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Phil Spencer: What you will see on July 23 is true creative freedom

https://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/1256...ne-veritable-liberte-creative.htm?jwsource=cl

Jeuxvideo.com: Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass are considered success stories by Microsoft. One has a hundred million users, the other ten million subscribers. With the xCloud coming into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and coming in September, do you think we'll be talking more about services than hardware for the next generation?

Phil Spencer: I think we should be talking about services and hardware uniformly. Our players' experience on our platform is driven by great games, and that's incredibly important. It's also driven by services that games and customers alike use, and obviously hardware that gives users the experience they want. There is also the community that our services bring together, a community that is an essential part of the gaming experience. Games will always be at the center of the debate, that's the goal, but over the years we see the growth and importance of services in everyone's experience.

JV.com: Your policy multiplies the points of entry into the Xbox ecosystem. Your first party games are coming out more and more regularly on Steam. Do you think exclusives are still decisive in buying an Xbox?

Phil Spencer: You touch on a key point. Our strategy revolves around the player rather than the ring road. We create machines to let users decide where they want to have fun. As players, they are the basis of our strategy. We just want to make games where people want to play them. You can have the full experience of course on an Xbox console, you will find Game Pass like Xbox Live, or even our first party games. Over the past few years that you mention, we've worked a lot to bring that full computer experience. So when people play on PC, they connect to Xbox Live, they find the Game Pass there as well as a big game library, our first party games are also there, and they can play with their friends no matter what device they are on. which they are. And we've built a strong relationship with Valve and Steam by enabling a similar experience. For us it is a complete experience no matter where the person is playing. But our console is in a way the soul of what Xbox represents. And we are very excited about the launch of our new machine this year.

JV.com: Last year was your biggest year ever for revenue in your PC segment. With the design of the Xbox Series X that looks a lot like a computer tower, we get the impression that Microsoft is gradually blurring the line between the world of the PC and that of game consoles. Are console gamers still your primary target?

Phil Spencer: Actually, the players are our main target. There are hundreds of millions of players who enjoy playing on consoles. When we started the development process for the Series X, we absolutely wanted to make the most powerful console. That was really the primary design intent passed on to the team. And we didn't want to sacrifice that power when we got down to thinking about its form factor. The design is actually designed to allow us to inject all of this power in a format that we think will suit everyone's entertainment platform. I feel good about the Xbox One generation. With the Xbox One X, the hardware team did a fabulous job of making a silent, unobtrusive machine. We have improved performance so much in this next generation that the console is a little bigger, without being noisier. The design allows us to put all the power we have into the best performing next-gen console, while keeping the noise low enough as our gamers have hoped for, and with a cooling system that works well on all occasions.

JV.com: Based on what's going on in the music and film industries, what are your predictions for Game Pass?

Phil Spencer: We see the Game Pass as a great choice for players who want to try new games, and build a library for themselves or their families in a new way. It's been incredibly inspiring to see the success of Game Pass, not just with gamers but also with game designers. Many creators found new audiences when they brought their games to Game Pass. They have been able to raise awareness and interest fans in the games they have built. I think the Game Pass is allowing developers to try new things and have a little more creative ambition in certain areas, while also motivating players to try titles that they don't have. normally not launched if they were only offered in store. But having softs on sale also plays an important role in our strategy. We give users the choice in how they want to build their game library, we let them decide.


JV.com: The Xbox ecosystem puts choice first. As you were saying recently, it's about choosing which games we want to play, choosing which friends to play them with, and choosing which device. Does this imply that it would be possible to see an Xbox app land on Switch or PlayStation 5 in order to go where other players are? Phil Spencer: About the choice… really it's the players who make the choices. We are not offering choice for the sake of choice, but rather to give gamers the flexibility to choose how they want to experience our platform and our games. About other game consoles, we cannot bring a full Xbox experience on these machines. With xCloud coming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at no additional cost, we think it's great added value to let players have fun on mobile. What we've done with the PC is just bring the full Xbox experience. Because we know that when someone plays an Xbox game, there are inevitably expectations: “I have my Xbox Live community”, “I have my successes”, “The Game Pass is optional”, “My first party games are here ”. Competing platforms aren't really interested in bringing a satisfying Xbox experience to their hardware. On our side, we want to be where the players want us to be. This is the path we take.

