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Phil Spencer is Retiring and Sara Bond is Out bot there's something really worst than that

GHG said:
I've said it before, but if they are giving you the same info as Jez then there's a possibility they're also using you as a PR handler.

Do they also give you a heads up for the bad news such as the layoffs, studio closures etc or just the stuff they think would look positive if it were "leaked" or hinted at on here?
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Nahh no way they are using me as a PR handler and the reason I say that is by what else I have heard over the years, stuff they have never want out there

Edit - I will add that sounds like things may have been heated within castle green and these two were fired
 
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coachmcguirk91 said:
I just want Xbox executives to STFU. Stop trying to be the gaming communities friend. It is a business. They treat it like a business, which makes sense. The politician talk of "caring about gamers" is nauseating. Just say nothing and let your strategy speak for itself
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Damage is already done before it started


 
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wolffy66 said:
She will have to prove herself like any manager would. But she's management with management experience, the rest she learn on the fly if shes isnt a dummy.
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You can't manage shit if you are in uncharted territory. Every decision you make must be approved by somebody else because you don't know the core business. And no, a fresh 36-year-old cant be CEO of anything unless she had a track record as an entrepreneur who started up her own business and had to fight her way to the top. The problem with this kind of manager is that they are "tailor made for success" without ever working in the trenches and with a career path of positions with little accountability and lot of "strategic thinking" without ever making a true impact in the business. Pretty much like her predecessor Sarah Bond, who was completely clueless too.
 
Topher said:
The Titan said this was an "exclusive" and then had to walk it back.

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Dring is chiding Jez because an "exclusive" in media terms is information that was given to only one outlet whereas Jez is calling it a WC "exclusive" because he thought he posted it first. Just throw it on the lore of this titan. lol

 
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Topher said:
Dring is chiding Jez because an "exclusive" in media terms is information that was given to only one outlet whereas Jez is calling it a WC "exclusive" because he thought he posted it first. Just throw it on the lore of this titan. lol

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HeisenbergFX4 said:
Nahh no way they are using me as a PR handler and the reason I say that is by what else I have heard over the years, stuff they have never want out there

Edit - I will add that sounds like things may have been heated within castle green and these two were fired
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Oof.....I wonder what the controversy was. AI.....perhaps?
 
Ellis said:
Game Pass will be gone within a few months I reckon. At least the Day One AAA games part. You'll be paying full price for them.
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I doubt it goes that way. They are going to go all in on subscriptions and slop. I think you'll see studios pushed to release more faster and cheaper. Less AAA to begin with.
 
This is a signal that Microsoft is doubling down on absolute margin chasing. That's the dream of AI. If anyone thinks this is a return to focus on AAA games and shipping quality products... lol.

Phil sucked but in 5 years people are going to miss him compared on whats yet to come.
 
riko said:
I doubt it goes that way. They are going to go all in on subscriptions and slop. I think you'll see studios pushed to release more faster and cheaper. Less AAA to begin with.
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The current costs of AAA games are unsustainable. This is widely agreed upon in the industry. Something has to be done to bring them down, otherwise they'll keep getting higher and we'll get fewer and worse AAA games that only appeal to the lowest common denominator.

When you guys criticise attempts to lower costs do you not realise that you're arguing against attempting to fix a problem that many in the industry think is an existential problem? The costs have been exploding for many years and yet the sales aren't increasing to match.
 
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Montauk said:
The current costs of AAA games are unsustainable. This is widely agreed upon in the industry. Something has to be done to bring them down. Otherwise they'll keep getting higher and we'll get fewer and worse AAA games that only appeal to the lowest common denominator.

When you guys criticise attempts to lower costs do you not realise that you're arguing against attempting to fix a problem that many in the industry think is an existential problem?
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Definitely not someone who criticizes attempts to lower cost. But if you think Microsoft is going to be the one to do it while not just turning it into SaaS hell.... I got a bridge to sell you.

This isn't going to be a push for darling indies, it's going to be a push for just enough engagement that people keep paying their monthly slop dues.
 
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Topher said:
Hmm, these Xbox guys are suddenly coming to the revelation that Sarah Bond was "not a gamer" now that she is gone.

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Sarah Bond talk about accomplishments in that email but did she ever launch that MS mobile gaming store she kept saying was coming to bypass Apple and Google fees? Seems like that was a massive failure.
 
riko said:
Definitely not someone who criticizes attempts to lower cost. But if you think Microsoft is going to be the one to do it while not just turning it into SaaS hell.... I got a bridge to sell you.

This isn't going to be a push for darling indies, it's going to be a push for just enough engagement that people keep paying their monthly slop dues.
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I didn't say anything about indie darlings. It's not indie darlings that are weighing down the industry and destroying studios.

