How long till Phil Spencer gets canned by facing the consequences of the ABK deal failure - becoming the fall guy to save Nadella?

TerraNova

Newbie
26 Apr 2023
19
69
Well, let's see - over the course of Phil's tenure:
  • Xbox HW sales have fallen behind the disastrous Xbox One generation
  • Global, non-US marketshare, brand relevance, and SW splits continue to decline
  • Prioritizing 12 TF has increased build complexity, exacerbating Series X supply issues and created a wider, slower chip that's harder to maximize than PS5's narrow, fast design
  • Series S has utterly failed at its stated goals, increased development complexity, and consumes silicon that otherwise could have been dedicated to Series X
  • Through Game Pass, has conditioned their customer base to prioritize subscription content over traditional purchasing, sacrificed gobs of first party revenue, and diminished the attractiveness of the platform for third parties
  • Failed to address systemic rot at the studio helming the very IP on which the entire Xbox brand was built, only to keep incompetent, chronic hacks like Frank O' Connor, Kiki Wolfkill, and Bonnie Ross at the top, leading to a disastrous release, permanent damage to the Halo IP, and gutting of 343i
  • Maintained an extremely dysfunctional first party pipeline that continues to be marked with extended development cycles and high profile departures
  • Failed to establish the Windows store on PC
  • Wasted untold time, PR, and resources on a failed acquisition
MS has certainly opened their check book and finally backed up years of vacuous talk about beefing up their content pipeline. But I fail to see how any reasonable assessment of Phil's performance specifically doesn't demonstrate chronic under-performance and lack of delivery.

That all said, I find it pretty likely Phil will stick around in the mid-term. Just from the perspective of their company-wide culture, MS seems reluctant to meaningfully deal with leaders of underperforming divions and initiatives, instead content to keep them in power year-on-year and wait until enough pressure mounts their hand becomes forced. They continue to strike me as a company unwilling to consistently put - and keep in power - strong leaders with uncompromising, long-term visions, and instead appear overly reactive to current market trends yet late to the game.

Oh, and thanks for the quick approval. It's a pleasure to have a platform that actually welcomes these kind of actual discussions.
 

Bryank75

I don't get ulcers, I give 'em!
Founder
18 Jun 2022
7,907
13,665
icon-era.com
Well, let's see - over the course of Phil's tenure:
  • Xbox HW sales have fallen behind the disastrous Xbox One generation
  • Global, non-US marketshare, brand relevance, and SW splits continue to decline
  • Prioritizing 12 TF has increased build complexity, exacerbating Series X supply issues and created a wider, slower chip that's harder to maximize than PS5's narrow, fast design
  • Series S has utterly failed at its stated goals, increased development complexity, and consumes silicon that otherwise could have been dedicated to Series X
  • Through Game Pass, has conditioned their customer base to prioritize subscription content over traditional purchasing, sacrificed gobs of first party revenue, and diminished the attractiveness of the platform for third parties
  • Failed to address systemic rot at the studio helming the very IP on which the entire Xbox brand was built, only to keep incompetent, chronic hacks like Frank O' Connor, Kiki Wolfkill, and Bonnie Ross at the top, leading to a disastrous release, permanent damage to the Halo IP, and gutting of 343i
  • Maintained an extremely dysfunctional first party pipeline that continues to be marked with extended development cycles and high profile departures
  • Failed to establish the Windows store on PC
  • Wasted untold time, PR, and resources on a failed acquisition
MS has certainly opened their check book and finally backed up years of vacuous talk about beefing up their content pipeline. But I fail to see how any reasonable assessment of Phil's performance specifically doesn't demonstrate chronic under-performance and lack of delivery.

That all said, I find it pretty likely Phil will stick around in the mid-term. Just from the perspective of their company-wide culture, MS seems reluctant to meaningfully deal with leaders of underperforming divions and initiatives, instead content to keep them in power year-on-year and wait until enough pressure mounts their hand becomes forced. They continue to strike me as a company unwilling to consistently put - and keep in power - strong leaders with uncompromising, long-term visions, and instead appear overly reactive to current market trends yet late to the game.