JV.com: The players who make choices, then. Sony has decided to ship a cheaper version of its private PlayStation 5 record player, so gamers can choose what they prefer. Do you think selling two models of a console from launch day is a good idea? Could Microsoft do the same?

Phil Spencer: I think giving players the choice of price is a good thing. Especially this year with the launch of a console whose price is at the highest of its entire life cycle. We know the current economic situation is complicated with Covid, unemployment… there are a lot of things clients have to deal with in their lives right now. Giving buyers the opportunity to choose how they want to enter our ecosystem is important. This is one of the reasons we are focusing on Xbox All Access which gives the user the ability to enter the Xbox ecosystem at no charge. Just by entering into a monthly relationship where he can have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, console, and first party games included with Game Pass. I don’t think it’s just hardware, it’s how I build my game library and how I pay for a console. This is clearly part of our strategy. I think Xbox All Access will be a big part of our launch this year-end, and we'll be bringing it to many more markets than before. We really can't wait to let gamers enter the Xbox ecosystem the way they want.

JV.com: If we put aside the Xbox One X which was actually a new version of the Xbox One, the Xbox Series X is the first console you have launched since you became the head of gaming at Microsoft. This console must have your signature. What is it ? What did you tell the teams when designing it? What was the goal?

Phil Spencer: I'm still learning. When I got this job, I officially joined the head of the first party studios. It was about making games ... that's how I grew up. And one of the important things for me, in this generation, was to design a great platform for developers ... because it's part of my background. I wanted the development environment to be solid, the hardware to be the most powerful available, the platform technology to allow me as a creator to reach the level I want to reach for the game I make. It's simply because I've seen this before, during the Xbox 360 generation, compared to the competition. One of the goals of the machine when we spoke with the hardware team was to make the best console possible for the creators. That it can give them the highest level of performance, the most predictability in terms of performance, and the right tools to bring the best of their games to the market. It has been shown, and it does not matter whether on PC or consoles, that the most powerful hardware which is the easiest to use, and which has a high performance software environment, generates the best versions of the games. This is exactly what I expect for the Xbox Series X.

JV.com: We all remember, during this generation, the promise of the Cloud with the awesome demo of Crackdown 3 is the destruction of buildings. The final version of the game was… less impressive. What makes us believe in the benefits of the Cloud again today?

Phil Spencer: The good thing when you look at the xCloud project is that we already see hundreds of thousands of people playing around with it. This helps us both to learn, to test and to design our infrastructures. So it's not for us to talk about technological power with xCloud, but rather to take great Xbox games and put them in your hands on mobile devices. You can then testify about your experience. We are really working to create a fair expectation, we are not here to say that Cloud Gaming is going to be more powerful than a PC or a game console. We talked about the Cloud as a way to give the user a choice in how they want to play. Our vision for xCloud is really focused on player choice. When you are at home near your console, I tell myself that you probably want to play on it. But when you're out and about, we want to bring you the best possible experience on devices you already have. Once again, we are building our strategy around your world, your ways of playing, not by forcing technology for our own benefit.

JV.com: An Xbox console that arrives with a Halo the day of its release, it inevitably recalls the very first Xbox. It's a console that has hosted quite a few Japanese exclusives, like From Software's Otogi, Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden (which later arrived on other consoles), Capcom's Dino Crisis 3, Namco's Breakdown. Great SEGA games too, like Panzer Dragoon Orta, House of the Dead 3, Crazy Taxi 3, Jet Set Radio Future. What can Xbox do to find exclusive Japanese projects? Is it still possible, even desired?

Phil Spencer: Our Xbox team in Japan is working very hard to bond. We know players around the world are clamoring for amazing games from some of the best creators on the planet. We know many of these Japanese developers, by the way. We want to be a platform of choice for these games. I am proud of our progress over the past 4 or 5 years. During E3, we have a strong presence of Japanese games on stage. We know that we are not a Japanese manufacturer, we know that we must work to rebuild a climate of trust with Japanese designers. We believe this will happen over time, and we continue to listen to what they need to reach a large audience around the world. I'm proud of what we're going to show on July 23, I appreciate our roadmap for working directly with Japanese creators to make Xbox games you'll hear about soon. We know it’s vitally important in our strategy to make sure we have compelling Japanese developers, and that they know that Xbox is a platform they can be successful on.

