Phil Spencer Explains Why 'This Is An Xbox' Will Be Beneficial To Console Owners

Maybe Phil could make my PS5 an Xbox and my kids Switches an Xbox so I can save myself some money and not keep having to buy us all Xboxes… Because then we’d all have Xboxes without having an Xbox, right?

Pretty much says it all... "The console space isn't growing."
I won't be buying a PC anytime soon, that's for sure, I certainly won't be playing games on my mobile and as for cloud gaming?? 🤔

1. This push means nothing whilst you can only use an non-console Xbox as an Xbox with the premium Ultimate Sub.

2. Was that supposed to be reassuring?

Concern: addressing the lack of growth in Xbox sales by removing the reasons to buy an Xbox is a death spiral for the consoles, a spiral that threatens the digital libraries we built across three generations of consoles (remember the big deal they made off forward compatibility.)

Spencer: but we can make money.

(Yes, they keep saying they plan on more consoles but they change plan every 6 months.)

That's good to hear and at least a positive statement of intent for the future of a dedicated Xbox machine.

It will be interesting to see how that ends up playing out in the end but at least we can infer that the next gen machine they have spoken about is still on the cards.

I just hope it's an absolute banger of a machine.

Money wise it all makes sense, but a lot of Xbox players feel they get pushed away from the platform, and maybe a lot more younger players get lured in, I suppose? And mobile will be the future? As long it's the Nintendo mobile way, I don't mind (as in Hybrid).

I don’t have an issue with the play anywhere marketing. I think it’s actually good. I don’t even have an issue with porting to Nintendo.

My issue is specifically with Playstation and here is why:

Phil Spencer already acknowledged that Playstation would use revenue from games on their system, such as Sea of Thieves or Indiana Jones, to fund more timed and permanent exclusives.

It’s as simple as that.

Making games available to more people isn’t spitting on Xbox fans. But knowing that Playstation will do the above, and then continuing to give them ports to help fund that, is pretty disrespectful.

If Halo goes to Playstation and sells really well. What do you think PlayStation is going to do with that money?

We’ll definitely do more consoles in the future, and other devices

We more or less knew that, nonetheless I'm very happy that Spencer confirmed it again. Just hoping they won't rush out a next gen console(s) before late 2027🤞.

If the success of other platforms means that Xbox can continue to make consoles, that's surely a good thing

Great take, and I'm totally on board with it if that's their strategy. So many great games coming in the next few years on all platforms and I for one look forward to play them...

@K1LLEGAL

If Halo goes to Playstation and sells really well. What do you think PlayStation is going to do with that money?

Probably the same thing Microsoft are doing with all the money they'll make from ABK & XGS games on competing platforms. Invest in more games, get more deals for GamePass, etc, etc.

@Sol4ris as well as slipping cheques to keep more games like Black Myth and Stellar Blade off of Xbox. Phil explained that in court. It’s literally happening and will continue to happen.

Playstation investing in their First Party studios and keeping them exclusive is all well and good. It’s the third party deals that are BS.

How many Xbox's would an Xbox box if an Xbox could box Xbox's?
My guess 67🤷

Of course your console space is not growing you don’t advertise your consoles or give them a fighting chance.
And now they give you more reasons not to engage or increase the Xbox console growth.

You could have sold around 60 million plus consoles had you focused on it and made some big AAA games and done some PR.

The whole thing reminds me of a typical scene from “Yes Minister”.

I’m pretty certain they are as clueless as us regarding what the actual strategy is.

He said what we already knew. I’m really into xCloud and I hope MS realises that it would help a lot to promote it if they came up with a cheaper, cloud only Game Pass tier. That said, Series X is a great console that I prefer over PS5 easily. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the Xbox handheld and next gen console.

The way I look it now @FraserG is that I have a series X which I love. But I also can play games on my iPad, Logitech GCloud when I’m on holiday without taking the whole console and with just lives, I just see this as meaning more people on many diverse budgets can access brilliant games.

Of course cloud and internet in the UK is still not the best, with apps- that Xbox are fine with may I add - like better Xcloud and also GCloud now runs cloud on the Xbox app in 1080p, things are vastly better and will get better.

I totally get what it’s controversial but the way I see it is, is that I can game more than ever before as an Xbox gamer mainly.

I actually see a huge and bright figure for Xbox and it will be a case of the best experience will be on Xbox hardware but if you want to play with a more restricted budget, Xbox will allow you to do so and then some.