I was talking explicitly about AAA costs. They're out of control. Everybody knows they're out of control. It's made studios wary of trying things. It's made it so that a single games failure (regardless of quality, plenty of good games fail) can destroy a studio.

Production costs have to come down. Of course there are good ways and bad ways that could be done, when you think about creative integrity and game quality. But the industry cannot carry on with the current approach, the costs of these games is simply untenable if you want a healthy games industry.
 
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HeisenbergFX4 said:
I honestly don't know what lit the fuse
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Cmon... the writing was on the wall since last quarter results when MS named Xbox as one of the culprits for (lack of) the financial results... For a company that focus first, second and third on shareholders, it was a absolute disaster.... i bet 5 bucks (i dont, dont have money fior that :-D) that they will put copilot on something related to xbox just to annouce that they are the biggest AI gaming company of the world!
 
Montauk said:
I didn't say anything about indie darlings. It's not indie darlings that are weighing down the industry and destroying studios.

I was talking explicitly about AAA. It's out of control. Everybody knows it's out of control. It's made studios wary of trying things. It's made it so that a single games failure (regardless of quality, plenty of good games fail) can destroy a studio.

Costs have to come down. Of course there are good ways and bad ways that could be done, when you think about creative integrity and game quality. But the industry cannot carry on with the current approach, the costs of these games is simply untenable if you want a healthy games industry.
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Sure, don't disagree. But again, Asha isn't going to be the savior here.
 
HeisenbergFX4 said:
I honestly don't know what lit the fuse
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People were pointing out that it was odd that Spencer left Microsoft just before he reached 25 years with Xbox. Also, Frank Shaw ridiculed Insider Gaming last year for saying that Spencer planned to retire after the next console launch. So internally, it seems the plan at the time was for Spencer to be in place for at least a few more years. Couple that with Sarah Bond's sudden resignation after posting on Linkedin in a "business as usual" manner earlier yesterday.

So yeah, the signs that this wasn't a civil parting of ways are there.
 
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riko said:
I doubt it goes that way. They are going to go all in on subscriptions and slop. I think you'll see studios pushed to release more faster and cheaper. Less AAA to begin with.
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I can't see it. They'll be more than happy with far more sales from PS5 and PC,than caring about the small splits on Xbox hardware.

If you're essentially a third party distributer, you first cater to successful platforms. Xbox is not that.
 
RafterXL said:
He didn't leave. No one "retires" on a Friday with a three day effective date. Dude was fired and they replaced him with people who will push AI. We're going to get some juicy stories from him and Bond in the future about what went down this week. I'm thinking the AI overloads at Microsoft and the two of them bumped heads about the way they are moving into the future.
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Year after year after year of decline in the division probably made Microsoft accelerate that decision too.
 
HeisenbergFX4 said:
Nahh no way they are using me as a PR handler and the reason I say that is by what else I have heard over the years, stuff they have never want out there

Edit - I will add that sounds like things may have been heated within castle green and these two were fired
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You sure Phil was fired? Something tells me he ran out of steam last year and actually wanted out. And Sarah Bond was pissed that she didn't get the part…
 
PauloRoberto said:
Cmon... the writing was on the wall since last quarter results when MS named Xbox as one of the culprits for (lack of) the financial results... For a company that focus first, second and third on shareholders, it was a absolute disaster.... i bet 5 bucks (i dont, dont have money fior that :-D) that they will put copilot on something related to xbox just to annouce that they are the biggest AI gaming company of the world!
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Oh I have been calling for quite a while they needed to clean house at Xbox and bring in fresh ideas

I just don't know what started this domino effect for them to both be gone immediately

I don't think its "we are killing Xbox" let me hire someone else to turn off the lights

I honestly believe if that were the case and Xbox was dead anyhow I think Phil would have wanted to be the one getting face time and taking a fare well tour but that is 100% speculation on my end

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viveks86 said:
You sure Phil was fired? Something tells me he ran out of steam last year and actually wanted out. And Sarah Bond was pissed that she didn't get the part…
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Sounding more like it that something happened and he was given the option to retire or be let go
 
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I'll just say this, and feel free to quote me later: For all of his faults (and there were many), Phil was likely the reason Xbox is even still around in any capacity. For the hardcore Xbox fans, I'd be very concerned with what will come next. I feel he really went to bat for Xbox, even when Microsoft as a whole may have seen it as more of a liability.