JV.com: Matt Booty said in an interview that the Xbox Series X wouldn't necessarily have exclusives for 1 to 2 years, with the first Xbox Series X games running on Xbox One, like Halo Infinite. However, during Xbox May 20/20, we saw real Xbox Series X exclusives with Scorn or The Medium, which are not 1st party games. Are these statements from Matt Booty still relevant today?

Phil Spencer: The thing you will see on July 23 is that we are giving our studios real creative freedom so that they can produce the games they plan to make. The creators want to design great titles that will reach a large audience of people who can discover them. I think what you’ve heard about Matt’s statements is that we have a vision for every game we make. And this vision begins with the player, not with the device. If a designer comes to us, like the ones you quoted from our May Showcase, and tells us, “I really want to dedicate myself to the next generation” with their games, we are totally in favor of that. If a developer approaches us and has a certain vision to reach customers through multiple platforms and different generations, we are also favorable to this. It is a question of leaving the choice to our creators so that they make the play which they wish to produce intended for the public which they aim rather than to decide for them. It’s not our role as a builder.

JV.com: When we talk about the new generation, we often hear about the prettier graphics and the SSD. But what impressed you the most with this new generation?

Phil Spencer: What I’m experiencing the most now, and it’s influencing my playing life, is how quickly I can choose the game I want to play. As someone who has worked in the video game industry for many years, I have always been a little jealous of music or video. If I want to listen to a group, I just have to click and then I can quickly find out if I like this group or not. When there is a new show on Netflix or Amazon Prime, I just have to select it and I can quickly find out if I like it or not. For video games, it's different. You have to go back to the time of the cartridge or CD, where it was enough to insert it and start playing right away. In our world of very large game downloads and bandwidth downloads, it can sometimes take hours before I can try a game. With services like xCloud, I can browse a catalog of games. I can start a title immediately on xCloud and please go to my console and download it. The bandwidth is higher and higher, the machine is more reactive, there is the Quick Resume function ... all this allows you to move very quickly from one game to another. “What am I going to play tonight? Where are my friends? ” I think that gaming will be less a waiting medium but more a medium of experiences, with the new technologies that are coming. This has a big impact on the games I play, and how quickly I play. It still takes a little time but I feel less envious of the spontaneity of music or video. Because it happens in video games. This mix of xCloud, PC, console, Quick Resume ... it all makes for a magical experience and I love it.

 

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
3.2.1...

NtdK.gif
 

Kuranghi

Member
Sounds exciting, I'm excited. Always great to have variety and new game concepts/genres/ideas.

I don't think "soulsbourne" fans would argue with that!

I would like to see more really weird shit, hopefully thats what he means.

Who is this hate-filled BASTARD! Take your hatred elsewhere you piece of shit!
 

Kuranghi

Member
People can hate all they want but when it comes to gaming, MS in 2020 is vastly, vastly better company than in previous years, if not decades.

All that remains is for their studios to now deliver world class games.

I mean I don't know enough about Xbox One to agree/disagree with you on that, because I sat out Xbox this gen (always had both consoles before that) but surely the onus is on the games they have released exclusively for Xbox. Regardless of what side you support (or neither of them) how can you argue that the biggest games in the minds of computer-game-players are mostly PS, especially from 2016-2020.

I'm happy to be disproven by a list of well-received Xbox exclusives, but I don't see people saying "Sunset Overdrive is the most important game of the last 7 years!!!!" so much as they say that about PS exclusives. Not saying those people are correct just saying what I see.

The best exclusives on Xbox One seem (to me) to be Ori 1 + 2, Gears of War games, Forza games and... I dunno what else. I don't think racing games and platformers are a "mainstream genre", so much as 3rd person and FPS, which PS has in droves. Some would say too many.

So those "hating" (/being disappointed, I don't condone being a dick) on Xbox because they don't have any exclusives they like seem pretty legitimate to me. The experience in every other way could be amazing (UI, design, controller, matchmaking, etc) but at the end of the day the games are what matters.

Don't mean that as an attack on you pal.
 

