Phil Spencer - 16 month drought between big exclusive launches a "disaster"

Redfall and Starfield were delayed in addition to Stalker 2 which left Xbox with a big fat content hole. What Phil did realize was that Redfall was going to be absolute trash and, that drought would extend all the way to Starfield (84MC).

PlayStation is about 10 months into their "drought" but, at least the last game was GoW Ragnarok (94MC).

GameSpot Article

Well I certainly wouldn’t have expected him to have said it was good.

"I liked his quote about learning."

Spencer: We'll learn from this.

:/

@mycatismilk:

"Our plans have changed.™️"

It kills me how Phil is saying the thing that lems denied for the longest time. Believing Game Pass alone would make up for the drought. 🤣🤣🤣

He wasn't wrong. The whole Xbox brand could be considered as a disaster at this point, and with the pathetically low 7/10 from Starfield, lets just say that it didn't save em one single bit😁😁😁

And with all the leaks, it'll put so much negativity toward the brand that i dunno, the last year of the xbox might be 2026 instead of 2027 at this point.

Just notice the "Sarah Bond she/her" in the mail😆Was it really needed lmao. This is what happens to companies that are more worried about their pronouns than quality, well polished titles😁😁😁

It's honestly baffling that folks say there was no drought because they get games on GamePass.

Just because you get games on GamePass doesn't mean I can't buy those exact same games. Oh the horror of spending money on games. How's that working out this year with games like TOTK, BG3, RE4R, SF6, Diablo 4, Dead Space, MK1, FF16, Hogwarts, Jedi Survivor, NBA 2K, Madden etc.? You'd have to blow like a generation's worth of GamePass money for those games.

Yea, they will buy up the entire Industry to insure it doesn't happen again.

Like the honesty but it shouldn't have happened.

But we are way past this with blockbusters coming hard and fast.

All the evidence points to this not happening again.

Wow, even delayed games to stuff content for GP later 😳

The whole leadership team needs to be wiped out and restructured.

Imagine having a game like Hifi Rush and not marketing it, vs. Marketing the shit out of Redfall. Spencer and co. truly dont understand what gamers want at all

@Nonstop-Madness: PS at least had VR and new Horizon DLC, even that exclusive Hogwarts quest.

When you think gaming is all about exclusives you have threads like this.🤣

@Nonstop-Madness: I'd take Starfield over GoW any day.

In fact, I'd take starfield over pretty much any exclusive on Playstation.

@hardwenzen: Yeah...

Most successful launch of a Bethesda game ever, and that's with it skipping your beloved PS5.

Sure, it's a "failure"

Dat copium. Dat sweet, sweet copium.

Katrina was a disaster. Xbox One was a disaster.

Months without releases from a single publisher is not. There is no drought, Xbox owners have been inundated with games all year.

Damn, not even the Xbox CEO does as much damage control as the fanboys.

I came here to say the same thing! The marching orders from Phil himself can't land

Game Development time has really took a nosedive this time around. 16 months of no 1st-party AAA games does seem harsh to wait for the next big thing, Phil needs to understand game development requires ahead of schedule on the timing of marketing and announcements. 3rd-party and Indie games should be the standard backbone of gaming by now, not waiting AAA games when they're ready to be release.

@dabear: "Most successful launch of a Bethesda game ever,"

What does that mean?

Imagine owning 48 studios, and nobody is able to release anything in over a year. wtf are they doing at those studios?

@Willy105: I agree with you it wasn't Xbox one magnitude stuff, but it was definitely a problem and I am a glad they saw it as such.

This sounds exactly like being a N64 or Gamecube owner.

Still there was barely any internet in those days, we didn't complain. We just put up with it and played the great games that were there.

Dear Sony,

Please give me games for my PS5.

I'm not sure what you're waiting for, but please.

@Chutebox: it's launch player count is greater than any other Bethesda game.

As I told @hardwenzen, MS has moved to a service based model; success is measured by player counts and subscription retention/bumps. I don't quite understand why this is suddenly new information.

And "most successful launch" are not my words, they're MS's and the gaming press.

Man, what a time to be alive. Even the head of the brand is recognizing that their investments and planning have not been great.

@hardwenzen: it’s quite embarrassing and the very reason why it would be hard to own just an Xbox. The droughts they go through are insane.

im sure they are going to make more money with skyrim. as many consoles its been on and ps4 version, vr version.

over gamepass day one. yes the launch was great and the game is great but they are not going to make skyrim figures.

now imagine the game on ps5, xbox x/s,switch,steam and more at 70 bucks a pop.

not even close.

what sony been pumping out ps5 games sense launch. 2023 you got spiderman2 and psvr2 and more. don't get it sony has a few months with no games is bad but xbox not having games since launch until recently is ok? Heck series x launch with no new game.

that's system wars I guess.

