Phil Spencer Says 'The Future Of Blizzard Is Brighter Than Ever' Under Xbox

Well no surprise to see him there at all.

He’s got some serious hard work to do in the coming months. MW3 really looks like being nothing more than DLC and that’s nit acceptable. Sounds like a rush job and a 4/10 from IGN suggests this is really hard start for Xbox and Acti Blizzard. Will we really see new games or will we just see a mass of games pushed onto Game Pass? I’d love to play some of the older classics but the start to this relationship doesn’t bode well.

I love my Xbox but really worry that this is all about money and nothing else.

@BaldBelper78 your making it sound like Xbox developed this game. This is a game made by the old guard! Xbox cannot take the blame for this one

@BaldBelper78 of course it’s about money. They didn’t spend £69billion to make life better for us.

Just like Sony didn’t buy Bungie to make life better for us. No company does that. It’s all to increase profits/dividends etc etc

@Rockboy247 hey but poeple love to blame xbox for everything so why not blaminf them for this one too? I caught a cold and sneezed earler and iwas like Darn it Xboox

@Rockboy247 They didn’t but it seems it was going to just be DLC and then when the deal was closer it became a ‘full game.’
It will be the same people making the game next time.
Should have just been DLC rather than pushed as a new game IMHO.

@BaldBelper78 IGN is on a crusade against Microsoft, so this rating and blaming new owner MS for a game 3 years in development does not surprise me anymore. It's sad and pathetic, but a pattern in the past year on that site.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

@BaldBelper78 Call of duty rarely does story dlc. Hopefully MS can change the yearly arrival of a new call of duty. People have to realize that MS couldn’t do any work within Activision during the approval process.

@BaldBelper78 4/10 really.....oof

@docLEXfisti but xbox fans took starfield as there own exclusive,it was the saviour of xbox, even though its been in development for years,if cod had scored highly I think you'd be singing a different tune.

@BaldBelper78 of course it is ,but its also about brand ,xbox will release a few stinkers ,but I also feel they may release a couple of excellent games ,they have to,to be honest im more excited about sonys response ,they have to ,competition is great for us gamers.

"He further reiterated how Xbox's commitment is to bring "more great games to more players in more places" and Blizzard would help the company achieve this."

yes phil we know you hate the xbox console and you will do anything to kill it one way or another.

Xbox should have taken a look at the game and priced it accordingly, instead they just forcibly marketed it by taking over the home screen.
That 4/10 is giving me déjà vu, it's Redfall all over again.

I was expecting to see something like this head up Blizzcon. Hello, I'm the new boss, I've got a busy year clearing up the rubble and building something new out of what's left.

If Xbox can now get all these studios firing on all four cylinders then Xbox should and could be something very special.
Great Management and guidance is now need across these studios.

It was nice to see the Blizzard community genuinely excited about the company joining Microsoft/Xbox, and honestly it is very exciting, the potential is huge!

@rustyduck Seriously is that what you understood from that quote?
To me that meant bringing many PC exclusives to both Xbox consoles and cloud, reaching more players than ever before.

Also, if Phil “hate consoles” so much why are they actively developing the next-gen system that has already been leaked? Lmao

MW3 is from the old ways, team Xbox has nothing to do with that.
MW3 feels rushed, and a very very short storymode. This should have been DLC.

So i hope Xbox doesn't rush things like this. But i do believe that COD is in save hinds with team xbox.

@Mephisto2869 Sony has more than enough to worry about with the mess Bungie is in.

@docLEXfisti Halo got a 9 and it was a disaster that should have been a 5 at best. Forza, hi fi rush, etc... all got great ratings too.

Care to explain this crusade against Microsoft too?

As long as CoD makes money, Microsoft won't touch them.

Same with Blizzard and charging double to play the actual release date while punishing the people that paid the normal amount.

We have seen the ads, and they have paid more than 90bn in studios to generate money.

Did I die and the world turn into a marxist utopia? Who cares if they make money or even an obscene amount of money why is that evil if their not ripping people off?
I think they make some good games are there going to be stinkers? Sony has bad games too it happens. I didn't think Activision added to much to the company I am not really interested in their games or previous games. Blizzard though I have really liked every diablo game on console minus 4 and I hope they turn that around.
I think were going to get some good games out of it I really do.

Well I think we will have to wait and see what happen. I think its way to early to past any judgement yet lol. Think in general now that we should be pretty happy that MS bought Activision Blizzard becuse MS still seem very intrestead to invest in gameing.

I believe him, Blizzard has been a mess.

@TakeItEasy

I caught a cold and sneezed earler and iwas like Darn it Xboox

Xbox should cover its mouth when it coughs. Gross.

We all knew IGN would start giving Activision’s games low scores as soon as the deal closed

@Mephisto2869 Starfield is an exclusive built for 2-3 years under Microsoft's ownership, mw3 is not an exclusive sold 2-3 weeks after Microsoft's ownership.
The tune wouldn't be different

@Vipor007 gamespot gave it a 5/10 with a 3hr long campaign,absolute tripe,and they have the audacity to sell this for 70 quid, Phil shouldve stepped in and said "woah there ,19.99 this fellas"

Talk is cheap.

Whilst Phil Spencer may have been in attendance, Microsoft only took over a few weeks ago and Kotick is 'still' in charge of the ABK part - although now answers to Phil as his boss.

ABK, even though they knew they were going to be 'under new management', still were working under the direction of Koticks management, carry on in the 'same' way making the games that Kotick wants - even MW3 is 'typical' of ABK management despite it being owned and 'now' an MS first party release.

Point is, I expected it to be somewhat more akin to a typical Blizzcon of recent years - little of interest to Xbox Console gamers. This certainly came too soon after the completion of the deal, was probably planned and scheduled before too, to hear about MS's plans for Blizzard or their IP's they could resurrect - especially when ABK Management are only interested in their IP's they can milk...

Look at the 'MW3' timeline - there is NO way MS could or would have had any opportunity to 'change' anything. They legally had no say on CoD: MW3 - its still under Sony's marketing deal too and if we look at the time-line, the date of release, price and of course the Game contents/structure etc were all in place the day MS took over.

There are people who still don't count MS's involvement in Double Fine's Psychonauts 2 for example - despite the Studio coming out and saying that their game is so much 'more' than it would have been without MS support. And now some are saying MW3 lacklustre reviews are MS's fault - how ridiculous! Its purely 'legacy' of Kotick - maybe its the 'game' too that had to release to fulfil Sony's contract.

If it does 'flop', that gives MS an even greater hand to come in and make much more 'changes' to the Studio organisation, the CoD cycle etc. Instead of a 'new' game holiday 2024, maybe they'll 'reboot' the franchise in 2025 - Warzone and MP may well succeed and carry them through...

@OldGamer999 I wonder how much horsepower Microsoft is putting out. I wonder if they have a turbo too.

@IOI That wasn't a next gen system. It was just a discless Series X. I think it has a little more power though, I forgot. Definitely not next gen.

I think Phil should worry about building trust with the customers and that doesn't happen by converting paid for hardware and software into ad supported behind the customers backs. Bait and switch doesn't work.

What a liar he is

@Mephisto2869 Microsoft dont have a clue hoe manage studios hence starfield and redfall neither should never have been released like they did

@Dan1283 redfall I agree,but starfield was complete ,it just wasn't as good a game as their other rpgs ,i was disappointed when the credits rolled, but enjoyed my time with it for what it was.