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Should Phil Spencer be replaced at the head of Xbox?

GHG

Gold Member
and head of the entire operation are two separate things so your saying MS had lionhead and budget in 2016 then LOL

You said he had to start from scratch. He didn't. He inherited the very same set of studios he was directly in charge of for years.

He is literally solely responsible for the state of Xbox game studios from top to bottom. He was General Manager of Xbox game studios in 2008. He is responsible for the first party situation that Xbox has found themselves in this generation, nobody else.

He also inherited a marketing and comms team, along with a hardware team etc, etc. He didn't walk into an empty office with a cheque book and have to start everything from scratch.

Either you can't read or you're being purposefully obtuse.
 
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Dr Bass

Member
yes non existing studios are going to churn out games.

and when did MS buy those studios much later ok

a division that was going to get axed?

seen both they look fine for experimental games what do want a god of war or uncharted clone.

and replace him with who

"Microsoft Studios" has been a thing for awhile you know ...

And even if MS has zero first party ability (never true, their first party efforts started in 2000), go start talking to publishers and 3rd parties. On day one of your job. Start funding an exclusive or 3 a year from them. Find someone who has an idea for something really cool and daring. Different. Quirky even at times. Maybe go for a big blockbuster type game as well. Get a little variety going. Don't let Fable wither and die on the vine. Do something with 343i when you realize it can't make big budget games at high quality (revealed years ago). There are so many options here, I could have a list of 100 ideas in a day.

What's with all this defending of doing a bad job? Aren't fans supposed to care about quality? This must be the only industry where people will defend garbage output. It's like if you're a fan of the Yankees and they are sucking for awhile and you go around saying how they are actually a great franchise and still doing awesome. It's like, no, they aren't. They are getting their butts kicked. Let's rebuild the team and figure out a way to win. Fans of those teams will boo and be unhappy. Not make excuses. I literally cannot wrap my mind around this mentality.

"Replace him with who" you ask? There are quite a number of people at Microsoft who could probably do a better job. There are people outside the company who could do a better job. I don't know who, but I'm not on a hiring committee. That's why you talk to people, interview and try to find the best man or woman for the job. Look for a true passion for the products, and the games, and someone with a track record of great work. It's hard but it's certainly not impossible.

The management at Xbox has obviously just been terrible and they need fresh blood that really, truly gives a damn.
 

Elcid

Banned
Yes, the Xbox brand is damn near a joke at this point. Spencer sucks. You can’t sell consoles pushing no exclusives and the few you have are incredibly mediocre. Boasting about power and games than showing barely PS3 graphics and no actual games. I have much more business sense than him, I’d turn the Xbox brand around real quick.
 

MrS

Banned
He's not producing anything. He's managing and organizing resources given to him by Microsoft.

He had very little to work with until 2018, when Microsoft took the leash off him.

Games take longer than 2-3 years to produce. You begin judging him in 2021/2022, not today.

But again, everyone here already knows this. Sony fanboys are concern trolling.
Sorry but no. He's been in the job since March 2014. He was involved with shaping the future of the brand long before that when he worked under Mattrick. Why does he get a pass? The gap between Xbox and PS is bigger now than when he took over. I'm not saying he should be fired, but where's the accountability? He has overseen a lot negative stuff i.e. Scalebound cancellation, Halo MCC launch debacle, Crackdown 3 shitshow, this new Halo clown shoes scenario, a shit load of forgettable E3s in a row. The guy is far, far from perfect. He and his leadership team have a lot to answer for.
 
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jigglet

Banned
Phil appears to be a hands-off manager. I've seen it before, he's not a micro manager and places absolute trust on his people. However, this only works if you hire good people.

I can see his hands-off approach on Halo. People say he lied - no I don't think so. I think he was told it was exceptional and he simply took that at face value. Why wouldn't you if you trust the people you hire if they are exceptional at what they do? He doesn't have time to inspect weekly or even monthly builds. He was simply told in a quick catch up with Bonnie that the game was coming along fine and then bam, off to the next meeting.

So his management approach of being hands-off is totally valid but as I said, the people he delegates to have to be competent as fuck for this to happen. But the problem is I don't think his delegates are cutting the mustard.
 
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Jerm411

Member
Head of 1st Party Studios for their worst launch ever, esp. content wise, and now the big wigs of what will be just as bad if not a worse launch for them...

500 mil. and 5 years to have your flagship launch title be delayed into the ether...