I think a Microsoft console could still be a good thing, especially if the games you play/own can be played/streamed on multiple devices. I like being able to play at home, on the go with my ROG Ally X, or stream games through my phone on the cloud on GP.

I want Microsoft to succeed largely for the competition of it all, plus I want to see how this plays out.

Kinect didn't kill the Xbox 360, Play Anywhere and TV apps didn't kill the Xbox One, and this won't kill the Xbox Series. There's room for everyone

@K1LLEGAL

There is no evidence whatsoever to say Sony paid for timed exclusivity on Wukong and Spencer saying "we can't comment on that is not evidence".

Stellar Blade needed a publisher or it would have been cancelled and Sony prevented that.

Tell me, what does MS do with the money they get in gaming? They buy up decades long third party publishers, prevent others working with them again and start worries that no other console will get those games they've had since the PS1 era.

@TeiGekiLord yea MS aren’t saints but you’re missing my point. They are doing that themselves and earning the money themselves. The revenue from Xbox ports on Playstation is basically Xbox handing Playstation funding to screw over Xbox. It’s a different thing. I’m saying they should stop encouraging that.

Playstation are scummy but their own success is their own success.

@K1LLEGAL lol Sony are scummy but MS isn't?

Microsoft is literally gobbling up the industry to bail them out while Sony operates like they and Nintendo have since they got into the industry.

Microsoft can still work with SHIFT UP and the Wukong devs. Sony and Nintendo can never work with publishers who have been around for decades ever again.

@TeiGekiLord is it that hard to read what I wrote? If you want me to say MS are scummy then ok they are scummy.

Are Playstation helping Xbox become more scummy? No, because that would be thick.

Are Xbox helping Playstation become more scummy? Yes. 🤷‍♂️

@K1LLEGAL

Then maybe Microsoft should actually have done deals that weren't stupid and actually used their talent properly.

Microsoft is in this situation because their leadership is useless and don't know what they're doing.

@TeiGekiLord welcome to like 6 comments ago. That’s what i’m saying. They are being thick.

@K1LLEGAL they have always been thick but my issue is that they can throw billions upon billions around to bail them out but somehow Sony doing a deal is what you choose to focus on.

@abe_hikura This, this right here is my same concern as well. All this new ad campaign is going to accomplish is confusing consumers who aren't in the know, which is the majority of xbox users. It's pointless and is indeed a death spiral. Without a reason to buy an Xbox, people will abandon the platform altogether soon enough.

This is Phil essentially admitting defeat as far as consoles go. I am not surprised since as far back as the released of the Kinect they lost any momentum they had managed to build early with the 360 and they have never been able to get it back. Most people could see this coming when they started to realise simply buying large third party publishers wasn't boosting sales as far as consoles go. Those games from the likes of Bethesda and Activision only hold value because they were multi-platform to begin with they weren't valuable as system sellers for the most part.

@JokerBoy322 it's already stopped me buying games on Xbox, it's a gamepass machine now.

I can't justify adding to my Xbox digital library. Hope something changes and I can return to it (My PC really isn't happy about this lol)

@abe_hikura I think I reached my breaking point. I've resigned myself to making it a b/c console and 1st party on the cheap machine. It sucks as I really enjoy the interface compared to PS. 3rd party is always cheaper on PS to for physical

Exactly this. More revenue means you can build consoles and keep bringing bigger and better games to Game Pass.

Who loses out? No one.

@CallMeDuraSouka I love the actual series X console and I love playing on it, where ever possible I bought games for the Series X.

With the way Sony is pricing the Pro, I'm might as well go PC.

@K1LLEGAL I don't see Sony money hating being so much as a problem now. As it slowly going away to some extent. I think once Microsoft implement there third party strategy fully. If it includes ID@Xbox, Xbox worldwide publishing & other partnerships? Then I could see the momentum swing to Xbox. It gives even Xbox hardware more 2nd party titles etc. I think recent surge in companies like Square Enix, Keoi Tecmo, HoYoverse & Kojima Productions commiting is due to the fact they have been sold on the strategy of all device being Xbox.

It is the logical next step for them. Limiting themselves and the consumer to a home console is backwards thinking. Giving us the home console and many other options is beneficial to everyone.

Dunno, kinda losing trust in what he says nowadays. Especially now that he doesn't seem to be in charge of Xbox division - the corporate big guns pull his strings now.

