Spencer: 'I Wouldn't Say Our Strategy is to Unify' the Xbox One and PC - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 03 March 2016 / 9,989 Views
Microsoft has recently announced several of its Xbox One titles are also getting a Windows 10 release through the Windows Store. However, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has downplayed the unification between the two platforms.
"I look at the work we’re doing on the platform as an enabler for us becoming relevant in PC gaming," Spencer told PCGamer. "I wouldn’t say our strategy is to unify, because when I hear ‘unify’ I worry a bit that people will interpret, my own teams included, ‘Hey, we just want to say a game is a game and all games should run everywhere.’
There are games I was talking about earlier, like Ashes of the Singularity, a fast-paced RTS game—probably not the best controller game, and I want to make sure those games are great. What I want to make sure is that gamers on our platforms, you feel like you have access to as many games as you can, and as a developer you feel like you have the tools and service to reach as many gamers as you can."
Spencer added that not all games will be released on Windows and Xbox, because not all games are suited for both platforms.
"You’ll laugh when I say this, but let’s say a Kinect game," he added. "Dance Central, probably not the best PC game. So I—and we’ve said it—I’m committed to bringing our biggest franchises to Windows and Xbox. I always hesitate to say ‘all’, because I think that inhibits creatively what could happen."
"I think there are a real two factors that today differentiate what I consider PC and console gaming. One is input. We’ve said we’re going to support keyboard and mouse on console, and clearly you can plug a controller into a PC, so that’s not a trump card, but PC games have to—PC games can support keyboard and mouse, console games today usually don’t and for the most part can't. The other thing is the play space itself. I’m usually closer to my monitor, it’s a smaller screen. All these are ‘usually’s. And my TV experience on a console, I’m further away, it’s more of a communal play experience. If I take my PC and I HDMI it into my television, and I use my wireless dongle to play with controllers, is it now a console or a PC?
"I think you could kind of get into scenarios where the hardware specs kind of overlap, probably at the fundamental level, or the hardware capabilities overlap enough where the differentiation kind of blurs. But the console experience is a dedicated gaming hardware device that is very appliance-like, instant on, ability to basically do one thing, which is play games, very well. PC is a multi-purpose device. I love that people play games on their PC. You see a ton of people playing games, even on Windows 10 already. But it also can do Outlook and load Photoshop and browse the web. So there are some fundamental differences about the hardware between the two that I think will always mean there are differences between console and PC gaming, and I want to embrace those differences, not try to get rid of them."
Spencer was asked if bringing more franchises to PC dependent on Quantum Break doing well. He stated that is not the case and he is committed to bring the biggest franchises to PC.
"No, we’ve said we have a commitment to bring our biggest franchises," said Spencer. "We talked about Halo Wars, we’ve talked about things that... it’s not a, ‘hey, we’re gonna wait and see.’ We’re in, right. We are in, and we want to make sure that PC gamers are able to play PC games that we can go build. I love investing more in PC games. It would be nice to invest in some very tried-and-true PC genres when we think about that, of, ‘hey, let’s go and build some great PC games as part of our portfolio.’ But no, the Quantum Break thing is definitely not a, ‘hey, we’re gonna try this out and see how it does.’ From the top of the company on down, we’re committed to making sure gaming is great on Windows, and we think first-party content has a role to play there."
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A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Of course YOU wouldn't say that Phil, you're the boss and a major public face of Xbox :P.
Yes yes but the fact is that, until recently, that was essentially just Xbox. And as far as the public (who he is addressing) he IS Xbox. So yeah, he's not going to say to the buying public, "yeah, the Xbox console line is totally screwed. . Or even imply such a possibility. I mean, that would be one heck of a downer for the consumers.
Except how does any of this say the Xbox line is screwed.. That is not even close to what he is saying.. so you aren't even making sense.. He is talking about more of a synergy between Xbox , PC, and mobile. Nowhere does any thing he referred to mean the Xbox line is screwed in any way. In fact, what he said will be a benefit for the console..
I own an Xbox One and a gaming PC. I still prefer to game on my X1.
I don't want to say what's the best way to game. But X1 is affordable way to play games that work fine. No bullshit about incompatible hardware, OS, requirements and that nonsense. People keep asking why buy an X1 if games keep coming to PC. The answer is simple, X1 is cheaper and it just works.
I have no issue if PC gamers play my exclusives - the more the merrier I say.
Most people in this thread probably don't own an X1 and are jealously looking for poor excuses to bash it.
Never owned an Xbox. The X1 looked horrible when it released though. However, it now looks like an actual console, without any nonsense to it.
