Xbox Exec: We Set Some Wrong Expectations With May's Inside Xbox Show

I'm sure they'll make it all up to us in july🙂🙂

Good on him for coming out and saying that. I went in very excited but wasn't really blown away with majority of what was shown. Im sure theyll be fine though.

No need to apologize, but at least they acknowledge the pre-stream hype was misleading. They probably should have told people everything would be in-game footage, but not necessarily gameplay. That way, most people wouldn't be as upset.

I went in with little to no expectations so I wasnt to badly burned.

Greenberg was part of the overall problem with the show. Even at the start of the stream, he was over-hyping stuff when he didn’t need to. And can someone please get him a decent camera?!!! lol.

But overall, I thought the show was ok. I expected more big 3rd party publishers, but it was almost all smaller developers & indies.....which is fine! Some of the games looked really cool. Bright Memory & Scorn looked very interesting.

It felt like Microsoft yanked that 20 minute part of an E3 show (where they show off an indie showcase) & turned it into an Inside Xbox episode. And they threw in some developer interviews.

But between Greenberg & Xbox over-hyping the event, in general, and Ubisoft laying an egg with the Valhalla “gameplay trailer”......it could have been better.

And their failure to mention that several of the games were Xbox console exclusives was very puzzling.

I am indeed, glad that they acknowledged their mistake and feel encouraged to read that they're using the feedback to improve their communication going forward. Keep being transparent, Team Xbox.

@KelticDevil yeah I agree. Honestly it was one of the better Inside Xbox shows, because I think people forget how boring they usually are. I mean I like them for their campiness charm but most people don’t.

I think the issue is really over hype and Ubisoft’s trailer. I mean if Valhalla had had gameplay footage most people would have barely noticed the rest of the show to be fair.

And “to be fair” I really wasn’t expect much anyway I want to see Double Fine’s and Playgrounds’ projects and that’s in July.

@KelticDevil
"It felt like Microsoft yanked that 20 minute part of an E3 show (where they show off an indie showcase) & turned it into an Inside Xbox episode."

That's exactly how I felt it went down. We'll get another one, very similar to this in June, but better handled. Then the big guns in July.

I don't think it was Greenberg that ultimately set expectations too high. We knew before hand that we were getting a look at 3rd party games only and some games on Series X gameplay.

I think the bulk of the disappointment has to lie with Ubisoft who promised game-play and then we got that teaser trailer at the very end. With many of the games before, some actual game-play trailers, helping to raise expectation for the AC finale, after a week or two of hype too - Ubosoft let us and perhaps MS down

@BAMozzy

The reason I, partially, blame Greenberg was that he said “3rd party developers”. When most people hear that, they may think of EA, Bethesda, etc. It was more of an indie showcase, which is fine. But he could have just said that from the beginning.

And his intro to the show was kinda......cringe. Horrid camera & his huge enthusiasm right at the beginning seemed fake to me. Even Matt Booty gave him an 🙄 when they started talking. The XSX fridge was kind of funny, but it just seemed too rehearsed & fake overall.

@gingataisen

Yea I can hardly wait until July! I want to see the big guns come out!

@mousieone

I agree. A lot of the hate around the show seems to be centering on Vahalla’s disappointing showing. And that’s a 3rd party game. It’s not under Microsoft’s control to what Ubisoft is willing to show.

I am also excited to see what Double Fine cane do with a AAA budget! And I keep hoping for that Fable reveal from Playground at every event. They better show us something in July! 👍🏻

@BAMozzy
I have to agree. Gameplay was definitely shown, a lot of it running at 60fps. Thing is, the big draw (Valhalla) failed the mark completely, ruining what otherwise could've been a pretty solid show.

@KelticDevil There were some indies on the event(including the best game presented yesterday in my opinion Bright Memory) but it's not exactly a indie showcase if you have ubisoft, codemasters and Sega on the event.

