Former Blizzard CEO: "Tough to see Xbox confused about who it is and what it should be"

Topher

Topher

Identifies as young






Tend to agree. Microsoft's strategy seems to be making "Xbox" everything and nothing at the same time. Keyword is "seems" as we really don't have a good understanding of what Microsoft is even doing, but the tiny tidbits of information that accompany announcements for Rog Xbox Ally and AMD partnerships really are not helping. Speculation is everywhere and theories are all over the place.
 
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Agree that straddling the fence is not a winning plan but they don't have the gumption to fully discard any of the "lanes". They need to keep one foot/wheel occupying the last lane just in case they wanna swerve back, or at least feel that they are denying/occupying that lane.

I feel it's a forgone notion that MS/Xbox will be buoyed by sheer size and IP load, and they can just keep flailing around with the brand while "finding themselves" nigh forever.
 
I know I have known Mike a very long time and what MS/Xbox did to him was pretty shitty BUT I think he would have been better at leading Xbox than the current regime

But he wasn't always a yes man which made him the odd man out at times
 
BlackTron said:
Agree that straddling the fence is not a winning plan but they don't have the gumption to fully discard any of the "lanes". They need to keep one foot/wheel occupying the last lane just in case they wanna swerve back, or at least feel that they are denying/occupying that lane.

I feel it's a forgone notion that MS/Xbox will be buoyed by sheer size and IP load, and they can just keep flailing around with the brand while "finding themselves" nigh forever.
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They will continue to fail in their unique way as long as they flail around like this. Not having a clear plan works when you're trying to do something completely new. Building video games? It's not exactly rocket science and it's obvious the market doesn't want anything revolutionary. Just look at how long it has taken for VR to even get a foot in the door.
 
they once did well, and now they are lost into the abyss,
they need to know what gamers really want, and embrace the customers in better way.
personally as game developer, i don't think gamepass is enticing enough, and falls in the long run :/
i heard other (smaller) gamedevs also said, that only put on xbox as soon as you think the revenue is stuck in other platform.
it is not enticing enough unless you can straight to them. i could be wrong though, but mostly heard the same everywhere i go.
to be fair, once xbox live is very enticing for smaller game devs

but again, this also not all xbox faults, but also economic situation, made hard for game developer and publisher to make lot of breakthrough like before.
 
They're transitioning from being a console maker to a third party publisher.

The branding is confusing though.

"Xbox", to most people, means the box that sits under your TV.

Reverting back to this makes most sense now…

ODJXqz9LXkWITZJD.png
 
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The problem with Xbox being a software only company is the box in X-BOX implies a piece of hardware. So obviously it's going to be confusing if they keep that name.
 
If they are specifying silicon for a system, how is that getting in the way of becoming a bigger publisher?

Seems like Mike himself is confused about what xbox is, among other things.
 
They'd need to fire Phil, Booty, Greenberg, and Sarah, and let the ABK executives take over the division. Will that happen? No. Would it benefit Xbox? Also no

Xbox becoming just a publisher would be such a massive downgrade from being a platform holder... and in Laura's video, she is saying Xbox lost the capabilities of "delivering at scale" (or something to that effect)... bro... they are so behind the curve regarding game development that their biggest games in dev (Project Dark and Fable) need help from external developers; they are not able to make big AAAA+ game at all.

Also... a lot of people, including Mike in this example, aren't acknowledging the fact that Xbox needs to make money, needs to be profitable. is not necessarily that Xbox is confused or lost. is that they need to make the money back NOW. which is forcing all this BS.
 
Maybe ah, focus on shipping more tent pole games. No Fable, Perfect Dark, Gears, Elder Scroll, etc…being shown this year hurts them even more.
 
They are definitely backing out of hardware, somewhat ungracefully. I can imagine the only logical reason for sitting on the fence as they are is a play for regulators.

They want to be able to say to regulators, look at Windows, look at Xbox. We are opening our ecosystems to other stores so why can't Apple with iOS (or even Sony with PS and Nintendo with Switch). Their end game is too ultimately sell (or more likely rent) software directly on every platform.

I'm not sure if it will succeed, but maybe if they lobby (bribe politicians) enough they may get somewhere.
 
