Xbox Series X Lack of Generation Exclusives at Launch is to Benefit the Consumers, Says Phil Spencer - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 August 2020 / 4,573 Views
Microsoft recently announced there would be no first-party Xbox Series X exclusives in the first year or two of the consoles life cycle. The company plans to release all of their games as cross-generation on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, as well as on Windows PC.
Head of Phil Spencer in an interview Gamertag Radio explained the reason behind this was to benefit the consumer and not to lock out people who want to play their latest games, but can't afford the Xbox Series X at launch.
It has already been confirmed the next game in Microsoft's biggest franchise, Halo Infinite, will launch alongside the Xbox Series X, as well as the Xbox One and Windows PC.
"One of the benefits that we have sitting inside of Microsoft is we’ve obviously been close to the development of what’s been going on with PC for years," said Spencer.
"I think today, if we look at the PC ecosystem, we see some of the best, highest fidelity games anywhere sitting on high end gaming PCs, and some of those same games you’re able to run on PCs that are a few years old that have much less capability. And the state of engines and capability today means that developers have the capability to make full use of the gaming hardware that’s in front of them.
"Obviously we built our strategy with Series X, we started with that in mind – we wanted to go build a gaming console that was going to be the absolute best that we could deliver on a television, and deliver unique capability to creators that they could use to go create the best games.
"But you don’t want to do that to the exclusion of everybody else and you also want to do that hand-in-hand with developers because developers want to find the widest audience possible. And yes, there are always trade offs.
"I’m not gonna dictate to every third-party studio what they have to support, but what we see in today’s world is that gamers want to go and play games with their friends regardless of what device those friends are on, people want to have the largest selection of games open to them, and developers want to make use of the best technology that’s available. We built this plan with all three of those as inputs and we feel really good about where we are."
The Xbox Series X will launch in Holiday 2020.
thanks GamingBolt.
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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I'm still not sure if this strategy is good to push a new console generation.
It’s not.
They are just trying to act as a disruption. Nothing more, they can't compete with Sony or Nintendo directly, so they are trying to move the battlefield.
Of course Nintendo is a direct competitor, the make hardware just like Sony and Microsoft, they are certainly wanting to have people spend money with them and not the competition.
People bought cross gen games in droves last time. Being able to play these games in higher fidelity is part of the appeal.
Maybe Microsoft is trying to push software more than hardware? It's even in their name: MicroSOFT.
Welcome PS5.
@Mr Puggsly, Pretty Sure it’s already been made clear Sony will have have PS5-only titles at launch.
So why is it again that I would want to buy an Xbox One Series X at launch?
So that Cyberpunk 2077 will look slightly more pretty on XSX than it would on X1X?
Most people buying a Series X are upgrading from base specs.
You know what would really benefit the consumer? Having a reason to buy an Xbox at launch.
Most power for 3rd party games? Not having the "poor mans" version of 1st party games? Halo Infinite custom console (that's why im getting one). Not screwing late adopters who cant afford a new console yet. I could go on....but you at least have to try to think of practical reasons ;)
Who exactly would that benefit? Ultimately, the people who buy the next gen system are going to have the same games they would have had anyway. The only benefit they get is that other people can't get those games, which doesn't really provide any benefit aside the emotional benefit of "look at my shiny new toy that you don't have".
Of course. Bragging right is the only benefit for owning a new, more powerful console... /s
@sales2099 You are describing getting a PC, not an XB1SX. Also, library is way more important than graphics, and Xbox has been missing a lot of games these last few years.
@JWeinCom You are missing the point. Xbox doesn't have much to set it apart from PC, Nintendo, or Playstation. Since nothing sets it apart there's not really a good reason to buy one at launch.
The Series X is starting to feel like a new graphics card for your PC as opposed to a new system.....
@Cerabralbore101 For some, the power will be enough. For people like me who didn't buy XBox One and really like what they're doing with game pass, I might opt to buy a Series X. And how does taking something away from last gen users benefit anyone?
I know there are concerns of 1st party games being hold back by the OG Xbox One cause of the cross-gen games, but the positive is you now don't need to jump to next gen immediately and can continue on your current system and later buy a Series X in a year or two and maybe get a deal on it.
Microsoft is doing a bang-up job acting as an advertising agency for Sony and Nintendo, just like they did at E3 in 2013.
