelling errors. Using the ârubric approachâ the student might fail the assignment - even though the paper could revolution the field of physics and change the world forever. Of course Phil hasnât proved faster than light travel, but Game Pass has certainly revolutionized the industry.
To reframe this more to a business context, we might grade Phil individually on strategy, tactics, and execution. I think we would mostly agree that he is outstanding on strategy, and good (at least) on tactics. The big question marks (or failings) have been on execution. So, I can understand why those who focus on execution might score him lower than an A.
Anyway, this has gone on long enough. This has been a really interesting thread. Kudos to the OP.
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Personally what I donât like about Phil is that he is too nice to Playstation. Playstation and Sony do not deserve any type of a good attitude towards them at all.
I hope he has learnt from his âgood talk with his friends at Sonyâ 
I like Toddâs attitude more - âa game being exclusive to Xbox is good for developers and the gameâ 
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I think that attitude is changing in regards to being nice to Playstation.
Microsoft Execs have been on the warpath in the media lately defending the Activision/Blizzard deal.
Sony might have opened a hornets nest.