Why the hate for Phil Spencer?

Corporate execs lie and don't care what you want, anyone else worked in corporate america? Its pretty much a similar thing everywhere. They do not care about you.
 
Joel Was Right said:
He admitted that Microsoft leadership wanted to shut down the entire Xbox division after the failed launch of the Xbox One decimated the platform. Yet, he fought for the brand, advocating for Game Pass and convincing Microsoft to invest $80 billion into the division. Whatever doubts the company had, his efforts ensured they remained committed to Xbox for the long term.

All the positives Xbox has had over the decade have come from his initiatives, while the problems -- primarily the loss console sales to the PS4 -- came from decisions made by his predecessors.

So is there any real justification for the continuous hate he gets?
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Microsoft leadership has wanted to get rid of the Xbox since the OG. They lost a lot of money because of Xbox. It's impressive that we still have it now.

The reason Xbox exists is because Microsoft was afraid Playstation would disrupt PC. That fear is long gone. Many things happened since then. They havent discontinued the Xbox yet because they don't want to throw away the brand. But if Xbox doesn't start making money soon it will be a problem..
 
The guy failed up. He fucked up Xbox Europe, Rare and Lionhead were under his belt. Rare literally coming off Nintendo at the time, and he managed to fuck them up royally.

Then he couldn't squeeze talent when he failed up to Xbox global or whatever, so he bought more studios and couldn't squeeze anything from them either.

He is a failure through and through. I don't hate him, I just think he's really bad at everything he did so far.
 
Let's see..

All he has done has dragged Xbox to the bottom. Day o ne ports to PC, GP destroying value and buying habits, the dual SKU strategy stinker, etc

Guy lies as if his life depends on it. He doesn't says truth even to the doctor.

Xbox game output under his tenure crawled to a halt, only now with two massive publishers under his belt he can say anything and just because long ago announced Bethesda and ABK games are finally making it to the market

Being third by far in a 3 competitors race we got to see his mails with Booty and others boasting about outspending PlayStation out of the market or buying Nintendo.
 
The real question is.

Why was there so much love for this dude to begin with? I mean, people acted like he was the second coming of Xbox, but all he ever did was talk in polished BS like a wannabe politician, probably trying to charm your vote and hit on your sister at the same time.

Then time did its thing, and surprise it was all hot air and hype. Suddenly, that 'love' flipped hard into hate.

There's a thin line between love and hate, man.
 
personally this is wrong question to ask. you guys should question why must defend this corporate and why all the complaint exist. there is no ripple on water if no stone thrown. sure, you might argue it is 'hate' agenda on him so filter those comments and look at the valid critism. dont lump everything and discard what matter. then come back again to question 'why'?

also other corporate or higher up from other company like Sony or Nintendo didnt get this much amount of defend. so why this guy is so special that he get this kind of treatment from fans? his output fall short compared to other guy. thats another question that should be ask.

justification? sounds like someone is completely oblivious to the what happened in these previous decade or just play ignorant.

you claim he fought and yadda yadda. look at the result and what happened in past few years or heck, few days. think back.

remember whatever he said just a PR. he dont really mean what he said and plenty of U-turn was seen before. dont get fooled by this upfront. these guy is corporate. remember what corporate does. dont hold on to his word. i notice certain fanboys hold up at each of his word like a messiah. particularly the buzzword. holding more on what was said than the output. this kind of blind revere kind of like kpop idolize syndrom. no offense. i say certain people being trained without realized.

imagine that, after all that happened, rather than questioned the right stuff about what he do or should do, the state of the divisions, developers, IP, output, profit, promise etc, some people choose to asked about why people hate their favourite corporate executive instead LOL.

i said this before and i said this again. fans need to stop evangelize everything people like him said or do. be dare to question back. product represent the customers feedback. as long you guys licking people like him, no matter how bad stuff happen they wont get down on their pedestial because people at lower layer keep enabling them. the reason Xbox what such as mess is largely partly due to fans itself.

Why the such admiration or support for Phil Spencer?

