Support NeoGAF

[Alan Wake]

People keep blaming Don Mattrick. He left 11 years ago. Spencer is obviously responsible, although there's a lot we don't know about. He's got a boss too, and it's not impossible Spencer's been doing things trying to save the brand. No matter what, the result speaks for itself at this point.

 

[Revolutionary]

It only makes sense if you were there when he was rolled out as his own brand.

Then it makes all the sense. He's supposed to be jesus.

I always thought it was funny that they shopped Spencer onto Harvey Dent. It felt like it was foreshadowing a Two Face turn... which came true in a way since Xbox games are now on competitor consoles, even after he said it would only be 4 games.

 

[Moses85]

He killed my girl Joanna.

Microsoft

 

[Karim]

Haters want a singular scapegoat. How do any of us know what went on behind closed doors with the higher ups? You can only do what is allowed. No one on this forum knows shit.

Behind the scene? He failed miserably and this is the consequence. What happened is in front of the eyes of everyone lol.

 

[bighugeguns]

I like him, seems to keep healthy, good teeth, don't see what the problem is here exactly?

 

[8BiTw0LF]

The only true Xbox king there ever was:

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Phil Spencer is a big cause of Xbox's decline

But this year's decisions and future ones are driven by Satya

 

[peish]

He saved Xbox before, what makes you all think he will have the heart to kill off this baby?

 

[Ar¢tos]

I suspect that Phil Spencer is Don Mattrick secret gay lover executing his revenge on the company that ditched his eternal love.

You can't just blame one of them, you need to blame both.

 

[ahtlas7]

You want me to defend P. Spencer?

 

[existensmaximum]

Phil is not the problem, he is the solution to a problem that wouldn't exist if it weren't for Phil.

"Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

/Homer Simpson

 

[Insanemaelstrom]

I don't get one thing:

For 2013, only Don Mattrick is blamed.

For every failure after Don:
Spencers actions are usually accused by saying people higherup the MS corporate chain are the ones forcing spencer.

Wouldn't that excuse also apply to Don Mattrick, since there were higher ups during his time as well.

If you are blaming the entirety of the 2013 debacle on Mattrick, surely it is only logically sound to blame issue afterwards on spencer

 

[winjer]

All of the decisions that Xbox made in the past decade are in line with the Microsoft modus operandi.
Phill is to blame, but in reality he is just doing what Microsoft does.
For a decade or so, the Xbox division seemed to have a certain degree of independence. But that has ended.

 

[PeteBull]

Its not a problem that phil fucked xbox from xbox one times till now, the actual real problem is- no1 wanted to fire him once they saw how diseastrous it will be, which means he is doing what his boss wants.
Whole gamepass, series s specs, day1 pc ports of xbox first party exclusives and even playstation ports, its all not phil alone ideas but whole microsoft's leadership, same with nasty price increases of their hardware and services.
Its all microsoft's plan, top heads there want it, and phil is just their puppet who will be convinient fallguy when the time comes.

 

[Radical_3d]

Go watch E3 2014. He is the problem.

Microsoft were about to close the Xbox division after Xbox One. He convinced them not to.

Tales from my ass. One sold better than Series and had no 80B$ (Zenimax + Activlizzard) acquisition to justify.

 

[Germuso]

Ask Tango Gameworks

 

[Sintoid]

I'll be honest - Since I don't know wich decisions are made by Phil Spencer to me he's only the face of XBox, the one who tells the stories in front of a camera. I don't think he planned by himself things like Gamepass or acquisitions, I can't imagine a man so powerful into a gigantic company like Microsoft. If he's not directly responsable of those choices he's only a punching ball for gamers, if only 25% of those decisions have his ok he's the greatest asshole in history of gaming

 

[Critical Hit]

At the start of the generation, Xbox didn't have any exclusives or highly anticipated games/sequels. That's not his fault. The situation changed after the acquisition of the studios, so the next generation should be more competitive. Game Pass was great while it lasted.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

Go watch E3 2014. He is the problem.

Tales from my ass. One sold better than Series and had no 80B$ (Zenimax + Activlizzard) acquisition to justify.

