Yeah, they started to get pretty hostile about Xbox once Game Pass started taking off, but ABK deal was when their mask really fell off.
Also, it’s interesting how they have stayed silent about PixelOpus being shut down.
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Agreed.
It’s incredibly rare that someone in Phil Spencer’s position would be as transparent with the challenges that Xbox faces and show genuine contrition with recent failures.
It’s not a encouraging sign that this is the way the press and many others have twisted what was actually said to fit a narrative.
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That has always been the endgame for them ( not the gaming community as a whole but a certain contingent of it) and nobody can convince me otherwise.
https://twitter.com/JezCorden/status/1655226528119046149?s=20
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Gaming media calling for people to lose their jobs for BS reasons continues. But I guess that’s ok???
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At this point it’s obvious that game journos know exactly what they’re doing and sadly gamers are falling for it.
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That’s the thing, Xbox has good games it’s just the wrong type of games. While I would like more big AAA games on Xbox the narrative that the only games that matter are the enormous budget third person action games that Sony pump out every year is stupid.
I actually think Sony is more vulnerable than most people think. Their strategy while very successful hasn’t really changed much since the late PS3 era and they seem to be banking on the industry not changing much in the short to mid term.
If the industry does start to shift due changes in technology, taste or trends their fortunes could change quite quickly.
Nintendo seems pivot from making a absolute dud of a console to a slam dunk of a success with no in-between which shows how things can change.
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The console is good. In fact it’s the best console I’ve ever owned, hands down. That’s the tech part. Instant loading, auto hdr on backwards compatible games (people should try something like Bioshock Infinite on a Series X, i.e. it looks insane) & a VRR range which eliminates frame rate stutter in 90% (my estimate) of games I play.
But considering I buy games which aren’t on Game Pass because they’re the ones I want to play (RE4 & Ass Creed Valhalla recently but I’ll also get Dying Light 2, Dead Island 2 & Cyberpunk in the near future), I don’t have time for GP. This is evident because I average around 2 hours of game time per day, so GP just doesn’t make sense. Do I speak for everyone? No. But as an adult (38 years old), that’s how much game time I can fit in a day & I already consider that more time than many others have.
It’s also my opinion the best games on the Series X system aren’t even on the Game Pass service & when games take so long to beat anyway, the entire library of Game Pass is more of a preestablished selection for 12.99 euros a month & I only have time to beat one or two of them before the fee recurs. So I’m a massive fan of the Xbox hardware, whilst Game Pass in terms of value is simply hit & miss depending on what’s added to the catalogue & whether it justifies the rental.
That’s why the Series X console is for me “Xbox”, whilst Game Pass is merely an option for people to play game. But it should not IMO be the focus & I don’t like seeing Microsoft lose themselves in pushing the service as the central part of the brand because it’s misreading the market.
I hope they’re paying attention to Sony’s hardware sales because that’s the cake Xbox needs a piece of, not a hypothetical future without dedicated hardware or no ownership of games. Consumers want hardware & games to own.
Sony and Nintendo can rebound from disastrous generations fairly quickly because they have generational fans and iconic brand power.
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Speak for yourself. Idgaf about owning anything
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I already said I don’t speak for everyone. But the sales figures this gen speak for themselves.
The success of the Xbox 360 is also evidence the PS2’s massive market dominance didn’t signify PS2 owners wouldn’t want Xbox consoles when they offer great games & hardware. People can get both.
I also find the ‘digital library’ excuse invalid tbh. I have a PlayStation library & an Xbox library. It’s no issue.
So, you want them to market the console harder instead of Gamepass? I don’t think many will fundamentally disagree with you on that point (You marketing people know who you are 
), but the reality is that Gamepass is their killer app at the moment. The “Most powerful console” shtick didn’t really work out and I personaly feel like the vast majority of gamers don’t care.
The only thing, again in my opinion, that will lead to an increase in console market share would be to consistently make and release great games and lower the cost of each console by $100.
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I do as well but that’s not the norm man lol.
It’s a factual statement, not an excuse. The majority of households don’t have 2 home consoles.
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AHEM – A couple of pointers to long running discussions on some of the larger topics I see in here not directly about this interview:
Microsoft Marketing via:
Sales via:
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Late 00s I hated digital gaming with a passion and didn’t want to buy any of it, I was hardcore on ownership and to me digital just meant “renting”
Ever since GP came along I genuinely couldn’t care less, it happened with music, it’s happened with movies and I don’t know why people think games are going to be any different
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Because games are a time commitment. Movies & music are disposable, games are not.
Some games are easy to borrow, consume & move on (someone earlier mentioned borrowing games many decades ago & sure, I did that as a kid on the 90’s), but there’s other stuff I just have to own. Like Resident Evil, Mass Effect, Fallout, Elder Scrolls. The list is massive & includes most of the games I choose to play & spend a lot of time in.
And I’m fine with digital only as well, BTW. I have plenty of digital games I bought back on the 360 & PS3. I’m not a physical absolutist. But i do want access to my favorite games via ownership & not via a recurring monthly fee.
I play most games through the campaign and never come back to them, not all that different from movies. I don’t think I’m alone there. GaaS is obviously different, but single player games absolutely are disposable.
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And… you can still buy them. Gamepass doesn’t stop you from that. 
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99% of the videos around this interview have seemed to either willfully ignore or flat out not understand why Phil said what he said, fun!
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Sony is the market leader, well leader of the vocal part of the console gamers market. Xbox is just part of the gamer market like mobile, PC, Switch, etc… who aren’t “real gamers”. Because Sony has the numbers on the people who care to follow gaming news, that is who they are going to cater to. Negative Xbox news generates clicks, positive PS news generates clicks, the opposites do not.
TV shows are a huge time commitment as well, majority of people don’t care about owning those anymore either, plus while some games are a commitment the vast majority of people do not replay games, they play them once and move on
It’s true that there will be people that still want to buy or “own” games but over time that will become more and more niche
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