Phil Spencer: Player Count Growth is Key to Microsoft's Gaming Strategy - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 08 February 2022 / 2,744 Views
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer speaking with Axios' Stephen Totilo discussed the growth in player count in gaming and how it is key to Microsoft's strategy in gaming.
"I love the Forza 5 and Halo stats...I love how many people played Psychonauts 2 vs. Psychonauts 1," said Spencer.
"So, when I look at the teams, when Todd and I talk about Starfield, it's: 'How do we make sure this is the most-played Todd Howard game ever?'
"As a platform, I think we have a lot to do with that. Quality of the title is number one, no doubt about that. But that will be success for me for the individual games: Can we really make these games–can we allow them to reach more players than they've ever seen before? And I say that because I believe in the social impact of interactive entertainment."
Spencer was asked if the increased player count is included in the Activision Blizzard games that will soon be part of Xbox due to Microsoft's acquisition of the largest third-party company in gaming. He wants more people to be playing World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Candy Crush in five years than there are now.
"Yeah, I want more people to be playing [World of Warcraft] in five years that are playing today," he said. "I want more people to be playing Call of Duty in five years, more people to be playing Candy Crush in five years, because we've made it more accessible to more people.
Totilo did ask how Starfield could reach more players than The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim, despite it not launching on PlayStation consoles.
"Well, that specific question of, ‘Hey, there's only one place that I want to play games," said Spencer. "And if that game doesn't end up on the one place that I want to play that has its own business requirements for me as a creator…those people can go play those games. They're just going to say, I'm choosing not to, because it's not on the one device that has its specific [trails off]. So I get that."
Spencer was asked about his rep among gamers as the head of Xbox and he joked by saying "You're looking for the evil Phil."
"I see people tweeting at me: 'Hey, there's nothing altruistic about Phil Spencer, head of Xbox.' I don't know if I'd say there's nothing...I have a vision about the role that video games can play. But I am in charge of running a business inside of a publicly traded company.
"What I think we've been able to do--and this is from our perspective--is we've built a strategy that I think is supportive of players and creators."
He added, "We were going to be forceful in that conversation, understanding that in previous generations we we had been on the other side. I wasn't making those calls, but still, I if you're looking at Xbox, you say, Hey that's different.
"I think people who point out it's just a suit or somebody who's running a business, I'm absolutely running a business...my responsibility, the teams, is I'm going to continue to run a good business so this company continues to support us I think that's a primary responsibility.
"I feel like I can't prove this negative. [People ask] when is the Game Pass price is going to get go up? 'They're buying all these studios. You know, it's inevitable.' Even though it's been what, now, four years we haven't raised it.
"But it's like, 'You know, it's coming' 'When they are number one, they're going to start doing all those exclusive deals that, like, you know, Xbox has history' and all I can do is is make the decisions that are in front of us and try to be explicit about what our goals are.
"I honestly mean... you can see it with Forza and Halo the last releases. Those are the most played games in those franchises because we made them available on more screens than we ever have, through more business models than we've ever made them available."
Spencer added one little tidbit on Blizzard, "You and I grew up at a time where Blizzard was almost as synonymous as Pixar in terms of quality. That's where I aspire those brands to get to get to, and I'd love the opportunity to go work with creative teams to make that possible."
Something that stood out to me when I recently interviewed Phil Spencer was his emphasis on rising player counts, which I think is key to understanding Microsoft’s strategy.
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) February 8, 2022
I want to share where that conversation went (warning: this will be a bunch of tweets!)
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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Blizzard is one of my favorite developers, and i am glad Phil understands their legacy.
That was exactly my thought. "Blizzard polish" was a term used for YEARS when it came to Blizzards games and it's encouraging to know that Phil wants them to return to their former glory. It's going to take a long time, but I'm hopeful that they can get there. Not a moment too soon either because Riot is going for Blizzards jugular with them developing their own Diablo and World of Warcraft genre of games!
So far, there's a lot of optimism both from current and former Blizzard employees about the new survival game Blizzard recently announced as well as the team working on it. Hopefully Phil can also ensure that Warcraft 3 Reforged FINALLY gets fixed!