Oh, and thanks for the quick approval. It's a pleasure to have a platform that actually welcomes these kind of actual discussions.

You're very welcome. Please spread the word about the place....

We started the place because of the suppression of frank discussions about videogames and the over politicization of the hobby.

It was one of the mods who approved you but I'll pass on the word.

Very well structured explanation of the deep rooted issues at Xbox / MSFT gaming.
 

KiryuRealty

Cambridge Dictionary High Priest of Grammar
28 Nov 2022
6,646
8,165
Where it’s at.
Well, let's see - over the course of Phil's tenure:
  • Xbox HW sales have fallen behind the disastrous Xbox One generation
  • Global, non-US marketshare, brand relevance, and SW splits continue to decline
  • Prioritizing 12 TF has increased build complexity, exacerbating Series X supply issues and created a wider, slower chip that's harder to maximize than PS5's narrow, fast design
  • Series S has utterly failed at its stated goals, increased development complexity, and consumes silicon that otherwise could have been dedicated to Series X
  • Through Game Pass, has conditioned their customer base to prioritize subscription content over traditional purchasing, sacrificed gobs of first party revenue, and diminished the attractiveness of the platform for third parties
  • Failed to address systemic rot at the studio helming the very IP on which the entire Xbox brand was built, only to keep incompetent, chronic hacks like Frank O' Connor, Kiki Wolfkill, and Bonnie Ross at the top, leading to a disastrous release, permanent damage to the Halo IP, and gutting of 343i
  • Maintained an extremely dysfunctional first party pipeline that continues to be marked with extended development cycles and high profile departures
  • Failed to establish the Windows store on PC
  • Wasted untold time, PR, and resources on a failed acquisition
MS has certainly opened their check book and finally backed up years of vacuous talk about beefing up their content pipeline. But I fail to see how any reasonable assessment of Phil's performance specifically doesn't demonstrate chronic under-performance and lack of delivery.

That all said, I find it pretty likely Phil will stick around in the mid-term. Just from the perspective of their company-wide culture, MS seems reluctant to meaningfully deal with leaders of underperforming divions and initiatives, instead content to keep them in power year-on-year and wait until enough pressure mounts their hand becomes forced. They continue to strike me as a company unwilling to consistently put - and keep in power - strong leaders with uncompromising, long-term visions, and instead appear overly reactive to current market trends yet late to the game.

Oh, and thanks for the quick approval. It's a pleasure to have a platform that actually welcomes these kind of actual discussions.
Great post, but I don’t think Phil’s job is as safe as you think.

In real terms, he has cost MS BILLIONS in losses because of Xbox. Shareholders will want him out the door as soon as the buyout is officially dead.
 

Gods&Monsters

Veteran
Icon Extra
21 Jun 2022
4,387
8,966
Well, let's see - over the course of Phil's tenure:
  • Xbox HW sales have fallen behind the disastrous Xbox One generation
  • Global, non-US marketshare, brand relevance, and SW splits continue to decline
  • Prioritizing 12 TF has increased build complexity, exacerbating Series X supply issues and created a wider, slower chip that's harder to maximize than PS5's narrow, fast design
  • Series S has utterly failed at its stated goals, increased development complexity, and consumes silicon that otherwise could have been dedicated to Series X
  • Through Game Pass, has conditioned their customer base to prioritize subscription content over traditional purchasing, sacrificed gobs of first party revenue, and diminished the attractiveness of the platform for third parties
  • Failed to address systemic rot at the studio helming the very IP on which the entire Xbox brand was built, only to keep incompetent, chronic hacks like Frank O' Connor, Kiki Wolfkill, and Bonnie Ross at the top, leading to a disastrous release, permanent damage to the Halo IP, and gutting of 343i
  • Maintained an extremely dysfunctional first party pipeline that continues to be marked with extended development cycles and high profile departures
  • Failed to establish the Windows store on PC
  • Wasted untold time, PR, and resources on a failed acquisition
MS has certainly opened their check book and finally backed up years of vacuous talk about beefing up their content pipeline. But I fail to see how any reasonable assessment of Phil's performance specifically doesn't demonstrate chronic under-performance and lack of delivery.

