Phil Spencer Discusses Microsoft's E3 Plans

For Microsoft, this E3 is important- Sony is the strongest it has ever been, and Nintendo is resurgent. This means that what was initially a single front war is now a two front one for them. So of course, they need to have something meaningful planned for E3, right?

Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, was asked about Microsoft's E3 plans during an interview with Xbox On, and he shared some thoughts on what to look forward to.

'I think the game lineup this year across the board is fantastic,' he said. 'And I think Scorpio will be the best console to go play these games on. But when I think about just the games we've heard about from first and third parties, it's going to be such an incredible year... I know we say that every year, but I've had some opportunity to look at some of the third party games, which are coming together so well. I'm obviously playing our first party games. And I think the creativity and diversity this year is fantastic. Something like Destiny 2 is coming, I was over at Bungie two weeks ago, and I got to play a little bit, and it got me back into the first game.

'But I think the games that are coming out, the new Star Wars game, Red Dead, some other stuff that's not announced yet, the new Mordor game... I just think this year, where last year was a lot of shooter games, which I think is great, and I know Destiny is a shooter too, but there's lots of other kinds of content too, which I think is great. It's gonna be a great year and a great E3.'

Now, while I agree with a lot of what he is saying, and it's great that these wonderful games will be the best on Xbox, this answer does worry me, because it seems to almost be drawing attention away from exclusives and first party games. I hope that simply showing some (admittedly great) third party games, playing best on Scorpio, is not Microsoft's plan for E3 and for Scorpio- that would put them in a world of trouble.

He says "i think" a lot.

And Not saying anyting about 1st party games is weird.

so basically he talks about games i can play elsewhere..

Microsoft is not the leader market though, so not sure how much money he got to spend on new games? Scalebound is money wasted because of platinum failing to deliver. I don't think Microsoft cares about winning console races anymore. They seem to be happy just making money and providing services and great console for gamer's who like xbox . Microsoft will have new games at E3 but i don't think we see a roll of new games after new games.

Phil talks around in circles. And at this point he has made many, many circles. He also seems to think a lot of things are "great", while at the same time saying almost nothing about anything.

I saw "third party" too much. Get your shit right MS.....get some first party titles to go along with the Scorpio or I will be disappointed.

There's no doubt in my mind Scorpio will be the main attraction but I do find it puzzling Phil didn't even hinted any new IP games coming for Xbox One but I guess we'll have to wait for E3 2017 and see if MS can WOW the crowd.

I think it's basically MS moving into next-gen without saying it outright. They need to be very careful how they market Scorpio so it would be unwise to just say Hell with the fans who stuck with us through the Xbox One disaster. MS so wants to move past the Xbox One so their plan IMO is to slowly move people over with the hopes they can work past the Xbox one until it's an afterthought.

No way this thing doesn't have exclusives. It's just a matter of what, when & how.

(I'm just speculating on this)

MS is competing with Sony, Nintendo is no threat to either company so it is still a single "front war".

I mean, it's hard to really take anything from that either way.

It's very possible that Xbox are simply trying to mend relationships with 3rd party developers. Remember, last gen almost every game tried to tie itself with the 360, but they've lost that this time around to PS4. Saying "we have the most powerful console on the market, and it's the best place to play all these 3rd party games", and putting them as the focus on the system is a good first step forward to repairing that.

But yeah, the lack of 1st party talk is concerning. Though, the last two years they tried to over hype there line-up with quotes such as "the best line-up in Xbox History", and both times have been pretty mediocre, with even the big hitters Halo 5 and Gears 4 not been received as well as previous installments, so maybe this is just Phil dialing back on that sort of talk.

We'll find out in just over a month either way.

@Pedro: Actually, Nintendo isn't even trying to compete with both MS/Sony, they want to do there own thing as they always done ever since they after PS1 era.

I hope they drop another bombshell like last E3 and announce a Steam app on Scorpio.

I think thats really the underlying reason they havent really been sweating games. If they get access to even a portion of Steam's library they dont need a ton of exclusives they can win on volume. The 'no games' argument goes completely out the window. I think with Steam phasing out Greenlight and MS ramping up the Creators Program, its kind of a good fit.

The rumors for it have been circulating for a long time on the Windows developer blog.