One constant in all that I mentioned.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

reinking

Gold Member
No. If the Xbox brand survives it is because of him. He at least has the vision to see going head-to-head for console sales was not going to be the future for the brand. Expanding back into PC and pushing toward other services was a fantastic move. It will most likely pay off on the end.
 

Gamernyc78

Banned
Problem isn't just Phil but the fucking culture at Microsoft/Xbox they don't have tht real gamer passion but are just focused on talking hot air, next easy buck, etc.. All companies want easy money but their is a certain culture instilled in each company and you can tell Xbox isn't gd at all. Phil can only do so much greasy, used salemen talk or change, I'm sure he's surrounded by red tape.
 
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jimbojim

Banned
Sorry but no. He's been in the job since March 2014. He was involved with shaping the future of the brand long before that when he worked under Mattrick. Why does he get a pass? The gap between Xbox and PS is bigger now than when he took over. I'm not saying he should be fired, but where's the accountability? He has overseen a lot negative stuff i.e. Scalebound cancellation, Halo MCC launch debacle, Crackdown 3 shitshow, this new Halo clown shoes scenario, a shit load of forgettable E3s in a row. The guy is far, far from perfect. He and his leadership team have a lot to answer for.

Yep. Some people ignoring that 2014 year. I've also mentioned that. It's not just the 2018 when he come just under Satya position, it's 4 years earlier too.

He took the whole Xbox during 2014 when Nadella was made CEO. Oh, yes, he had a plenty of time since then. But looks like it is incompetency of his.

IE2ozqG.jpg
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
Problem isn't just Phil but the fucking culture at Microsoft/Xbox they don't have tht real gamer passion but are just focused on talking hot air, next easy buck, etc.. All companies want easy money but their is a certain culture instilled in each company and you can tell Xbox isn't gd at all.
Yes because Jim 750 million dollar ryan has a real passion for gaming lol. Andrew house and his guys did sure but the king of money hats not so much.
 

RCU005

Member
Can't turn a ship around on a dime.

Wrong! Many CEOs/Presidents, etc have turned the ship around VERY fast.

Kaz Hirai turned the ship around VERY fast with the PS3 and ended up edging the competition.
Elon Musk turned Tesla around very fast, even though it was about to go bankrupt.
Square Enix CEO turned very successfully this gen after a hittable PS3/360 gen.


Phil Spencer is just talk.
 

Eevee86

Member
I don't see anyone else doing much better. I don't envy anyone that had to pick up where Mattrick left off. I kind of gave up on the Xbox One and had my eyes set on the future, but it doesn't look like it's going to be great when they launch the console. Hoping things look better 6-12 months in.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
He's a bit full of shit. But they weren't thinking Halo Infinite would slip, and it's a huge title..

But he's still a bit full of shit.

Thing is he took over in like 2018 and they only then went on a studio building/buying spree... they never were going to be releasing a lot of content for an 11/20 launch.. Outisde of just buying 3rd party exclusivity it was always going to be this way.

He just needed to STFU a bit and speak a bit more humbly.
 
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“I honestly think we’re in the best launch lineup position that we’ve ever been on Xbox,” Spencer said.
This was their actual focus:
XboxSeriesXTech_Inline8.jpg

and this:
XGPU_CloudGaming-1.jpg


Given the number of games it's LAME that some people still argue that this service has any value outside the 1$ for three months promos.

From my point of view Spencer has not kept any of his promises so far, he only knows how to sell smoke year after year. It is time for someone else to take over.
GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass GamePass .

38630559.jpg
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I do wonder if anyone outside the Xbox teams know how badly this is going for them public perception wise.

Like obviously they realized Halo was made a joke.. but do leadership outside of Xbox, who control the purse strings really grasp that?
 

Jerm411

Member
He's a bit full of shit. But they weren't thinking Halo Infinite would slip, and it's a huge title..

But he's still a bit full of shit.

Thing is he took over in like 2018 and they only then went on a studio building/buying spree... they never were going to be releasing a lot of content for an 11/20 launch.. Outisde of just buying 3rd party exclusivity it was always going to be this way.

He just needed to STFU a bit and speak a bit more humbly.

He took over in 2014.....
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Way too soon to tell, his job is to turn Xbox into a services division like Office and that job is not complete yet.

One thing that HAS to happen though is that 343 management needs to the fired, the offices have to be burned to the ground, the ground has to be salted, and a priest needs to come to purify the land spiritually.
 

Klayzer

Member
So he spends all his time doing PR interviews and gaming?

That would actually explain a lot.
Be careful. Tbid is not in a good place right now. Dude is lashing out at anybody with a critical thought on today's news. Tread carefully, lol.
 
