What is GOING ON with Xbox?!

#xbox #philspencer #interview
Max discusses the recent negative press around Redfall and Xbox in general, as well as response from Xbox Studio's CEO Phil Spencer. This leads to Max's biggest question...given the state of Microsoft's game division, should we be worried about the quality an inevitable Killer Instinct sequel?
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[@elmilkmann]

They’ve wasted too much time trying to buy studios rather than making sure the ones they do own are making good games.

[@kaigen999]

True

[@GuitarSlayer136]

343 was hiring people for 6 months and dumping them for like 6 years of Halo Infinite development and then acted surprised that what they had amounted to a ramshackle beta version drowning in technical debt with employees that didn't know fuck all about the codebase because noone still at the company had actually built it.

[@vortex594]

it's Microsoft's typical strategy. You don't need to worry about your product's quality when you have a monopoly.

[@MTart96]

@@vortex594exactly

[@elmilkmann]

@@GuitarSlayer136 Exactly. By the time any of the contractors they had to use would learn the engine, they had to be out the door due their contract being up.

[@LeynosJehuty]

The last decade of Xbox brand to me has been Spencer coming out to say "greatest year in xbox history" then sometime later saying " sorry, we promise to do better" and the cycle keeps repeating. I have yet to see a game release in 10 years from them that makes me want the system. I loved OG Xbox and 360.

[@teddyholiday8038]

Xbox and 360 were great consoles. Sad to see how far thev have fallen

[@branberrycakes]

OG Xbox and 360 were about releasing solid gaming experiences and amping up the online perspectives. 360 was my favorite console regardless of the amazing the PS3 exclusives. It's an utter shame how Xbox is nothing more than a "Netflix for Gaming" box.

[@tonyvang7648]

PLAYSTATION!!

[@agentdalecooper66]

I jumped back onto Xbox this gen because of game pass after having an OG Xbox and every PlayStation. Love the hardware but damn something is up with their approach. I have ps5 and XSX, there is zero competition on exclusive quality. The games I’ve enjoyed on Xbox are cyberpunk and Neir Automata. Hope they get their shit together we need healthy competition in the industry, and this generations has struggled across the board.

[@teddyholiday8038]

@@agentdalecooper66 couple weeks ago I played Forbidden West: Burning Shores DLC and now I’m playing Tears Of The Kingdom and in both cases I feel that there’s just nothing on Xbox that matches either game

[@hunglo9917]

Five apologies from Phil in five years…must be a record.

[@meeekeeey]

What were the other ones for?

[@hunglo9917]

@@meeekeeey Similar situations to this.

[@RobedLogic]

@@hunglo9917 i cant remember any at all myself

[@smokeyjoe6059]

​@@RobedLogic Anthem might be one?

[@twistedgambit9084]

He's the WASH Football Red-Commanders of the video game industry.

[@yrh002b8]

The era of 360 was kinda a anomaly. - sony screw the price - sony got hacked - sony taking away features - sony was hard to develop for which make their version worse than 360 - sony was late to the achievements party - sony has bad online - marketpalce was outdoing the PSN - call of duty hit at the right time or in this case FPS in general. The boom of multiplayer fps. I'm sure there are more but everything went right for them and went wrong for Sony. I don't expect this to happen again.

[@mrpopo5097]

@@Brothers-rv7htnobody expected Sony to bounce back from a bad ps3 launch yet they did and closed the gap with Xbox 360 and surpassed them win console sales even tho Xbox 360 had a year head start and went on to making the ps4 which surpassed over 100 million console sales.

[@wabbajack8283]

@@mrpopo5097 The reason is and will always be "games". PS3 had a rough start but they still released banger games near the end that attract the masses (TLoU, GoW3, Uncharted).

[@Yeahhhhthisisgood]

I think if Sony didn’t screw up the PS3 launch and maintained the momentum they have with the PS2 …. There wouldn’t have even been an Xbox one

[@killerb255]

In other words Microsoft got gifted its 360 success because of Sony's early PS3-era failures.

[@iconofsin4578]

2 things what sony seems to not get right is shooters and multiplayer games.

[@ryza2245]

He’s so right that they lost the most important generation and there still suffering from that.

[@samuelhebert4687]

I mean Nintendo kinda lost a big part of that generation with the Wii u yet they managed to bounce back really well so there should be no excuses in my opinion. Series X needs games they need good games, you can have the most powerful console ever but if u got nothing to play on it what’s the point? Switch proves that point perfectly in my opinion it’s the least powerful but has so many games I wouldn’t be surprised if it beats the PS2’s record as most sold console ever.

[@supremeblack1994]

@@samuelhebert4687 nintendo has ip’s. Xbox just started buying studios in 2016z before that they only had like 4 studios. So yea it is easier for nintendo to bounce back when you have house hold ips instead of someone just now bringing ips back or buying studios

[@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu]

I don't know if the ps5 was a huge miss I still would have swapped over. But Microsoft haven't even tried to give people a reason to even be tempted. And as a result playstation have been able to get away with some pretty anti consumer policies and still ended up looking like the better option. £70 for games is still pretty crazy.

[@drewstar8611]

@@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu considering what games cost to make these days we should be lucky they’re only $70

[@nawab256]

Nintendo holds some of gamings biggest and oldest franchises. The wiiu was a bust but the 3ds was a power house at the time. Nintendo is also doing this own thing in the handheld space so they don’t have to worry about what Xbox and Sony are doing. People will also always get the console with Pokémon, Mario, Zelda, and games with a mix of their franchise racing and beating each other on it. Xbox has what? A few shooters and a car game? Nintendo is gaming because they are literally the Pioneers of gaming. They’re one of the first few who started the gaming platform.

[@rubenthehuman]

The annual Phil Spencer apology, it's like a tradition by now.

[@Smaul002]

Exactly. Everyone is acting like he’s so brave for coming out when we’ve been down this road before. I don’t get it

[@cookingsauce8274]

"We hear you just keep waiting the games are coming"

[@FelipeSilva-fm2vs]

His PR tour, "please love me because I want to be at your shows"

[@derrickdiggs8612]

@@Smaul002 Yeah. He’s taking “accountability” but he’s doing anything to remedy the problem. It’s like a boyfriend that constantly beats his girl but he apologizes and she keeps taking him back. I don’t know if Phil actually does anything or if he’s just a figurehead. He’s gonna need to grow a spine. Yeah creativity is cool, but making games that people want to play is even more important.

[@derrickdiggs8612]

@@cookingsauce8274 The Xbox Series X/S has been out for 3 years. Did they just give people the development kits when it came out😂😂😂.

[@Panyc333]

One of the major issue at 343 was their hiring structure. They have core full time employees and they also have contractors. These contractors can’t work more than 16 months before they are required to be made full time employees. The onboarding time for these contractors is considerable. By the time they are up to speed it’s time to go.

[@Panyc333]

@jshowa o this is the other issue with 343. Phil said in the interview that he is not a fan of stifling the creative process. If a team want to go make a game, he wants to support them. Then there’s 343.

[@LogicalError007]

It's just 343. Because it's the policy of the state, they have to do that if they want to be in that state.

[@RomeoTheBeast11]

They should think about extending contracts when needed or making certain roles or all of them full time then. They need to figure something out.

[@emperormegaman3856]

@LogicalErrir007 Then they should want to not be in that state? That's not sarcasm, i legitimately wonder. Sure they might have a reason to be there, and moving a whole-ass studio isn't cheap, but Whatever Tax advantage or whatnot that they might have from being there isn't efficient if it hurts the quality of their products and, as a result, their earnings.

[@beybladetunada5697]

I love when max does a take on general console stuff because he clearly just want to see this industry thrive and get better every day. no one-sided opinions, no bias, no stupid console wars. Just facts

[@seanyoung9014]

Yeah I had to come here for this because the other channels I was checking on had so many toxic fanboys on both sides that I couldn't take any of it seriously or get a sense of what the issue even was. Adults arguing about boxes that play games is hilariously sad.

[@KeybladeMaster87]

Follow games. Not consoles. I want everyone to have a good time. It sucks when stuff like this happens to anyone.

[@lobomartinez6161]

I totally get that but if Xbox or any of the consoles die that leaves the remaining platforms a tighter monopoly on their games and policies and they can get away with more things that's anticonsumer based. (More so then now) We want the players to win not a console. Even if for example all platforms die and goes exclusively to PS4 or Xbox or Nintendo or PC then what stops them from establishing any standards of their choosing? 90 dollar games, online only, limitations of what games are made. (Nintendo for example makes pretty casual games. If they were the exclusive platform to game do you think we would ever see a game like God of war, where that is not their based prime form artistic expression?) No we aren't looking for any of them to get a monopoly it would be the death of gaming as we know it.

