Various Xbox leaders took part in a reunion panel recently with GamesBeat, including former chief Xbox officer Robbie Bach, former Microsoft Game Studios head Ed Fries, and his successor Shane Kim.
The three former execs shared stories about their time working at Xbox, discussing some of their favourite memories along the way, and concluded the talk by highlighting their praise for the modern-day Xbox brand - specifically what current head of Xbox Phil Spencer has managed to bring to the table over the past few years.
Here's what former chief Xbox officer Robbie Bach had to say about Spencer's vision of Xbox:
"It’s changed quite a bit. Well, let me say it this way. Parts of it, Phil has really solidified some things that we did well, like content. Building the studio, working with content developers. That’s the place where Ed and Shane added so much value, and Phil has gone back and reinvested in that. He’s doing a really good job of that. Some of it is a continuation of some early successes we had.
Microsoft has become more of an enterprise place since we left, and yet gaming is more important there now than it was when we were around. That’s an interesting dynamic. I think Satya looks at Phil and the gaming business as people who are out on the cutting edge of technology. They’re driving new trends and new ideas. Those ideas could come back and help the rest of the company.
Phil deserves a lot of credit for shaping what I think now is a great business for Microsoft. Phil worked with Shane and Ed and learned a lot from them, but I think he’s put the business in a very good place."
Echoing Bach's comments, Shane Kim - who was a major part of the Xbox brand in the 2000s - enthused that Spencer has done a "tremendous" job with the Xbox business, especially considering the poor launch of the Xbox One.
"I hope he doesn’t watch this, because I’m going to say nice things about him, but he’s done a tremendous job with the Xbox business. You have to remember that he took over when the Xbox One did not have a great launch.
Subsequently, we lost that generation by quite a bit, which was very — for me personally, it was very disappointing, and probably for Ed and Robbie as well, since we were there at the start. We’d helped build Xbox 360 to parity with Sony."
What do you make of these comments about the current Xbox boss? Let us know down below.
[source venturebeat.com]
Comments 20
The Xbox One was always a criminally underrated console, and the PS4 was always a criminally overrated console. My take as someone who owned them since day one.
Well now after seeing all the E3 conferences, I think that’s all of them.
On reflection Xbox had the best one, which in turn I guess means Phil has done a good job.
Highlights, FH5 & Farcry 6.
Lowlights, some good Halo campaign gameplay would have been the icing on the cake.
@JayJ Could not agree more. The ps4 has, and will continue to have some amazing exclusive games, but it's an overrated piece of hardware. Mine has always been sluggish and cumbersome to deal with anything besides playing a game. Xbox One is probably the console I've used the most ever. Such a great and user friendly experience.
In Phil we trust.
I think the billions of dollars that Microsoft let him spend probably had something to do with it.
People praise this guy like he's Jesus or something
The fact that the phrase "In Phil We Trust" is something we say shows just how far this great man has bought the Xbox brand.
I know that I'm generalizing, but without trust, there isn't really any foundation in a relationship (of any description, at any level)
So those 4 simple words, for me, go much further than just some throw-away meme.
Full credit to the bosses, who likely saw the need of a change (in the past), and put their trust in this guy.
I hope that he is with the Green Team for a long time to come, as losing him would honestly hit the reset button on the MS stakes.
Presumably he's also quite a nice person, lol
I'm sure Phil Spencer wasn't the only reason things have changed, but as a front man he really helps the Xbox brand. He genuinely seems like a gamer on all formats and appreciates both Sony and Nintendo as companies.
I think he (amongst others) must have sat the heads of Microsoft around a table a couple of years ago and convinced them that there actually is a profit in the Xbox brand through a subscription service. That got Microsoft more interested in investing big ($7.5 Billion for Bethesda) in "Xbox Game Pass" and that can now be seen with this year's E3 showing.
It's good to see the Xbox name as a real challenger again, I feel the PlayStation hardware will always be seen as the most popular (not the most powerful though) but the profit, investment and therefore exclusive development seems now to be leaning towards Xbox.
Stick an "Xbox Game Pass" app on a gaming stick, smartphone, PC, TV, or who knows even Playstation or Switch hardware and that's the Xbox brand the one to develop for.
