Report: Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Reassures Employees Following UK ActiBlizz Decision

Dissapointing for them but it's their fault they don't have a plan B, C and D.

They have a lot to prove with the studios they have right now, which is the most out of any platform holder so no excuses. Spend those 70B (well 67B) on your own studios and make up for the 20 years of only creating halo, gears and forza, which one is dead and another is nowhere to be spotted.

Maybe better management and sales will retain employees. What a horrible month for xbox and I'm glad this happened. They constantly put all their eggs on a basket and fail.

Now Starfield is the one in the basket, and if that isn't a hit idk if they'll be motivated with consoles by the end of the gen. That game will determine a real deep thought about Xbox's CONSOLE future.

@Moonglow

Same for sony. Glad this is over and we can see some showcases.

It's so dry for upcoming games.

The UK government wasn’t happy with the way MS criticized them and apparently is engaging MS on the ABK deal. There’s talk that the ministers could potentially try to overrule the CMA. In any case, I definitely don’t think this is “over”.

@Moonglow

Indie games aren't really going to do or change any outcome. Redfall looks mediocre and that's not even AAA.

Spider-man 2 alone will outsell and move more console units than everything xbox releases this year. Maybe since Xbox series launched (2020-2023) and I'm not joking if SM2 sells 30m lifetime.

You can release plenty of $20, 90 rated indie games and they won't even scratch Sony. It's the reality and I wouldn't count the games you mentioned. They won't give enough of a reason to keep making consoles.

I'm sorry you think Pentinent, Hi Fi Rush and Grounded have any chance.

@GodofCapcom "Spend those 70B (well 67B) on your own studios and make up for the 20 years of only creating halo, gears and forza".

Your plan sounds pretty boring. Glad you are not Microsoft CEO.

@somnambulance

I mean from dropping 13% in sales in UK and sony going up by 400% in March, with no games from sony being released near that month. You don't have to do better than xbox one, you have to do better than ps5 because you are already at a disadvantage coming from a bad taste generation, and they're not even on the same league. They're doing worst with games. They won't just pull gamers away from ps5. They were so lucky with the shortages. No gamepass subs numbers. The power of series X not being used with redfall at 30fps.

Idk how people put a blind eye to this but good luck lmao. Nobody expected fortnite to be as big as it is, so some miracle can still happen.

@fbnaulin
Glad I'm not in charge of a declining division.

@Sebatrox I don't think ES6 is coming out this generation so it's a nothingburger.

Idk if they'll continue making Doom but it's an ok seller. It's my top 3 game (eternal) from last gen but I have to be honest with it. It sold well. Just well.

@Sebatrox Are you sure 1m people haven't just bought Skyrim 30 times each with the amount of releases it's had? 😂

@Sebatrox

Nothing beats resident evil 4 or pokemon red and blue.

Funny thing is that all this soap opera watching, I mean this big deal thing, almost feels like a game. A poorly-optimized one, but still...
That aside, you guys should check out the new GP game: Benedict Fox "something" (too lazy to search) - I've quickly tested it on my phone via xcloud and it seems promising for metroidvania fans like myself!

@GodofCapcom Man, before I go back to work, I need to say that your nickname and avatar are just the best, because they took me back to the 90's, when I first finished what Street Fighter II that I had at hand: a bootleg copy for NES, probably from Chun-li's land! Bro, not only that, but if you jumped, paused the game and pressed any random button, your opponent would be immediately KOed.
Good times. Sorry for the rambling!

@OldgamerDave
I'm playing the sf6 and is gucci. Def happy I bought it.

@Sebatrox

Since 2022, and I bet the 25 is not consistent.

@fbnaulin
So put money on own studios and maybe create new studios so we get new games are boring?
Buying up company and getting no new games are better?

@Kaloudz There’s discussion from several respected analysts on Twitter that the UK government getting involved could lead to it getting overturned. Windows Central was the first to report that the UK government was going to “engage” Microsoft over the matter.

Here’s one thread:

https://twitter.com/fosspatents/status/1651676379363041280?s=46&t=n557V_EC4EqditJsSEbq1A

Know Twitter isn’t always the best news source but I follow some of these guys that know what they’re talking about.

The UK government is not happy about what MS said yesterday.

@Sebatrox Excellent comeback, well played 🙂 I'll even confess to owning all but the PC version 😂

@Sebatrox

Both of them were hyperboling stuff

@Sebatrox

Idk. I'll go with 25 until xbox decided to share the #s themselves.

And trust me, both of them did lowkey lies to appear weaker.

Folks just assume it's dead until EU says otherwise. If they say no as well the ABK shareholders will take that $3B fee and carry on. I expect Xbox will have the next marketing deal for CoD no matter what happens and Xbox will definitely pursue other opportunities. Pretty sure ABK was a once in a lifetime opportunity that came up and wasn't actually something they actually had in their roadmap. So get it approved or blocked, but get back on track.

"In an attempt at ease employee concerns over the potential failure of the ABK merger, Phil Spencer assured employees that he's, quote, 'really excited about Spider-Man 2'"

@GodofCapcom https://www.purexbox.com/news/2022/04/xbox-gaming-revenue-up-6percent-yoy-in-latest-earnings-report

Cool concept of "declining". And yet, you are here worried about this "declining" division making boring plans.

@Neverwild No, boring was the part you intentionally omitted.

Im just here to say the Indianapolis Colts just wasted their #4 pick

@fbnaulin

Hahahahah

You do realise if xbox fails, sony will make us pay (literally) for it?

@Rmg0731 who did they waste it on? I haven't been following the draft this year.

When the plan from the basic ass people is ‘just make more AAA, indies don’t count’ it makes me glad these idiots aren’t in the industry

@Sakisa

Lol. You have no clue what xbox needs.