 
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His sex appeal.

Phil is that gamer friend who is constantly pounding clam while you sit home, sniffing your fingers, wacking it.

Phil is Veined up and LOADED with that blood log.
 
  1. Consistent liar
  2. Consistent liar
  3. Consistent liar
  4. Consistent liar
People are now figuring out that he's a liar. Being an egomaniac makes sense for people like him because he was elevated to a position of one, i.e., CEO.

But his consistent lying is why people are finally tired of him. I suppose his value to Microsoft is he's willing to be a professional liar, but now that Microsoft are laptop-fying the Xbox business, his lying isn't as valuable as it was before. I predict he will be out of Xbox within the next 5 years.
 
Unfortunatecookie said:
  1. Consistent liar
  2. Consistent liar
  3. Consistent liar
  4. Consistent liar
People are now figuring out that he's a liar. Being an egomaniac makes sense for people like him because he was elevated to a position of one, i.e., CEO.

But his consistent lying is why people are finally tired of him. I suppose his value to Microsoft is he's willing to be a professional liar, but now that Microsoft are laptop-fying the Xbox business, his lying isn't as valuable as it was before. I predict he will be out of Xbox within the next 5 years.
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Xbox won't exist in 5 years.
 
These cancellations are obviously not his decision

I'm guessing they need extra money to invest in AI and games that aren't releasing anytime soon are getting cut regardless of potential. So Satya barks out an order and Phil has to take the heat. Simple as that.


It was incredibly hard to criticize Phil when he was making 'consumer friendly' but braindead decisions like putting all microsoft games day 1 on a subscription service or no exclusives part.
And now that the entire internet of off loading at him, it's hard to defend him.


Arsic said:
phil-spencer-60.gif



Would've been better off dead, and IPs sold off to better hands.

Imagine id getting hands on Halo.

This dude helped insure Halo is dead. Gears probably too. And made sure id never buy a Xbox ever again.

Thanks for gamepass I guess but fuck you Phil.
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Halo is dead? Didn't you guys vote for the latest Halo as game of the year?
 
He didn't understand what his task was, competing against Sony the way he did is really dumb and hence you have this horrible result, so the hate is like one side hate him for shitting the xbox brand and the other hate him because he is the leader of the enemy and as someone who defended him for years after the latest round I can't anymore I joined the haters too
 
Joel Was Right said:
He admitted that Microsoft leadership wanted to shut down the entire Xbox division after the failed launch of the Xbox One decimated the platform. Yet, he fought for the brand, advocating for Game Pass and convincing Microsoft to invest $80 billion into the division. Whatever doubts the company had, his efforts ensured they remained committed to Xbox for the long term.

All the positives Xbox has had over the decade have come from his initiatives, while the problems -- primarily the loss console sales to the PS4 -- came from decisions made by his predecessors.

So is there any real justification for the continuous hate he gets?
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So,... the loss of sales for ps4, that was more powerful and cheaper than xone, it's not on him. Ok.
He lost sales to ps5 that was technically weaker on paper ( and that's what the masses see) and more expensive. Ok.

Oh, and with the Bethesda and Activision buy outs lol.
 
I wonder if Elder Scrolls will even fail under the current regime? I would normally assume Hell would have to freeze over first, but with Xbox and Phil, you better get your blankets and heaters ready.
 
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HeisenbergFX4 said:
He can't see a bad game when he plays it and ships out Redfall and when he does play a good game he cancels it
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His team just cancelled several bad games this week, and people are hounding him over it. Lets be real, Perfect Dark and Everwild would have turned out mediocre, and the reaction to Forza Motorsport was tepid.
 
memoryman3 said:
His team just cancelled several bad games this week, and people are hounding him over it. Lets be real, Perfect Dark and Everwild would have turned out mediocre, and the reaction to Forza Motorsport was tepid.
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He was bragging about Everwild just a few weeks ago. He also cancelled an MMO he thought was fantastic. That's what he is being hounded for and he should be.
 