Wrong! Many CEOs/Presidents, etc have turned the ship around VERY fast.

Kaz Hirai turned the ship around VERY fast with the PS3 and ended up edging the competition.
Elon Musk turned Tesla around very fast, even though it was about to go bankrupt.
Square Enix CEO turned very successfully this gen after a hittable PS3/360 gen.


Phil Spencer is just talk.
About the only things he could do quickly were jettisoning the Kinect and cutting the price. Then the X1X turned out pretty good too.
 
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Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
I don't think Spencer needs to be replaced, but some other people at Xbox do. Their hiring model isn't competence-based, it's focused on "diversity" first, competence second, which is killing the company.
 

pr0cs

Member
Just when you think GAF can't get even more insane, thank you OP reminding me that there are levels to this console warring game
 

Shmunter

Member
With the Halo situation? MS would be mad to not consider it. You can’t have the top asleep at the wheel, it infests every level and corrupts the culture.

For Halo as a brand, clearly it’s right to delay it. For ushering in a new gen, the situation is a marked disaster.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I think we should be asking that question about her.

Bonnie-Ross.jpg
so she took 5 years and couldnt produce a game. needed an extra few months, lets go with 1 full year. that means her game wouldve taken 5-6 years to make. Lets see what else had a 5-6 year dev time.

god of war
days gone
horizon
ghost of tsushima

and they didnt have to make their game for three consoles, including one for launch. if she has to go then so do the studio heads over at the sony game studios.

the issue here isnt 343i. its poor management by MS. Dont fall for Phil's bs. he threw his own studio under the bus. anyone with a set of eyes wouldve told you that this game wasnt ready. you think Phil didnt know or couldnt tell that the game looked rough? of course he did. but he sent them out to the wolves because he knew the fans would turn against 343i and not him.
I don't think Spencer needs to be replaced, but some other people at Xbox do. Their hiring model isn't competence-based, it's focused on "diversity" first, competence second, which is killing the company.
i really dont think this is true when Phil Spencer, Aaron Greenberg and Matt Booty are all white men. This isnt just 343i. NONE Of their studios are ready. and not just for launch, they wont be ready for the next 3 years. this is all on the men or women at the top. I dont care if they are white or black or asian or transgender. the buck stops with them. blaming women and minorities is lame when you have execs at the top dropping the ball in spectacular fashion.
 
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Bo_Hazem

Banned
“I honestly think we’re in the best launch lineup position that we’ve ever been on Xbox,” Spencer said.

News of July 20, 2020.

From my point of view Spencer has not kept any of his promises so far, he only knows how to sell smoke year after year. It is time for someone else to take over.

Nope, I'm happy with his job.

Jim agrees with me.

Jim_Ryan.jpg
 
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Three

Member
Somebody find that video interview after the xbox showcase with Phil telling everyone with a big grin on his face that "the people at 343i are doing a great job with Halo Infinite"
Then the diehard Phil fans would finally see how much of a PR mouthpiece he has been.

As a suit he's been good at steering the titanic from the iceberg. So was Mattrick. Mattrick made them money, he steered xbox into the black too.
 
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The leadership at 343 has to date objectively produced (games wise, not all the other stuff 343 do) -
  • Halo 4 that dropped off population quickly but had a good campaign (if you include the terminals). Missing core Halo elements e.g. BTB. Solid DLC but population was gone.
  • Halo 5 warzone was well received but fell off the wagon, multiplayer was well received and is good. Missing core Halo elements outside of esports e.g. 4v4/BTB. Unified DLC free for all.
  • MCC, total cluster fuck that took 5 years to correct and finally is half way done coming to PC. It's in a good place now but could have been a massive return for Halo fans/population. Crossplay is arriving but not yet.
  • Infinite is missing XSX launch.
  • Halo Wars 2 was awesome, well made, good story, great characters, solid art/audio etc.
  • Who gives a fuck about those 2 basically mobile games they produced.
TL;DR: Phil stays and is making awesome moves, 343 leadership needs to go.

Phil has turned Xbox around in many ways (BC, GP, hardware, indies, brand, new studios, some new games) but seems to be soft AF on 343.
 

longdi

Banned
Yes because Jim 750 million dollar ryan has a real passion for gaming lol. Andrew house and his guys did sure but the king of money hats not so much.

Right! Jim scares me, at least the direction he seems to have taken.
Why do GAF forgot the musical chairs around SCE the last 2-3 years? A lot of prominent passionate execs dropping off, and that with the PS5 final stage development.. :messenger_sleeping:
 
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