[@moopersworthninjason42nd81]

@@deetsitmeisterjd we'll end up with stagnation on all ends of the industry and bungie-esque business practices like raising the season passes by five dollars despite them being mid at best

[@KeN_The_SaMuRaii]

I wish all gamers was like him, he tells it how it is!

[@rainfall576]

They spent $2.5 billion to acquire Minecraft in 2014, their flagship titles were Halo 4 & GoW 4, etc. It's been a decade and I'm struggling to recall if Xbox has a franchise that would be called a system seller.

[@REXae86]

Fable and Perfect Dark

[@ngmajora6986]

​@@REXae86 who is buying a console for Perfect Dark how many people unironically even remember Perfect Dark

[@gkey06]

@@REXae86 you cant be serious hahahahaha those arent even close to console sellers.

[@REXae86]

@@gkey06 in your opinion

[@ninja1man4u]

Phil Spencer single handedly reassured gamers and simultaneously made all Xbox gamers scratch their heads wondering "do you want us to abandon your platform?"

[@MrHeiska01]

@@TheFreedyShow I still think they will abandon console business and will become just mega publisher.

[@Kango234]

​@@MrHeiska01 I thought that's what they were planning last gen when they made Gamepass and added it to PC. I was so shocked that they still decided to make not one, but two more boxes for some reason.

[@barcster2003]

​@@TheFreedyShow yep ultimately it boils down to microsoft not knowing what it's doing.

[@milesg7877]

He said at the end, they don't want to compete, basically become the netflix of gaming 😂

[@afromarco005]

@@MrHeiska01 I Hope they dont a PS monopoly sounds horrible for costumers

[@twil004]

I feel like the "we don't compete with Playstation" is a moving the goal post situation. If you make games people wanna play on your system then people will want your system. People don't play playstation for its hardware they play it for the games it puts out. Easy answer is put out better games.

[@ThiefofCrystals]

Precisely. Halo and Fable were such heavy hitters that the 360 basically thrived due to the mere idea of Halo 3 and Fable 2 (neither of which were even close to being launch titles) and that's not to mention other important exclusives. Xbox Live was once THE place to play games online which is sort of a different matter, but since online is effectively even for all platforms these days, it further reinforces the importance of good exlusives.

[@skieth9999]

I can list several systems that disprove your idea. The N64, the Game Cube, the Wii U, the Vita, the Dreamcast. This is a very naive point from someone who has not actually looked at the history of successes and failures in the game platform space. The N64 has 8-10 of the most well known and beloved games of all time and it not only did worse than the PSX, but it sold worse than the SNES, its predecessor. The Wii U almost certainly had a stronger library than the Xbox One but it sold MUCH worse over its lifetime. The Game Cube had tons of genuinely great games and was stronger than the PS2 in terms of hardware and sold worse than the PS2, worse even than the original Xbox.

[@SuperSireBoyYT]

Okay but also xbox has botched the launch of 2 consoles in a row. People buy the great games at launch then maybe some will buy great games mid cycle, but first impressions are everything. These are 500 dollars systems we’re talking about, and if nintendo has this good line up, sony at least has these great games on the way and confirmed, but xbox is just kinda up in the air, people are going to buy a ps5 and aren’t going to switch thier 500 dollar decision afterwards

[@melvin5096]

@@ThiefofCrystals I'm late asf but your comment is absolutely true. People don't realize the 360 thrived in popularity despite being a financial failure because of the Red Ring of Death problem and on TOP of being a failure in the asian market. 360 sold like hotcakes and was a pioneer in the West because of the GAMES. They have clearly forgotten that and are now paying the price full stop.

[@bellissimo4520]

Remember the absolutely excellent "Demon's Souls" remake for PS5? And how during the first reveal (during the PS5 reveal event) Shuhei Yoshida appeared and mentioned that the next game was "very near and dear to his heart"... and I actually believe him. That is the thing - there seem to be people in higher management of Playstation who actually care for their games. I feel like that is not the case anymore at Xbox. Over there, nobody really gives a shit anymore.

[@MikeSW]

I forget, but I thought Shu was actually responsible for getting the game to the States when Atlus was running into problems?

[@tonystarrk4859]

@@MikeSW I'm pretty sure the story goes that when Shu played it he thought the game was terrible and it's because of this that Sony decided not to publish the game outside of Japan. Atlus picked up the publishing rights after the game became a cult hit among importers. Shu went on to say this was the greatest mistake of his time in charge of Sony's software (that they greatly underestimated the value of Fromsoftware). This led to Sony and Shu to make Bloodborne with Miyazaki and Fromsoft.

[@nocturnalscotsman]

@@tonystarrk4859 Yeah that's what I remember hearing, something like how competition from xbox was mostly exclusive FPS games that Sony lacked, I also believe his later statement to ring true. Such a shame no one is championing Bloodborne within Sony nowadays as Shu Yoshida would apparently often praise and talk about his time with the Bloodborne and getting the legit platinum trophy on it. He even showed up to beat Defiled Watchdog live on a jp stream once (KZbin "Bloodborne: Sony's Shuhei Yoshida Proves his Skills")

[@ThomastheDankEngine8900]

Peter Moore is the only Xbox employee to ever give a damn about gaming. And when was Xbox delivering its best exclusive games? When Moore was CEO of Xbox.

[@ViciousArcanum]

​@@tonystarrk4859actually they previewed it to Journos and other people who all hated it, forcing Sony to not publish it in the West.

[@ResonantJusticeArchives]

Outside of Hi-Fi Rush, there hasn’t been a game that’s made me SOOO excited and desperate to wanna pick up an Xbox. Even if I wanted an Xbox, why not just invest in building a PC?

[@matheusbarbosa999]

I tought about investing on gamer pc setup and going for Xbox was a good decision. Considering the prices of things in my country (I'm brazilian 🇧🇷), the fact that to play great games on great perfomance, Id need to invest high, and it would take lots of money and time for me to reach that. I looked up on Xbox and for me, I feel fine. I just wanted a way to get into better games since 2020 and I feel satisfied so far. But once my life is more stable, I'll focus on PC setup, cause Im not ignoring the current situation of Xbox.

[@lsthree6996]

Only if you knew how expensive gpu's are.

[@meethepie]

​@@lsthree6996 You don't *need* a state of the art current gen GPU to run modern games, a $200 used GPU off craigslist that's 1 or 2 gens behind will still allow you to run most modern games at 60fps 1080p on high which is more than enough for most gamers (and better than consoles).

[@banjo9158]

I think the same for GOW Ragnarok being the only thing that interest me in a PS5, and it's probably coming to PC eventually anyway so... i guess, PC is the better investment after all.

[@Sayiism]

Then they don't hit any of the niche's that you like and that's fine. They have a lot of good stuff that hit very specific audiences with Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush and the Age Of Empires games overall. They are just lacking the AAA story focused highly visually polished action adventure games that Sony puts out.

[@Kango234]

I will never forget being in the Gametrailers live chat for e3 2013 and watching the infamous "Buy a 360" interview with Don Mattrick. When he dropped that line all of the proud xbox fanboys in the chat were actually stunned, posting stuff like: "Really..." "Is he joking" "???" Like the entire time between the X1 announcement and e3, people were convinced there would be an offline sku or some sort of option so it was insane that he would not only dash those hopes, but make a stupid joke about it too. Now 10 years later Microsoft is still paying for that interview. Turns out telling consumers not to buy your new product is a stupid idea.

[@asdf_asdf948]

The thing is xbox never changed their core strategy after the xbo launch debacle, which is to convert their users into constant subscription paypigs like their other microsoft businesses like office365. They aren't in the business to make the best games in the industry, they're in there to be another tentacle of the microsoft revenue monster.

[@Fuchsfeuer]

the problem is they haven't done enough to change that. one gave copium no more or changed nothing. MS is just like the interview. They continue on their way. Bring no games and if they do, they are of very poor quality, especially in relation to the possibilities that ms has. Many do not realize how much money MS has. This is something Sony can only dream of and they've been wiping the floor with MS since the last and current generation. I'm sure that the ativision blizzard purchase wouldn't change anything about it. Especially since you can see what they're doing with the studios, what they've bought. bring nothing or just bad multiplayer games that nobody wants and even after a year of patching they will not become good games. everyone has already forgotten bleeding edge. redfall will end like this. The interesting games like scalebound cancelt..

[@908peruvian]

Damn why cant xbox get ton of exclusives…. KI, KI vs MK, Burnout, EDF, bayo type game from Platinum etc etc after Halo failure they need to go back to games

[@xiahouduin]

@@908peruvian Well, they did have a deal with Platinum games but...

