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Phil Spencer: announcement this week
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Fabieter
Member
So do you think some guys at Microsoft decided it above phills head and he's trying to prevent all of the damage its done.
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
I have to repost this because fucking wow
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
The Game Awards is going to
Ass of Can Whooping
Gold Member
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Its really not that surprising. "Full details" will be known by top execs. This is a shift that will be.communicated to investors in a business meeting. Every studio there working on PS5 games knows that much, if true.
I have to repost this because fucking wow
Banjo64
cumsessed
That’s when the true war begins.
The Chad Nintendo vs the Virgin PlayStation.
Both companies wiping their arse with Xbox has simply been a 20 year prelude to the timeless battle that will follow. Comedic relief you could say.
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Nintendo already lost that fight 25 years ago. They stay around through sheer ingenuity and by creating parallel markets that could vanish any gen as fast as the Wii U. I think people must find it comforting to lie to themselves and pretend this is a fight. Nintendo fans learned 20 years ago to ignore this.That’s when the true war begins.
The Chad Nintendo vs the Virgin PlayStation.
Both companies wiping their arse with Xbox has simply been a 20 year prelude to the timeless battle that will follow. Comedic relief you could say.
DAHGAMING
Gold Member
Ah intresting, I thought it would just be a statement but this must means its streaming.
jm89
Member
Got an exact quote?That Tom Warren post is WILD…he’s basically insinuating MS is handling all this and anyone associated with XBox doesn’t know shit…
Like, are we getting Nadella and Tim Stuart making this announcement?
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
Banjo64
cumsessed
Sorry I can’t hear you over the sound of Xbox collapsing.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Xbox is done. I've made peace with it. I supported it while it was a thing and it still died, like Dreamcast. Nintendo had the same thing happen and survived through sheer luck and brilliance on the Wii. They are not able to face PS in your imaginary head to head.
PS dogs have finally caught the car. Hope they like it lol.
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Crayon
Member
That’s when the true war begins.
The Chad Nintendo vs the Virgin PlayStation.
Both companies wiping their arse with Xbox has simply been a 20 year prelude to the timeless battle that will follow. Comedic relief you could say.
Smart. Never go into a fight to the death with a crusty ass. These two really know what they're doing.
jm89
Member
Oh yeah I guess that would make sense.
It's probably only really the higher ups at Xbox that would know more of the details. And maybe some info has trickled down.
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Banjo64
cumsessed
You could at least thrash about to make it interesting instead of being all grounded and downbeat.
SneakersSO
Member
Okay, got some time before the pre-workout kicks in.
My colleagues, some who are recently unemployed (Thanks Phil/Riot!), but many of whom are at other studios, some XGS and some not, the general consensus that I have come away with is this: we're all scared shitless. I have yet to speak to a dev for the last 5 months that isn't absolutely terrified at the state of the industry and the environment we're working with. Folks who moved, bought houses, started families, went back to school for training, increased their quality of life, took on long needed medical expenditures, both for physical well being and mental well being, all just getting their hard earned savings wiped out, and worse yet - the opportunities that we can jump into are fewer and further between. Prior to this though, so many of my colleagues were already feeling fatigued. I don't necessarily think we have taken into account the mental toll that the increased development timelines of all scale of games is having on the folks who are working on them. 8/10/15 years ago, we'd ship a game and get a fresh start; maybe you were only working on it for the last year or 6 months or you were there from day 1, but most projects were shipping between 2-4 years at max. Now, we're talking 5+ year forecasting for game devs, both due to just how much longer it takes to make the base game or just a consequence of so many games being a live-service nowadays. This not only increases just that daily trudge of having to work on the same thing day in and day out, but it definitely increased the emotional investment we are being asked to make into these projects. I know several devs who slaved away for years on projects, only for them to be cancelled, shipped in a poor state, torn apart by publisher requests to maximize returns, or just getting laid off well before the game even ships. What makes it particularly frustrating is that we were just starting to see some actual respectable salary rates hit across the industry, after decades of being the most underpaid sector in tech (unless you got some stock option or rev. share, but you needed to be pretty high up the food chain to earn that, and even higher as time went on).