Short version of the interview.....
blah blah blah blah
Starfield is gamepass exclusive on console....so if you want starfield on PS5 then speak to Sony and get them to allow the pass
blah blah blah blah
For me the most important part is here:
"Well, that specific question of, ‘Hey, there's only one place that I want to play games," said Spencer. "And if that game doesn't end up on the one place that I want to play that has its own business requirements for me as a creator…those people can go play those games. They're just going to say, I'm choosing not to, because it's not on the one device that has its specific [trails off]. So I get that."
I think disscusion about games release on all consoles is closed.
-"Player Count Growth is Key to Microsoft's Gaming Strategy"- Phil
Also, throwing around bucket loads of money helps.
?
-READING BETWEEN THE LINES NINJA APPROVED-
takes money to make money!
I believe Gamepass and PC support combined means their games are reaching more people, getting played by more people. That makes sense.
But I am curious to see how everything MS has done ends in console sales. 360 thrived on price and competing against a weak Playstation. Xbox One struggled from mistakes out the gate and PS4 being a great competitor.
Series S/X is again competing with a very popular PlayStation. But MS services and IPs are pretty amazing now. Not a guarantee, but it's possible this becomes the most units they ever sell in a generation if they do well with exclusives.
If VGChartz is to be believed (I see no reason not to, at this point), Microsoft is currently sitting at 41% of 9th gen market share. If current sales trends maintain through the rest of the year, they will be near 45% 9th gen market share by the end of the year, and will also have taken the market share lead in North America for 9th gen consoles, which will make it the first time since the 360 that an Xbox console held a market share lead in any major market.
Globally I don’t think that state of affairs will be permanent but I do think Microsoft's structural advantages will begin to compound as the generation progresses. If PlayStation loses a market share lead in North America this year, I think it has a very slim chance of ever getting it back again
Considering the supply constraints we really wont know whos in the lead until both consoles are available to purchase.
I think I would have supported this argument a while ago. But these supply issues have been going on for a year and half now, with 0 signs of letting up any time soon. At some point I think we have to stop waiting for supply to get better before we start talking about these consoles sales. The market is what it is at this point.
Agreed. As much as Sony is supply-constrained, Microsoft is too. Both have pent-up demand. The Activision Blizzard purchase (if completed) will help increase demand for Xbox Series consoles too, as will exclusive Zenimax games finally starting to release later this year, so I think the idea that Sony will remain supply constrained for a significantly longer period of time may not be how it pans out after all.
Sure but to say "If MS pulls ahead you dont think Sony will catch up" is a weird stance to take considering the situation. Also their are signs of it ending which is in 2023.
I think the fact that a number of Sony’s biggest upcoming exclusives will be launching in the middle of this shortage, while most of Xbox’s will be launching right as it’s ending, is a huge advantage to Microsoft and why I think it will be more difficult for Sony to regain a market share lead in North America if they lose it this year
Perhaps Sucker Punch, Bluepoint and Sony Bend will also release something in 2024 that can sell some more consoles. Sony might also buy or co-develop another exclusive. So whilst 2023 will definitely be Xbox is year it could very well be that 2024 is a PlayStation year. Also bundles can help selling the PS5 in 2023. A lot of people still want to play Horizon and God if War 2 and never underestimate the size of Spidey.
Game Pass and PC support for sure helps them reach more people, but don't discount game streaming too. There is a segment, however small (though likely growing), of people who subscribe to Game Pass just as a streaming option. Perhaps they're streaming to a phone, or a tablet, or a Mac, or a PC that's too low-end to run modern games natively.
I've read more than a few comments on websites from people who signed up to Game Pass Ultimate for $1 and just streamed it (didn't own an Xbox or a gaming PC), but chose to keep the service beyond the $1 trial. So there is a segment like that. Whether it's 0.02% of total engagement, or 0.2% of engagement, or 2% of engagement, I have no idea. :)
Yeah, I wouldn't dismiss the the cloud service. But I just don't think it's very relevant yet.
Anecdotally my experience with it has also been poor even though my connection is well above what's required.
However, PS Now is actually viable for me in comparison.
Yeah, anecdotally is the key. My xCloud experience is amazing, but I also live on a few hundred kilometres from Redmond Washington, so I don't expect everyone to have my experience. :)
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