Phil Spencer Strikes Again. After various rumors comes an updated podcast to show us the future of Xbox and the video game industry.
For weeks, many leaks have been circulating on the internet. The rumors concerned the arrival of some exclusives like Starfield and Indiana Jones on PS5 or the non launch of exclusives on Game Pass on day one.
As everyone knows, it’s best not to give importance to leakers. However the mass audience showed its worst side by succumbing to the flattery of these unreliable rumors triggering a new online war between many communities and players, with results – at times – devastating and causing an impressive amount of economic and image damage to Xbox. Everything seemed to be turning for the worse, and already many American creators and players on social media were calling what was happening “the death of Xbox.”
But Phil Spencer came to resolve the situation.
Revelations From the Xbox Podcast
Phil Spencer, along with Sarah Bond and Matt Booty, announced many plans for the future of Xbox in the coming years.
If you listen carefully, you can infer from their words the scope of a very well-prepared event, which proves effective in controlling the damage suffered and is the ultimate tool to address the concerns of the public and shareholders. Other major revelations concern the long term plan to upgrade next-generation consoles with high investments, as Sarah Bond states.
This will allow a real leap in quality for next generation consoles, something that would have been difficult to achieve for the current generation of consoles.
Furthermore, Phil Spencer spoke about releasing games developed in Xbox studios on other platforms.
He says that four “small” community-based games – which have completed their life cycle on Xbox – will arrive on PS5.
These games are Grounded, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Hi Fi Rush. Phil Spencer talks about the incredible work done with Game Pass. As we see month after month, every game that arrives on Xbox can come to Game Pass at any time, like the Resident Evil remakes, Rise of the Tomb Raider, the Dead Space remake, and surprisingly Warhammer Bolt Gun.
But the most important plan of the new Xbox executives is to make Xbox “the best place for a game studio,” with all the tools that Xbox can offer them, like Game Pass, through which they can break the price barrier, have the support of incredible teams, Xbox Cloud, and the guarantee of the widest possible accessibility to players.
Phil Spencer Talks About the Future of Exclusives
Spencer talks about console exclusives with his – always considerable – vision of the future.
In this new vision of his, exclusives must lose their relevance because what really matters is giving players the best gaming experience anywhere, thus favoring maximum accessibility.
All of this can be seen and appreciated on Xcloud, where extraordinary work has been done to allow playing Xbox games practically anywhere: on smartphones, notebooks, and smart TVs (only Samsung, for now).
The Great Surprise of the Event
During the podcast, Phil Spencer also announced the first Activision Blizzard game that will come to Game Pass, titled Diablo 4.
This is an important move for Blizzard, after the image damage suffered from the many legal cases and the worst treatment towards the community, which certainly did not appreciate the predatory mechanics of Diablo Immortal or the many problems of Diablo 4’s endgame.
With this new mode, Game Pass can breathe new life and bring new players to a great game.
For Blizzard, this is an incredible opportunity to regain the trust of the public, which must be seized: a small piece of advice for Blizzard is to release World of Warcraft and StarCraft on Game Pass as soon as possible.
What Expectations for Xbox Fans in 2024?
As Phil Spencer said, this sector has been stuck for too many years: all the layoffs and problems are linked to this blockage.
The big plan announced by Xbox executives to expand the video game sector involves new modes and huge resources. This is a long-term plan, and results will be visible in the coming years. Meanwhile, for 2024, ten major exclusives are expected, such as Hellblade 2, Avowed, Indiana Jones, Stalker 2, and many others yet to be announced in June.
But the surprises are not over: Xbox has achieved another great success by restoring the interrupted relationship with Square Enix, thus obtaining the release of FINAL FANTASY XIV on Xbox. This is a great result of Phil Spencer’s vision.
Can Xbox Save the Video Game Industry?
Only time will tell, but Phil Spencer is the right man to solve this problem.
As he saved Xbox, he can bring the video game industry into a new golden age, perhaps eliminating the biggest problem of recent years: “the console war.”
Current results aim at this goal, but the road is still long.