The biggest issue is if the push is for digital only platforms then the likelihood for a disc-less next generation console(s) only are starting to become more real.

There is a small chance the first launch units will have a 4k drive or they will offer an external drive for older games. Though next generation games might not get disc versions. Really sucks and hope I'm wrong but their focus on digital content and GamePass mostly is at the doorstep of killing the Xbox console physical game option.

Then why would I get an Xbox console over a PC? Especially if they are catering more towards PC gamers in their growth? The only reason I can think is console price vs PC that's it.

"Our biggest growth in Xbox players is on PC and cloud. The console space all up isn’t growing, across all of them. We love those customers, but in terms of continuing to expand and grow Xbox, it’s about PC, it’s about cloud, ad it’s about making our games more available in more places.”

Thats how you sell your next console well done.

He makes a great case for why they should bow out of the console market, while proclaiming they'll keep making consoles. This is the awkward era, I suppose.
I'll be upgrading my PC and sticking with Nintendo. Sony and MS will figure their consoleless futures out soon enough.

At this point Sony could just release a poster of a PS5 with sales numbers and a slogan of THIS ISN’T AN XBOX.

Sony is struggling too, against the massive switch sales. And of course even switch sales are kind of at a standstill. The biggest PlayStation market is the west now, not Japan.

Whole thing is kind of weird. Not everyone can afford a gaming pc, or Internet good enough to actually run games on cloud.

It's definitely reassuring to hear there will be more hardware. I have all 3 consoles and the Xbox UI, functionality and controllers are my favourites by far.

I dont see a single reason to stop pushing consoles. Yeah marketing dollar goes to PC/cloud since consoles flatlined but they absolutely want to continue making money off xbox active player base on consoles (i saw numebr thrown around 50-60M across xone and series). Even if that shrinks, money is still there. I think maybe if one of next boxes cant sell like 10M in 3 years maybe thats where they pull the plug but we are far from it

Many people are already team green or blue and dont care what happens on the another side.
I bet even with 0 exclusives (and we are FAR from it as Satya confirmed exclusive content coming to xbox) yeah maybe they sell 40M of next box but again people who are with xbox and like it and dont read all the news, they are just going to upgrade to next gen at some point. Maybe not the best analogy but I have an iphone and even if next samsung is way better I dont care as I am buying next iphone when time comes. Simply because I dont want to deal with anything new. Casual audience does the same with consoles

Whilst people want 'Hardware' to play games on Natively, I believe MS will continue to make 'Consoles' as a 'cheap' and/or 'simple' Plug & Play OPTION.

We all know that Cloud perhaps isn't going to appeal to hardcore gamers but its certainly good enough for the Casuals - for the ones that can't see the benefits or necessarily care enough to upgrade. The 'cheapest' way into Xbox was the XB1S - not everyone upgraded to the XB1X, maybe still haven't upgraded to a Series S/X but now, the cheapest is Cloud.

Even if MS do release games on Playstation, chances are that quite a few won't be Day 1 - similar to Sony's PC releases. Therefore the Xbox will have 'exclusives' if only timed - so Xbox gets them first and of course, can play on Game Pass too. Yes they maybe on PS at some point, but you'll get them 'last' and have to pay £70+...

If you want the 'best' graphics/frame rates, you can invest in a PC that will also have Game Pass and Sony's releases too - as well as 1000's of games not on PS or XBox Hardware - biggest Library with the highest Frame Rates and/or Visual Quality too. Not only do you not need 'both' consoles, you don't need to pay for Online gaming (PS+/Game Pass Core) which can save you nearly £150 a year as well. 5yrs of just the basic subscription is an extra £350-400 per console. You could invest that into a PC instead for example instead...

Funny way of showing your ‘love’ to Xbox customers when PC gets free online multiplayer and much cheaper Game Pass 🤔

@BAMozzy I don’t know anyone who would casually ‘cloud’ game. For most people that isn’t a thing. Just plugging in say a PS4 is a thing.

Xbox are right to try different things but it does seem like the console part of the business is the ashamed of cousin. Really bizarre. No advertising for console but lots of advertising for ‘you don’t need an Xbox to play Xbox.’

Shame because Series X and the controllers are very good. Tell people!