In my experience in corporate America your data is not hidden, anyone at the company could see everyones personal details to collect data without their permission. They're on both app stores, health records etc and more. There would be a list that had every clients full name, address, payment, social everything. Not encrypted.
 
ADiTAR said:
The guy failed up. He fucked up Xbox Europe, Rare and Lionhead were under his belt. Rare literally coming off Nintendo at the time, and he managed to fuck them up royally.

Then he couldn't squeeze talent when he failed up to Xbox global or whatever, so he bought more studios and couldn't squeeze anything from them either.

He is a failure through and through. I don't hate him, I just think he's really bad at everything he did so far.
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I'm beginning to think he has video evidence of Gates on Epstein island locked away securely or something, he seems utterly untouchable inside MSFT lol.

He's gutted a multi billion dollar brand.
 
I don't hate Phil or wish anything negative on him at all, though I do think it's time to replace him. I think he tried his best, but he's just not the right man for the job.
 
Sooner said:
Really?
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Tell me where I'm wrong.

Arkane co-op vampire hunting FPS
Bethesda new IP "Skyrim in space"
Open-halo Halo reboot
Forza Motorsport reboot 'from the ground up'
Obsidian Elder Scrolls
Rare RPG (everwild)
STALKER 2
Hellblade 2
Indiana Jones immersive sim by Machine Games
Literal first party COD
Literal first party Diablo IV
Literal first party Overwatch
New Doom entry

This list is straight out of some "Xbox CEO Simulator" shit. Everything on it just ended up being really bad. But if you're just the guy making the list and writing the checks to get the list made? Hard to get a whole lot better.

Every single game listed was released a dud. That's legendary bad luck if you're just an executive making this list and paying for it.
 
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simpatico said:
Tell me where I'm wrong.

Arkane co-op vampire hunting FPS
Bethesda new IP "Skyrim in space"
Open-halo Halo reboot
Forza Motorsport reboot 'from the ground up'
Obsidian Elder Scrolls
Rare RPG (everwild)
STALKER 2
Hellblade 2
Indiana Jones immersive sim by Machine Games
Literal first party COD
Literal first party Diablo IV
Literal first party Overwatch
New Doom entry

This list is straight out of some "Xbox CEO Simulator" shit. Everything on it just ended up being really bad. But if you're just the guy making the list and writing the checks to get the list made? Hard to get a whole lot better.

Every single game listed was released a dud. That's legendary bad luck if you're just an executive making this list and paying for it.
Click to expand...
"It's not management's fault. All the thousands of employees making peanuts in comparison should have done better."

Even IF that was true, it's still management's fault for hiring all the wrong people. Judging by the success these people have after leaving terribly run companies like Xbox or Ubisoft, I don't believe that's the case.

It starts at the top. The biggest problem with Xbox over the last 10-15 years is Phil Spencer and those immediately under him.
 
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simpatico said:
Tell me where I'm wrong.

Arkane co-op vampire hunting FPS
Bethesda new IP "Skyrim in space"
Open-halo Halo reboot
Forza Motorsport reboot 'from the ground up'
Obsidian Elder Scrolls
Rare RPG (everwild)
STALKER 2
Hellblade 2
Indiana Jones immersive sim by Machine Games
Literal first party COD
Literal first party Diablo IV
Literal first party Overwatch
New Doom entry

This list is straight out of some "Xbox CEO Simulator" shit. Everything on it just ended up being really bad. But if you're just the guy making the list and writing the checks to get the list made? Hard to get a whole lot better.

Every single game listed was released a dud. That's legendary bad luck if you're just an executive making this list and paying for it.
Click to expand...
The list is nice, but getting devs to where they need to be is where you come in as the CEO and visionary producer to make sure the games are of the highest quality. If you were told Redfall was a 9, and it turned out a 7.5, that's a you problem to get better people to judge. If you didn't put pressure to make sure they are on time to deliver demos, had the best people to manage pipe lines, that's on you.

