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[Kotaku] It's Time To Stop Giving Xbox Boss Phil Spencer A Pass

Tiago Rodrigues

Tiago Rodrigues

Member


Since 2014, Spencer has been the main person at Xbox’s helm. While his biggest supporters might want to blame the economy, PlayStation, or regulators, at the end of the day, he’s making calls that aren’t helping his staff or gamers. Sure, his Game Pass creation and the push to expand it have been rightfully applauded by many. It was a genuine sea change for the industry and did indeed bring more games to more people. But beyond that one big victory, the rest of Spencer’s run as Xbox’s top boss has been a series of layoffs, delays, apologies, poor sales, and mergers meant to feed Game Pass, but which instead have seemingly cost a lot of people their jobs.
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havoc00

havoc00

Member
Fjf3WBeX0AAZZcd.jpg:large
 
Arsic

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Tiago Rodrigues said:
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I’m glad someone is making an article finally even if it is shitty ass kotaku.

This guy single handedly killed the Xbox brand. Straight up.

This is Xbox’s year, every year, and it never happens.

Under him:
Gears of War died (maybe it’ll be back with rumored gears 6)
Halo (he definitely should’ve canned 343i and given the IP to a smarter hungry team)
Forza (rushed the latest in a shit state)
Fable (go see lady character face image)

This man got a boner for 33 shit sentinels or whatever the game is instead of getting into wtf is going on at the above studios and getting them to launch the core IPs for the brand in tip top shape.

Fuck Phil.
 
havoc00

havoc00

Member
If Phil has integrity at all, he should step down right now and cast the blame for this on Satya Nadella and Amy Hood, the only 2 people at Microsoft who could have overrode him on this decision. If he doesn't, that tells me he made this decision and that his words were lies all along. Personally I always suspected he was a liar, always did give me used car salesman vibes, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for a long time. That benefit ends now.
 
S

SHA

Member
Well, you can't expect a good meal from a person who hates cooking, that's genuinely not his job, that's why chefs existed in the first place.
 
MikeM

MikeM

Member
People hold this guy on a pedestal when all he is is another suit. Maybe he didn’t want to do this but Nadella forced him to. Either way, its cut throat for these execs and you can bet they will cut employees before cutting themselves.
 
SlimySnake

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Finally the game industry wising up to this con artist.

Too little too late. He's killed the xbox brand and no one worth a dime is going to go work for this toxic snake oil salesman.

If I was Todd Howard, Id be thinking about leaving and creating a new indie firm similar to what Kojima did.
 
Kacho

Kacho

Member


I see a lot of shots at Phil over today's Xbox announcements. I get it. But knowing him as a human, I know this hurts him as much as anyone else. I can't speak for all of the leadership there, but I do know him and I do know what he is likely going through.
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I'm not trying to defend the decisions. I think we all get ourselves into situations that are tough and unexpected (certainly I have). It's part of the job, as is the accountability for the outcomes. But he's a good human and he cares deeply for the creative process and developers. That's my first hand experience in working closely with him for 8+ years and knowing him for 24+.
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I 100% understand the anger and confusion, and I feel deeply sorry for those teams impacted today and over the last few months. I didn't agree with every decision he made at Xbox, and I think that was pretty clear, but I do believe in his product leadership and I know how hard these decisions can be.
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Xbox could have a very bright future. I hope they are able to realizes it and all of the teams have an incredible experience together. It's certainly a tough time that needs great clarity into what the plan ahead is and how gamers everywhere can be excited for it.
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Lorianus

Lorianus

Member
I like his passion, he just seems genuine with his enthusiasm for games, and i doubt that one man is the reason that all the dev studios under microsoft shit the bed, i mean he is not on the front line developing away on star field or something, i think he truly wants to show us great games but Chessmaster Todd Howard gets in his way of greatness.
 
E

Evil Calvin

Afraid of Boobs
Arsic said:
I’m glad someone is making an article finally even if it is shitty ass kotaku.

This guy single handedly killed the Xbox brand. Straight up.

This is Xbox’s year, every year, and it never happens.

Under him:
Gears of War died (maybe it’ll be back with rumored gears 6)
Halo (he definitely should’ve canned 343i and given the IP to a smarter hungry team)
Forza (rushed the latest in a shit state)
Fable (go see lady character face image)

This man got a boner for 33 shit sentinels or whatever the game is instead of getting into wtf is going on at the above studios and getting them to launch the core IPs for the brand in tip top shape.

Fuck Phil.
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Don't forget the underwhelming Redfall and Starfield (although those are Bethesda....but still MS). Crackdown 3 was panned (but campaign was decent). The only games from Xbox which were halfway decent in the 10 years was maybe the two Forza Horizon games. Gears 4 and Halo 5 came out after he was in charge but likely were on their way to being done by that time. Other than that.....what has he released which was great?
 
digoutyoursoul

digoutyoursoul

Member
Kacho said:
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Here we go, back to the “he’s only human” routine.

The big problem is there is more talk about the likes of him then there is the products.

The products should speak for themselves in a positive sense but with Xbox they don’t. That is very telling.

We don’t buy these things to be at the behest of millionaire executives for fuck sake.

Why can’t they just have a competent team with foresight that delivers and does not have to come out talking constantly particularly when it comes to damage control.

The man is paid a substantial salary and hasn’t delivered, that is not the consumers fault for calling him out on it.
 
Bumblebeetuna

Bumblebeetuna

Member
Arsic said:
I’m glad someone is making an article finally even if it is shitty ass kotaku.

This guy single handedly killed the Xbox brand. Straight up.

This is Xbox’s year, every year, and it never happens.

Under him:
Gears of War died (maybe it’ll be back with rumored gears 6)
Halo (he definitely should’ve canned 343i and given the IP to a smarter hungry team)
Forza (rushed the latest in a shit state)
Fable (go see lady character face image)

This man got a boner for 33 shit sentinels or whatever the game is instead of getting into wtf is going on at the above studios and getting them to launch the core IPs for the brand in tip top shape.

Fuck Phil.
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Hyperbole nonsense. Especially Forza and Fable. But but but man face! Give me a break.

Anyway, in what universe has he been getting a pass? He gets nothing but shit from people.
 
Arsic

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
digoutyoursoul said:
Here we go, back to the “he’s only human” routine.

The big problem is there is more talk about the likes of him then there is the products.

The products should speak for themselves in a positive sense but with Xbox they don’t. That is very telling.

We don’t buy these things to be at the behest of millionaire executives for fuck sake.

Why can’t they just have a competent team with foresight that delivers and does not have to come out talking constantly particularly when it comes to damage control.

The man is paid a substantial salary and hasn’t delivered, that is not the consumers fault for calling him out on it.
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The other issue is if he isn’t being listened to, then what’s the point?

If he really is advocating to not have them be closed, and coming up with solutions on how to not have it happen, but it happens anyway; then what is his actual job?

If it’s just a figurehead then he’s failing at that too because he’s a giant knob.
 
SlimySnake

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Kacho said:
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If he was such a great human, he wouldve fallen on his sword and taken the blame for the poor sales/reception of these studios. But hes not a great human so he sat by and kept pocketing the millions he earned on the backs of these very men and women.
 
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