Xbox's vision has shifted in recent years. Following on from former Xbox exec Don Mattrick seemingly doing everything in his power to destroy the brand, Phil Spencer then took over the reins to get us where we are today. With the Xbox Series X and Series S, Game Pass,and a wave of exclusives on the way, the company is in a better position than ever before. Looking at the success of PlayStation and Nintendo, you'd easily think Xbox would want to replicate that formula, but Spencer has said Xbox wants to do "something different".
Speaking to GamesRadar, Spencer pointed out that he sometimes gets asked about games on other platforms. Over the years, many people have requested to see the platform's take on The Last of Us formula, for example, and similar games of that ilk. According to Spencer, this isn't something that interests the team:
"Our strategy is not to just go be like someone else. I get a push sometimes of 'where's your version of this or that [game]?'. I've been in this industry for a long time, I have a ton of respect for creators on all platforms, and I know many, many of them.
But it's good if we're doing something different than what other platforms are doing. We're not in the business of just trying to create a green version of somebody else's blue or red coloured platform. That's not the example of creativity that I want to see in the games industry."
It can be argued Xbox's strategy was seen in full display during their E3 Showcase. In a closing montage, a single quote claimed: "The biggest and most diverse games lineup in Xbox history". With titles such as Psychonauts 2, Replaced, and Stalker 2 joining bigger titles including Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5, there was a ton of variety on display.
Xbox's mission has been clear for a while now: Game Pass. While momentum for the service was slow at first, its massive install base today suggests the strategy is working, and will only grow further from here.
Do you agree with Phil Spencer's comments? Drop us a comment and let us know.
[source gamesradar.com]
Comments 10
It's good to hear that everyone is doing their own thing instead of copying one another
Xbox Holodeck Series 1
Different is good and good for competition as well. Game pass I have and use and when the new first party games like FH5, Halo etc etc release it is even better for me.
At the end of the day I think game pass has about 20 million on board.
But if it wants to grow it needs new AAA games, of which Xbox has invested in studios and knows this, else why invest.
I still think console sales are important to Xbox as well, more than they let on. I see it that if you sold say 80 million series consoles and half 40 million get game pass then that’s another 40 million on board. 3 times more than are on board now.
This also leads to controller, games and dlc sales.
So yes Phil, a slightly different direction and a good one.
But games sell game pass and consoles.
And consoles can sell game pass.
So it’s all linked and not the mile off really that Microsoft might like you to think they are from the competition.
That’s was clearly obviously when they realised they needed to invest in studios to make new AAA games.
If any of the 3 companies stopped making new AAA great games then be it console or game pass sales in the end would dry up.
I think it would be fun to see Playground Games make an Xbox themed Mario Kart game. I know more people would rather see a Super Smash Bros clone, but Mario Kart would be much better and more fun.
I see them offering a variety of games that really our the pinnacle of different genres. Flight sim, Psychonauts, Halo, Gears, Forza, Hellblade. To my eyes they are doing much bigger things then Sony and Nintendo. Nintendo has been holding onto the same franchises for years but their developers are not keeping up. Sony seems to mostly be focused on single player experiences which has it's merits but not my type of game, game after game. Xbox just has what I'm looking for and with game pass I get to try out a lot of other games too.
Other exec's didn't have access to the budget like Phil to make the Xbox the most powerful console and sell at a loss. Or to spend $7.5 billion to buy gaming giant companies. I'm excited what Phil is doing, but won't compare other exec's to him cause I don't think it's fair.
@SplooshDmg Chah, bruh. Rock on dude!
@Halucigens I don't even think it's about multi vs solo. I'm an all solo gamer ther than co-op in games like Halo, I really don't care about multiplayer at all. Yet MS's single player experiences are a lot more diverse than what often feels like "copy and past Naughty Dog's template" demands of Sony's studios of late. It's not about single vs multiplayer games as much as diversity in games. I used to prefer PS because they had a lot more diverse variety, but these days they've collapsed that variety and have a more formulaic template for their content. Other than the handful of JRPG and FG devs that won't touch an Xbox with a barge pole, theres' just so little variety coming from team blue atm.
@Dezzy70 Nintendo mostly settled on remaking ports of 15 year old games and selling them for $60 for a limited time......Maybe Matrick was right about not needing studios after all?
@SalmonTag Don Matrick had the same budget advantages and managed to not only do nothing with it but lose his own market share. It's not just the size of the budget that matters, but someone that understands the market enough to know how to use it.
If you threw the same budget at Jim Ryan of Sony, I'm certain he'd just increase budgets for more detailed versions of the same game portfolio, and bring on an additional studio with the mission to create the same. He operates on reactions to sales data, not having an internal pulse on the customer. That's really "Xbox's" advantage right now is a leader that understand the market and proactively acts on it instead of retroactively analyzing sales statistics and making decisions from a pure spreadsheet perspective.
Give the same budget to Nintendo? They'll just stash it in the bank, buy more shares back, and make an upscaled port of Kirby Air Ride for $60.
I really don’t need Xbox’s version of Ghost of Tsushima, because I have a PS5 for that stuff. I definitely prefer my Xbox because of the variety of games and gaming genres they encompass. I love State of Decay, Ori, Gears, Fable, Halo, Sea of Thieves, and Forza. These games are all completely different genres. Gears and Halo would be the most similar, I guess. It really is a great system. That said, I still can’t wait to play God of War 2
@SplooshDmg Do the Dew, Dude.
don't afraid to fight.
the blue and red's fight made gears of war
Tap here to load 10 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...