Again, not saying he was without fault or didn't make some bone headed decisions. But I feel he really cared about Xbox, and I doubt the person that replaced him does. This news, coupled with Sony's recent trend of also making bone headed decisions, and I really worry for the future of console gaming.
 
viveks86 said:
You sure Phil was fired? Something tells me he ran out of steam last year and actually wanted out. And Sarah Bond was pissed that she didn't get the part…
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Yeah. Why can't somebody just leave their job because they don't want to do it anymore? He's been there for a very long time, he's not young, he's overseen a lot of turmoil and he's been massively criticised for years.

You could easily just decide ok well I could stay here a bit longer but actually I've decided it's time to move on. Either way, this is just the usual speculation dressed up as if it's a fact.
 
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riko said:
Sure, don't disagree. But again, Asha isn't going to be the savior here.
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I didn't say she was. We simply don't know what will happen and how she'll perform.

But anybody coming into a role like this, or becoming a studio head would be looking at how to cut AAA production costs overtime to make them more sustainable and to allow for more variety in output to please more of the various different audiences. Any new head of Xbox simply cannot ignore this problem, regardless of who got hired.
 
Montauk said:
Yeah. Why can't somebody just leave their job because they don't want to do it anymore? He's been there for a very long time, he's not young, he's overseen a lot of turmoil and he's been massively criticised for years.

You could easily just decide ok well I could stay here a bit longer but actually I've decided it's time to move on. Either way, this is just the usual speculation dressed up as if it's a fact.
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With respect, Who has massively criticised him? I didn't see it from the media, if anything, despite the failings he was put on a pedestal by some, which is something I found to be quite galling and disingenuous at times.

In all my years of gaming I don't think I have seen an executive given so much leeway in comparison to the end product .
 
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HeisenbergFX4 said:
Oh I have been calling for quite a while they needed to clean house at Xbox and bring in fresh ideas

I just don't know what started this domino effect for them to both be gone immediately

I don't think its "we are killing Xbox" let me hire someone else to turn off the lights

I honestly believe if that were the case and Xbox was dead anyhow I think Phil would have wanted to be the one getting face time and taking a fare well tour but that is 100% speculation on my end

Edit -


Sounding more like it that something happened and he was given the option to retire or be let go
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My two cents: MS is even more 'Cutthroat business' oriented than normal, and even internal employess tend to pull the rung of other employess and contractors -> and i was a MS contractor here in Brazil 12 years ago, i SAW taht first hand.. And 5 years ago, a MS senior architect was hated by the company where I was an employee becauhe it seems he trated everyone else as inferior (strangely enough, except me, have no idea why). That being said, Spencer would NEVER had the honor of a farewell tour - and i am not even talking about his ideas, everything he planned explored on his face. If he tought he would have a farewall tour like Jim Ryan, he is even more stupid than I magined, he really unlearned how to read the room.

The fact that these annoucements were so abrupt and with a so imediate effect are more than proof Spencer and Bond were graceful kicked out of the building...
 
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PauloRoberto said:
My two cents: My is even more 'Cutthroat business' oriented than normal, and even internal employess tend to pull the rung of other employess and contractors -> and i was a MS contractor here in Brazil 12 years ago, i SAW taht first hand.. And 5 years ago, a MS senior architect was hated by the company where I was an employee becauhe it seems he trated everyone else as inferior (strangely enough, except me, have no idea why). That being said, Spencer would NEVER had the honor of a farewell tour - and i am not even talking about his ideas, everything he planned explored on his face. If he tought he would have a farewall tour like Jim Ryan, he is even more stupid than I magined, he really unlearned how to read the room.

The fact that these annoucents were so abrupt and with a so imediate effect are more than proof Spencer and Bond were graceful kicked out of the building...
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Possibly

It just feels way too knee jerk to me for this to have been graceful in any way
 
I mean, it's just another lie on Xbox account. Only this time is the AI lie.

Actually Inception. No, really. It's AI below AI, on top of AI and everything enveloped by AI multiple layers down

I mean, we have an AI (Actually Indian) Satya Nadella, doing his Caste nepotism, as we know indians do, appointing another AI (Actually Indian) to a CEO role, A. Shawarma, which incidentally has built her career on AI ( Artificial Intelligence ) yet...

She promises Xbox is not gonna get AI slopped shit up the wazoo?

Yeah, Xbox bright future and all that MWAHAHA. 😀
 
digoutyoursoul said:
With respect, Who has massively criticised him? I didn't see it from the media, if anything, despite the failings he was put on a pedestal by some, which is something I found to be quite galling and disingenuous at times.

In all my years of gaming I don't think I have seen an executive given so much leeway in comparison to the end product .
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Don't forget all the awards. He was killing Xbox all while getting his cock sucked by the entire industry (And Adam).
 
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