Phil Spencer is taking responsibility for Xbox's latest first-party game launch. Redfall, a game developed by Arkane, was released on May 2nd, to atrocious critical reviews, and even worse player reception. Billed as an open-world co-op first-person shooter, players overwhelmingly found it to be repetitive, glitchy, and bland. The game also promised to run at 60fps prior to its launch, but drew controversy when it was walked back, and the developers instead planned to have a 60fps update made available sometime post-launch.

When appearing as a guest on the Kindy Funny Games podcast, Xbox's CEO Phil Spencer bluntly stated, "There’s nothing that’s more difficult for me than disappointing the Xbox community, and just to watch the community lose confidence, be disappointed, I’m disappointed, I’m upset with myself," adding that, "we let a lot of people down this week with the launch of the game, but we will continue to strive on." In a response to fans asking why the game wasn't just further delayed, Spencer claimed, "I think there’s a fundamental piece of feedback that we get that the game isn’t realizing the creative vision that it had for its players. That doesn’t feel like a 'hey, just delay it' [situation]--that feels like the game had a goal to do one thing, and when players are actually playing they’re not feeling that thing, that creative execution of the team."

Furthermore, Spencer was questioned about the current state of affairs with Xbox, following this, on top of the CMA's refusal to allow Microsoft to acquire Activision. His response focused on how losing the Xbox One generation was "the worst generation to lose", and that great games aren't enough to draw customers in anymore, saying, "this idea that if we just focused more on great games on our console that somehow we’re going to win the console race doesn’t really lay into the reality of most people. There is no world where Starfield is an 11 out of 10 and people start selling their PS5s, that’s not going to happen." His plans for Xbox's future is to, "stay focused on making sure that console experience is awesome, but I know some people want to hold us up as being a better green version of what the blue guys do, and I’m just going to say there’s not a win for Xbox by staying in the wake of somebody else. We have to go off and do our own thing with Game Pass, the stuff we do with xCloud, and the way we build our games."

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[tabzer]

Game fails, massively.

"Great games alone aren't enough to win a console generation"

Everything else is just filler. It's a tool, not a human. Scrub his name and call it damage control.

 

[pedro702]

I wouldn't trust a CEO to watch my glass of chocolate milk, much less with anything that could indicate a failure of leadership.
The entire statement that "it was too late" makes no sense, Microsoft has enough billions they could have delayed the game for another year or two and actually fix it up proper if they wanted to. And that even gives them the benefit of the doubt that he isn't outright lying to the public like he has in the past.
This is very likely just the same execs that caused the problem trying to save face by kicking the blame down the line.

you do realize they are part of bethesda before microsoft right? and bethesda games are always a mess at launch, so imo it could just be the same studio head microsoft left in charge that is still doing the same crap for years.

besides id software which is part of bethesda, all other bethesda studios have very troublesome launchs tbh.

 

[Lazyboss]

I don't think we will even see the next generation Xbox.

Or Phil Spencer.

 

[The Catboy]

There’s literally no reason to own an Xbox (and slowly becoming no reason to own a PlayStation,) when every Xbox game is available either on PC or through streaming. Microsoft shot their own feet by constantly publishing mediocre games and giving customers zero reasons to buy their products.

 

[Xzi]

Bruh Starfield is going to be his last hope.

If Starfield is as bad as RedFall or worse, Phil is gonna be out

It'll be chock full of bugs and performance issues at launch, but it'll still review well because that's always the expectation for Bethesda games anyway.

Pretty much the only game I've got left to look forward to from MS is Avowed, and if it turns out they can fuck up an Obsidian project, then none of the other devs they've bought out stand a chance.

 

[Chary]

and slowly becoming no reason to own a PlayStation

With the way PC ports are (I mean, how many games can we list that are literally unplayable Day 1 on PC? Too many to count) and timed exclusivity, and just the ease of not having to spend 10 hours playing with settings for 5 hours of gameplay, consoles will always exist, and they will always be the more popular option.

 

[Megadriver94]

Phil Spencer needs to be replaced.

 

[The Catboy]

With the way PC ports are (I mean, how many games can we list that are literally unplayable Day 1 on PC? Too many to count) and timed exclusivity, and just the ease of not having to spend 10 hours playing with settings for 5 hours of gameplay, consoles will always exist, and they will always be the more popular option.

Agreed but I am more just stating an observation that feel could be a contributing factor. I haven't seen the need to buy an Xbox since I can always seem to find the same games elsewhere or I really don't care to get involved in FOMO over half-finished games. I could be wrong, I am just a catboy on the internet.

 

[Xzi]

With the way PC ports are (I mean, how many games can we list that are literally unplayable Day 1 on PC? Too many to count) and timed exclusivity, and just the ease of not having to spend 10 hours playing with settings for 5 hours of gameplay, consoles will always exist, and they will always be the more popular option.

Consoles will always be around in one form or another, sure, but at this point they're just glorified AMD gaming PCs. Next-gen should've made optimization easier as a result, but a whole lot of AAA game devs seem to have lost the plot sometime during the pandemic. I'm also going to blame Unreal Engine here, as it's obvious a pattern is starting to emerge. The only UE game released this year that hasn't been a total dumpster fire is Hogwart's Legacy, and the optimization there is just okay.