When Furukawa signed off on DK Bananza, it wasn't just because it was the Mario Odyssey team, it was because he saw the gamplay innovation and was shown how it will be achieved based on the current Mario Odyssey engine. I can assure you they came prepared not with a "It's gonna be an ecological Sci-Fi game with aliens", but with a gameplay demo with squares showing what their vision is. I'm sure a lot of Western devs start with story and setting, and that's just wrong.
 
The people who say they hate him are generally all going to be fanboys whether it's fanboys for another company/plastic box or Xbox players made that their brand is dying.

I think the fact that he got such a following and people acting like he was some messiah bringing the brand back from the dead didn't help. Some of that was obviously taking the piss but it still didn't help. The cult of personality around him was unbearable at times especially when things were looking up and he was the face behind announcements like the refreshed Xbox consoles and backwards compatibility (face as in he was the person on stage at things like E3 and not exactly the person making everything happen as I'm sure a lot of it was in the works prior to him taking over as things take a LONG time to come to fruition).

BUT he was also the one making public statements and contradicting "himself" and other high ranking Microsoft employees left and right making their messages confusing at best.
 
ADiTAR said:
The list is nice, but getting devs to where they need to be is where you come in as the CEO and visionary producer to make sure the games are of the highest quality. If you were told Redfall was a 9, and it turned out a 7.5, that's a you problem to get better people to judge. If you didn't put pressure to make sure they are on time to deliver demos, had the best people to manage pipe lines, that's on you.

When Furukawa signed off on DK Bananza, it wasn't just because it was the Mario Odyssey team, it was because he saw the gamplay innovation and was shown how it will be achieved based on the current Mario Odyssey engine. I can assure you they came prepared not with a "It's gonna be an ecological Sci-Fi game with aliens", but with a gameplay demo with squares showing what their vision is. I'm sure a lot of Western devs start with story and setting, and that's just wrong.
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Do we have examples of the platform holder CEO stepping in and correcting games in other companies? There would be an even louder critique if you go that route.
Sooner said:
"It's not management's fault. All the thousands of employees making peanuts in comparison should have done better."

Even IF that was true, it's still management's fault for hiring all the wrong people. Judging by the success these people have after leaving terribly run companies like Xbox or Ubisoft, I don't believe that's the case.

It starts at the top. The biggest problem with Xbox over the last 10-15 years is Phil Spencer and those immediately under him.
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Where are these AAA refugees having success? I myself try and generate some hype when big name people do leave, but I'm drawing a blank trying to find examples of it being very successful. Every time a business fails it's not always the fault of the rank-and-file employees, but I think in this specific case there is some merit to it. Honestly it's probably more exception than rule. I look at the Xbox Series catastrophe as having wildly uncommon amounts of bad luck.

I think the real problem lies above Spencer. He's not the one who set the bar of "global industry domination or bust". Hell, I'm not even high enough on him that I think he should continue working in the industry in the same role for another company. I just like pointing out that in the months leading up to the console launch, things must have looked really promising on paper. Most on GAF would have agreed if that list got leaked.
 
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Phil has quite a few records:

Most employees laid off in record time during his 10 years as boss... maybe around 10,000+?

Most studios shut down in just 2 years... 7+

Most games canceled

Biggest successful franchises turned into crap: Halo, Forza Motorsport

Highest number of flops or worse games than other games released from the same devs: Redfall, Starfield, Doom: Dark Ages, Avowed, Indiana Jones, South of Midnight, Hellblade 2, Halo Infinite.
 
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simpatico said:
Do we have examples of the platform holder CEO stepping in and correcting games in other companies? There would be an even louder critique if you go that route.
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I'm 100% Iwata did it, pretty sure Nintendo's board of directors do it (like Miyamoto), and also 90% sure the CEO of Sony did it.

That's why you're the CEO, yes, you should give creative freedom to the people below you, but they should answer to you for time and money you're investing in them. If Xbox ran like Nintendo, trust me Phil would've been on his own Island by now. But it's not, it never has, so he should have led them to where he wanted to go. That's his job.
 
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