A good time to be a Xbox gamer again.
Phil has done an incredible job but what’s even more exciting is that he is still doing and will continue to a great job as time goes by. He is creating something very special indeed!!
@Jslade Oh I was always very disappointed in the PS4, especially considering all the hype and praise it always had. The interface was slow and unreliable, the downloading was slow as it lacked 5Ghz wifi, the updating always took forever and required a lot of free space as it had to copy everything over separately, the DS4 always felt like they simply added useless gimmicks over the DS3, you were stuck with internal rechargeable batteries, and the exclusive games were for the most part very one note, the vast majority being the same epic cinematic 3'rd person action kind of experience, some more or less like an RPG or being more less story focused.
As someone who was never into those games I always felt really let down by what the PS4 had to offer. In comparison the Xbox One had fast and reliable UI, the downloading is usually fast thanks to 5ghz support, the updating is usually very smooth and fast thanks to the way it makes it all a part of the same process, and the controller never felt gimmicky at all, just an overall evolution of the 360 controller with the pulse triggers which actually added something to the experience of playing games. The games also simply appealed to me more, a series like Forza being exactly the kind of game I am into.
Considering how much better the Xbox experience has been for me it's no wonder why I came to prefer getting all my 3'rd party games on my Xbox, especially after I got a One X which simply blew away all the other consoles last gen. That and they actually offered true backwards compatibility, not that half-hearted attempt at it that Sony did with only allowing you to buy a select few PS2 games.
Basically my Xbox One managed to not only become my last gen console of choice, but essentially completely replaced my need to have a console from the generation before it hooked up to my TV. By now the Xbox Series X is a console that spans 3, arguably 4 generations of gaming available with enhancements. Best of all I got full access to loads of games I bought digitally in the past, they never tried to up-sell me on a "next gen" version, and they did a good proper job of improving them regardless. I think that sort of thing deserves some acknowledgment.
Nadella deserves some credit too. Between the two of them gaming division getting a tonne of investment and attention.
Bethesda purchase wouldnt have happened under Steve Ballmer's watch.
He saved a dying brand. Xbox has a very bright future ahead.
@JayJ I’ll disageee on two points:
The Xbox 360 was not underrated during the bulk of its lifetime. It didn’t lose its hold until late in the generation when it started to abandon traditional gamers in pursuit of Nintendo Wii’s base, via Kinect, an audience that by that time was losing all interest on the motion gimmicks.
As for the PS4, it was the best console hardware on the market until the Xbox One X released, and it had some solid first party offerings. It’s hard to say PS4 didn’t deserve to dominate when competing against the Wii U and Xbox One VCR.
@Jaxx420 not so sure about that. Ballmer did approve the 360 RROD extended warranty that cost 1.15 billion dollars. At the time even Sony was not working so hard on first party offerings, so investing on studios was not exactly something anyone felt was needed. He also threw 10 billion at Nokia to try save Windows Phone, he was no stranger at throwing billions at problems in segments he thought MS had to be in, and I’m bet he did see the importance of gaming in Microsoft’s portfolio.
Edit: one of the last big Xbox related deals Ballmer made was approve the acquisition of the Gears of War IP. Honestly, I would not have seen Xbox survive to where it is right now if the Gears IP had moved on to Sony or gone multi-plat.
Nadella definitively deserves credit, but don’t forget he made Phill Spencer prove he could truly turn the Xbox sinking ship before opening the wallet big time.
@Tharsman Well I wasn't really talking about the Xbox 360, that's a different subject. As for the PS4 I think I made my points clear, it never lived up to the high expectations that were set for me nor was my experience anything great, in fact I think it's one of the consoles I enjoyed the least.
@JayJ "The Xbox One was always a criminally underrated console, and the PS4 was always a criminally overrated console. My take as someone who owned them since day one."
As someone who also had both since launch I disagree.
Xbox One got some flak, but was not 'criminally underrated', that's hyperbole. It was the both the weaker console, playing most multi-plats at a lower frame rate/resolution than PS4, and had fewer games. Subjectively it also had the weaker software lineup in terms of quality. (Open/Metacritic backs this up too, but you like what you like)
Did that make it bad? HELL NO! It was a VERY GOOD console, and so similar to the PS4 in almost all ways that you required side by side slow downs to highlight most differences. In real play it would take the most discerning eye (or a fanboy) to spot the differences. It just wasn't better than PS4 in most ways.