[@holamoco]

​@@asdf_asdf948 True

[@ulrich7134]

The difference is Sony puts time and effort with their studios...whilst Microsoft just wants to buy!,buy!buy! And their studios aren't showing enough first exclusive content

[@felipeaguena5289]

I think when Sony did that "how to lend a game to a friend" commercial was the moment Xbox officially failed

[@cokelife5831]

Yea nail in the coffin

[@dropkickpherby6994]

Proof that buying out your competition doesn't do anything if you don't use the weapons you've obtained.

[@azzaprime7257]

They havnt brought there competition.. what are you on about. They were blocked for buying ABK.

[@calvinwilson3617]

Because they dont want to compete, they want to push mediocre games on gamepass.

[@jaahman0098]

@@azzaprime7257 Bethesda

[@powercheif]

​@@jaahman0098bethesda was under zenimax. They were never competition. Sony and nintendo is competition.

[@jaahman0098]

@@powercheif I’m saying they’re buying out publishers and all these studios to compete against Sony and Nintendo

[@SoloEmpireOfficial]

When they botched Halo Infinite I knew something was wrong.

[@unkn0wn289]

I think that Max need to do more mature long analysing/conversation with reaction on things about industry and not just fgc like this, he is really good for that and his thought process hit the right spot on many things, really interesting stuff and i like to hear his opinion about things he not biased at all (instead of KI, in a good sense), keep them coming, dood !

[@vagamer522]

I would rather trust Max then many of these people doing clicks for views cause atleast he goes into details about the business and understands what is happening.

[@scottjameson5358]

The thing is, Max does talks about these stuffs as well. It's because he never uploaded the clip from his streams or he focuses more on certain gaming content, but he does the Max Talks content once in a while. Even know, I'm still trying to find which VOD had him reacting to Tim Follin's musical feats.

[@Kango234]

​@@scottjameson5358 Yeah I was shocked to see that not only this was uploaded, but it's the full unedited segment.

[@nocturnalscotsman]

@@scottjameson5358 You're in luck, I happened to bookmark that one myself a while back lol stream was: "Returning to CHAOS, DNF New Trailer & Game Awards Predictions!? !nzxt (12-2)" at exactly 2 hours in Enjoy

[@scottjameson5358]

@@nocturnalscotsman Holy smokes. You're a godsend. What are the odds? I've been trying to search this up for months. Thanks a lot, Dood! I will now go back and edit every time I mentioned asking about this and sharing the source. Again, thank you so much. Shine On!

[@Rheisler1475]

When Max pauses the video, I listen. I love how he breaks down shit, and explains it to simplicity.

[@everdash]

"Hey Sony fans, when Redfall fails, we ALL have to take the hit and feel the loss." I wonder if they'd be saying the same thing if Redfall was a smashing success.

[@mach3wgamer]

That part infuriated me the most.

[@Dallas78256]

Or maybe just don't think the entire video game market exists in the AAA? Go play an indie game that receives 300x the attention and resources and doesn't have a monolithic mega-corporation breathing down its developers neck to get the game out as fast as possible. Not everybody has to take a bite of that sandwich, only the idiots who think a game has to cost minimum 300 million dollars to develop.

[@Emanny28]

I understood where he was coming from… it just didn’t sound right

[@jrebolledo458]

No hate to the company, but statements like that are why I don't go to Kinda Funny for news. I like Greg Miller, so I like to hear his opinions on games, but there are no experts in that company that I trust for real news. I don't care where people play games, as long as everyone is having fun. Clearly the Xbox fanbase is being fucked around, and its not cool. Give those people the games they deserve, they have stuck with that platform for a long time. This is beyond disappointing.

[@ciscorey6520]

KI and Titanfall were, specifically, the two titles that had my hyped about Xbox One early on. It's sad to see these franchises sitting around doing nothing now.

[@SH1NK1R01]

To be fair. Titan fall actually did not do well under ms. And the studio that made it is now developing apex using that established universe. Ms doesn’t own the ip so they can’t really force them to make a new one either.

[@gaphdd1412]

Killer instinct is good

[@danielwalters5388]

I bought Xbox for ki 2013 and I made the right decision I ply the death on online and played tournaments locally were I lived greatest memories

[@Scottoest]

If you believe the rumours from months ago, there IS currently something happening with KI again - it just isn't ready to reveal yet.

[@ForeRunnerODST]

KI and Dead Rising 3 were bombshells for me back at the Xbone launch. I was a huge Dead Rising fan so the fact MS got the third game as an exclusive, just like DR1 on the 360, made me so hyped

[@SuperMann104]

I think Phil’s comments towards the end of the interview are telling in a strange way. The sentiment of ‘we can’t just make better games and people will sell their ps5’ is true to an extent, but making good games will incentivize people to buy your system. It’s why people buy the switch, for its 1st party library (and the portability). If Xbox just relegates itself to being #3 as he put it and just makes game pass a service to play C and B tier games, it’s going to continue to struggle.

[@snakedogman]

"The sentiment of ‘we can’t just make better games and people will sell their ps5’ is true to an extent" Really? It sounds like bullshit to me. I can kind of afford more than one platform, but if I couldn't, I would be tempted to sell my Series X for a Switch, just to play Mario, Zelda, Kirby and Metroid. Even though I'm really bummed by the Switch being so underpowered.

[@melvin5096]

It's fully disingenuous because right now the one whos eating Xbox's existence isn't PS it's PC. They fucked themselves by branching into PC way too hard. And now the few exclusives they have are flopping which means owning an Xbox is essentially worthless when you can have a PC with PC exclusives + Xbox games. Meanwhile PS is slowly trickling it's games but focusing on PS first and then PC.

[@emperormegaman3856]

@SnakedogMan Which is why it's only true to a extent. Sure thoses who can only afford to buy one system or only care to buy one would sometimes sell the one they own to buy another with better game, but they're also likely to just stick with the one they already own and not flip out if a game that looks cool isn't in the system they own and just be fine not playing that one game. (because people who are hardcore enough about video games that they'd NEED to play something are the type who buy 2 system if they can afford it.) Especially since it's not like Sony would lack good games of their own. (you also have to consider, if you didn't have the means to buy both would you have gotten a Xbox in that you'd have sold later or bought a Switch to begin with?) Their problem, however, is that they shouldn't be focusing on making people sell their O-S, they should be focusing on making them buy XBoxes in the first place.

[@xKarma_411]

Wish one day Phil opens up on Microsoft's structure of their first-party studios still relying heavily on contracting work, and how maybe that might be the core reason why talent doesn't stay at microsoft and ultimately lose very talented devs.

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

Some insight into Arkane specifically, I highly recommend the NoClip series about this studio, it's really enthralling! Plus Raphael Colantonio's interview about Weird West. The frustration behind AAA development is actually what caused Arkane's founder, Raphael Colantonio, to leave the studio. He was the creative director at Arkane Austin, and he was completely hands-on with Prey (which in my opinion is why that game was sooooooooooo good, it was Colantonio FINALLY getting to be super creative!) But prior to that he was a creative director on Dishonored, three cancelled Arkane projects, Dark Messiah and Arx Fatalis, but throughout all of these games he was also the CEO of Arkane, and this meant he could not just be an artist, he had to be a BOSS and in interviews he made it very clear that this was not something that brought him fulfilment. Hence bringing in Harvey Smith after his Looking Glass and Ion Storm days, but also ultimately why he left and took staff with him to make Weird West.

[@endlesswanderer1753]

I'll double checking out NoClip in general. They have incredible documentaries and interviews with a variety of studios. Probably my favorite was with Two Point Studios, the team behind the Two Point Hospital/Campus series, as well as old school Theme Hospital. Another great one is with Gavin of Two Star games, the developer of Choo Choo Charles. He's this young, hungry 20-year-old dude who had no idea his goofy train horror game was gonna blow up like crazy, seating him with the near impossible task of meeting expectations as a lone dev vs. the viral acclaim his early gifs started giving him.

[@lukaszzylik4437]

That makes a lot of sense. Arkanes games have been brilliant, from Arx Fatalis up to Deathloop. I hope that Arkane can bounce back from this misstep. I'm not prepared to hate Arkane because of one bad game. Great directors and bands occasionally put out a dud.

[@KaiSchSp]

I have an Xbox Series X and it is "nice to have". Browsing Game Pass is fun and super convenient. But man, quantity is not what drives me towards a console. The quality Nintendo and Sony are managing to put on their system is just on another level.