The last big game from Sony was last year and your advice to PS5 owners is "bu buh but Xbox"😂

"that's system wars I guess."

And this is impressive? On a platform where people pay 18 or whatever a month, this number is impressive?

I know you didn't come up with it, I've seen it.

@nnoyinghusband: How is the drought that ps5 is currently going through affecting you? Next up it’s yet another reskinned Superhero game….and then? It’s another superhero game sometime next year hopefully, and nothing else on the horizon.

A drough is not supposed to have ANYTHING. Your reskinned superhero game IS SOMETHING. Not only is it something, but it will score higher than your 25 in the making video game.

Stop moaning, dealionact. It ain't random that the Xbox brand is going away just like Mixer did.

I am sorry 10 million disappoints you. But, MS, Bethesda, and the gaming press all agree that Starfield is a huge hit.

Going away? LMFAO. You sad, delusional cow.

@hardwenzen: When you get that upset, your spelling and logic goes all over the shop. Reskinnedman 2 isn’t out yet, which is why I spoke about the current drought.

Besides, you’re like me in thinking that yet another open world quest/qte/beat the boss game is an absolute borefest.

Deny it.

@hardwenzen: "Imagine owning 48 studios, and nobody is able to release anything in over a year. wtf are they doing at those studios"?

Thank you. Exactly.

Ok mouthpeice, keep it up. 😃

Nobody is talking about my taste in games, or yours for that matter. Its a game, a game that will be enjoyed by millions. One that will outscore your 25 years in the making. That's all you really need to know.

If this was Xbox's drought, you wouldn't have anything at all. Zero. Not now, or a month from now. Phil said it first, it was a disaster.

Yikes, Sony is catching up to Xbox in this regard. Almost 12 months now since the last first party developed game for our PS5!

They should follow in the footsteps of Xbox Game Studios in 2023:

• Redfall
• Age of Empires 2 for Xbox
• Age of Empires 4 for Xbox
• Minecraft Legends
• Starfield
• Hi-Fi Rush
• Forza Motorsport 2023

Of course, they also released some great expansions this year too:

• Elder Scrolls Online Necrom
• Sea of Thieves The Legend of Monkey Island
• Forza Horizon 5 Rally Expansion
• Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels Expansion

The good news is, our PS5 might have Wolverine in 2025! So there is always that and GaaS F2P PS5 games too!

@hardwenzen: But it is about your personal ps5 drought. It’s angered you so much, you’ve ranted about on these pages. There’s nothing - absolutely nothing - that you’ve enjoyed on your ps5 for well over a year, and that drought will continue.

“ If this was Xbox's drought, you wouldn't have anything at all. Zero.”

Yeah, but it’s not. It’s ps5’s.

Myself? I’ve never gamed so much in my life. My back catalogue is huge, and there’s so many games coming up I have no idea how I’m going to fit them all in.

That’s the difference between you and I…I love games, you hate Xbox.

Pretty crazy all I could play at launch was ac Valhalla and gears hivebusters.

Its not. I am an evolved cow. What is the definition of an evolved cow? Let me tell you. An evolved cow is a cow that has a PC, one that is able to STEAL ALL XBOX "EXCLUSIVES" with no questions asked. Drought doesn't exist when you have evolved as much as i did.

You on the other hand, if you were to TRY to evolve the same way i did, your combo, the X + PC would be so incredibly dumb, that it would be a backwards evolution if i ever saw one. You're stuck with your system that runs most everything in 30fps and Medium/Low visuals.

The difference between you and i is that i am evolved gamer, while you're an archaic gamer.

Do you like to use a condom?

You're in the same boat as him.

Let's see... agree with Bethesda, Microsoft, and the press; or believe a guy in a half-dead gaming forum?

Hmm. Who to believe, who to believe...

@sealionact: I’ve been playing Starfield with 5 days of game time so far. Before that I beat RDR 1&2 on PS5, so the “drought” on PS5 hasn’t impacted me.

@kvallyx:

Thing is, Phil was also talking about the lack of AAA console exclusives like Stalker 2 as well.

Things get real interesting if you look at it that way. :)

yup.

I’d go with “deranged” over “evolved”. Anybody who thinks paying MS to play Xbox games is “Stealing from Xbox” has evolved about as much as Sony‘s much delayed Factions game. 🤡

You bought a PC because you had nothing to play on your ps5….i don’t have the same problem.

🫳🎤