Bojanglez said:
They are definitely backing out of hardware, somewhat ungracefully. I can imagine the only logical reason for sitting on the fence as they are is a play for regulators.

They want to be able to say to regulators, look at Windows, look at Xbox. We are opening our ecosystems to other stores so why can't Apple with iOS (or even Sony with PS and Nintendo with Switch). Their end game is too ultimately sell (or more likely rent) software directly on every platform.

I'm not sure if it will succeed, but maybe if they lobby (bribe politicians) enough they may get somewhere.
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More than that, I think if they exit hardware right away, their Game Pass subscriptions will tank almost immediately, and GP will die as it won't get new customers or even renewals after that.

That's because the overwhelming majority of GP subs are tied to the console userbase. If they know there is no console on the line, the vast majority of them won't be able to subscribe - even if they want to.

And folks will not be stacking their GP subscriptions for 2-3 years.

I think that's the biggest issue preventing MS to pull the plug.
 
Bojanglez said:
They are definitely backing out of hardware, somewhat ungracefully. I can imagine the only logical reason for sitting on the fence as they are is a play for regulators.

They want to be able to say to regulators, look at Windows, look at Xbox. We are opening our ecosystems to other stores so why can't Apple with iOS (or even Sony with PS and Nintendo with Switch). Their end game is too ultimately sell (or more likely rent) software directly on every platform.

I'm not sure if it will succeed, but maybe if they lobby (bribe politicians) enough they may get somewhere.
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Yes, Closed platforms are under review in multiple regions and going third party makes future acquisition pathing easier.
 
Don't they need to keep at least one finger in the hardware pie in order to retain GP subs?

Or maybe they can just farm that out to another company, like they did with the handheld.
 
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It is getting as confusing, as the console names themselves. It was an Xbox console, then it had Xbox Live, now it's Xbox Game Pass. Someone from each generation of "Xbox" will think of it's ecosystem as something else.
 
Hookshot said:
It is getting as confusing, as the console names themselves. It was an Xbox console, then it had Xbox Live, now it's Xbox Game Pass. Someone from each generation of "Xbox" will think of it's ecosystem as something else.
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Xbox
Xbox 360
Xbox One
Xbox Series

After the first one they stopped making sense.

360
Full circle? I certainly remember having a red circle on the front.

One
I take it this was about all-in-one, strange as 360 already felt like an all-in-one entertainment device

Series
You released two consoles (S and X), just as you did last time.
 
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I agree with what Mike said - that when 99% of people hear "Xbox," they think of the game console, not of a third-party publishing house. But at the same time, MS spent so much time and money building the "Xbox" brand, I'm not surprised they are trying to hold on to it.
 
I'll never understand things like "...will always bleed green", it's the most tribal nonsense I've seen in a while. He'd rather stick with it regardless of what they're doing, especially in comparison to the competition.

For instance my dad bought 4 brand new Subarus one after the other however many years apart because he trusted them, if they made stinkers of cars he'd have dropped them without hesitation and gone elsewhere.

Why is it that people will see a console manufacturer (and I don't care who) make fumble after fumble and reward them by buying the new consoles generation after generation?

Reminds me of people I worked with (company was a Microsoft shop from top to bottom) being critical of my having bought a PS3, when someone was on his 7th 360 about 18 months in and everyone had returned at least one. I could accept the criticism of the system software and how well MS had done on that front, but when I pointed out there was clearly something wrong with the 360 itself it was like all they could hear was white noise.
 
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Heisenberg007 said:
No one is confused, except Xbox and its fans.

This is idiotic marketing. Plain and simple.

Unveiling-the-Exclusive-Meta-Quest-3S-Xbox-Edition-0-5-screenshot.png
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This ad is not meant for GAF users.

Pay attention to what Mike is saying- Become biggest publisher out there.

That means cater to everyone, not just core gaming demographic.

Just like console gamers who get excited when their favourite company releases a game, xbox wants to apply that to a much wider audience.
 
I am not a business person, so maybe I am completely stupid, but at the same time...I can't help but feel like after all the money Microsoft has spent on acquisitions, to just say become a third party publisher, how does that make any financial sense at all??

