Phil Spencer: Xbox 2023 Starting With Good Momentum Following Lackluster 2022 - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 27 January 2023 / 3,535 Views
The first-party lineup of games from Xbox for 2022 was to put it mildly lackluster and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in an interview with IGN admitted they need to do better with a more steady release of games.
"I think it's a little different internally, because we obviously know that we have a Developer Direct, we know what content we're building, we know already what we're we're going to be doing in June in our showcase," said Spencer.
"But our commitment to our fans is that we need to have a steady release of great games that people can play on our platform, and we didn't do enough of that in 2022, there's no doubt. And fundamentally, that's on me. I'm the head of the business.
"The commitment we have to our customers to continue to deliver great games is something that I take seriously, the teams take seriously, and 2022 was too light on games. So we're excited about getting to roll into 2023, have the Developer Direct.
"I felt really good about the games that we were showing. And then also knowing that Starfield is a game that we'd be able to highlight in its own show and then just start off 2023 with good momentum, and like you said, I think we needed that."
Spencer said Microsoft has started 2023 with good momentum with the Xbox and Bethesda Developer_Direct earlier this week.
"I hesitate to get ahead of the launches, just because I know there's some, and rightfully, some fatigue in the community about us saying, 'Hey, just wait until, just wait until.' So that was one of the reasons it was nice to be able to launch Hi-Fi Rush during the show to show that we can launch," said Spencer.
"And I look at things like Pentiment, which came out in November, as a really high quality game, but there has to be more. And when I look at Minecraft Legends, when I look at Redfall, I look at the work that we're doing at Forza Motorsport, one of my favorite franchises, Elder Scrolls Online, the things that we showed, I think it was important for us to show games, to show dates.
"I know there were some questions on the date on Forza Motorsport, because we just revealed the year. Everybody should know just the quality that Turn 10 puts into Motorsport, if you look historically, is going to be there in this game. That's the thing that, first and foremost, is most important, and we will come out with a date, no doubt when we're a little bit closer. But we just wanted to reaffirm to people that this is a 2023 game.
"So as you said, showing great games, showing gameplay for those games, and giving solid dates I thought was important this early in the year."
Microsoft during the Xbox and Bethesda Developer_Direct shadow dropped the unique rhythm-action game, Hi-Fi Rush, by developer Tango GameWorks. It is available for the Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Microsoft Store, and Xbox Game Pass.
Microsoft also announced during the Developer_Direct Minecraft Legends will launch on April 18 and Redfall will launch on May 2. There was no release date for Forza Motorsport, beyond a 2023 release window, but developer Turn 10 did showcase new gameplay footage, which featured a "generational leap in fidelity, immersion, and realism."
Redfall and Forza Motorsport will launch as a console exclusive on the Xbox Series X|S, as well as on PC and Xbox Game Pass. Minecraft Legends will release for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC via Steam and Microsoft Store, and Xbox Game Pass.
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 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Hi-fi Rush is my favorite new game this year so far! It's great. Give it a try on game pass ($1 or $10 for a month). Much better than Forespoken. It's not a rhythm game, really. Play it and see what I mean.
I think keeping Hi-Fi Rush a secret, and shadow dropping it, was a smart move.
If they had revealed it a while back, I think it would have been showered with "Is that it? That's all we're getting? After Sony and Nintendo got (insert games)" comments. And as he said, people are a bit fed up with the "wait until next year" promises. So just shadow dropping it out of nowhere shows that they can launch good games, and who knows if they have a few more surprises like this planned where we wont know a thing until release day.
Microsoft could invest more in internal studios.
- Increase manpower
- Development of new talents
- Utilizing new talent with the support of experienced talent to develop low-budget AA IPs (25% of the team)
-
Utilization of experienced team to develop AAA big budget IPs (75%)
- AA games releasing every 2-3 years
-
AAA games released every 4-5 years
With 23 studios you can guarantee 4 AAA per year (1 game every 3 months), and they would still have 3 studios (9 months) to cover the delay of the other 20 in case there were development problems, or even an engine update. The constant release is already something that can be put into practice, the problem will be the internal management to make the studios reach this goal.
I think they already have the capability of releasing 4 AAA games a year. It was just a matter of getting all of the studios that they acquired from 2018-2021 working on their first Xbox exclusives, and coping with Covid caused delays. We should be past the dry period now, we are already confirmed to be getting 3 AAA's from them in 2023 and there is a decent chance they have at least one more AAA for the 2nd half of the year (we'll have to wait until E3 to find out most likely, Hellblade 2 and Contraband are probably the 2 AAA's with the best chances of making 2023).
They now have 17 AAA capable first party teams across 15 AAA studios, so that gives each studio a bit more than 4 years to develop each game and still maintain 4 AAA releases per year. However, they also have quite a few AAA 2nd party projects in development, including Contraband, Project Suerte (Monster Hunter like AAA from Certain Affinity), and Project Dragon (AAA RPG from IO Interactive), so that gives their first party teams even more than 4 years each to develop their games and still maintain 4 AAA exclusives per year.
Leave the market already. Xbox is irrelevant.
No word on hellblade 2. Dissapointing. Was expecting a 2023 release.
They said exactly what was going to be there and even threw in a shadow drop of a surprisingly great game. People disappointed that Hellblade 2, Avowed, Starfield, etc. weren't there didn't pay attention to any of the marketing. That's on you.
It's been over 3years now, three. And barely any details.
What does that have to do with this showing? The focus was on the first half of the year, not the entire year. It could still release in the 2nd half of the year.
Dude really does keep taking Ls... Oh my lorre.
Could still be 2023. This show was clearly focused on the games which were already announced for the 1st half of 2023 as well the surprise release of HiFi Rush for the first half. E3 will be where they talk about their 2nd half 2023 exclusives as well as 1st half 2024 exclusives and maybe a few beyond that.
They just released a game without ever mention it before, and yet you still assume that because they didn't mention Hellblade IN JANUARY that means it won't come out this year.
