Say it louder for the people in the back.
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First of all, I would like to say that we haven’t acquired ZeniMax . We have announced our intention to acquire ZeniMax. It is going through regulatory approval and we don’t see any issues there. We expect early in 2021 the deal will close. But I say that because I want people to know, I’m not sitting down with Todd Howard and Robert Altman and planning their future. Because I’m currently not allowed to do that, that would be illegal . Your question is completely inbound, but I get a lot of questions right now: “is this game exclusive? Is this game exclusive?” And right now, that is not my job in regards to ZeniMax. My job is not to sit down and go through their portfolio and dictate what happens."
Are you content with the current line-up now, or is there a chink in the armor somewhere? A certain genre, a certain type of studio that you feel is still missing?
If we look at what people are playing on Xbox, what Game Pass subscribers are playing, I think what is missing from our portfolio is casual content with a broad appeal. E-rated content (to use an ESRB rating) is not a strength for us. We obviously have Minecraft and we have some other franchises. But when I think about expanding the creative palette that our teams have, I think that is critically important.
Teams that can build new franchises, tell new stories, those are always sought after. That’s why I’m excited about projects like Starfield and the next Compulsion game because I like teams that think about new creations. And frankly, as Game Pass continues to grow, we need to continue to feed that subscription. So, with the growth that we are seeing, I expect we will constantly be in this mode of bringing more creators into the fold.
Without going into too much detail, which first-party studio’s currently unannounced game are you most excited for the public to see?
I’m gonna give you two if that is okay? One of them is Compulsion. When I first saw We Happy Few, there was an art style and a setting that I thought was really unique. It’s a young studio and they are still growing and learning the craft of what they are as a team. But looking at what they’re gonna do next, I love their ability to create new worlds and unique settings. That is always something that is fun. So without saying too much that is one of them.
The other one I would say is The Initiative. Which is our studio in Santa Monica. I’ve played what they are doing next. Just the talent we have been able to bring into that studio led by Darryl Gallagher is amazing, especially when you bring such an amazing group of creators together, and create such a culture that Darryl is working to create there.
I’m incredibly excited both to be able to form a new studio, to attract the talent we have, and the game that they are working on will be fun to get to announce.
some quotes
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“The question that we get then is sometimes, what about this specific closed platform? And that I really mean there is we’re either kind of all in or not all in on one of these closed platforms. I don’t think its healthy where for every first-party game that comes out I have to get the question, is that coming to Switch or is that coming to Switch, and it not because, I love Nintendo and our relationship with what we are doing, that want us to be all in or not, and there is this expectation from customers like there is now on PC, where people don’t really question - there might be some timing things, on when certain things happen - but if we are shipping a first-party game it’s coming to PC. If we are shipping a first-party game on PC it’s coming to Steam and our own store. Like we built an expectation from our customers. That’s my goal, and then there will be, as you said, maybe little anomalies every so often and because of relationships and certain developers that want to do certain things, but my goal is: make games as playable by as many people as possible so that this art form continues to grow. And I wanna be all in on the places where Xbox is, so a customer of those platforms can have an expectation that I’m gonna get to go play. And I feel good about the games that we are building, and I feel good about that on PC. You know if I rewind five years ago, I would say over and over, that we are committed to PC and then get a bunch of eye rolls, and rightfully so for we weren’t doing much. But I think now when you look at what our standing is on Steam and Game Pass on PC, we have shown that our commitment over time has paid off. PC customers may or may not love what we do, but they know that when we are shipping things, we’re gonna do our best effort on PC as well as on Xbox.”
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That’s quite a quote. 
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Bring Banjo Back.
And Recore.
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Yes 
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Makes perfect sense what he says about how he can’t plan the future for Todd Howard, it’s what people here have been saying. The deal isn’t final yet, so he can’t commit to words like “exclusive”.
That being said after reading all that, I think it’s pretty clear how it’s gonna go down.
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Phil: If anything I’d like to see more single-player games from our first-party, just because that over time we’ve kind of grown organically to be more multiplayer-driven as an organisation.
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Interesting, looks like animated backgrounds will only be on Xbox Series S|X, not Xbox One.
let’s wait for the videos/articles stating otherwise
/s
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Also download speeds will be faster. Currently no game dowbloaded faster than 240mbits／s on my gigabit connection. I hope this improves with series x. I know 1st world problems
Damnit! I was hoping it would be available on the XBX.
Interesting! I just upped my speed primarily for better upload with my recent directive for extended and likely permanent work-from-home. The test on the Xbox registered my proper download at 600mbs down but missed the upload; 9mbps on a service rated for 15mbps.
When I downloaded an actual file, I was bumping up to just shy of 300mpbs on a download. But I think the average was under 250mbps where it sat most of the time.
Either way, the improved speeds will be nice!
I agree with Phil on this. Bring more casual games like Powerstar Golf or 1 vs. 100.
And there is still one obvious glaring hole in the first party lineup if you look at all genres. And this is of course fighting games.
An E-rated fighting game . . . Spongebob Slapfest? 
I’m not gonna lie. On Gamepass I’d very likely play that with my family!!!
Starting to get curious about what Compulsion is working on since it keeps getting mentions. Probably just means we should expect an announcement soon.
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I just have to say after reading that interview…
Phil, you’re just one awesome dude and man am I glad he is running Xbox. What he said about how investing in new games, studios was lacking since late 360 days and Xbox One is hitting the nail right on its head. You gotta appreciate that kind of honesty. Also what he said about camaraderie during games…it takes a real gamer to say that and it is so true too.
I also notice how in the parts about their ecosystem, closed platforms, whether games stay exclusive or not he only mentions Switch, not PS at all. At the end of the day he is 100% right. Xbox indeed is not “forcing” you to buy their system, don’t want the console? Well, get the game on PC via GP, don’t have PC? Get it for Android or Ios and the (rumored?) XCloud sticks for TVs. His answer to the question about GP maybe coming to Switch and PS says ALL, if you ask me. Those discussions might eventually happen but to me how he answered this is that it’s not in the planning in the foreseeable future at all. This should really shut folks up about Bethesda now, because no way will the games come to other systems outside of GP.
Oh and this quote should shut the naysayers up that say “GP can only be for smaller or medium games, it makes sense for Fable to be a MMO, that IS Game Pass”
Yeah, it’s totally up to each studio, and I know some people that, when they’ve looked at the model around Game Pass, have assumed that Game Pass is actually a better model, if there’s more Games-as-a-Service games in the subscription. I actually argue the opposite and believe the opposite. The last thing I want in Game Pass is that there’s one game that everybody is playing forever, that’s not a gaming content subscription, that’s a one-game subscription, that’s WoW, right?
Fantastic interview.
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I think Compulsion will hopefully surprise us in a good way. I was very impressed by the world building, art and the atmosphere that they created in “We Happy Few”. I am expecting big things of them and Undead Labs.
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They actually have a lot of family friendly IP that they aren’t using that have a fan base and would get people excited. The most obvious two are Banjo and Viva Piñata. Added just those two in with Battletoads, Minecraft and Psychonauts (I’m actually just assuming this is rated E) I think that’s a good offering from first party.