I think ultimately thats all part of of the Play Anywhere strategy and thats the advantage that Xbox has over both Sony and Nintendo. Windows. People forget this was the roadmap from the very beginning and its actually coming into fruition after getting lost in the trainwreck of the XBox One launch.

I think MS has an overall different strategy for creating games than Sony and Nintendo. Sony and Nintendo us the old formula of manufacturing a hit. I think MS is now interested in hits coming organically because it actually comes out better for ROI, then if need be getting behind them once they are established. I think MS looks at stuff like Minecraft and Rocket League which make tons of money from small means as a better map than building 100+ million dollar games that could be flops. Especially in the current landscape where they are far behind.

They'll still make their 5 exclusives a year, which if you really look is what all the companies do for the most part. But overall, I think their idea is give people the means and they will create good things.

Just give me Halo 6 with a damn good campaign. That's all I require from Microsoft.

Its been five YEARS into this gen and MS has NOT produced no new STARS for the Xbox family that can take the torch from Halo or Gears. If Xbox does not announce a new star for the Xbox then them and their precious Scorpio is gonna get cooked BADLY by the PS4 and Switch. Basically a handicapped destruction...

See this is why you Xbox fans are among the least taken serious in gaming. You guys are just so complacent with ANYTHING! ANYTHING MS does. You guys don't want MS to improve or be competitive. Jesus Christ... This is something Nintendo fans use to say...

Xbox NEEDS more exclusives and badly.

@oflow: why do you think Steam will work on Consoles?

Everybody who keeps mentioning this has no logic.

Xbox OS doesn't support Win32. So gales would no work on it.

@charizard1605: I'll just drop this quote from his interview with TheGuardian here... GS just posted an article about it...grabbed the quote from there.

"Right now the focus is really on the content that we're building. I know I get some community pushback on our first-party [slate], and what position we're in, and I want to say to people: that same level of commitment you felt from myself and from the team as we've evolved platform over the last three years--as we've evolved service over the last three years, as we've evolved and innovated hardware over the last three years--is going on with our first party. I don't want to go and pre-announce a bunch of things, but we are upping our investment, there's no doubt about that." - Phil Spencer

I think Xbox will be fine. Phil knows they need to improve here too, but unlike other parts of the Xbox brand, new games take 3-5 years to make and we're just barely scraping the edge of 3 years post Mattrick. I'm hopeful they can show off some new games this year, but realistically we might not see the fruits of an Xbox first-party with Phil at the helm of the Xbox brand until next year.

Honestly i have more then enough games already to play this year. We got Starwars Battlefront, Call of Duty maybe Red dead redemption. I will pick up State of Decay maybe Crackdown 3. Thats 5 new games already

Microsoft will have new games to show at E3 and new console. I'm happy i be playing games at 4K native.

@blessedbyhorus: Sunset Overdrive was new. Ori and the Blind Forest was new. Titanfall 1 was new. As far as breakout new hits go, comparatively Sony has had Bloodborne and Horizon.

Thanks for this good to know Microsoft is spending money and new games are coming.

I know, thats why their failure in hardware will be so glorious. :)

Sounds like he's hyping third party multiplats over first party ones.

Because its possible to make it work with an MS/Valve created emulator. It might not work on all titles thats why I a said a portion. But the actual roadmap would be for games going forward to be UWP.

"I think the game lineup this year across the board is fantastic,' he said. 'And I think Scorpio will be the best console to go play these games on."

Sounds like E3 for Microsoft is going to be a bunch of multiplats running at 4k

Firstly, he clearly mentioned 1st party BUT let's be clear here: Microsoft wants Scorpio to be the #1 choice for 3rd party content for the rest of this generation.. That's an obvious fact and a very important goal..

Despite the way people are trying to rewrite history and pretend that exclusives have been selling these consoles, this generation has proven, yet again, that 3rd party studios are driving the industry and that the console that provides the best performance for those titles has a clear advantage in both marketing and public perception.. This was showcased to a certain extent last gen but the point has been driven home even further this generation..

Microsoft obviously has 1st party content that will be showcased and, again, he does mention 1st party in that interview.. But lets be real, NOTHING he says today is going to sell you on Sea of Thieves if you're not already interested and he CERTAINLY isn't going to announce a new 1st party IP before E3.. So what exactly are you expecting for him to say concerning 1st party?..