It's actually true, there is a podcast where Phil talks about it, the Microsoft execs didn't care about gaming and didn't see a way to justify trying to salvage Xbox. They wanted to close it.

Phil convinced them to keep going, likely because he sold them on the future of cloud and how Microsoft can get Game Pass on every TV and every device.

For Microsoft, Xbox was the Bill Gates project where he wanted to compete with Sony, but it was never some big earner and didn't make a dent in their overall business, so the guys who came after Gates didn't give a shit about it. They thought Xbox One ruined it forever.

Moving away from traditional consoles and becoming a potential cloud gaming service is what made them keep it alive.

But it wasn't growing fast enough so they used 70 billion to get Activision and speed up the growth. But the growth wasn't big enough, and here we are, with higher prices.

 

[Radical_3d]

It's actually true, there is a podcast where Phil talks about it, the Microsoft execs[...]

Phil convinced them to keep going, likely[...]

Hmmmm... Well, if Trusty Phill says so... But with about the same sales as Series and no 80B$ dead weight I doubt MS execs cared about what the gaming division was doing while they were milking that Office 365 subscription.

 

[Edgelord79]

Phil is definitely the problem. His management over the last decade is why Xbox is in the shit it is now. MS probably wouldn't have had to go out on a publisher buying spree if Phil had managed the studios he had at the start of the XB1 gen properly. MS felt the need to buy Activision/Bethesda this gen because Phil and Co. had damaged the brand beyond repair and Sony had run so far away with the ball that they needed a big splash to get gamers' attention. Phil was high on his own supply and sailed the Xbox brand into an iceberg with his arrogance and stupidity.

1. Microsoft never had to go buy publishers at all. They could have said no to Phil and not approved it.
2. At any point, Phil could have been fired and he wasn't. Apparently he hasn't damaged the brand according to his boss.

This speaks to a greater issue that goes beyond Phil. I'm not saying he should be kept but fault is much greater in my opinion. I don't want this, but if I'm running Microsoft, I would look at moving on from gaming hardware and look at only a publisher role with what I have. The role Matt Booty plays is crucial and I would immediately replace him with a more timeline focused studio head with a strict mandate to ensure games are kept to a manageable yet consistent schedule.

Would replace Phil with someone more low key and someone who isn't in the spotlight all the time. Now is a time of staying low and getting things done, not making promises and going on podcasts or shows.

I like Sarah Bond and would keep her. I think she is sharp and needs to be given a chance without Phil there.

Agree with all your other points.

 

[Neff]

The man basically just gave up. He's said as much numerous times.

He's "a" problem, not "the" problem. You'd have to clear out a bunch of people at Microsoft, Xbox and their developer teams before anything gets fixed,

Also very much this. The attitude and understanding of the videogame market required to compete with PlayStation and Nintendo just doesn't exist at Microsoft anymore. In its place lies a bunch of out-of-touch cynics backing all the wrong horses.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Phil is the face of the problem, the problem being Microsoft itself.

 

[Horseganador]

Phil has had 12 years and endless money from MS to build Xbox, but all he's managed to do is sink it. Even so, he, Greenberg, and the other executives remain in their positions.

 

[PurePlatinum]

He's a charismatic mouthpiece and unfortunately like 95% of players fell for it.

 

[BennyBlanco]

This thread is so absurd. I have never seen anyone on this website defend the honor of Phil Spencer in the past year.

It's like me making a thread "can anyone tell me why peanut butter and chocolate don't go well together?"

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Just read the court mails. Tells you everything you need to know.

 

[N30RYU]

It's either him... or someone above him... and if is someone above him and He doesn't agree he should resign.

 

[Bojanglez]

Because he wears indie or retro game game t-shirts under his jacket and has a gamer profile with lots of points

 

[Bernardougf]

Phil Spence vs Kathleen Kennedy...

I cant think of more incompetent ceos that are basically untouchable.

But I would love to know the details and hidden storys of how they achieved this.

