February 10th 2024.
Many people have been wondering about the current state of Xbox and the recent controversy surrounding its multiformat plans. One reader, in particular, is angry about the situation and is pointing the blame at boss Phil Spencer for allowing things to escalate to this point.
Like most people during that time, I owned an Xbox 360 instead of a PlayStation 3. I had previously owned a PlayStation and PlayStation 2 and had been satisfied with them. However, when Xbox offered a superior alternative, I immediately switched sides. Despite the ongoing talk of console wars, it's only a small minority that perpetuates this toxic behavior. Most people don't choose a console based on loyalty, but rather after careful research and consideration.
Consoles are expensive, and unless you're a hardcore gamer, you probably only want one. The only exception might be something completely different, like the Wii or Switch. My point is that console loyalty is a myth, and people choose the one they want based on the games and the reputation of the company. It's widely accepted that the Xbox Series X/S doesn't have as many good exclusives as the PlayStation 5, but this has been the case for a while now. The real issue is the damage to their reputation, which is their newest problem.
The past week has been chaotic, with headlines that would usually seem like low-effort trolls now being seen as entirely plausible. The possibility of Starfield coming to PlayStation 5 is now taken as a given, and even popular games like Gears of War and Halo are being speculated as potential multiformat releases. This has caused certain superfans to become upset, but the real damage, in my opinion, is how Microsoft has handled the situation and what it says about them as a company.
Rumors of Xbox going multiformat first surfaced last month, and it wasn't just one source, but multiple sources, most of which have been proven to be reliable. Later, it was suggested that these sources had been briefed by someone from inside Microsoft who disagreed with the idea of going multiformat and wanted the plans to become public, in hopes that fan outrage might reverse them. While we can't confirm if this is true, the number of games and their importance keeps increasing, and now, nothing is off the table. And what has been Microsoft's response to all of this? For a long time, nothing. It wasn't until Monday that Xbox boss Phil Spencer made a statement:
"We're listening, and we hear you. We've been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned."
What a condescending non-statement. As I write this on Thursday, we still don't have a date or time for this "business update event," which has only fueled the rumors and misinformation, with some people even claiming that Microsoft is leaving the gaming industry or will stop making consoles. We know nothing for certain, and the first assumption is certainly not true.
But this is where my point comes in. Microsoft is allowing this situation to get out of control while they continue their little boardroom battle over what they should do. By the time they say anything, half of their audience will have already assumed they've given up, and that Xbox is on its deathbed. It's not dead, but it certainly feels like it's struggling, and it will take a miracle to revive it.
In my opinion, this is a failure of leadership and a problem with marketing, something Microsoft has always struggled with. However, as others have pointed out, the responsibility ultimately falls on Phil Spencer. In March, he will have been in charge of Xbox for ten years, and it's difficult to say what he has accomplished during that time. While he has spent a significant amount of money, the companies Microsoft has acquired have yet to produce a classic game. Ironically, Bethesda and the Call of Duty teams have released arguably their worst games as their first titles under Microsoft. While this may be a coincidence, it's not a great start.
The issues with Starfield are partially Microsoft's fault. They would have seen the game before buying Bethesda, and they were convinced enough of its quality to hype it up last year. However, it only took a few hours for most gamers to realize it was a disappointment. It was Phil Spencer's decision to promote the game so heavily, just as it was his decision to showcase Halo Infinite in 2020, a showing that was so bad, it resulted in a delay of over a year. How did he and the other executives not see this coming, when it was obvious to ordinary gamers? The memes started circulating within minutes.
And then there's Redfall. Why release the game in such a state when you knew what the response would be? Why force the developers to make it when they didn't want to? "I'm upset with myself," Spencer said afterward. Well, yes, I would be too if I kept making the same mistakes repeatedly.
In my opinion, Phil Spencer needs to go, and his replacement needs to show some humility and acknowledge that the brand is declining, and its golden era is now in the past. We need Xbox to be strong, and competition is healthy, but right now, Xbox is not delivering, and it hasn't during Spencer's entire tenure.
Just look at Sony's response. Are they feeling threatened? Not at all. They're sitting back and watching Xbox trip over its own shoelaces. They've probably never felt less concerned. Especially now that Microsoft is reportedly asking for dev kits and publishing licenses.
The amount of spin we'll hear from Microsoft in the next few days will be enough to put the Earth out of orbit, but that's not the right approach. Admit your mistakes, put your head down, and release some good games. After all this time, Xbox still hasn't realized the one truth of the industry: all gamers care about is the games, and Xbox is not delivering them.
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