[@xbigdaddysenpai8922]

I have a series s (as a gift) and purchased ps5 at launch … I’ve turned on the series S maybe 6 times and all I do is browse game pass and download nothing

[@spartan2188]

True. One of the BIGGEST reasons why I bought an XSX was because of the backwards compatibility. That's where they made a great move. I was hoping they also brought a lot of new AAA games, but it's been a bit dry in that aspect. But it was more of a hope. I knew the PS5 would have many AAA games, which is why I got it first....no hope needed. Xbox needs to do better and focus on the darn games and not acquisitions. If they keep this up, Microsoft will eventually pull the plug on Xbox and call it quits, just like what Sega did.

[@scalesofleviathan9697]

I buy most major multi-platform games on Xbox and always have, solely because I prefer the controller (I don't care about PC and probably never will). But if you don't care about this, there is admittedly little reason to bother with it. Their mismanagement of studios is really disappointing.

[@beardedxdeath]

Bruh Sony and Nintendo has one of the worst updating ui ever , quick start alone is worth having an Xbox, Japanese companies are extremely anti consumer.

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

I guess the appeal of a Xbox console is very similar to owning a PC (I am a PC user since the PS3 transition, goddamn that console was expensive smh), you have the entire Xbox library at your disposal, the multiplatform stuff, etc.. It's good if you enjoy the "backlog" aspect of the hobby. Now if you want the newest thing, the zeitgeist (or FOMO, whatever), then the Playstation platform becomes way more enticing (because the multiplatform stuff will still be a thing alongside with exclusives). There's literally no reason for people to pick a Xbox over a PC, honestly. Just by the pure power of convenience and the entry fee, ok, the Xbox is justifiable on this regard... but that's pretty much the only excuses, PC is the better deal by far (especially if you migrated before this current gen of consoles, nowadays you can upgrade the PC with $300 and you are set until the PS5 generation completes it's cycle). So basically not only Microsoft looks like the worse deal in comparison to Sony, they are also cannibalizing their own platform because PC (Windows) also looks like the better deal (Microsoft takes a percentage of every software utilized on Windows, that's great for them, but at the same time they are not selling many Xbox consoles)

[@elhombreglacial]

What i don't like is the bald guy early in the show he says that Sony players are happy about redfall situation, and around the 53min mark also attacks Jedi survivor for the trashy release and saying "respawn knew they were launching with bugs" if it comes to that, then Microsoft also knew the state in which RedFall was getting launch. I don't like that he is attacking others to defend himself, yes there are probably some fanboys happy and what happen with Jedi is a bad situation but that doesn't diminish what you did with redfall a 70 dolars game that easily needed like 2 more years of development.

[@jasonton87]

Yeah he said pc version of Jedi survivor was unacceptable and then also that the ps5 version had a lot of problems as well. No mention of the Xbox version 😂🤣

[@KeN_The_SaMuRaii]

I wished they gave their studios freedom to speak so we know the root to the problem. We already somewhat know the problem from when some devs at 343 Industries exposed their management for only wanting to impress investors and taking too long to sign off on things with the team. Im guessing Management is the true problem but I feel like if Phil really cared actions wouldve been taken by now. Thats just my take on it!

[@Bad_At_Parties]

The problem being that Phil can't be a thousand places at once. It's ridiculous for one man to have so much responsibility, and it's no surprise these faux pas occur. A leader can only do so much when those they are deemed responsible for are spread out so heavily.

[@omegashinra7672]

I switched from Xbox One to PS4 when Scalebound was cancelled and I realised that Xbox wasn't offering me a single thing to be excited for. That was 6+ years ago, and they've done NOTHING impressive since. Year on year we hear 'oh but give them time', but how long is enough? In that same time, Playstation, Nintendo and PC have given me some of my favourite games I've ever played, and consistently good AAA titles, Indie games, and experiences of all levels, and Xbox has done jack shit except be a letdown over and over again. I thought the concept was quite simple, you're a business, you need to make unique products to get people to open their wallets, and Xbox just haven't been. It's reached full on joke territory now.

[@oppailover5439]

Same.. I was hyped for Scalebound and it never came so I just got a PS4 .. now have a PS5 and a gaming laptop

[@Hype_Incarnate]

Xbox was just riding of high of the failure of the ps3, but that was almost 20 years ago. Xbone had nothing other than gears 5, but that game isn't a system seller. Now they are just trying to become a monopoly buying up studios.

[@MrHeiska01]

@@Hype_Incarnate Issue is that even failed PS3 sold equally or even more than Xbox 360 did. Microsofts best generation was equal to Sonys worst.

[@sonicck]

Scalebound would have been something sad they cut it I was hoping Sony would get it lol

[@TaIIer]

I am so glad that everyone is aware of how poorly invested Microsoft is with xbox. All of that money for literally no reason lol

[@jocaomelhor]

dude they can't even get Halo right.

[@mach3wgamer]

You'd think that they would make it their console seller but it feels like they have abandoned it.

[@bryantm82004]

I'm suddenly reminded of Platinum making Babylon's Fall, which didn't even last a year as a live service...

[@kainslegacy666]

I like how nobody has the balls to say a word let a lone move, When Max starts speaking. They'are all just in awe!

[@GraylightSynes]

10 years. 10 years of no must-have games. There's no excuse and they need to seriously re-examine whether they belong in an industry where they don't seem able to compete without opening up their wallet and trying to buy another company.

[@Uso_Wakka]

Damn.....i wanted to be like mo halo 3 this and halo reach that........halo 4 came out in 2012...you're right...10 years

[@alteredizzy]

No must have for you. But saying there's been none is ridiculous

[@omegashinra7672]

@@alteredizzy Is it? Can you name 3 well received, highly rated, exclusive first party games Xbox has had in the past 5 years that isn't the typical Forza/Halo/Gears stuff? I'm talking AAA level, quality titles that help sell consoles.

[@cryptocaesar8972]

@@alteredizzy Thats not ridiculous at all, thats literally the issue why theyre failing as a company. Its been Forza and Halo. Halo which sucks compared to the old games.

[@frankhemstra634]

​@@alteredizzy there have been none. All their star ips have gotten less quality wise. Horizon is the only series that has actively improved.

[@LeonisBraefer]

This has been Xbox's biggest issue since they moved onto the Xbox One. On the 360 they used to have these very good exclusives that people bought consoles for and played. The system itself sold 84 Million units, that's 3 million shy of the total PS3 unit sales. They tried to become an all in one purpose entertainment system, instead of being a gaming console, which is why people bought a 360. They proceed to try and make up for this with Game Pass, which while is a pretty sweet deal, has to be costing them an insane amount of money and is not really making people buy a console. Then they buy big name developers like Bethesda, who has a insane track record for releasing unfinished buggy messes, and then try to blame it on Playstation and Nintendo being around longer. Phil. You guys had 22 years to create a fanbase and you did with the 360, but while Nintendo and Sony continued to make a gaming console, you tried to be more than that. That is why no one is buying your console. When you could of been investing into games to make them bigger and better like Sony with God of War or any Nintendo IP, you guys just bought other developers and said "We spent enough". I don't feel bad about Xbox being in this state. They did this to themselves. Killed Rare and hold ips hostage that will never see the light of day because they don't actually care about making good games. They care about money.

[@DANCERcow]

But but exclusives are anti consumer tho so lol

[@thatoneeco]

​@@DANCERcow Yet they sell those consoles, it's the main point on having different platforms: they will all have unique things to make people decide to choose them. And that is exactly why Micro has this problem with Xbox: they have nothing that can compete with Sony and, specially, Nintendo's first party catalogue.

[@mariozappini7784]

@@thatoneeco And even if they had it's available on PC anyways so there's no winning in that department, but i do appreciate that people with PCs can still get Xbox exclusives cause goddamn i'm not gonna fucking spend 400$ just to play demon souls remake.

[@jadedragon216]

The 360 completely dominated over the PS3 early in that generation due to Sony's many, many missteps. They should have never been able to catch up and surpass 360's numbers but then Kinect happened. Microsoft put most of their money in that instead of developing new IP and relying on Halo, Gears, Fable & Forza. Then came Xbox One and TV, remember them trying to do a TV studio that failed miserably. There were promising attempts at new and classic IP like Sunset Overdrive and KI, only to abandon them later and mostly focus on 3rd party exclusives for IP they don't own. Once again focusing on Halo, Gears & Forza. Thank god, Sea of Thieves actually became a thing. Now it's Game Pass and acquisitions, except without any actual management or quality control of what their acquired studios are doing. I want to root for them, because Sony needs a competitor to bring them back down to earth when they get uppity like the PS3 Era, but so many years of bad decisions and just throwing money at problems hoping it'll go away makes it so hard.