Nikana

Go Go Neo Rangers!
Sounds like indie games and B level games, not that anything is wrong with those types of games. There studios they own such as inXile, Compulsion, Double Fine don't really make AAA games. That's fine because they have Initiative game and Fable to show off.

Ori and the will of the wisps is a "B" game and it's my favorite game of the year so far.

This notion that games have to be AAA to be worthwhile is extremely boring.
 
"true creative freedom"

Phil SPENCER: "Devs can do 30fps or 60fps, i don't give a shit. Cross gen or not cross gen, that's also up to the devs but we don't give a fuck anyway just be hyped. Games are across generations, we don't believe in generations, we're discontinuing the X though, so there isn't a console for people who don't want to buy an XSX"

Microsoft, either sack this clown, or put someone else in as the mouth-piece (who isn't a suit)
 
I love the absolute passion that pretty much all of the Xbox team brings about not just their own platform but about gaming in general (barring Aaron Greenberg who while a cool dude is definitely to much of a fan boy). I know that a lot of the Sony first party developers are like that too on social media (Cory Barlog of Sony Santa Monica in particular) but I really like that the ones in charge of the direction of the Xbox brand are gamers at heart that enjoy playing games.

I really hope they bring the heat with games that more people love and specific ports that people have been begging for. The whole gamer first no matter where approach is great and I would love to see it succeed.
 

Nikana

Go Go Neo Rangers!
"true creative freedom"

Phil SPENCER: "Devs can do 30fps or 60fps, i don't give a shit. Cross gen or not cross gen, that's also up to the devs but we don't give a fuck anyway just be hyped. Games are across generations, we don't believe in generations, we're discontinuing the X though, so there isn't a console for people who don't want to buy an XSX"

Microsoft, either sack this clown, or put someone else in as the mouth-piece (who isn't a suit)

Cough Xbox one s cough. Cough Lockhart cough.
 

oldergamer

Member
Let’s hope so. Phil hasn’t been on the receiving end of blowback for how poorly Xbox Studios has performed during his tenure and if the ship isn’t righted, he is due for a comeuppance.
Xbox has done a 180 under his leadership. The only thing lacking the last five years has been them building up first party more (which is still in progress) They managed to make a lot of revenue despite dropping 30 million in sales from the 360 days. His track record speaks for itself

4 consoles created ( 2 to be released) since he took over
  • Killed TV TV TV
  • Xcloud
  • Backwards compatibility + Upgrades to older games
  • Gamepass / Xbox live ultimate
  • Killed the kinect
  • Grew first party to 15 + studios
  • Maintained profitability
  • Increased PC support
  • Sells games on Steam and windows store.
I'm not sure how anyone beyond some of the console warriors could claim he's done a bad job when you look at the changes. You wonder why they trust him to spend money and acquire studios?
 
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Phil has seemingly confirmed their will be japanese games at the July 23rd event. Elden Ring? Tales Arise? Or unannounced exclusives?
 

Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
Really any link of the number the team sizes are for these studios now compared to before?
Im not going for a deep dive for all the studios but there's been considerable growth for near every studio including the aforementioned. InXile is for sure working on a AAA title (found on linkedin) and DF and Compulsion are growing as well. The info is out there broski.
 
Xbox has done a 180 under his leadership. The only thing lacking the last five years has been them building up first party more (which is still in progress) They managed to make a lot of revenue despite dropping 30 million in sales from the 360 days. His track record speaks for itself

4 consoles created ( 2 to be released) since he took over
  • Killed TV TV TV
  • Xcloud
  • Backwards compatibility + Upgrades to older games
  • Gamepass / Xbox live ultimate
  • Killed the kinect
  • Grew first party to 15 + studios
  • Maintained profitability
  • Increased PC support
  • Sells games on Steam and windows store.
I'm not sure how anyone beyond some of the console warriors could claim he's done a bad job when you look at the changes. You wonder why they trust him to spend money and acquire studios?
And we’re quick to forget he was Mattrick’s VP for all of the XB1 decisions. I’m not saying Spencer hasn’t achieved anything of consequence. He’s kept Xbox together in spite of it being ugly. But fans willfully avoid lobbing warranted criticism for how XGS has been managed during his tenure and the disaster they’ve been for this generation.
 