In addition to Breath of the Wild being a huge game in and of itself, with the Wii U version basically being a sop thrown to Wii U loyalists, Nintendo also had Switch-exclusive games like Super Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in the pipeline for the holiday season after the Switch launch. Not two YEARS down the road, especially for a $500 console. All Sony needs to do is launch the PS5 with a new Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Guerrilla, or Santa Monica game, and MS is going to be on the defensive again.
Sorry, but this no exclusives for 2 years smells an awful lot like it's going to be the equivalent of "always online" or "mandatory Kinect" for XSX.
So you're just hoping Sony launches a notable PS5 exclusive in the near future?
But what if MS manges to create nunerous notable cross plat games that also utilize Series X greatly as well?
These are all possible scenarios.
I’m not sure what’s going on with Phil lately. I don’t know how he thinks people will be okay with buying a new $500 system that won’t have any exclusives for years after it’s launch? Consoles don’t magically get mire mass appeal with better framerates and resolution; that’s PC’s shtick. If there’s no next gen looking games to create that buying incentive, then few people will actually buy it. And, correct me if I’m wrong here, but isn’t this exactly what Steam Machines tried?
Well its more like a year. But more importantly they should focus on making good games.
They should probably wait to launch the XSX until they have good games in the dock made especially for it.
@San - That's a genuinely dumb idea. Especially when you consider 8th gen consoles didn't launch with notable exclusives. The best exclusive at that launch was arguably Dead Rising 3 and it was horribly optimized.
The Switch did. And Sony's got a strong brand that people will go for anyway barring a serious error along the lines of the PS3's launch price tag. Xbox doesn't have that luxury, It's an also-ran brand compared to either Sony or Nintendo.. They need games to sell the thing. Otherwise there's no real point in buying an XSX over a PS5.
@San - Switch's big launch title was Zelda. Anything else didnt really matter when comparing sales. You also agree Sony's launch content sucked, while cross gen games actually sold better.
Just to clarify, I am saying your suggestion to delay the Series X is stupid. Given it can launch with great games, 1st party and 3rd party. Cross gen games of popular IPs tend do really well. Last, people jumping from base hardware to Series X are gonna see a massive visual upgrade.
Part of the reason cross gen games do really well is because the next gen version is generally superior and people want that version.
I think he's exactly right. I applaud this new direction by Microsoft. It is very pro-consumer.
with that said, we'll have to see if they do a good job of delivering cutting-edge content for their cutting edge console. But, only time will tell us if that works out.
Let the complete collapse of the Xbox ecosystem (what is left of it anyways) commence.
So assuming Lockhart is a thing developers will need to make XBOX games that run on 5 different consoles? it's going to take time and money to do that not to mention that games will have to run on those crappy Jaguar CPU's yuck...
At this rate, Xbox games are going to start having to have "system requirements" printed on the boxes or on their pages on the Xbox Marketplace just like PC games do.
Go count how many types of PC devs use to make games on for..
Don't many studios already support X1, X1X, PS4, PS4 Pro and PC at the same time? Also, we have no reason to believe mid gen units are significant extra work.
I'm glad my nephew can put my Xbox one X to good use and still be able to play with him when I get the Series X.
Well there is no doubt this strategy is good for consumers... One less console to get at launch. My wallet appreciate that.
You pay 500$ and get nothing exlusive for it.... enoy! Its to your own benfit? whaaaaat?
PlayStation version of Halo? What would that be? Is that the reason why the PS4 has been outselling the Xbox One?
Halo isn't as big a deal now as it was in 2007. Pretty sure PS5 owners will make do just fine with Call of Duty, Killzone, or id's latest Doom.
Financially yes, this will benefit the general consumer. Especially if you're a parent of a kid who thinks they need the newer Xbox but the money is tight. I will take more options over less.
It's interesting to watch the console warrior battlefield change over the course of a generation. There was a lot of talk on teh Chartz right before this gen and in its early days about how Microsoft always abandons their userbase and ditches them for next gen. Oh, they can't be trusted. Oh, you'll be burned when they come out with a new console and drop Xbone altogether. Now they're supporting cross gen and it's somehow the end of the world, because potentially maybe some launch window titles that never push hardware anyway, might also come to Xbone, and it's suddenly a terrible idea to support existing customers.