[@AllstateManlove]

Microsoft has gone on record being self contradictory, saying that it doesn't want things exclusive to xbox because they believe in being pro consumer, but then turn around and wonder why their console sales are suffering when their competition continues to be anti consumer and force people to buy their units to play their games. Xbox is a PC lite, and that's why I and many people got it. It should continue to try to be all in one because that's what a PC is anyways, and lowering that bar to entry does nothing but good for the overall market.

[@Bad_At_Parties]

Never been an XBOX guy, and no gamer should ever forget E3 2023 for all the lessons it should have taught the industry and consumers about Microsoft's greed, but I have never had an issue with Phil. In an industry full of leadership types that talk bullshit, he doesn't come off as being fake, practiced or slimy like so many do. He is willing to sit in the firing line and take tough questions, and you have to respect that no matter where you stand in these kinds of debates. He has always come off as a solid guy, and has essentially been fighting against the bad image the brand has had since before he had any control in steering that ship another way. I hope he doesn't end up getting axed and replaced down the line, because he comes at things with good intentions and really cares about what he does. We need more leadership like him, not less.

[@DavCube]

"But there were plenty of consoles with great games that didn't sell well though!" You're right, it's not the only factor at play. But I would think that it's a pretty damn good place to start for a gaming platform to have great games. Many of said situations were a result of trying to keep up a balancing act between the libraries of two platforms at the same time, ie. Nintendo and Sony's home consoles and handhelds, which is far more delicate to maintain than you'd think. -PS3 turned itself around in its second half by getting more good games, and in turn PSP suffered in its second half as resources shifted. -Vita was never give a gaming focus, with marketing talking almost exclusively about remote play with PS3/4, which caused it to tank. -Gamecube and Wii U suffered from lack of balance of support with their handhelds of the time in the GBA and 3DS, along with other factors such as format issues. N64 was in more or less the same boat, though moreso with formats than balancing with the Game Boy and the Pokemon boom. -Dreamcast was the end result of three generations of bad policy decisions and hardware add-on money pits, which the Saturn similarly suffered from. Which leaves us with the big exception of the OG Xbox, though you could also throw the N64 and GCN into this category too rather than what I listed above, because all three of them had great games from start to finish. However, when they were so greatly outclassed by PS1 and 2 at the time because they had that many MORE great games, that's what caused the gulf in sales. Obviously quality is more important than quantity, but when you had such monumental successes like PS1/2, DS, Wii, 360, and Switch that had BOTH, you need a little bit more quantity too in order to really get more people to look at your library. People aren't going to slap down half a grand for a console to only get a small handful of games and empty promises when you have platforms with dozens more than that to look forward to, only the hardcore enthusiasts are going to take that plunge. Which brings us to today, where Microsoft has the most studios, the most money, the most resources, the most IPs, EVERYTHING in their favor to make more games, better games, better services, the whole nine yards... but they just aren't able to do it for some reason. They tripped at the starting gate with the XB1's marketing and aside from a tiny handful of gems like Killer Instinct, Rare Replay, and Forza they just never recovered. Redfall was the first big AAA game in a year and a half and almost everything else announced is in development hell. Their marquee franchise Halo just keeps falling farther and farther. They can't keep coasting along with Game Pass forever and use it as a dumping ground for half-baked releases, and ESPECIALLY not from just buying even more studios to suffer that same fate, because people just don't trust them anymore. The only way they can gain that trust back is to restructure what they have and DO BETTER. Simple as. Spencer made a comment here about getting people to sell their Playstations to buy Xbox, which isn't supposed to be the goal, it's supposed to be to get people to buy Xbox IN ADDITION to whatever they already have, not to sacrifice the other box in order to "belong" to Xbox. This stands in stark contrast to his previous comments years ago putting his own fanboys on blast for their tribalist behavior in the gaming sphere. Spencer has lost his way, and I think he's going to just walk away from the position sometime soon, and that's if he's not forced out.

[@yaboiiNESs]

He should be fired alongside every high chair at Microsoft. Because that’s what they are soft.

[@pedrohernandezbanda1177]

Si no tienes el talento y la paciencia... De nada te sirve tener todo el dinero y los Studios.....

[@MasterJazz09]

That last part is pure nonsense

[@aaronclay4665]

xbox failed in the 360 generation, tring to beat playstion 3 to shelves they rushed that console a year early and while they got a lead to start, HAD they fixed that red ring of death deal xbox future woudl have being A LOT different, not to mention that they had to pay for over half of the xboxes peole were returing, it put them behind the 8ball in terms of "money sank into xbox" when microsoft looked at hte matter and how to get return on there money they sank into it, they relized its not gonna come from hardware.(the ring deal and microsoft has shit hardware period) so don matric and phill were put in to shift the hardware fans to services(xbox live and such ) thats why don had to push TV TV TV.... and phill is doing the same with game pass.... they made this decision over 16 years ago to get out of the hardware business, people are just to blind to see it. its all there. again, if they waitd a year with xbox60 and just put it up againts the ps3 and made good games, they prob would have won

[@xiaolinstyle]

​@@aaronclay4665 The Vita tanked primarily because of the cost of storage. The system was great, it had great games, but in order to play them you had to have storage and it was and still is HELLA expensive.

[@plazmadood]

Always good to hear your opinion on things like this, Maxdood. I'm only 20 minutes in and I agree with everything you've already said. Redfall was nowhere on my radar and I was very confused when people suddenly won't stop talking about it.

[@shortymtz4658]

I actually enjoyed the game. I haven't seen anything about the game. Except all I knew about it was a vampire game. The only problem I had. Was the technology issue.

[@KeN_The_SaMuRaii]

I like Redfall as well but the main problems for me was the difficulty and the frequency of vampires you run into in the Redfall world. The map is also way too small for a open world game!

[@Dracobyte]

Also Arcane has been bad at advertising other games that are not Dishonored, among other problems.

[@GDQ]

I mean PlayStation higher ups not only constantly visit their own studios but some of them come from those same studios in the first place. Xbox needs management change and new people who know how the pipeline works and how to improve them.

[@jerrellmackall4653]

it was well know Shuhei Yoshida would go to studios all the time, granted he was Pres. at the time no reason, Phil can't do the same. Or he is, and no one wants to tell him the truth the game is not going well.

[@robhans5]

Xbox needs to stop existing. Gaming world would be better without them.

[@toxicavenger6172]

@@robhans5 I don't care for Xbox and I totally disagree. Sony needs the competition or else they'll stagnate because Nintendo isn't really in direct competition with them.

[@Imnus]

@@toxicavenger6172 Sony was at his best when they were a total monopoly, a lot of that had to do with how risks they could take.

[@toxicavenger6172]

@@Imnus that was back when they had nothing to lose and very little in terms of competition. If you go back and actually play some of the games from back then, they don't hold up as well as you remember. It's a different story now because Xbox filled the void Sega left behind and they're doing better at it than Sega did for sure. I just don't see Sony doing better without Xbox there to drive them to do more.

[@tigerija]

I would say that the most common reason for bad performance in games comes from doing many design changes through development which require time to change. Which means you can not really develop an optimized feature (combination of many things). If you do, then time to change something will be drastically greater. You can minimize this issue by experience, clear vision and leadership, teamwork. But new ideas will always have higher risk of that coz something new is, well, new experience and is hard to visualize how will it all play together.

[@AIM0001]

This was a great video for Max to do and offer additional commentary to what Phil had to say about the situation Xbox is in. Max is always effective at being a voice of reason in the game community/industry that goes far beyond his love for fighting games. Here’s hoping Xbox improves their first party output. This is difficult to talk about if you’re Phil Spencer but he seems determined to improve Xbox first party development going forward.

[@missingpage]

I'd say the biggest issue with xbox has been that they put to much focus on obtaining studios, and not enough time and resources into making sure those studios actually made good games. I have never been interested in owning any of the xbox consoles, but I was admittedly excited a couple of years ago when they first announced there studio acquisitions. However 4-5 years later (I forget when the announcement was) those studios have sadly not delivered in most cases.

[@ThePhoenixScribe]

*looks at 343's Halo* Yep, sounds about right.

[@MulletMan3108]

completely agree - I was excited for some RPGs (Starfield, Avowed, Everwild, Fable) but Starfield didn't look good imo and the others are still years away.

[@NrettG]

They have had good games come out from their studios, their just ether poorly marketed or are just horrible games. For amazing games they has Psychonauts 2 and Hi-Fi Rush release and no one is talking about them. Granted they are single player games but they got released and just not talked about anymore.

[@grantgarbour]

​@@NrettG I thought plenty of people talked about Hifi, problem is MS themselves did absolutely nothing to market this game

[@fracturedsolace145]

Those studios you speak of haven't even released their games yet. Only like 2 of them so how are you judging the quality of games that haven't even been shown yet?