And again, let's be real, most people want to hear about Project Scorpio and the main thing he CAN discuss at this moment, prior to E3, is the idea that Scorpio will definitely be the best place to play all the great 3rd party content that's on the way this year and for the foreseeable future.. This is no cause for "worry".. It's an obvious goal that any one of these major companies should be aiming for and, quite frankly, the only logical thing Microsoft can talk about this close to E3 without giving away any of their major announcements..

At any rate, E3 is just around the corner.. In this thread, I'm still seeing the same typical comments from both Microsoft haters and supporters (myself included).. So let's just wait until after E3 to see if we actually have something new to talk about..

You make it sound as if he was subtle.

I mean he could just be doing that so he doesn't accidentally leak any first party secrets. If not, then that's pretty discouraging.

Sounds like a snippet of a bigger part, because in the Guardian he's saying they are upping their investment in first-party.

They fact that they believe the xbox line this year is fantastic is a testament of how full or crap PR people are. The xbox one has get garbage this year and doesnt look like it ia changing much.

^assuming you are kidding

I'm really looking forward to Microsoft's E3 this year, hopefully they'll have some big games to show.

Even though Phil Spencer said the opposite and Microsoft is upping the investment. You guys just have a different filter to everyone else.

Not really. The importance of exclusives; outside of Nintendo, is not really there.

I can read into what Phil is saying here. Basically, Microsoft has some bombs coming. Sony will have games up on stage that you won't see for another 4 years and then beg for money.

Microsoft wins another E3.

He's not. Microsoft could have best RPG games ever he still hate on it, just like Dakur will.

@loe12k:

Bro. I consider you a good poster but you YET AGAIN are proving my point. smh. If you enjoy those games then fine. However they are MULTIPLATS... Multiplats that I can play on other platforms. They give me no reason to own an Xbox. As far as Crackdown, I LOVE Crackdown but is it enough? I know its not a new star... State of Decay 2. The first game was an arcade game and was not a star power for the Xbox. But we'll have to see with the second one.

But either way you state you are complacent with MS not having no new stars for the Xbox that can take it to the next level.

@loe12k: Phil could have spent the entire interview talking about 1st party and the haters would try to say "he must have no confidence in Scorpio since he didn't mention performance for 3rd party games"..

Microsoft could spend the entire 90 minutes of their E3 press conference on 1st party exclusives and it wouldn't matter to 90% of the people on this forum who spend all their time talking about how Microsoft has "no exclusives".. They'll just say those games "don't look interesting" and keep the hate train rolling..

They better drop some megatons at E3 or people will just ignore them in favor for the PS4. Switch is not a threat since its target audience is totally different.

@oflow:

Sunset Overdrive was the closest thing and its doubtful we are getting a sequel. Ori and the Blind Forest is an indy game? Are we using indy games for the Xbox? Keyword "new star" as in a big AAA game title that can take Xbox to the next level. Like how the first Gears did with the 360 back in 06. Or how Mass Effect(before MS foolishly lost Bioware) did for the 360 back in 07. THAT is what I'm talking about with "new stars." I want the Xbox to win! I want it to go back to the glory days of 06-07 when we had kickass new ips like Gears, Crackdown, Mass Effect and many others. What MS is doing now aint cutting it.

As for Titanfall... The first one was an multiplayer only and Iirc the second one is on PS4.

Resogun. The Last Guardian. Until Dawn. Alienation.

Microsoft will appear at E3 in about six weeks. I not going to talk shit about Microsoft till i know what games they got for the future. If they have no new games to show it's a problem.

We only got to wait another month or so to find out what MS is planning for the future. The haters will never change you right.

Right, Phil is going to talk about his first party games in a PRE - E3 interview so that E3 is spoiled. Great idea. I assume since Sony never talks about their first party offerings that are coming up at E3, they must be in a "world of trouble"?

lol multiplat machine confirmed and irrelevancy certified!

Also M$ should hire people that talk better in public. It's so obvious to spot that he doesn't really believe in anything he's saying, he just seems like reading a script for generic answers to questions he doesn't have a real answer for.

There is no waiting. The $ony P$ fans are running scared!

Factually REKT!

Funny how you claim that others ignore history and you immediately go on to ignore the historical fact that power is correlated with the consoles that sell poorly. Only this gen that pattern changed and it can be attributed to a bunch of other factors that make 100 times more sense.