KAL2006

Banned
Im not going for a deep dive for all the studios but there's been considerable growth for near every studio including the aforementioned. InXile is for sure working on a AAA title (found on linkedin) and DF and Compulsion are growing as well. The info is out there broski.

Yeah sounds like a assumption to me. Growing don't mean grown to a full blown AAA studio.
 

Kagoshima_Luke

Gold Member
MS basically handed Sony the generation with the hubris of the original Xbox One strategy. To see them now in such a great position, with stuff like physical BC embraced, leading the way with cross play, rebuilding relationships with Japanese developers, a stable of amazing developers who can move beyond Gears, Halo and Forza...

giphy.gif
 

Denton

Member
I'm not sure that's saying much, considering how low they set the bar last gen.

For me as PC gamer first and foremost, the fact that they now publish all their first party games on PC day 1 and even went back to port MCC, and made gamepass available - this stuff is HUGE differentiator to the MS of the past.

There are still things to improve - I would love it if they dropped file encryption and UWP on gamepass - but still, huge positive change.

Second positive change is that they let the studios they acquire mostly alone, they are not integrating them into MS corporate structure. Hopefully that will foster similarly successful game launches that Sony has enjoyed this gen.

I mean I don't know enough about Xbox One to agree/disagree with you on that, because I sat out Xbox this gen (always had both consoles before that) but surely the onus is on the games they have released exclusively for Xbox. Regardless of what side you support (or neither of them) how can you argue that the biggest games in the minds of computer-game-players are mostly PS, especially from 2016-2020.

I'm happy to be disproven by a list of well-received Xbox exclusives, but I don't see people saying "Sunset Overdrive is the most important game of the last 7 years!!!!" so much as they say that about PS exclusives. Not saying those people are correct just saying what I see.

The best exclusives on Xbox One seem (to me) to be Ori 1 + 2, Gears of War games, Forza games and... I dunno what else. I don't think racing games and platformers are a "mainstream genre", so much as 3rd person and FPS, which PS has in droves. Some would say too many.

So those "hating" (/being disappointed, I don't condone being a dick) on Xbox because they don't have any exclusives they like seem pretty legitimate to me. The experience in every other way could be amazing (UI, design, controller, matchmaking, etc) but at the end of the day the games are what matters.

Don't mean that as an attack on you pal.

I literally say "All that remains is for their studios to now deliver world class games."

Do you speak english?
 
500+ incoming....

Phil Spencer: I think giving players the choice of price is a good thing. Especially this year with the launch of a console whose price is at the highest of its entire life cycle.
 

GlockSaint

Member
I don't understand the phil hate? Guy made xbox profitable, has aquired a lot of studios to prepare for mext gen, makes all exclusives available on both pc and console. Turned the xbox brand from very anti consumer practices to being very consumer friendly, game pass destroys anything that sony has.
Sure his messaging may have been mixed the past few weeks but i believe he is passionate about the brand and wants to offer the best it can, so let's wait and see instead of raising the pitchforks. Next gen is just around the corner.
 
I don't understand the phil hate? Guy made xbox profitable, has aquired a lot of studios to prepare for mext gen, makes all exclusives available on both pc and console. Turned the xbox brand from very anti consumer practices to being very consumer friendly, game pass destroys anything that sony has.
Sure his messaging may have been mixed the past few weeks but i believe he is passionate about the brand and wants to offer the best it can, so let's wait and see instead of raising the pitchforks. Next gen is just around the corner.

The reasons you mentioned above are why sony fans can't stand him. And the fact he touts XSX as the most powerful next gen console.
 

REE Machine

Banned
The reasons you mentioned above are why sony fans can't stand him. And the fact he touts XSX as the most powerful next gen console.
Nah I just dont believe him because all gen he talked and said things like "we held stuff back this E3, cant wait to show you whats up next year" for then the inevitable "wait until next E3" slogan. That and lack of new ip games since 2015, a change to services instead on foxusing on the hardware, lack luster games and a game that was his all
Time fav he said was crackdown and it flopped bad as well as well establised pillar franchises reaching lower quality than their previous gen counter parts, and more just the empty promises of greatness when it wasnt so great.
 
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