Now, as for concerns for the console market and how it'll feel with a weakened Xbox ecosystem. To be honest, no one is really concerned about what the console market will look like with a weakened MS eco., at least none that I spoke to. Actually, every dev i've spoken to at Zenimax is thrilled they'll be shipping on Nintendo and PS again. Its really hard to describe this but, we could feel the decreased interest in those titles once they became Xbox exclusive. It was very notable to the devs working on those IP and studios. You think my colleagues couldn't tell the disparity in reception (pre-launch) between DeathLoop and RedFall? And again - purely talking pre-launch here. Once Redfall came out, the matter changes entirely, but the feeling from devs in terms of audience reception in the pre-launch marketing cycle was night and day.
I do think any concerns about the console market having one strong high-end console maker are way, way overblown. The console market itself has much larger issues on the economic side, and it has nothing to do with where the players who are in the console space are playing. I recommend reading Matthew Ball's piece on the state of gaming in 2024. Its a VERY long read, and while I do not agree with some of his speculative conclusion, and even some of his analysis, I do think the starting data that he drops here is a fantastic encapsulation of the financial issues the industry is facing in the next 2-4 years. Gaming as a whole is larger in terms of revenue and profit now, more than at any other point in time in industry history, and that is true even with the console market basically being unchanged in terms of size since the PS3/360/Wii generation, only exception being the collapse of the Xbox audience. In summary, the industry has made more and more money overall while Microsoft's console audience has steadily and consistently shrunk. And as far as the ability to make money in the GP eco. devs have long accepted the fiscal reality of releasing on Xbox. Make a game, tell MS you're not launching there due to concerns with breaking even on costs related to porting, and if your project is looking good, MS comes back to you with a solid GP deal from their 3rd party GP slush fund ($1b annual). And if MS doesn't show up, you skip Xbox, and if your game does well on the other platforms, MS shows up with an even better GP deal than they would've given you the first time around. Again - its not our or the consumers money thats being burnt so, no complaints there.
I think the thing that gets lost the most in these online discussions is just the reality of gaming in the modern age. We are well aware that most enthusiast places outside of reddit, so forums + twitter, are mostly users who are somewhere between 28-45, who have been gaming since the 90s, and who prefer gaming in very particular ways. Thats all well and good, but gaming is so, so much larger than that now. So much money is being made outside of the console ecosystem. Sure, its still the lionshare of revenue for AAA titles targeting what we label as the 'core' gaming demo, but mobile games and transmedia titles are making bank right now. The reality is, Xbox has been a gradually weakening console platform for devs to sell games on for quite some time now. Its not new for us. Its for sure new for the enthusiast crowds like on forums and twitter, but its been an established business reality for 4 years now, and nothing on the horizon, including their upcoming plans that are gonna be talked about (and yes, some more folks have been better briefed on this today) are really set to change that.
I think every platform holder is right to be looking for ways to increase revenue and get the industry and console gaming portion of the games industry back into 'Growth' (again, read the Matt Ball piece), and we're gonna see some expansion plans from all the platform holders that is gonna feel very different strategy-wise than what we're used to. I don't necessarily think its a bad thing, but change is always scary, especially for the audience. Roping back in the first thing I spoke on, I think the thing that devs are more concerned with is that, if the industry is this profitable, and it largely is, how come we just aren't seeing it in our paychecks or job security? So when I speak to more and more game devs, all i'm hearing, more than i've ever heard before, are increased calls to unionize. I couldn't be happier for it either.
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SneakersSO
Member
Jez legitimately wrote articles talking about these ported games and 3rd party plans were literally not true, even did a clown shoes puff piece with Phill in December, while devs were legitimately making the ports, and many of us knew about it.
These folks are brand ambassadors who get their information from Microsoft Marketing groups. Whenever you hear from them, its because they are largely working as public spin.
Ass of Can Whooping
Gold Member
The kill is only sweet when they resist
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
The honest truth is it never was anything but this for me. Just grounded, but enjoying Xbox. I tried telling you guys this. I skipped PS3 at first because of the cost. Went 360 until TV Kinect BS and left years before the One reveal. Enjoyed PS4 a lot. Started this gen with a PS5 but hated how it was going. Tried Series consoles and GP and loved it. Now its done. Going to try PC now most likely. I'm actually one of the first to move on if it no longer appeals to me. I give all consoles a chance to win me over.
Astray
Member
He's definitely part of the discussions because he answers to Satya directly.
I am an outsider to this, so it's pure speculation, but I don't really think he's going to stick around long.