[@Samuel-sg2iv]

It still boggles my mind that it has only been 3 years since covid. It's felt like 5 years, and i'm not even joking.

[@ichwalsadam9179]

Phill just admits they cant make great games anymore lmao

[@JadenHybrid]

Thanks Max for your insight. Much appreciated.

[@mmichal]

From what I can tell, Microsoft doesn't know how to spend its money on games. Like they got tons more money than Sony but Sony has a lot of legacy IPs with recent entries (GOW:R, Horizon:FW, Ratchet and Clank, GT7, etc) to show off while Microsoft only seems to have Halo and Forza when in reality, Microsoft should have just as many if not more so than Sony at this point. It comes down to mismanagement and focusing too much in one basket (Cloud gaming) instead of spreading the wealth.

[@MrFutago87]

What Phil briefly touched on when he said something about "arriving at a vision" is probably the most important part here. I can't confirm this obviously but Redfall gave me the feeling of a game that didn't know what it wants to be, almost in the same vein as Anthem. I wouldn't say to the same extent but it feels similar. And I think if you are a studio that is well known for doing one kind of game and want to flex your creative muscles and do something different then one of the most important things you need to make it work is a strong vision, a clear direction to work towards so you can work through the inevitable issues that will arise during development. This of course doesn't mean it would magically make it all work and you will get a great game out of it, it would be great if it did. But when I look at both Halo Infinite and Redfall I see games with no real vision behind them and then I look at HiFi Rush and I very much do see a vision.

[@timezero8409]

That is basically what Square Enix has done for Final Fantasy 16. They fully embraced the "action route" and they stuck to their vision. FF12, FF13 and FF15 were games trying to be everything and nothing at the same time IMO and they suffered for that. FF16 has the potential to redefine the franchise. It's my most anticipated game of the year and we'll see how it goes on June 22nd.

[@deadstrawberry2120]

I'm honestly surprised that Square has taken this long to get to the action they've been trying for years to get right. Had a template with Kh but grabbing some of the dmc team is good bet to take

[@aaronclay4665]

@@timezero8409 dont you ever in any way try to put redfall in ANY of the final fantasy games in the same paragraph...........................ff12,13,15 were all better, and i dont think you are even making a good point, where ff15 WAS TRING NEW THINGS(this is what Square enix does, even with games like bablons fall, to there dismay, but unlike other gameing compnies THEY WILL TRY NEW STUFF, sometimes it fails hard) and same with ff12, it was bacisly the same as ff10 but it had a option to make your party members auto preform actions, they all felt like there own game tho, just tring to evolve the system. unlike redfall where as the op states, its tring to be a A. looter shooter B. story driving game c. always online game d. co-op game f. live service game.... understnad this is not the same what the final fantasy games you listed have done, even your "most anticepated game of they year " ff16 is doing the same thing ff15, ff13 and ff12 done.......try to evolve off the back of the last game before it. and Square has done such for the last 30 years

[@gshorter]

@aaron clay dude you sound unhinged and cringe. This is Arcane studios first terrible game they’ve made. And yes we all agree it’s terrible. They got waaay outside their wheelhouse and screwed up massively. But they’re made several critically acclaimed games

[@timezero8409]

@@aaronclay4665 FF16 is the first game that will not be "turn based" somehow. All FF numbered games have a turn based system in some shape or form by either be a true turn based or using the ATB. Even FF7 Remake use the ATB for its combat. FF16 is a true action combat game like DMC, God of War or Horizon and that's where I feel they broke the shackles holding them and try something really new in the franchise and stuck to their vision.

[@jkbobful]

He said even if we have great games it won't make a difference WTF

[@marcuscaestus3583]

I don't understand how Phil's response is deemed adequate. He downplayed everything and turned it into an issue about 'creative vision.' It's not just framerate issues. It was the laughable AI, empty landscape, soulless gunplay, teleporting enemies, and poor quality of the game overall. The creative vision/execution was never the problem. It was just an underwhelming game, with a more underwhelming performance. You'd expect this from a no-name-indie studio, but not from a AAA production.

[@Landmasters]

Wasted momentum is an understatement, the Bruins didn't choke this hard. Think back to 2018 where things seemed to turn around instantly with Microsoft. Debuting Vesperia's Remaster and Devil May Cry V, localizing PSO2, Xbox Game Pass and the PC Counterpart bringing more niche games like DanganRonpa to a new audience, fleshing out Gears with V and Tactics, purchasing Bethesda and expressing interest in a Doom crossover, their partnership with Nintendo bringing Banjo to Smash and his games to NSO and finally rereleasing Goldeneye after 25 years They had so much good will and seemed to turn everything around after that disastrous E3 where it was suggested used games would not be playable and the Kinect would stalk you to ensure friends weren't playing games that didn't belong to them. It's like they sent all their staff home and pumped the company full of nothing but PR teams who can build good will but can't build...y'know...games.

[@omg241]

I hate to say it but Covid happened. It mess up with everyone's momentum

[@harrylane4]

You’re completely right but I grew up in Boston which means I am angry at you for bringing up the bruins this soon after it happened.

[@RasenRendanX]

Xbox kinetic killed any chance of sonic riders returning. Fk you kinetic

[@jmoorenyc7382]

Who cares about the Bruins? Why bring those idiots here?

[@StephenTheZ]

If anything I feel like your comment is an example of why I have trouble caring that much for Xbox over the decade-ish. Half the stuff you listed had nothing to do with Xbox itself. Literally when I see things like DMC5 or Vesperia on the Xbox stage my immediate thought is simply "yeah I'm just getting that on PS4." Danganronpa was such an old game I didn't care, I played that game almost a decade ago at this point. Xbox needs new games to get me excited, more stuff like HiFi even if I ended up being pretty mid on it. But like that is still the first "Xbox" game that has gotten me excited since Scalebound (even if that didn't work out in the end.)

[@dewdbrowatch1446]

I would love if KI at the very least got a Virtua fighter 5 treatment where it gets like a next Gen support. Don’t get me wrong KI Looks and still plays great arguably still the best, but something at least to show us they haven’t left it in the dust

[@gumgumleobazooka]

Thank god they asked the tough questions. Was a little worried going in when they had him scheduled before all this crazy news started avalanching. Mad props.

[@snakedogman]

The tough question would be "when are you resigning?"

[@ukmaxi]

Arkane has two studios as well, Arkane Lyon (the original studio) as well as Arkane Austin. There may be some issues between those two as well.

[@SaintMarianne]

Spencer is a great PR guy, great brand management guy and has great ideas about software like Game Pass, Backwards Compatability, etc. He is a gamer and that does show in many of his decisions and major pushes. Where he fails is in studio management imo. Just letting studios do what they want is a good idea in *principle* but sometimes a heavier hand is needed to keep things on track. I think Nintendo and Sony have had this down for a long time but Spencer was right that losing the Xbox One generation really crippled them.

[@phase_1471]

That's because instead of your own studios making quality games that you can oversee. They decided to buy studios and then guarantee that they wouldn't control their creativity and direction...in other words...they make what they want and they have it in writing that you can't do shit about it 🤷‍♂️😂

[@MrMooMoo088]

This seems like Phil being real. But idk I think he got his marching orders to go take 1 on the chin. I just can't believe that this game scored double-digit lower than their mock reviews.

[@darkchronicle13]

​@RedskyzePlayz well said! I agree completely and i think people underestimate how great little directs are.

[@MikeSW]

Nintendo is able to take new blood and get them making massive performers. The Splatoon team were a bunch of young devs brought up by Nintendo from scratch and they made a property that dominates a new demo for them in Japan. Sony organizes their first party studios cleverly to trickle down new tools from studios like Naughty Dog so that other studios can benefit from their work. Microsofts MO is to find something that is performing well - be it a brand or people - and just throw more money at it. They need to establish some kind of creative vision.

[@Jarekx2007]

What's the problem with all of their studios? Rampant mismanagement and workplace misconduct. Phil is, as you said, a great brand management and overall direction guy, but he clearly has ZERO concept of what makes a good studio head. You don't need to micromanage your studios, just put the right people in charge. He has not done so.

[@KniveLing]

Let me explain to Phil Spencer as to why HALO was such a seller. It had very little to do with creating something that people had never seen before, but still delivered something that felt new and revolutionary. It took awesome elements from many different franchises. - Space marines - A diverse amount of enemies (alien enemies) - Laser swords - Tons of fun and diverse weapons - Space age suit of armor - Vehicles that were fun to control - Co-op and split screen - Multiplayer - A protagonist we could all look up to - A vision of greatness Sometimes you just have to open your eyes and deliver something that people want. Not what Phil Spencer wants. Sometimes you just have to spend the time and budget, hunker down and bring an awesome vision into reality. Spencer wants to bring all these 10/10 games to Xbox, but HALO was a 100/10 game and it was just 1 game that brought Microsoft so much success. Hard work paid off for HALO and Xbox in a big way in those days.

