Podcast Unlocked celebrated 500 episodes today with special guest Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s Xbox division.
Hosts Ryan McCaffrey, Miranda Sanchez, and Destin Legare spoke with Spencer at length about the state of Xbox and covered a range of topics from upcoming games like Perfect Dark and Halo Infinite, to Xbox’s continued journey with Bethesda, to the next five years for Xbox and beyond.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from IGN Unlocked’s interview.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/06/29/phil-spencer-interview-20-years-of-xbox-unlocked-500"]
It is Xbox’s 20th anniversary this year and when asked about the journey that has led to the Xbox Series X era, and effectively the Phil Spencer era, the Xbox boss said that this journey began, surprisingly, with the Xbox One launch.
“It was such a seminal moment for the team in checking, ‘what did we stand for? What did we want to be as we went forward?’” Spencer said on Unlocked. “For the brand, it was a challenging year, there was a lot for us to learn.”
The Xbox One launch was a struggle and that infamous E3 presentation seemed to focus more on Xbox One as a confusing entertainment hub rather than a game console. But the Xbox Series X is positioning games front-and-center with tools like backward compatibility and Game Pass.
“So much of what we are today is from that first year of the Xbox One where we got a real cold dose of reality in focusing on not what the customers wanted but what we thought we needed,” Spencer says. But he notes today's Xbox team is much different and better-positioned to meet the demands of the community.
One of Xbox’s most successful features is Xbox Game Pass, a monthly subscription service where members can access a library of games on console, PC, and the cloud. But according to Spencer, the key metric for Xbox isn’t whether or not a player is buying games or consoles, but if they’re engaging with the Xbox platform.
“The number one metric that we can look at to see if our business is actually growing is, 'are people playing more on the platform?' There’s nothing about review scores, there’s nothing about retail sales of console, or retail sale of games; the number one sign that our platform is healthy and growing is actually engagement on the platform,” Spencer says.
To that end, this is what Game Pass is helping to grow, and as a result, Spencer says Xbox as a business is profitable.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/perfect-dark-cinematic-trailer"]
In the past Spencer has spoken about holes in the Xbox portfolio, mentioning he would like to acquire a Japanese game developer if able. But with the Xbox Game Studio family growing, Spencer says another opportunity could be family-friendly content.
“When I look at the portfolio I still think there’s an opportunity for us with more family-friendly content,” says Spencer. He adds that more geographically diverse teams are also a priority, further feeding into the desire to acquire Japanese or even European teams. “When I think about the geographic diversity of our first-party studios I think there’s still work for us to do there.”
There’s a new Perfect Dark game in the works and Spencer says that this is an opportunity to bring more leading women to Xbox. "I think it's awesome for us. We can focus on a female protagonist in our lineup. We don't have a lot of that in our first-party [lineup]," says Spencer. "I think Joanna offers a lot of modern opportunities that I love to see the team focusing on, having a strong protagonist."
The Zenimax acquisition brought a lot of new developers to Xbox, but also proprietary technology like id Software’s id Tech. But according to Spencer, it’s still early days, and integrating technology with Xbox teams hasn’t started, yet.
“I like to say the paints still wet on us getting the Bethesda Xbox Game Studios together [and] in a world of COVID it’s even more difficult,” Spencer says.
Currently, Spencer confirms that there are discussions, but no Xbox Game Studios team is using id Tech right now, nor is there a mandate to force teams to use id Tech if they don’t want to.
“There’ll be a lot of tech integrations that we can do over the years, but we’re just so early in that journey I wouldn’t want to overstep where we are in any of those conversations.”
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/06/29/doom-eternal-xbox-series-x-trailer"]
Spencer previously confirmed that the holiday of 2021 is the goal for Halo Infinite’s release date and that the team at Xbox already has a good idea of a launch window, but the hope is Xbox and 343 will have a date the next time they go in-depth on Halo Infinite.
“We’re working on the exact date, the next thing for us is to say a day,” Spencer revealed. Furthermore, when the day is announced, Spencer says other teams will move out of the way to ensure Halo Infinite has the space it needs for a holiday launch.
The silicon chip shortage has been a major tech story this year and has hampered companies like PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo from delivering the number of consoles they’d like. And while Xbox is budgeting its silicon and making “balanced trade-offs,” Xbox is still keen to release limited edition consoles when appropriate.
“I don’t think we want to give up on our ability to do limited edition consoles and other things,” Spencers says. “I’m not announcing any of them today, but I do think there’ll be certain moments that are going to be special that we’ll want to be able to celebrate. At the same time, the chip shortage will be with us for a while and I continue to apologize for that.”
“You know who knew when we launched these — when we were planning on these consoles that it would be more about supply chain management than the actual technology in the box.”
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/06/13/starfield-release-date-trailer"]
Last generation, PlayStation and Xbox introduced half-step upgrades with systems like the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X. But Spencer says there’s nothing coming out in the next year that will make players regret their Xbox Series X purchase.
“These are the consoles that we have in markets for years and we built them with that in mind. And I love the tech that’s in there and the capability and that’s where our focus is going,” Spencer says.
For the full interview with Phil Spencer be sure to check out Podcast Unlocked Episode 500.
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.
Continue reading...