 

[V800]

I think what he said holds truth: Xbox one was a colosal disaster which stills haunts the company. Every company flop back then to a certain extentend (Ps Vita, Wii U) but Xbox simply lost its way. He is focusing in GamePass because it's easier and I wonder if a different CEO could be able to make a turnaround at this point.

 

[Xzi]

I think what he said holds truth: Xbox one was a colosal disaster which stills haunts the company. Every company flop back then to a certain extentend (Ps Vita, Wii U) but Xbox simply lost its way. He is focusing in GamePass because it's easier and I wonder if a different CEO could be able to make a turnaround at this point.

Nah even with as much flak as he's getting in this thread, Spencer has actually been doing the right thing for Xbox overall by expanding it as a platform to other systems. Not to mention taking this on the chin when he didn't need to, a lot of CEOs would 100% pass the buck simply because there are too many layers below them.

Starfield I don't feel will be for me, especially at launch, but I hope it sells well nonetheless (and likely will). I do hope they can recover in a big way with other titles though, considering they brought us games like Psychonauts 2 and Hi-Fi Rush. Grounded and Sea of Thieves also seem like they have solid value, though I haven't played those myself yet.

 

[ZeroFX]

I knew that game would be crappy since it's announcement, just look at that character design and excuse for a story.
—

 

[EvilJagaGenius]

@ Great games aren't enough to win/just look at Nintendo
I wonder if he is looking at Nintendo and the Wii U, where the company famous for its brilliant exclusive IPs got trounced by everybody except maybe the Ouya. Or maybe the PSP or Vita which I'm told have great games but got trounced by Nintendo. Or maybe the Gamecube. Or Dreamcast. WHO KNOWS
Perhaps a better way of rephrasing that might be that great games are only one part of winning.

I realize Dev Mode wasn't mentioned here, but I hope they keep that up. That's a big draw to Xbox for me that no one else does, and maybe that's someplace Spencer sees Xbox winning out in the long run.

 

[TomSwitch]

As a gaming fan who hasn't had an Xbox since the 360, I'm a bit concerned here. On the one hand, I do have nostalgia for the good old days when console wars were purely Japanese. But, I also don't want Xbox to implode so we're at the mercy of untethered price rises if the likes of Sony don't have any competition.

There will always be competition as long as there is money to be made. You only have to worry that console become a thing of the past and Sony also stop making them

 

[codezer0]

Uh, what?
Either the headline took one of his answers way out of context, or this would be admissible as evidence if the powers that be decide to fire Phil from the division.

While the latter might look good in the short term, the recent replacement executives across many businesses already makes me dread what kind of corporate slime would be chosen as his successor. Nobody asked, or wanted nft systems in gaming.

 

[Zonark]

I’m just gonna throw this out there I personally really enjoy this game with a cooperative play so if anybody really wants to do that that’s what I would do. Can’t say I’ve had any less fun but playing by yourself isn’t as good as playing with the team.

 

[TomSwitch]

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His response focused on how losing the Xbox One generation was "the worst generation to lose"

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Should have responded when it became clear that every third party game on it is just going to be worst than the same game on PS4. A simple upgrade to Xbox One perhaps would have helped. Just make it a little bit better than PS4.

When most game are from third party Xbox One is simply dead in the water when PS4 is going to be just better due to the HW being stronger.

 

[Project68K]

Xbox needs someone like Steve Jobs to scare their employees into making good games.

 

[nWo]

Back in the day I bought my first ever Xbox console (original Xbox One) because my son, a big Plants vs Zombies fan, was all about Garden Warfare. My son really liked Garden Warfare and then, Battle for Neighborville. Me? I enjoyed playing Resident Evil VII. after that the other RE games. I played Star Wars Battlefront 1 (a big dissapointment) and 2 (half the game they promised, but was barely "okay" for me). Those are the only games I have enjoyed on the Xbox, and those aren't even exclusives. So. yes. great games are fundamental to keep a console on top, not only on the "console race", but also on the people's good side.

I have been a Nintendo guy since I started playing, but I'm no "fanboy". Truth is, Nintendo really have made incredible games on their consoles. My first one was SMB3, what a blast. On the SNES, I was crazy about SM World, Zelda Link To The Past, Super Metroid... man, so many good games, the same with the 64, GameCube, Wii.. until today with the Switch.

To tell the truth, I absolutely enjoy that feeling of just getting home, no matter if it was from the school or from the job like today, and have spare time to play and really, really FEEL the game. That's the magic.

Sadly, this feeling has never been there on Xbox. That's their problem.

 

[V800]

Should have responded when it became clear that every third party game on it is just going to be worst than the same game on PS4. A simple upgrade to Xbox One perhaps would have helped. Just make it a little bit better than PS4.

When most game are from third party Xbox One is simply dead in the water when PS4 is going to be just better due to the HW being stronger.

Xbox One X was better than plain Ps4. However I get your point: until its release, people were paying full price for games that look better in the Sony console. I don't know in the rest of the world, but in my country, xbox one accesories are more expensive than ps4 ones because third party manufacturers focused more on Sony.