Xbox's Phil Spencer Admits 2022 Has Been 'Light' On Games, Talks Plans For The Future

Light is an overstatement.

Looking at 2023 though they should make up for it hopefully with around 4-5 big releases at least.

2023 looks really good right now!

Hopefully things will change in 2023, it does look like 2023 is going to be one of the best years in gaming for a long time.

Yes Phil I have not forget your last showcase and promise.
By the end of JUNE 2023.
Redfall, Forza and Starfield.
Let’s see what happens or won’t happen if my judgement is correct.
You are stagnant in the UK and staggering around with lower than expected sale of game pass, surly you don’t need us gamers to tell you what you need to do.
Go manage you studios and get out some big top end exclusive AAA games.
I think that formula is working for Nintendo and Sony, what a load of Microsoft PR.

Gamepass has been awesome this year, but they have really lacked 1st party games this year. Hopefully they fix that next year

Let's get a sequel to Brutal Legend please!

Hmm seems like this has been said for the better part of a decade from 1st party xbox

I’m quite intrigued by Pentiment, and we got Grounded (it being on early access/open beta all this time does not take away from it being finally released in full.)

And I gotten plenty of stuff to pay on Xbox from third parties this year.

All in all Xbox does not need a rainfall of first party games next year, I mean unless we are going to be applying double standards. This year is a rather solid one for Sony and they have only released 3 games (Horizon, GR7, GoWR, all of them delayed games that were promised for earlier in the launch cycle btw... maybe Sony should learn to manage their studios better… ) If all we got next year was Motorsport, Redfall and Starfield, I would say it was a very solid year.

With all the studios they have now, once the games start coming they should keep coming at fairly constant rate. Thr trick is going to be making sure to not trip over themselves and doing something dumb like releasing a doom, wolfenstien, Halo, or even CoD within weeks of each other, or releasing a "Bethesda like" game by obsidian or inexile (as rumoured) during starfleilds DLC cycle.

2022 may of been 'light' on games but its not as if those games were cancelled so they won't be coming, just delayed. I know that some only seem to count AAA 1st Party exclusives and because Xbox has lacked in this area, its as if Xbox gamers have had absolutely nothing to play and Game Pass must therefore be 'poor' too.

I have been saying for quite some time that you cannot expect a plethora of games from Xbox because the reality is, the vast majority of Studio's haven't had time to make and release the Big Budget AAA 'exclusives' everyone expects. They only added a few studio's 4 yrs ago and those studios had all just released or had 'multi-platform' games in development. Bethesda group only joined 18months ago and 2 of their Studios were working on 'exclusives' for PS - 1 of which still hasn't come to Xbox yet - but that's another 2 Studios that no doubt won't be releasing new 'AAA' exclusives for several years due to the time it takes to make these games.

Patience is a virtue and I'll rather wait for a game to be actually 'ready' to release instead of 'pushed out' too early - whatever the reason. Most of PS's 'big' games that end up being nominated for Game of the Year are 4yrs+ in the making - and that's with Sequels with some assets, code etc that can be used again saving time. Ghost of Tsushima, a 'NEW' IP built from the ground up took 6yrs and its been over 5yrs since Forza Motorsport 7 with the 'new' one built from the ground up.

There seems to be about a 5yr cycle - which could drop with 'new' game engines and 'new' methods of building games but right now, most games were built on 'older' engines in the traditional way so likely to take 4yrs+

I'm not concerned about the Present, because the Future is looking a lot better. Xbox has gone from a handful of studios to a large collection, and now its just having 'patience' for those Studios to have the necessary time and support to not only make those games, but to ensure they are 'ready' to release.

I commend Xbox for taking the decision to delay their 'only' AAA games in 2022 rather than put them out before they were 'ready' just to tick the 'exclusives released in 2022' box...

I expect much better next year. I just hope the quality is there when they do release something big and they’re under pressure to deliver.

One thing I’d like to see less of with Xbox first party titles are microtransactions, they’re absolutely riddled with them when compared to the competition.

Forza Horizon 5 Expansion 2, Goldeneye and Age of Empires (2 and 4) are the things I'm most excited about regarding Xbox's future 1st party lineup.

@BBB I think they're keeping quiet because of the Activision acquisition, probably is also why there's lots of CoD ad spam on the Xbox dashboard. Much like a Playstation Showcase with lots of exclusivity may strengthen Microsoft's arguments in favour of the acquisition, showcasing a strong upcoming 1st party Xbox lineup may strengthen Sony's arguments against the acquisition. So you end up with a situation where both companies are being extremely cautious with what they announce.