You would be the one to run down the division to the ground with your preferred games that wouldn't even sell 1 million consoles per each indie.

Who the hell bought a next gen console that took months to find just to play a game that could be played on their work laptop lol?

Basic strategy that has always worked and it's beating xbox to a pulp.

Get your "I hate AAA because it's cool" mentality outta here. This ***** won't cut it lol.

This is the welfare/greatvalue/McDonalds of gaming. Welcome to Xbox, where unique ideas that don't sell come to die.

I swear. Even back to when sea of thieves and crackdown 3 were being hyped, it made no sense at all. Low budget games don't work/make BIG profit for a platform holder. Is not the startegy. Psvr2 is a waste of time too.

If you have nothing to play on Xbox maybe you need to broaden your horizons and try something new. Because I have loads of games on my Xbox I haven’t gotten around to yet so I’m set for a good long while.

@GodofCapcom Honestly they don't have to make up for 20 years of only Halo and Gears as in those years when Halo and Gears did well Xbox was actually beating Sony fairly consistently. This Gears/Halo bashing needs to stop. If anything they should double and triple down on Halo / Gears / Forza and Fable.

@Sebatrox
Alright. I'll stick to they're not officially releasing the numbers meaning something.

@BrilliantBill
Lol

@GodofCapcom I don't agree that they put all their eggs in one basket. MS is a mega-corporation — they and Xbox must have contingency plans for the deal and all sorts of development in the works. We know the latter is true.

There is no way they don't have scenarios mapped out for a CMA block, an EU block, the and the FTC suit. What has been held up by this deal is further acquisitions.

@theduckofdeath
I honestly cannot still believe people still believe Xbox has a plan. They barely execute what they say lol.

@Sebatrox
They're still not hitting the 200m they wanted.

@GodofCapcom Do you think Redfall would have a 60-fps mode without MS? Arkane Austin missed the Summer 2022 window, then need another 6 weeks added to the March 2023 release date. The devs simply didn't get it done. MS could have delayed it again, but that doesn't change the fact that development was troubled and inefficient. There is also a considerable chance that it would have released earlier and in worse shape.

@theduckofdeath

Then something is wrong with management. A bad game never moves the needle.

@Sebatrox

My bad. 3 billion gamers. That's why they made gamepass. Can't even get to 30m. Plus is under 50m lol

@GodofCapcom You (not just you, but a lot of people) are blaming MS for Redfall not having 60 fps ready. You have to go through Arkane/Arkane South, Bethesda, Zenimax (which I believe still exists), before you bubble up to Xbox. Without Xbox the situation would likely be worse for this title.

I agree with you on the MS mismanagement angle for Halo Infinite and 343. Something was wrong there besides just COVID lockdown difficulties. That can be laid at MS as the hierarchy is flatter and the studio has been under MS since inception.

However, people tend to absolve the devs and often the entire dev studio. I think we have to look at the whole picture.

@Sebatrox
They just announced they have 48m ps plus subs today facepalm. Glad extra is failing. Subs are bad for gaming, and since ps plus is more of a necessity and it doesn't go over 50m. Gamepass will be under that. Yes starfield will come, but people also sub for old games and there are so many old games you can play. They clearly can't do the 1 game each month thing.

You still don't get both companies were hyperboling every statement. They specifically said extra because essential is higher. Like I said. They both lie.

@theduckofdeath

It is xbox fault. Arkane never had this issue with deathloop.

@Sebatrox

No lol. Ps plus doesn't let you play multiplayer. Multiplayer. It is more crucial and not even half of the ps users have it. So a game library should do worse by logic.

Idk how much PC GP subs are so % could be anything.

Yeah. It is low. I guess people share accounts and lots play single player only.

@Sebatrox

Sorry. Can't play without it. I just don't think you'll ever get my point due to stubborness so I got lazy.

So you're telling me Xbox is 10million?

Lmao say good bye to the console.

@Sebatrox

Sf6 is awesome. Just tried the demo. Your behaviour is why sf5 was not on xbox.

Oh. So that's how they count it. Still. 10million only on xbox pass. The other 15million could move to PC, so xbox really only has 10 million subs that only care about the box.

So with less consoles sold, it should even much much less than 50m.

And it's 50m xbox one + 20m series + all of PC - 25million

Like I said. You just don't want to understand me on purpose. Keep denying.

@NEStalgia Sonys only first party AAA exclusive this year, it had better be good or people are going to start complaining Sony are throwing to much of their money into another already Flopping VR project.

@Sebatrox you are over estimating PS plus numbers, don't forget PS Plus basic tier is the equivalent to Xbox Live Goid you need to add the Xbox Live Gold Subscriber numbers as well.

@GodofCapcom

"It is xbox fault. Arkane never had this issue with deathloop."

That is an absurd conclusion.

@Sifi I'm a PSVR2 superfan and feel like they're not throwing any money into it.... I think all the money's going to Netflix and HBO.

Haven't read any of the replies. But it seems the ActiBliz isn't the tip. They are worried because MS is the one pushing cloud gaming and they are worried that will become the norm and will be one platform. Similar to netflix. But MS is still along way, away from

@Sebatrox our chancellor in the uk talks about innovation, technology and creating the next silicon Valley so its time for Jeremy Hunt to show he's not a sound bite as he was as a health minister and do what's right tosecure business and income for the uk. Microsoft could offer to set up in uk and this would help create change in governmental thiniking

@GodofCapcom you have talked about this so are sony anti competition if you look at the figures. I have both consoles before I'm accused of being a fanboy and didn't have xbox last gen but have ps4, i have been disappointted with Jim Ryan around this and tended to go more to GP over ps plus middle tier. The only reason 8ve kept essential is all the games I would lose access to over 10 years and I think others are in the same situation