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SneakersSO
Member
Read it again - the only ones who truly know the plans for this aren't at Xbox; they're at Microsoft.
Banjo64
cumsessed
lol Satya rnSo was literally just sent this. I don't do the other site so someone who does can verify but wow
Represent.
Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Oooh shit. This reads like its an announcements from the higher ups. Phil's Bosses. They are making the decision here. Reads more like all the rumors are true if this is the case.
SneakersSO
Member
I don't know anything conclusive, but I do know Phil was fully, and I mean FULLY invested in 'console wars'. That said, MS is the sort of place where, unless you're being ousted for a change of direction, they will keep you on as long as you're willing to tell your higher ups and stakeholders exactly what they wanna hear.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Moridianae
Member
Absolutely. This is coming from much, much higher and there's a lot of discontent about the ramifications of this.
I think Phil is just...a figurehead at this juncture, really.
I think someone blew the whistle and possibly even Phil himself got caught off guard as only people higher than him in other areas knew of this stuff.
And all Nate said was "Ideally, they could name it an untouchable exclusive" or something.
Basically, this was chaos due to the leak, no one knows anything except for big, big people and Phil(who isn't one) was told to say something to buy time.
What's that group on X-Files? The Syndicate? The ones who aren't seen but pull all the strings and have enormous power?
Satya is like the Cigarette Smoking Man of them, I guess.
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You have to be kidding - he wrote "... most folks in Xbox don't know ... ". Focus on the word most. And you are telling someone to read it again, really?
Fabieter
Member
Didn't some people suspect that phills gonna prepare Sarah bond to take over xbox when he retires. Maybe he will do it now.
Astray
Member
I think his biggest problem is that he clearly bought into the parasocial relationship he cultivated with the influences, and he started using their feedback to find a way to grow. It's a huge overreaction to the Xbone fiasco where they completely disregarded the main consumer base and started chasing tech trends.
"Listening to the customers" is a common mantra in business, but that doesn't mean that you obsessively respond to everything they demand.
Fans are very driven by short-termism (how many of those warriors is playing Baldur's gate 3 now that it's on Xbox?), and have very limited inside track into how the sausage is made and what it takes to build a business. You don't take your entire strategy cue from your conversations with like Timdog or Jez (which by the way is contributing to the tantrum they're having, they got trained to do this and get their way on most things, so why not throw the dice one last time?).
Crispy Gamer
Member
Sounds like the Tim Stuart faction won it's strictly business but I'm sure Phil fought for some red meat for his base.
I have to repost this because fucking wow
Kaiserstark
Member
Do you think they announce next week that Startield is coming to PS5 with possibly game like Hellblade, Gears or they just talk about Hi-Fi Rush coming to others consoles and how the rest of the games will be case by case ?
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jm89
Member
SneakersSO
Member
I don't have any insight on exacts of what will be discussed, only broad strokes, and even some of that is informed speculation coming from folks on the MS and Xbox side of things.
This is the type of thing that can affect stock price, so I do not imagine exacts will be leaking out.
Dick Jones
Banned
Fuck #wewantCody
We need to get #wewantgreenbergandbooty trending
#prayforbooty
We need to get #wewantgreenbergandbooty trending
#prayforbooty
BoxFresh123
Member
aliadiere25
Member
Let's be honest, Phil doesn't even know what's happening.
Dick Jones
Banned
With the Xbox event, Geoff doesn't need to contact Jim Henson's company this time.
FIREKNIGHT2029
Member
Xbox is fucked if no one there knows what the hell is going on and it’s Satya and Co. making the announcement 
jm89
Member
Might explain his silence prior to his tweet.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Honestly, I think we all know what's going on. It makes sense rationally. There's nothing left to try. $200 Series S, GP for $1. Its done. The market wants PS5 consoles. Might as well pivot and save the studios.Xbox is fucked if no one there knows what the hell is going on and it’s Satya and Co. making the announcement
XXL
Member
James Sawyer Ford
Member
I have to repost this because fucking wow
This makes me think that they are going full steam ahead with third party across the board, if it's completely at the discretion of the top heads at Microsoft.
None of this "well, certain games will still be exclusive" song and dance Phil Spencer has been playing. This business direction is being taken over by top brass and I don't see them wanting to do anything but go all in.
Phil may be spared as long as he's willing to play ball. Phil seems like the kind of guy to just agree to it.