@Tharsman delays happen. Gow, GT7 etc all got delayed to this year…but that doesn’t translate into Sony offering no first party support last year. Where as MS seemed to have put all their eggs in one basket with starfield and redfall. They also have a long record of delayed games (way before covid was a thing), cancel games, announcing games far too early, and having these quiet years where they’ve barely supported their hardware with first party…and then you add all the story’s from dev studios themselves about lack of management…stories about studios falling apart with people leaving… all this goes towards the ‘bad management’ perception that Xbox and Phil has.

I hope when he says they’re looking into future platform stuff they’ve no plans to start talking about midgen refreshes any time soon…that will be annoying if to finally get the promises of this gen we’re asked to spend another 500 for a mid gen console.
2 years in and I’m not even sure if devs have up to date dev tools yet that can start taking advantage of the current hardware. It certainly doesn’t look like the current consoles have been pushed to their true capabilities yet… unless they have and have been vastly over promised to us.

I’ve been extremely disappointed with their releases this year for sure. Sadly the games I’m really looking forward to (Fable, Indiana Jones, Perfect Dark) are still likely years away.

I can’t see 2023 being as bad as 2022 for them so that’s a positive.

@Bleachedsmiles
Have to agree with that one.
This new generation on both sides seems to be a very very slow starter when it comes new generation games only and taking some advantage of the new consoles other than loading times.
It’s like the old generation needs to be taken outside and shot and done away with, instead it’s likes and unfortunate very slow death.

@Tharsman I'm actually concerned about Pentiment. It comes out in less than two weeks and we've yet to see a good fleshed-out preview of it. Are they aware we know very little about the game? Or do they expect it to do poorly?

2023 is the comeback year for Xbox

I can certainly hope that we see the fruits of all that spending next year, they have some really solid teams (ID), but they also have some which I think need a lot of good management, and it will be interesting to see if MS can turn around the teams that were in freefall before being bought.
I wasn't happy last year (hated Halo infinate, nobody buys a console to play a flight sim and bored of FH5 after 3 months and went back to no4), so another year with no big third parties is a bit of dissapointment. But they have brought some excellent 3rd parties to help fill the void, so by no means all doom and gloom.
I'm also fortunate as I play everywhere, so when MS were quite I was on PS, and I have to say in recent weeks I've been playing a lot more series X. Obviously that will stop when GOW releases, but sometimes its nice to have options.
I'm expecting 2023 to be good for Xbox.

The biggest Xbox game I really got into this year was Grounded (irony to call that their biggest game but I digress)

I hope they find their footing in 2023 with some of the tentpole titles people want. I'm still mostly waiting for Fable and Avowed on the big games front and still expect to wait a while on those, but smaller games like Replaced will also sustain me.

@gingataisen I thought we saw plenty. It’s a 2d adventure rpg game that mixed medieval drawing styles with mystery solving. I’m sure it’s the kind of game that you need to try to ever get anyways, due to how non-conventional it is.

MS marketing does need some help, though. They really need to start doing a better job at hyping their stuff. I feel like they should, after AB acquisition is complete, start distributing their existing studio marketing responsibilities under Zenimax and Activision existing marketing branches.

Example:
Activision handle marketing for 343, Coalition, Playground and Turn 10

Zenimax handle marketing for Obsidian, inXile, Mojang, and Ninja Theory.

@Dezzy70
I recall tech experts, finance experts, gaming experts, experts galore crowing on about how the PS4/Xbox One era had gone on for far too long and it was time to leave them well behind - this in the run up to PS5, Series X. Yet here we are two years into next gen and -barely- any games to be found on said next gen that aren't still being released on, or actively developed for old gen as well. Next Gen just simply being the machines that run said games a bit better, look nicer. Neither next gen machine pushing the limits of what they can really do with all that hardware under the shells.

I once found you too negative on your old gen stance, but after TWO years since the 2020 launches, I must concede... you are right.

@TanaDy
Thank you, well let’s see what 2023 brings.
I mean I think I’m right in saying.
Redfall, Forza and Starfield are all new generation only. Though having said that probably only Forza will take most and good advantage of the series x power.
I think it’s a cost thing even Sony are still producing cross generation games like HFW and GOW. I can even see Spider-Man 2 ending up cross generation.
These top end AAA games must cost a small fortune to make as they all seem to take about five years to produce.
Also this new generation I’m really starting to see the law of diminishing returns technology wise or it maybe because no one has really taken advantage their power yet.