@duhsoares21

I disagree. Most of the games were from smaller developers who probably wanted to get their games in front of as many eyes as possible. And I can’t blame them.

Ubisoft’s showing was a joke & I already said that. And the other two.....do you live in the US? It’s not like Yakuza or Dirt 5 are considered “big” franchises here. Yakuza would be the one to maybe push consoles to fans of Japanese games.

@KelticDevil No I don't live in the US, I'm from south America, Brazil. Yakuza and Dirt aren't considered big franchises either, but the fact those games aren't 'considered big' here or in the US doesn't diminish the size and/or importance of the studios behind the franchises. The fact some people are upset because Ubisoft didn't present a proper AC gameplay doesn't make then a small studio either.

Most of the indie games presented had AAA big studios quality like was with Bright Memory, Scorn and The Medium to name a few.

The only issue with Microsoft was promise AC gameplay and not deliver it.
That honestly is the reason for the whole complain about Inside Xbox and it's more Ubisoft fault than MS.

@duhsoares21

I never said Ubisoft was a small studio. I am not an idiot. Obviously I know that Ubisoft is one of the biggest publishers in the world. I’m not sure where you got that nonsense from?

And if you love Yakuza & Dirt, more power to you. Have fun with those games.

@KelticDevil
Yakuza on Series X day and date is a pretty big deal, KD.

@gingataisen

Ok, touché. Good point. I take back my comment about Yakuza. I get that it is a huge franchise to a lot of people. 👍🏻

And correct me if I am wrong, but did the game already release in Japan? I had heard that it did? Not sure.

Yes. It released for PS4 on Jan 16, and get this: the trailer we saw yesterday makes no mention of PS5. 😱

@KelticDevil
I wasn't saying you told Ubisoft was a small studio. I was pointing that Microsoft couldn't treat the show as an Indie showcase (even if they were majority) because of Sega, Ubisoft and codemasters were there too.

Yes, it was released on last January in Japan only for PS4. It will come to PS4 on west too. But what I am still surprised is that there is no mention of a PS5 version in the west. It says: Series X, Xbox One, Steam and PS4. So probably its a Series X console exclusive in west, even if its timed.

Dirt is a good game. I don't really care about Yakuza. I've played Yakuza 0 and didn't like it.

@gingataisen

Yea that is weird. That could mean several things & all of them bad for Sony. Interesting.

My stance about Japanese games has always been that I am not a fan of most of them. I used to love them on the NES, Genesis, Super NES, & the OG PlayStation. They made the best games, hands down. I grew up with them.

But as time went on & I got the OG Xbox, something changed. I got KOTOR and couldn’t go back to JRPGs. I still love some franchises (like Resident Evil), but most Japanese games annoy me now since the the 360 generation.

In saying all of that.....I get that Japanese games are huge to a lot of people. And they need to be on Xbox (whether I buy them or not). And Nintendo has proven that Japanese games can still find a western audience, big time. So I tip my 🧢 to them.

Phil Spencer has made it a point to try to recruit these types of games to the Xbox platform & I do hope he is successful. We need more effort like the 360 days of Blue Dragon & Lost Odyssey.

Xbox getting the Yakuza franchise on Xbox was a huge win. And maybe the Persona series will follow? Because there is no real exclusivity deal with PlayStation, but they always seem to pass Xbox by.

The more games the better, right?

He's the actual GM of Xbox Marketing?! I thought he was just some dudebro fanboy when I started watching the stream! I nearly switched over to a different stream as I thought I hadn't picked the official one.

These companies got everybody excited with all of that teraflop talk. Now, REALITY! Seems like things like this happen every generation.

@ShaiHulud

I assume you are taking about Greenberg? And yes, I hear and share your concerns. Lol.

But yea he’s the head of marketing for Xbox. 🤦‍♂️

@KelticDevil I'm aware that some Americans tend to get excited easily, but he's a bit much maybe

@ShaiHulud

I totally agree.