The optics from my perspective is that being a third party publisher would never be the big money maker that Microsoft wants it to be. Yes, Xbox hardware is in a bad place, but that's all their own fault. The answer to me though is if they wanted to make a return on that investments from all those big buy outs, the money is still in hardware. The only other option would be to have the biggest most successful store front end, and that's never going to happen, especially on PC, as long as Steam exists. They don't even have the benefit of a greatly successful game like Fortnite right now like Epic does.

The reason I think being a big third party publisher makes no sense is that...Microsoft bought some of the biggest third party publishers in the industry, and it was just a drop in the bucket for the coffers of money they have. If you asked a lot of people who was one of the richest third party publishers during the 2010s, it would be Activision, and Microsoft just bought them outright. All that success for Activision, and it was still low enough for Microsoft to say "we're gonna buy you out". Sony and Nintendo make too much money for Microsoft to consider doing that for either one of them, and I think that's because they have their own consoles, and storefronts that people buy games from. They get that sweet percentage from all game sales and DLC purchases.

Microsoft has their own store too, but the Xbox hardware is the only chance you're going to get people to want to prefer your storefront. I just don't get it. This whole thing with Xbox makes my head spin.
 
Power Pro said:
I am not a business person, so maybe I am completely stupid, but at the same time...I can't help but feel like after all the money Microsoft has spent on acquisitions, to just say become a third party publisher, how does that make any financial sense at all??

The optics from my perspective is that being a third party publisher would never be the big money maker that Microsoft wants it to be. Yes, Xbox hardware is in a bad place, but that's all their own fault. The answer to me though is if they wanted to make a return on that investments from all those big buy outs, the money is still in hardware. The only other option would be to have the biggest most successful store front end, and that's never going to happen, especially on PC, as long as Steam exists. They don't even have the benefit of a greatly successful game like Fortnite right now like Epic does.

The reason I think being a big third party publisher makes no sense is that...Microsoft bought some of the biggest third party publishers in the industry, and it was just a drop in the bucket for the coffers of money they have. If you asked a lot of people who was one of the richest third party publishers during the 2010s, it would be Activision, and Microsoft just bought them outright. All that success for Activision, and it was still low enough for Microsoft to say "we're gonna buy you out". Sony and Nintendo make too much money for Microsoft to consider doing that for either one of them, and I think that's because they have their own consoles, and storefronts that people buy games from. They get that sweet percentage from all game sales and DLC purchases.

Microsoft has their own store too, but the Xbox hardware is the only chance you're going to get people to want to prefer your storefront. I just don't get it. This whole thing with Xbox makes my head spin.
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Considering that the Xbox console reputation is down in the dumps, being a third-party publisher actually makes sense for Xbox. However, if they keep making the duds they're trying to pass off as $70 and $80 games, they are destined to fail as a third-party publisher as well.
 
Heisenberg007 said:
Considering that the Xbox console reputation is down in the dumps, being a third-party publisher actually makes sense for Xbox. However, if they keep making the duds they're trying to pass off as $70 and $80 games, they are destined to fail as a third-party publisher as well.
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its in the dumps since they didnt try.
 
HeisenbergFX4 said:
I know I have known Mike a very long time and what MS/Xbox did to him was pretty shitty BUT I think he would have been better at leading Xbox than the current regime. But he wasn't always a yes man which made him the odd man out at times
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Sorry, my friend, but here I come to declare my antipathy towards Ybarra..😅

Would he have done better? I don't know. People who promised a lot when appointed to a position later ended up disappointing, and, on the contrary, people who raised doubts later turned out to be excellent leaders.

In the case of Mike Ybarra, we only have his work as COO of Blizzard, and the majority opinion was completely negative about his management. This image worsened even further when, after leaving, he decided to give guidelines on what would benefit Blizzard and what it needed for the future. It turned out those guidelines were completely contrary to what he had implemented during his time leading the company... 🤷

There's no doubt he's right that the current situation at Xbox is one of uncertainty and a lack of definition of strategy, culture, and message. It's lurching from one extreme one day/week to another in the next day/week that doesn't make sense and raises even more doubts... But, sorry, my opinion of Ybarra isn't also the best.