There's "a little light" and There's "absolutely nothing" lol. Look Xbox fans have been supernaturally patient, so let's not pretend this is a 2022 issue or a COVID issue. 2023 needs to see real next generation, first-party releases hit, or I don't know....

@BBB you can say that again, I've been starving all year

@Dezzy70 I really think we need more than Forza out of Xbox’s many studios next year…imagine if they can only deliver that…that would have been a pretty lacklustre year 3 had redfall and starfield not been delayed. I still have hope we will see hellblade 2 next year - a game that in no uncertain terms will ‘look next gen’ and push the hardware…unfortunately the reality will probably be 30fps…so even one of the best looking games released on these consoles they’ll likely still be some backlash. But man, that’s the game to switch on and show off a new console with…it’s just a shame it will take till at least 3 years into the gen till we have it.

@Tharsman Actually, it was the Holy Roman Empire during the Renaissance, but there you go. I do agree that their marketing needs work. They should be talking more about their games. Some people are unaware Grounded left the beta.

It’s been light, but i use my Xbox as my main console. I only use my PS5 for Sony Exclusives and my Switch for Nintendo exclusives. So i find myself with always something to play on Xbox. But i would be lying if i didn’t say i am missing seeing more first party content. However they have amassed a huge first party line up that had most of their games no where near ready. So when those get ready for release xbox Series console will have way more than Xbox one ever did and it could even be close to Xbox 360 days with content. At this point during the dry spell i would have paid anything to have a Gears 1-3 ultimate edition collection and for rockstar to do right by my favorite video game of all time in both Red Dead Redemption 1-2 for next gen. Those two releases for my taste would have held me off in 2022 to go along with Overwatch 2. I did play Halo infinite multiplayer for over 100 hours and must say it plays like a dream to me, but wow that content is lacking, i mean they can’t even do a remaster of 3-5 favorite halo 1-3 maps just to have some variety? That really hurt 2022 in my opinion and maybe beyond. Sad to see Halo treated that poorly. I enjoyed Horizon forbidden west and will get God of War for PS5, but man i just can’t play long with that controller. The placement of the sticks wear me out. So it’s not like PlayStation is killing it for my play style and Xbox is just collecting dust. I may catch some grief for saying this but i am looking really forward to Evil West on Xbox almost as much as God of War. Evil West will be the last game i buy on Xbox in 2022.

@Dezzy70
Look Dezzy, Phil has heard you finally! Lol. I also see you are gravitating towards the Switch a lot these days. Great console with great games. I have one but my wife and daughter use it most of the time. I took SplooshDmg advice and switched to PC last week and couldn't be happier. Oh and while I sold my PS5 in a matter of hours, I haven't been able to sell my XSX for 3 days now. Few people show interest and the money I'm being offered is indicative of how low the demand has fallen. As you said- no games, no sales. Luckily, whatever comes out on whichever platform, I'm covered haha

@gollumb82
Play a lot of Switch currently it’s like they have game’s different to the other two consoles.
Things like Splatoon 3 and Sparks of hope and everything is so neatly done and put together.
It’s my sort of tidy little package console that just does the business without any fuss.
As for you selling you XSX yes the depend has dropped off a lot as I said very early this year and I think it will continue to do so for the rest of this year and probably next year as well, maybe it will be ok in the USA.
Xbox really didn’t need this bad 2022 year exclusive wise, it has taken the momentum and the console totally out of the general publics eye.

Hopefully they don’t double stack games like forza and halo I stoped playing foza for halo end never went back to forza don’t do that again.give the game time to breath

I've not been too worried about the lack of big releases. Are people really sitting around having played ALL the good games that are out there? There's dozens of new and older games I'd like to play still.

If they said there wouldn't be a single new game on Xbox in 2023 to give all the devs a year off then I'd be fine.

I play on XBox because I like the system and controller. I don't care about exclusives, I care about games I like and that is all I want. I prefer 10 good 3rd party games above 3 good exclusive games every year.

Not going to lie, last year I was kind of "meh" and this year I've barely used my Series X. Thankfully there's also a PS5 and Switch in the mix to keep me afloat, but my series X has always felt like an investment for the future than something to use now.

Really looking forward to that changing in 2023. Also — looking forward to using Gamepass more, as the day-1 first-party titles was a huge selling point for the service that has gone unrealized this year. I think it'll good for both subscribers and MS to start making good on that promise.