Hosts Ryan McCaffrey, Miranda Sanchez, and Destin Legare spoke with Spencer at length about the state of Xbox and covered a range of topics from upcoming games like Perfect Dark and Halo Infinite, to Xbox’s continued journey with Bethesda, to the next five years for Xbox and beyond.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from IGN Unlocked’s interview.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/06/29/phil-spencer-interview-20-years-of-xbox-unlocked-500"]
The Challenges of the Xbox One Era Informs Xbox Today
It is Xbox’s 20th anniversary this year and when asked about the journey that has led to the Xbox Series X era, and effectively the Phil Spencer era, the Xbox boss said that this journey began, surprisingly, with the Xbox One launch.
“It was such a seminal moment for the team in checking, ‘what did we stand for? What did we want to be as we went forward?’” Spencer said on Unlocked. “For the brand, it was a challenging year, there was a lot for us to learn.”
The Xbox One launch was a struggle and that infamous E3 presentation seemed to focus more on Xbox One as a confusing entertainment hub rather than a game console. But the Xbox Series X is positioning games front-and-center with tools like backward compatibility and Game Pass.
“So much of what we are today is from that first year of the Xbox One where we got a real cold dose of reality in focusing on not what the customers wanted but what we thought we needed,” Spencer says. But he notes today's Xbox team is much different and better-positioned to meet the demands of the community.
Engagement Is the Key Metric of Success for Xbox
One of Xbox’s most successful features is Xbox Game Pass, a monthly subscription service where members can access a library of games on console, PC, and the cloud. But according to Spencer, the key metric for Xbox isn’t whether or not a player is buying games or consoles, but if they’re engaging with the Xbox platform.
“The number one metric that we can look at to see if our business is actually growing is, 'are people playing more on the platform?' There’s nothing about review scores, there’s nothing about retail sales of console, or retail sale of games; the number one sign that our platform is healthy and growing is actually engagement on the platform,” Spencer says.
To that end, this is what Game Pass is helping to grow, and as a result, Spencer says Xbox as a business is profitable.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/perfect-dark-cinematic-trailer"]
Phil Spencer Would Like to Acquire More Family-Friendly Content for Xbox
In the past Spencer has spoken about holes in the Xbox portfolio, mentioning he would like to acquire a Japanese game developer if able. But with the Xbox Game Studio family growing, Spencer says another opportunity could be family-friendly content.
“When I look at the portfolio I still think there’s an opportunity for us with more family-friendly content,” says Spencer. He adds that more geographically diverse teams are also a priority, further feeding into the desire to acquire Japanese or even European teams. “When I think about the geographic diversity of our first-party studios I think there’s still work for us to do there.”
Joanna Dark Can Bring More Leading Ladies to Xbox
There’s a new Perfect Dark game in the works and Spencer says that this is an opportunity to bring more leading women to Xbox. "I think it's awesome for us. We can focus on a female protagonist in our lineup. We don't have a lot of that in our first-party [lineup]," says Spencer. "I think Joanna offers a lot of modern opportunities that I love to see the team focusing on, having a strong protagonist."
There Aren’t Any Xbox Studios Using id Tech… Yet
The Zenimax acquisition brought a lot of new developers to Xbox, but also proprietary technology like id Software’s id Tech. But according to Spencer, it’s still early days, and integrating technology with Xbox teams hasn’t started, yet.
“I like to say the paints still wet on us getting the Bethesda Xbox Game Studios together [and] in a world of COVID it’s even more difficult,” Spencer says.
Currently, Spencer confirms that there are discussions, but no Xbox Game Studios team is using id Tech right now, nor is there a mandate to force teams to use id Tech if they don’t want to.
“There’ll be a lot of tech integrations that we can do over the years, but we’re just so early in that journey I wouldn’t want to overstep where we are in any of those conversations.”
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/06/29/doom-eternal-xbox-series-x-trailer"]
The Next Thing Xbox Wants to Announce for Halo Infinite Is a Release Date
Spencer previously confirmed that the holiday of 2021 is the goal for Halo Infinite’s release date and that the team at Xbox already has a good idea of a launch window, but the hope is Xbox and 343 will have a date the next time they go in-depth on Halo Infinite.
“We’re working on the exact date, the next thing for us is to say a day,” Spencer revealed. Furthermore, when the day is announced, Spencer says other teams will move out of the way to ensure Halo Infinite has the space it needs for a holiday launch.
Xbox Still Wants to Make Limited-Edition Consoles
The silicon chip shortage has been a major tech story this year and has hampered companies like PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo from delivering the number of consoles they’d like. And while Xbox is budgeting its silicon and making “balanced trade-offs,” Xbox is still keen to release limited edition consoles when appropriate.
“I don’t think we want to give up on our ability to do limited edition consoles and other things,” Spencers says. “I’m not announcing any of them today, but I do think there’ll be certain moments that are going to be special that we’ll want to be able to celebrate. At the same time, the chip shortage will be with us for a while and I continue to apologize for that.”
“You know who knew when we launched these — when we were planning on these consoles that it would be more about supply chain management than the actual technology in the box.”
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/06/13/starfield-release-date-trailer"]
There Won’t Be an Xbox Series X Pro Anytime Soon
Last generation, PlayStation and Xbox introduced half-step upgrades with systems like the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X. But Spencer says there’s nothing coming out in the next year that will make players regret their Xbox Series X purchase.
“These are the consoles that we have in markets for years and we built them with that in mind. And I love the tech that’s in there and the capability and that’s where our focus is going,” Spencer says.
For the full interview with Phil Spencer be sure to check out Podcast Unlocked Episode 500.
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.
Continue reading...