Personally I have no regrets, though would have liked a few more A+ exclusives to my (single player) tastes. Ori 1&2 were some of my games of the generation.
But overall I still thought PS4 was better and as a result I bought MOST multi-plats on PS4 and was happier with the exclusives there.
This gen this has shifted the other way to Series X so far with Microsoft's better dedication to back-compatibility, FPS boost and Auto-HDR, Smart delivery, MS rewards, Quests etc. Maybe small things individually but adding up.
On PS5 I prefer the UI, the Dualsense, PS+, the sales are (subjectively) better, and the exclusive games and that's about it so far.
But again they are VERY similar so far in terms of what they offer visually and technically so far. Digital foundry have to slow down the video to 50-25% and zoom in 400% to highlight most differences. i.e. there REALLY isn't much at ALL. Only fanboys jump on this as a reason to have one or the other.
It's pro's and con's, they are both great, and so similar again... with the BIG game changing difference being GAME PASS. If it's something you are interested in, and it's not for everyone, this is a HUGE reason to go with Xbox this gen.
@themightyant you forgot to list that it was weaker for a higher price. It was $100 more.
I don’t know what the “PS4 high expectations” were. Out of the gate, to me it felt clear PS4 selling pitch was “we the only ones not thing to break the status quo”. Nothing fancy, the bar was just very low at the time.
@Tharsman "you forgot to list that it was weaker for a higher price. It was $100 more."
That's true. There were PLENTY of things I didn't mention... Kinect... I was trying to keep this one short... for me 😂
@themightyant Well that is just, like, your opinion, man.
I always find it odd when people who are clearly massive Sony fanboys go to an Xbox site to tell everyone how much they love the PS4. It's an odd behavior that I only see from the Sony fanbase, no other fanboys act like that, they all stick to their individual spots, but not Playstation fanboys, they feel a need to make everyone feel the same way they do about their favorite game console or oh no how dare they like something else more!
Seriously, you people need to grow up and realize how not everyone is a massive devoted fan of the PS4 like you are, not everyone is some mega fanboy who just looks at everything from the fanboy perspective like you do. Some of us simply have a better time with other things, and no amount of gamer fanboy nonsense will convince us otherwise. People know what they enjoy and don't enjoy, and it's not always the same as you.
This is one of the biggest problems with the PS4, it's always had these mega-fans who hyped the console and it's games to the max, claiming it's the greatest thing that has ever happened to gaming. This type of behavior sets very high expectations for people, and considering how the console has no shortage of flaws that the fanbase loves to ignore as well as how the games are very one note that you either love or you don't, it has always been the type of thing where you admire it like the fanbase or you can never relate to what they're going on about. Now don't get me wrong, it's great if you love something and have your own preferences, but it's a real elitist issue where people like you try to correct others and tell them why they should prefer the PS4 regardless of their experiences and preferences, and that is simply hogwash.
Seriously there is this website around here called Push Square that would be perfect for you. Just go there and hang out with the loads of PS fanboys who will agree with you, as that is clearly the type of environment you desire, one where everyone just blindly praises the PS4 and spews the usual gamer fanbase nonsense.
@JayJ Which part did you think sounded like a ps fanboy? The bit where I said Xbox one and PS4 were basically the same?? Or the part where I said I play more on Xbox this generation??? As I said they each had pros and cons but I think PS4 was a bit better.
Yes it’s my opinion, and I think a pretty fair appraisal of the pros and cons of the two. You feel differently. No problem, let’s discuss it like adults.
No need to throw your toys out the pram because someone disagrees with your view and doesn’t blindly say Xbox is the greatest. Xbox does some things better some worse.
I play on all consoles and pc, I don’t have a favourite platform and I’m the furthest thing from a fanboy for any. You might want to look a little closer to home if that’s your overreaction to any minor criticism for team green.
I’m here on pureXbox because I like Xbox. I’m on pushsquare too because, guess what, I like PlayStation too. Nintendo life as well for the record. And I don’t need you or anyone else to play gatekeeper and tell me where I should be.
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