Indeed.

please enlighten us.. prior to Horizon: Zero Dawn, what "new stars" did Sony 1st party bring to the table that justifies the 2:1 sales advantage the PS4 has been enjoying for the last 3 years?.. beyond that one game, both companies have put out their usual franchises of Uncharted, Halo, Infamous, Gears, and etc coupled with a few notable 3rd party exclusives like Bloodborne and Titanfall..

This idea that Sony has been killing Microsoft with exclusives this entire generation is just plain false.. yes, one incredibly strong 1st party offering in Horizon coupled with some timely Japanese 3rd party releases like Nioh and Nier has created this perception, but it's just a perception, not the reality..

The reality is that "superior mulitplats" (coupled with tons of goodwill and positive PR) was the primary reason why the PS4 has been shooting off like a rocket in terms of sales.. No one is saying that Xbox One is going to win back the generation due to "superior mulitplats" on Scorpio but pretending like a "lack of exclusives" has been the primary issue is just not true..

Microsoft's 1st party has been on pace, and arguably out-pacing, Sony 1st party studios this generation in terms of putting out content and yet Microsoft is sitting at a 2:1 disadvantage in sales.. let's stop pretending that not being able to claim the "best versions" of mulitplatform games wasn't a major factor in that equation..

If you want Microsoft to "win", fine.. but it's pretty obvious that one or two AAA "new stars" aren't going to be some magic silver bullet to solve their current issue and feeding into that false narrative is just doing more harm than good..

Got around to watching this interview just now.

Phil Spencer may have slipped up here. He said he visited Rare and saw unannounced game game, least sounded like that to me?

And guy's what game is this do you know?

@Antwan3K:

please enlighten us.. prior to Horizon: Zero Dawn, what "new stars" did Sony 1st party bring to the table that justifies the 2:1 sales advantage the PS4 has been enjoying for the last 3 years?.. beyond that one game, both companies have put out their usual franchises of Uncharted, Halo, Infamous, Gears, and etc coupled with a few notable 3rd party exclusives like Bloodborne and Titanfall..

Yeah. Lets act like Bloodborne doesn't exist.... And Bloodborne is NOT a "third party exclusive". It was actually made by one of Sony's first party studios Japan Studio with the help of the people who made Dark Souls series. Bloodborne which sold a lot and got good scores.

This idea that Sony has been killing Microsoft with exclusives this entire generation is just plain false.. yes, one incredibly strong 1st party offering in Horizon coupled with some timely Japanese 3rd party releases like Nioh and Nier has created this perception, but it's just a perception, not the reality..

They have been especially when it comes to scores.

The reality is that "superior mulitplats" (coupled with tons of goodwill and positive PR) was the primary reason why the PS4 has been shooting off like a rocket in terms of sales.. No one is saying that Xbox One is going to win back the generation due to "superior mulitplats" on Scorpio but pretending like a "lack of exclusives" has been the primary issue is just not true..

No one said lack of exclusives is why the Xbox One is losing to PS4. We all know it was because of the terrible launch. However the lack of good exclsuives from the Xbox One is NOT helping. Exclusives last gen was how the PS3 caught up to the 360. MS can do the same thing with the Scorpio/Xbox brand.

Microsoft's 1st party has been on pace, and arguably out-pacing, Sony 1st party studios this generation in terms of putting out content and yet Microsoft is sitting at a 2:1 disadvantage in sales.. let's stop pretending that not being able to claim the "best versions" of mulitplatform games wasn't a major factor in that equation..

Out-pacing Sony in WHAT exactly? Sales? Thats debatable... But even so Quantum Break and Sunset Overdrive have not done well in sales. Scores? Sony easily been crushing it when it comes to scores.

But more importantly lets look at MS's first party studios compared to Sony's....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Studios#Software_development_studios

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Interactive_Entertainment#Software_development_studios

Just look at how TINY MS's first party studio team is. So no MS has not been outpacing Sony.

If you want Microsoft to "win", fine.. but it's pretty obvious that one or two AAA "new stars" aren't going to be some magic silver bullet to solve their current issue and feeding into that false narrative is just doing more harm than good..

lol... This is the complacent attitude I'm talking about. No one said its going to be some magical bullet, but its going to HELP A LOT. Like it did for the PS3. How are you even certain that the Scorpio having the best looking multiplats is going to help the Scorpio???