[@matthewulrich5445]

Well said!

[@NamedMyTaco]

Max definitely has the best breakdown of this situation. Not many people would take responsibility like this and that is praiseworthy, but I don't believe him when he says Xbox/ Microsoft wouldn't ship a $70 game in this state. Recent history tells a different story.

[@abritishguy4713]

I can’t think of a single Xbox game released in the past 10 years that’s made me think it was worth owning the console, and the 360 was my favourite of it’s generation.

[@eugeneenyaosa6397]

Forza Horizon 5 was pretty amazing. Id buy an Xbox for that game

[@cuervo_mvv2334]

Bro i must say it.. love ur vids, specially hearing ur thought process about a product, an idea, an execution.. so resourceful in many ways, not only fighting games and game industry in general! Love ur meta analysis, keep it up!

[@Pratapana]

This is why Star Wars is in a cluster fuck. You explained it right with the multiverse aspect.

[@benjaminbernal4729]

Max says Marvel vs Capcom 2, SF Third strike are his top fighting games but wow the love he shows for Killer Instinct is amazing and I love him for it

[@Hyper_Light_Grifter]

These longer KZbin videos are appreciated Max Keep them coming

[@patrose7742]

Indeed! It's why I look forward to the group's "E3" reactions.

[@Dracobyte]

Indeed!

[@abyzzwalker]

Big agree, I love listening to Max's industry insights

[@DakotaDean-cd3zg]

Something nice to let play in the background while playing slower paced games.

[@imanrique8999]

You can buy all the companies you want, but the creativity and the skill cannot be purchased.

[@Jadfisk]

It absolutely can. Skilled and creative hires can be acquired through acquisitions. Microsoft apparently just doesn’t realise that creativity inherently requires taking a risk, so they keep meddling with the games which fucks with their creative people… On the topic of skill, of the few MS studios games I have played (Forza 4 and Halo Infinite), they actually run really well and feel great to play. They are just bland as fuck, and does absolutely nothing interesting.

[@ferrisgt]

I think I said it before but the main difference I see with how Sony and Microsoft are acquiring Studios is that Sony buys them when they are growing and still doing their thing, while Microsoft feels like they just want to buy IPs and dont care about the talents on the studio.

[@MaxMcDowellEsq]

What I love about your takes on this is that all companies, not just video games, are suffering from poor management.

[@leathlan]

Xbox is the rich kid at school that realized that no one likes them so they asked dad to buy things for them to make people like them. Now its all leading to nothing...

[@DarthEnderX]

What they're describing with Redfall is called "being in early access". And if that's the case, then they should label the game as being in such.

[@DustoMan]

And not charge $70 for it.

[@adblockevery1243]

I've been wondering why they didn't do that. The blowback wouldn't of been nearly as severe.

[@Randomeris1]

Damage control

[@Gamesta100]

What went wrong? A poorly made game was released, that's what happens. Supporting creativity is great but not all creativity is equal. Sometimes people come up with bad ideas or even ideas that sound good on paper but in action are poor or in video games just can not be made how you want it due to the technology at the time. Hey this game only crashes every 3 hours but that's within failure parameters. That's the damn problem with gaming these days. Just because something is normal doesn't mean it's right or acceptable. Instead of being content with poor commonality, try to be uncommon and better than everyone else.

[@apal5757]

I remember watching Don Mattrick completely tank the xbox brand in real time. Its kinda surreal to think about how they still havent recovered from that massive misstep.

[@Videoeye]

Playstation is the opposite of xbox. They would rather stay in their circle and focus on games. While xbox trys to expand and focus on everything but their games. Xbox focuses on cloud, gamepass, buying studios, crossplay, and freedom of creativity. Sony focuses on first-party games to an unbelievable level, no cross play or major acquisition, and a level of strictness xbox will never have. Playstation has so many games compared to xbox that it's not even funny. Spiderman, demon souls, bloodborne, returnal, god of war, and so many more remarkable titles, while xbox is now being known for titles that should just die. Halo, gears of war, forza. It's such a shame, honestly. If you haven't bought a series s/x, you aren't missing out. The same can not be said about Playstation. You WILL be missing out. Future title starfield is being made by Bethesda, who let me not remind you, are known for buggy messes. Its been years, and I have never seen one of their games release without it being broken. Hopefully, i am proved wrong, and space fallout is decent enough, but i highly doubt that considering all the delays, but i wouldn't blame them since most triple A xbox games have come out broken. Now compare that to ps5, who perfects games to a nintendo level. Sony are now known as the bad guys due to their practices behind the scenes, but it is due to these practices that the release of these games are better than most of the xboxs first-party titles.

[@gerardolarios54]

Not to mention the care playstation has for the gamers experience hence why the ps5 actually feels next gen with the controller upgrades n such while xbox's new console feels like an extention of last gen....

[@kazkatgamer6722]

Ppl get so mad at Sony for their behind the scenes that they fail to realize “you have to crack a few bad eggs to make an omelette”

[@rocortega2064]

You do realize that for SONY the success of SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT and it's Hardware dominance is actually a matter of life or death, it represents 25% of it's revenue and many other divisions are tied to it's success, for MS XBOX related stuff is only like +8%, MS only cares that you buy anything that uses their Live Services. That's why SONY can't afford to fail with PS and MS kind of doesn't care if you're using a PC, a PHONE, an XBOX or whatever as long as you use their infrastructure.

[@Jadfisk]

@@rocortega2064 good point

[@dabioji7096]

More studios doesn't mean better games, they need a fresh start and give the proper treatment to their old franchises instead of killing them

[@dougtheghoul2845]

We can only hope that Fable will be worth the wait. I don't really have faith in Perfect Dark as Xbox has plenty of shooters

[@DIOBrando-ij2bp]

Hi-Fi Rush is not a AAA game. While it was in development for a while, it’s a lower budget game. It being a lower budget thing is probably the only reason they even released it the way they did. It is a nice looking game, but it’s also got very simple models that the cel shading does the heavy lifting for...I was actually kind of surprised how simple the character models actually were when I saw them without the cel shading; it’s a very smartly produced game.

[@Otacon1105]

That art style os very difficult to animate for. They seemed to basically use the same techniques used by arcsys and it’s obvious that it take a lot of many talented animators time to animate every frame for those games. Also the game was in development for 5+ years. I don’t think there is any context where that is a low budget. Like, to pay a team of people that long to develop a game.

[@Xirbtt]

How do you know the budget of the game? Did you work on it? Where do you get your stats.

[@burgerbran]

pretty sure having simple models was necessary to pull off the particular art style they were going for...

[@killerzer0x74]

and yet it’s better than what the majority of big companies release every 10 years

[@DIOBrando-ij2bp]

@@Xirbtt I think they talked about it in a interview. Also, the models are all pretty simple. They look great because of the cel shading, but the actual models themselves are all fairly simple models when you see them without the cel shading.

[@grantgarbour]

I always imagine it's so much harder to optimize for PC ports since there are so many specs you have to prepare for compared to ps5 where like you know what the hardware you're developing for is. But I'm not a dev so thats just a guess

[@RippahRooJizah]

That's actually part of the issue, PCs have seemingly infinite amounts of specs to think compared to 1 or 2 for a console.

[@TheOldest]

After putting some hours into Redfall I'm looking at two conclusions. Either Arkane Austin was ordered to make this game and no interest in doing it what so ever, or the original vision of Redfall got changed into a live service game and follow public push back for the genre it poorly changed into this. Redfall got the same energy as Gotham Knights, a title that started out as a live service game and back peddled and made compromises into an unsatisfactory title after cutting their losses. Conceptually, if this had been a coop, immersive sim could've been fun, but that was never what Redfall was getting developed into and it shows painfully.

[@TheOldest]

@@deetsitmeisterjd I'll certainly agree that there is an uncomfortable trend with developers releasing underwhelming and/or underdeveloped products it's hardly exclusive to streaming services to finger them as a cause or alibi for the issue. Ironically most of the really stuff coming out consistently is from indie studios and many of them have been getting more recognition when getting on Gamepass. I'm more inclined to think that audiences are getting tired of a lot trends from the last ten years. Combine that with the extreme cost and development time of AAA games and it equals a train wreck of back to back releases that are too far gone delays won't fix the real issues and canceling titles and cutting their losses was years ago and they're forced to release "something" Something is certainly got to give some where but it will hardly be the the end of video game development with indie and AA development constantly improving in quality year over year, if anything they'll be a change AAA game development exclusively and the super big budget titles will slowly go away and hopefully better made and finished products can come back.