@x3King84 Its an introduction or a 'cheaper' way into the Xbox Ecosystem. Whether you play on Cloud over ANY of those devices (even if its only when you can't play natively) or not, that doesn't mean that ONLY Consoles matter - and those that choose to play (for whatever reason) via cloud or PC don't 'count'.

They have a 'multi-tiered' system - Cloud (entry tier), Series S (Standard $300 Console price point), Series X (Premium $500 Console price point) and PC (Variable to Expensive Tier price point). As long as there is still a 'market' for 'Xbox' specific Hardware - bare in mind 'Price' and 'benefits' (or 'limitations' that hardware may have - Storage capacity is certainly one and download/installation times on large games etc. It has to be cheap/affordable enough to sell but offer 'benefits' above the cloud, but games could get too big/complex to make hardware cheap enough to run them 'better' than streaming will so the likelihood of selling hardware won't make sense - it's why you don't see Bluray players or hifi systems being made by many companies today.

The whole thing is saying 'Xbox' so its still reaffirming their Console - but its also saying that EVERYONE has a choice of where they 'choose' to PLAY Xbox - Whether that is via Cloud for whatever reason (convenience, cost, situation etc - as that maybe on 'XB1' hardware and they can't afford to get a Series X yet so may have to play certain games on cloud) or on their super high end Gaming PC that it makes no sense to buy a Console to play at limited frame rates and/or graphical options and have to pay to play online...

Point is they are all still in the XBOX Ecosystem so welcome on in to the 'Xbox' family wherever you choose to play - even if 'consoles' are not for you/your lifestyle/situation, you can still be on Xbox (which again still makes average people think 'console' first)

@BAMozzy you write your points well. Is Xbox just becoming too complex for the average punter though? As you say… Tiers, devices, multiple consoles, sticks, etc.

Well at least it’ll save me money not needing to buy xboxes in the future but its kind of sad to see the beginning of the end for Xbox consoles. Even if they release a next gen console, why would you buy it if Xbox will have no exclusives? Maybe if Gamepass isnt allowed on Playstation but then the cost for an Xbox console and gamepass is probably a lot higher over the lifespan of that console than just buying the Xbox games you want on a Playstation. Better yet if you have a PC, which Im considering strongly.

It's the other way around :

What people don't understand from the beginning is XBOX console is a pc. They both use windows and dominated by Microsoft.
You go with an xbox or a pc, both have their advantages.

So why would MS releasing all their games on Pc affect my purchase decision between Pc and Xbox? I already have chosen Xbox console since it is plug and play, easier, more comfortable and I use Linux Mint instead of Windows.

And why would you go for PS/Nintendo? Because you hate game pass ( best game service by far ) and you adore their exclusives.

They have to expand to other areas to keep making Xbox consoles... Shows how incompetent the leadership at Xbox really is.

@mac_da_man
Yeah, I was hoping to one day see the Xbox brand return to what it was in the original and, especially, 360 days, but the reality is that it's just not going to happen. Shame because the pressure MS put on Sony in the 7th gen led to one of the best time periods the gaming industry has seen.

At this point Satya is Saddam, ordering his stooge Baghdad Bob out in front of the cameras to tell console owners everything is fine.

Phil is the smartest, most handsome, tallest man alive. Xbox doesn't need things like games or consoles...they have Phil!

4d chess move. Console war is won. Everything is an xbox. There are billions of xboxs out there right now. Can playstation or Nintendo make that claim? No!

But seriously, I think this is good for xbox and the gaming industry.

Phil is probably the greatest snake oil salesman of our generation. Remember when the one x launched and everyone raged about the drm, always online, can't give a game you bought to your pals to play? Killed the resale market? There was absolute uproar.

Phil took that idea, removed the fact you even own your game, then sold millions of it and its praised. One of the best business moves you will ever see.

Now he's telling you that you don't even need the console to play it. You can play games with downgraded visuals and lag on anything and guess what, folks are praising it.

Honestly, the man's a genius.

To all the folks whining about being betrayed, bye and shut up already. Go to PS and then pay full price for all the games owned by MS. MS makes more money off you anyway. However, don't be surprised when more Sony Devs also go cross platform. It's economics.

MS is doing what it needs to expand the brand beyond console. They realize they lost that market at the same time they realized said market would soon be irrelevant. They don't need to chase a dying metric. The cost is too high to appeal beyond the serious gamer. As portables and streaming gain traction, consoles will be last in priority. We might end up with a smaller niche market but the majority will move to streaming.