 

[diffusionx]

Nadella came into the job and wanted to turn everything into a service. He talked about it endlessly. As soon as Mattrick left, Phil got the job and started pushing... a service. Phil got the job because he wanted to implement the plan the CEO laid out for him. It didn't work but ultimately it's because, one, Microsoft did a very poor job of managing their games and studios, and two, even a perfectly managed videogame publisher and hardware maker would struggle with a service like GamePass because gaming and video streaming are very different. So it is bad concept (Phil and Nadella), and bad execution (more on Phil).

 

[Lucifers Beard]

He's a part of the problem, but the other members of the leadership team at Xbox and Microsoft are shit too. They lack a vision that resonates with their audience and are focusing too much on winning a console war when that was never going to happen for them.

Making everything an Xbox was a dumb fucking idea and throwing everything at Game Pass was also a dumb fucking idea. Game Pass should be a service that compliments the hardware much like PS+ Extra is. Throwing day one AAA games on the service was also massively retarded from a business perspective and instead I think they should have offered good discounts on newer games for Game Pass subscribers (10-20%) to get people actually buying their games.

There's so much more they've fucked up along the way too, but I literally don't have the time to do a deep dive on how Xbox fucked themselves.

 

[AGRacing]

I'd change "the problem" to "a problem" and then we're in alignment.

The entire company doesn't know wtf it's doing in this space. Below AND above him.

There is no simple fix for this clusterfuck of an operation.

 

[kungfuian]

I think to label Phil as the problem is maybe a little short-sighted. I'm not saying he's not part of the problem but in reality it's Microsoft that's the problem.

As a company, they stand out as being uniquely detestable, they are aggressively monopolistic, lacking in capacity to create or manage creatives, and blatantly short-sighted in their pursuit of profit and changing strategy constantly as a result, etc.

I think it's easy to blame Phil because people want to have a face to hold accountable but in reality it's Microsoft itself that's the problem.

They are cold heartless tech company. Nothing more nothing less, and to blame a single guy for the outcomes we see with Xbox doesn't seem to be looking at the whole picture.

You could replace Phil with 100 different 'leaders' and they would all end up with the same or similar results working within the machinery of Microsoft.

 

[Sanepar]

Sarah Bond would be even worse.

 

[Hudo]

Phil is a huge contributor to the problem, but he isn't the only one responsible. It began under Steve Ballmer and Don Mattrick and now continues with Satellite Nutella and Phil.

The main guy responsible is actually Satellite because he's the fucking CEO of the fucking company.

 

[Mephisto40]

Phil is a huge contributor to the problem, but he isn't the only one responsible. It began under Steve Ballmer and Don Mattrick and now continues with Satellite Nutella and Phil.

The main guy responsible is actually Satellite because he's the fucking CEO of the fucking company.

Let's not forget Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb as well

 

[Bondo]

People loved him at first like he was the second coming. Said all the right things, wore gamer clothes, said he was a gamer, and he wasnt Don Mattrick.
Wasnt hard to reverse some of the dumb choices early on - everything since has been lies, failed acquisitions, false promises to name a few.

To me, i dont know the guy obviously - he comes off as a fake. Someone trying to appeal as a gamer for cred.

 

[Loope]

It only makes sense if you were there when he was rolled out as his own brand.

Then it makes all the sense. He's supposed to be jesus.

Nonsense, he is too heavy to walk on water

 

[Signalis]

I see this over and over about Phil Spencer not being the problem.. but that it's the execs and that Xbox would already be gone without Phil

I just don't see it…

He took over from the Xbox One failure.. ok. Anyone who took over would've unbundled Kinect and reversed the DRM stuff

He hasn't overseen the creation of any new IP that's worth anything. Maybeeee State of Decay? But otherwise has been there for the bombs of Gears 4 and arguably 5, Halo 5 and Infinite

Gamepass is a failure any way you slice it. It just is.

This idea that Xbox lost last gen so all hope was lost is bullshit. Nintendo rebounded after the WiiU

Spencer is the problem and the absolute reason Xbox is failing.

Explain how he isn't to blame like I'm 5 years old. Without this "he's a gamer" "he wears gamer t shirts"!!!

He wears gaming related T-Shirts. How can a person not trust such a person. Wearing a gaming related T-Shirt guarantees success no matter what endeavour one should choose to pursue.