Humm dont know what to say but i i never trust that guy (even if i own a X1)
He is not a liar. He doesnt say he will unify. He IS! going to unify.
Phil 'Spin'cer
I think the strategy use Xbox games to get more people using Windows 10. All the games coming to PC are WIndows 10 store exclusives.
If MS would quit putting so much useless crap in newer versions of Windows, that most people will never use, more people would use it. I still have Windows 7 myself, because it does everything that i need it to do.
Right, that's why MS is putting games exclusively on Windows 10. An incentive for people upgrade. If it was really about making their games more accessible then they would support Vita/7/8/10. This is common sense.
That doesn't really make much sense, there are already 5 times the number of Windows 10 users than XB1 users. It might be about trying to get the MS store to compete against Steam, but that will always fail miserably unless MS start paying developers to publish on it.
HAH! What percent of those W10 users are avid gamers? Windows Store is not trying to compete with Steam.
If you have a gaming PC the exclusives on consoles convince you to get one of those devices too, the Xbox one and PC are both great platforms but it seems like Microsoft needs to focus on both platforms with different titles and spread their userbase. Right now, it feels like they want to push "one" platform over two devices, which seems a bit odd.
But it is?
Hmm. Actions speak louder than words. And your actions definitely betray your words.
That's an attempt to gain some footing in PC gaming while adding exclusive value to Windows store that carries the risk of devaluating the hardware aspect of the xbox brand. Xbox One has been a disappointment for Microsoft no matter how they try to spin it. Their original vision for Xbox One is obliterated while unusually strong PS4 sales contribute to the perception of failure of the XOne. Microsoft, also lacking the first party development capacity of their console hardware rivals, namely Nintendo and Sony, can't ignore the relatively weak hardware sales which means losing third party revenue to Sony. Even Halo, the defining gaming franchise of Xbox is in decline. So Microsoft has to do something but I wonder if it is wise to extend the battle to another front after losing ground, because PC gaming isn't some virgin territory, but the domain of a well established gaming platform.
Sony has hardly any footing with PC gaming while MS holds the main status of being the most used OS within the PC space. The trouble for them is that they long since abandoned PC gaming, tore down what studios were left that made games exclusive to the platform and only now do they decide to come back due to them losing on one front but also deciding to use their former to their advantage. The only sole reason they are coming back to PC is because 3 gens of not being on top or coming on top period have caused them to see that it's not going to be a great endeavour. I see them doing this in a way that they feel they can combine two bases into one without having to pander to both separately but at the same time counting both as one in order to show up Sony in the long term (which will likely work as Sony owns no OS, has no ties to PC gaming at it's core like MS does and has no chance of claiming PC gaming the way MS could once more). Personally I don't really see MS grabbing all of PC gaming but I can see them establishing sa closed and restrictive eco-system that only a few will agree to, the rest will likely split off towards Linux and Valve, MS could have had the entire market back once more if they weren't so restrictive with their future plans and kept supporting their current OS's that still function along with creating new specific PC studios, that way they could deliver games to both Xbox and PC but at the same time both console and PC studios could pander to both.
@luisliu X1 was never a disappointment, it is still successful.
MS had a vision of Xbox One with integrated kinect, secured through some kind of restrictive online DRM and promising the possibility of some cloud based features for unique experiences that go beyond the capabilities of the hardware. They were quick to abandon the always online restrictions and integrated kinect and they went cheaper than PS4 for not losing too much ground. I remember Project Milo and I don't believe in the almighty cloud - clouds are fickle things -. I don't think MS believes in it either as they're so quick to abandon their ideas. Inconsistency is what plagues Xbox and they try to be even more inconsistent with ideas for frequent Xbox hardware updates. They're not just disappointed, they try to create a backdoor to evacuate the xbox brand in case of an urge to please unhappy MS investors by totally abandoning the xbox hardware. Hardware based gaming is perceived as a liability for Microsoft from a financial point of view.
Unification is one thing they absolutely do not want. There entire business model relies on keeping what is essentially a standardised gaming format arbitrarily split into competing consoles, because at least then they can privately "own" a piece of the pie.
Hmmm, all the biggest franchises aye? Halo is a franchise, Halo 5 is a game. The franchise is coming to PC in the form of Halo Wars. Main sequence Halo games, almost certainly not. Looks like full featured Forza is not coming to PC, but the Franchise will be on PC by way of gimped F2P game.
Of course they're not going to unify, PC's only getting all the non-kinect games. Xbox One is still relevant for those super popular Kinect based games.
Hopefully that snaps some of those unification theories back into reality.