[@teddyholiday8038]

Gotham Knights is trash but I’d rather play it than Redfall, Redfall is legit NO fun

[@lajeandom]

is it so hard to make a smaller scope game, with no micros, no live service bullshit.....I just want a game, I just want to play a stupid story with fun mechanics and play a team deathmatch online....it seems they have a hard time making those kind of games nowadays??

[@perfectlyslicedegg3348]

Microsoft really thought "Twelve Teraflops" Was gonna get them through the generation.

[@soundwave2481]

Which means nothing because they also shot themselves in the foot with releasing Series S along with it which will always hold Series X's true potential back. Brilliant as always Xbox management...

[@MemesParaC4g4r]

Necesitamos buenos juegos en ambas consolas, parece que no volverá la guerra sana entre compañias que nutra la salida de titulos al nivel que exigimos los jugadores 😢

[@bent7810]

"our acquisition" because there's no way that their lawyers would allow him to speak to actual independent media when a case that big is on the table. it's about brand safety. nice catch, i hadnt noticed it the first time.

[@saltycomet]

"our acquisition" "We" 😂

[@Snowy265]

Do these guys get kick backs? 🤣

[@saltycomet]

​@@Snowy265right? Lol

[@ZappBranniglenn]

I think the blessing and curse of Microsoft ownership is how hands off they are. Clearly there's a disconnect in oversight when a game like Redfall just happens with nobody stepping in to say something. But at the same time, Risks on new IP like that can only be taken here in the first place. If Sony, Amazon, or Google bought Bethesda, they would look at the 70% finished Hi Fi Rush in 2021 and say "What is this? you're the survival horror guys, we're paying for EW3 not this"

[@Azulbloo]

I could watch Max analyze and give his opinions on the game industry all day. He is so knowledgeable and has a great way of explaining things. I feel like he should be more of a game industry icon like Sakurai or jeff Keighley.

[@eskatosgaming]

What do you mean KI rose in the xbox one era? I spent entire paychecks on that game in the arcade in the 90s. Incredible game.

[@luisdv311]

There needs to be a balance between taking care of your people and profit making…In the end, profit is needed to continue and the route they are taking will end up with negative sale numbers every time

[@gabrielbarros8140]

I agree that Phil taking responsability for everything that happened is a really cool attitude, considering most of CEOs dont do that and SHOULD. But we cannot take the blame from him, he is responsible for the layers below him, so if a flaw is detected, as it should have been detected for years now, it is his job to fix it or to send someone to fix it.

[@eSKAone-]

By saying the words, but still holding on to his paychecks? If he's serious he should go.

[@jonathansalazar4630]

I personally really like Phil Spencer as he does seem genuine about his passion for games and costumers but it just unfortunate that many of the games that he promised big on rarely turn out well and ended up disappointing.

[@codydavis3100]

​@eSKAone exactly! If it's your responsibility then no one from Arkane loses their job and he takes a pay cut to allow that.

[@SKpanbox]

After many years. His words are garbage PR speak with no substance and meaning. Words mean nothing when there is no result

[@sirnick2608]

People like Phil taking blames like he's jesus but seems like his own studios and people below him are taking advantage of that.

[@Setogayamari]

Why are we praising Phil for appearing on this show? "Give him a lot of respect for owning up for his responsibilities" Yeah that should be how life works

[@MrPaulzlawlz]

"Should" being the key word here. This very rarely happens, especially in the states.

[@gkey06]

yep. xbox fanboys are apologists to the situation. when are they gonna realize that this dude has failed this current gen.

[@fnggaming89]

We always talk about the " Suits " when a game is underbaked...Phil is one of those Suits...he likes his paycheck and the number it brings but then has to throw the studio & the dev team under the bus for said game

[@burntfishy7833]

I really enjoy these Max commentary/reaction type of videos.

[@ssaunders1122]

In the end what he actually said doesn't matter. What really matters is how the general public and the fans and customers took what was said. And well so far its bad.

[@ChristopherToro]

Just noticed Phil Spencer had an ROG Ally on his shelf in the background.

[@dante4111]

The main reason that caused all this to xbox was the lack of respect towards the xbox gaming community that E3 where Xbox One was announced, even with kinect and all that xbox would have been saved if they had respected the community by focusing on sending the message of that xbox is a place to play great games and not that it would become an interactive multimedia device.

[@NhBleker]

Their finger poke of doom, that dreaded E3 that forever ruined an entire brand, company.

[@saint3614]

I just see absolutely zero reason to own an Xbox- Their exclusive aren't truly exclusive if you have a PC. With a Switch, PS5 and PC, I've got all bases covered.

[@mAzDaR20]

I still remember my brother and I saving our money to buy an Xbox and Halo 2 after our cousin let us play the first one. I miss those days.

[@jaytea6516]

i love how big corporate interests take all of the life out of games

[@thotacon]

The last Xbox exclusive I actually cared about was KI and that was literally 10 years ago. They literally have had nothing to offer since then.

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

but what's most important is what Phil doesn't (and won't) say: _they don't know how to make the kind of games that will draw new users to their hardware_

[@ingram4056]

Well you say that but wasn’t their Hi-Fi rush? granted thats only one game out of many so Xbox needs to change their gears because I was always more of a Sony fan but I thought that during the 360 didn’t they used to make great games?

[@Al-oe7wx]

They are too concerned with putting games on Gamepass than releasing quality games. They tell these studios it is okay to release unfinished games because they will just put it on Gamepass where players wont be as critical of it because they "didn't pay for it". A crap game is still a crap game regardless of what you paid for it, stop falling for that mind trap. They know you will be more forgiving if you did not pay full price for it.

[@popeyes17]

Straight facts 💯, if you go into a restaurant and they say the food is free, the restaurant will use that gimmick to draw in a large crowd despite of the food being disgusting. However if you paid for a fine product you expect triple AAA results.

[@mach3wgamer]

Once game developers say no to putting their games on gamestop, xbox may die..

[@nihren2406]

DirectStorage is on PC, it was added either in 2021 or early 2022, but it wasn't until October 2022 that it got the crucial GPU decompression update. As of right now, Forspoken is the only game to officially support DirectStorage, and Digital Foundry's tests determined that it seemed to have zero effect for some reason. Could the lack of this in Jedi Survivor and other next-gen games on PC contribute to their problems? Potentially, yeah. If they're built around SSD's and these technologies, but then come to PC and suddenly have to run on HDD's, there's gonna be problems, especially when you don't even optionally support PC's version of DirectStorage.

[@princeroan]

I still haven't bought as xbox series or a xbox one x. Why? Because they don't have anything I want. If they had consistent bangers, I would have bought one already. I'm still looking for a reason to buy one.

[@cordovalark5295]

Xbox need their own version of Shuhei Yoshida. Who not only knows how games are made, but also was a fervent gamer at the same time. He would visit studios at any time and see what they were working on, and what he thought of it. As well as what was or wasn't working. Xbox has nobody of that nature and they are completely rudderless. You think Yoshida would have allowed a studio like 343 to continue to exist? Absolutely not. The completely hands off approach is not working.

[@returnedtomonkey8886]

I am glad i jumped ship 4 years ago.

[@May1stBurst]

A big part of the problem with pc ports is that we are leaving the cross gen era so games are now being made with console ssds and direct storage access as the baseline. Another thing to mention is that any data that is pulled off an ssd has to be decompressed to be used. The ps5 has hardware acceleration that helps decompress that data leaving the cpu to worry about other things. PCs have to use the cpu to decompress that data which creates a sudden spike in cpu usage. That spike is what causes traversal stutter in games. When direct storage becomes more popular on pc that could help but devlopers are going to have to make specific pc optimizations with the way the game handles data and that is not something developers are willing to do with most mainstream games.

[@MeridiasTaco]

Reminds me that I’m a sleeper customer that bought a PS5 instead of the new Xbox in a whim despite having an existing library/have been playing on Xbox primarily since the 360 launched. One of my friends also coincidentally just decided to buy a PS5 instead and catch up on Sony exclusives.

[@AL_EVOz]

I really enjoyed the xbox and xbox 360 era. But for the latest xbox consoles there just wasn't enouhg for me to keep the console. I still have my XSX but its not being used. Since gamepass is also on PC. I use my PC and PS5 so much more. I really hope Microsoft brings back more exclusives.

[@N1k0SP]

Can I have ur series X plz