I only see someone who, every time he talks about Xbox, doesn't help clarify anything. He contradicts himself by proposing contradictory things, and his statements sound more like a disgruntled ex-employee who hate P. Spencer .
For example, He says he's still a fan of XBOX (Green bleed in veins) and its previous culture, and then he's been proposing for two years that the Xbox console should cease to exist....🤷

Well, you probably have a closer, more personal view of him, but the one that emerges from his Twitter account isn't that of the person which I could see like what Xbox needed or need. Nor the person (unlike others like Laura Fryer for example) whose opinion about XBOX seems worthy of attention because I don't find it sincere, but rather interested.
 
Darsxx82 said:
Sorry, my friend, but here I come to declare my antipathy towards Ybarra..😅

Would he have done better? I don't know. People who promised a lot when appointed to a position later ended up disappointing, and, on the contrary, people who raised doubts later turned out to be excellent leaders.

In the case of Mike Ybarra, we only have his work as COO of Blizzard, and the majority opinion was completely negative about his management. This image worsened even further when, after leaving, he decided to give guidelines on what would benefit Blizzard and what it needed for the future. It turned out those guidelines were completely contrary to what he had implemented during his time leading the company... 🤷

There's no doubt he's right that the current situation at Xbox is one of uncertainty and a lack of definition of strategy, culture, and message. It's lurching from one extreme one day/week to another in the next day/week that doesn't make sense and raises even more doubts... But, sorry, my opinion of Ybarra isn't also the best.

I only see someone who, every time he talks about Xbox, doesn't help clarify anything. He contradicts himself by proposing contradictory things, and his statements sound more like a disgruntled ex-employee who hate P. Spencer .
For example, He says he's still a fan of XBOX (Green bleed in veins) and its previous culture, and then he's been proposing for two years that the Xbox console should cease to exist....🤷

Well, you probably have a closer, more personal view of him, but the one that emerges from his Twitter account isn't that of the person which I could see like what Xbox needed or need. Nor the person (unlike others like Laura Fryer for example) whose opinion about XBOX seems worthy of attention because I don't find it sincere, but rather interested.
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I have no idea if he could fix Xbox at all and didn't mean to come across as like some sort of Saviour of Xbox because they are in a lot of trouble

I just meant they need to clean house and give someone else a shot

And I don't just mean Xbox as a hardware company, that Titanic of a disaster is props up in the air and just about to the point where it snaps if half and everyone dies

I mainly mean their games division as they have laid so many stinkers with their big boy IPs, I think Mike can at least spot a decent game before revealing it to the public
 
Topher said:






Tend to agree. Microsoft's strategy seems to be making "Xbox" everything and nothing at the same time. Keyword is "seems" as we really don't have a good understanding of what Microsoft is even doing, but the tiny tidbits of information that accompany announcements for Rog Xbox Ally and AMD partnerships really are not helping. Speculation is everywhere and theories are all over the place.
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That's one thing, the real problem is that even MS has no idea what they are doing.
 
Xbox is over, it went bankrupt, it doesn't sell consoles or games, and GamePass isn't sustainable.
What they're doing is masking all of this, all of this strategic crap that Phil did and Nadella authorized.
You're a CEO and you did a bunch of crap? What do you do? You try to cover up the failure.

That's why the message is "messy"

Because they are trying to say that "they changed the business plan because, like this, everything is an Xbox, it's a victory" and not admit that they bankrupted the Xbox and now what exists are the publishers that they bought.

Phil destroyed everything that was "xbox", only Bethesda and Activision deliver games and even the "xbox" studios are bankrupt.
And I'll tell you right here, another 10 or 15 years and Phil and his "yes man" clowns will destroy Activision and Bethesda too.
 
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MayauMiao said:
Likewise the same can be said about Blizzard.

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Idiocracy has hit. We have writing that 4th graders would laugh at and developers think it is good.

This is what happens when you forgo reading, writing, and math and you start only caring about an ideology and indoctrinating kids into said ideology.

They come out with 3rd grade writing skills believing it is "Where the Red Fern Grows", or some shit. Then they actually wonder why the players are getting bored and fed up with this stuff.

I've noticed it in movies and TV also, that the writing, even in suspense mysteries that you are supposed to figure during the show, you know in five minutes.
 
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