I get a laugh seeing a lot of comments about "well thanks for saving me money I'd have spent on a Series X!" These are the same people who said the same thing about Xbone when MS started bringing games to PC. Well these games are still coming to PC, so you shouldn't have been in the market for a Series X anyway ;)
Their new studios are not ready for next gen and their fans are still wanting more games for Xbox One due to lack of exclusives and free game pass. Game pass are the reason people will stick to old gen. Also by migrating to PC and focusing on cloud/Subscription they are trying to find new market outside console alone. They don't care about early console sales, they are targeting subscription. To bad this mean they are not focusing on single market and risking losing the market they already in (console market).
Risking the market they have? while supporting the market they have more? That makes no sense
There is always a risk on venturing new market, that's the rule of thumb of business and marketing.
OMG, this is guy is doing a one-man-show these last few days. Just when you think he's done, he comes back with another hilarious statement XD
Yup.
I’m actually a big fan of this strategy. There’s no reason to have generation exclusives in the launch window at this level of technology. He’s right, it’s better for the consumer, but also better for the business. As Nintendo Switch has proven, you can still put a killer app on your existing hardware and have it sell your new hardware at full capacity. Simply put, those complaining are doing so in bad faith, not out of any kind of honest or valid criticism.
I'm still not sure if this strategy is good to push a new console generation.
I love the replies in this section that validate how childish some people were when HZD PC port was announced.
Early adopters and late adopters are two much different kinds of gamers with different tendencies. In the end this serves a greater good. So long as Series X is properly optimized I say more power to this initiative.
This only benefits last gen Xbox users. People purchasing XSX are basically being told they will have to accept games that can run on base XBO hardware, when the entire point of a new generation is to appease early adopters so that more will buy in over time. By the time PS5 launches, PS4 will have a stellar library of games for new buyers to enjoy; those that buy PS5 shouldn’t have to wait, and with Sony’s model they won’t. Better resolution and framerates is not the difference between generations.
Early adopters are willing to pay the price when there is a reason to do so. Late adopters not so much. So this really isn't helping anyone with the exception of Microsoft making excuses again.
Phil has been taking a lot recently, desperate behaviour to be honest. He knows it is a crap strategy, oh well, another gen loss for MS.
MS going the PC route, people upgrade there PCs without PC exclusives to drive there incredibly expensive high end PCs. This method has worked. I have no issue with it, especally when you have a whole background of games to play with all the bells and whistles turned on.
The best selling 8th gen games at launch were not 8th gen exclusive from my memory. Nor were exclusives necessarily better.
No games sold that great at launch, but I don’t think that means developers should neglect early adopters. Killzone: SF might not have been a masterpiece or huge seller, but it did a good setting a new bar for console graphics at the time and have potential PS4 buyers a good idea of how they can expect graphical quality to grow. Graphics aren’t everything, but they are still important, especially when it comes to showing off new hardware.
Um you're clearly forgetting Knack, really pushed that PS4 hardware.
That's an ignirant thought you gave. MS can demonstrate Series X is an upgrade while supporting X1.
People seem to forget Battlefield 4 launched in 2013 as well. That games had significantly better visuals, 60 fps and large scale MP.
Frankly, just running Gears 5 at insane PC settings while doing 60 fps and maybe 4K would already demonstrate a vast power disparity.
If you're jumping from base hardware to Series X, which most will, its gonna be a huge upgrade between X1 and Series X cross plat games.
MS going the PC route, people upgrade there PCs without PC exclusives to drive there incredibly expensive high end PCs. This method has worked. I have no issue with it, especally when you have a whole background of games to play with all the bells and whistles turned on.
Or, they could do what Sony is doing and offer new games, while still supporting old games with the FC model. The typical PC users wouldn’t upgrade their PC’s if the games stayed looking like the original DOOM.
Yet the latest Doom game is coming out built around last gen hardware and no one gives a damn. Nice flawed logic.
Who wouldn't want the best version if they afford it? If I can help it, I don't settle.
Nice try...because your opinions are not fact. They released the X a few years ago. So agruementative over everything and so annoying.
@Bandorr Well if you like playing inferior versions of the games thats totally up to you. Im all for the investment for higher quality.
The last console MS released was the Xbox One X in 2017 and if you disagree then you're wrong and that's entirely on you. Maybe you should stick to your Switch threads or study harder on what the term released actually means.
@Bardorr you pay for quality. If you dont want to invest in a powerful PC or Series X, then you are happy with playing inferior versions.
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