That all said, I find it pretty likely Phil will stick around in the mid-term. Just from the perspective of their company-wide culture, MS seems reluctant to meaningfully deal with leaders of underperforming divions and initiatives, instead content to keep them in power year-on-year and wait until enough pressure mounts their hand becomes forced. They continue to strike me as a company unwilling to consistently put - and keep in power - strong leaders with uncompromising, long-term visions, and instead appear overly reactive to current market trends yet late to the game.
Beautiful post! Spread this article around.

Oh, and thanks for the quick approval. It's a pleasure to have a platform that actually welcomes these kind of actual discussions.
The only place where it was allowed to speak the truth. Everywhere else Xbox fans are dominant and protected by the mods. Many xbots joined here to troll and laugh at us but today their cocks flew out the window. They have to face the reality.

feelsgoodman niccage GIF by FirstAndMonday
 

Killer_Sakoman

Veteran
21 Jun 2022
1,451
1,413
They actually do, they made a 12TF console with proprietary storage that gets beat by the PS5 on a regular basis and that they also claim they are unable to produce in sufficient amount despite Sony selling multiple times as many units.

It not their main problem but it's one of their many problems.
That's an issue caused by MBA guys sitting in the laboratory. I don't think Microsoft has incompetent engineers, but they have bad management on top of them.
Anyway, their 12TF" real RDNA2" hardware beaten by" an overclocked 8TF RDNA 1.5" hardware is not their main problem. Their problem is the business model of trying to trade shit for gold.
 

Nhomnhom

Veteran
25 Mar 2023
6,956
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That's an issue caused by MBA guys sitting in the laboratory. I don't think Microsoft has incompetent engineers, but they have bad management on top of them.
Anyway, their 12TF" real RDNA2" hardware beaten by" an overclocked 8TF RDNA 1.5" hardware is not their main problem. Their problem is the business model of trying to trade shit for gold.
They just always seem to have some naive and stupid plan. You can bet that having the most teraflops was an order given for marketing purposes and so was the $300 price point for the Series S no matter the sacrifices.

I can picture them feeling full of themselves because of their genius idea of two different consoles, all just to end up being completely outclassed by the PS5 in every possible way.
 

Dr Bass

The doctor is in
Founder
20 Jun 2022
1,937
3,294
Well, let's see - over the course of Phil's tenure:
  • Xbox HW sales have fallen behind the disastrous Xbox One generation
  • Global, non-US marketshare, brand relevance, and SW splits continue to decline
  • Prioritizing 12 TF has increased build complexity, exacerbating Series X supply issues and created a wider, slower chip that's harder to maximize than PS5's narrow, fast design
  • Series S has utterly failed at its stated goals, increased development complexity, and consumes silicon that otherwise could have been dedicated to Series X
  • Through Game Pass, has conditioned their customer base to prioritize subscription content over traditional purchasing, sacrificed gobs of first party revenue, and diminished the attractiveness of the platform for third parties
  • Failed to address systemic rot at the studio helming the very IP on which the entire Xbox brand was built, only to keep incompetent, chronic hacks like Frank O' Connor, Kiki Wolfkill, and Bonnie Ross at the top, leading to a disastrous release, permanent damage to the Halo IP, and gutting of 343i
  • Maintained an extremely dysfunctional first party pipeline that continues to be marked with extended development cycles and high profile departures
  • Failed to establish the Windows store on PC
  • Wasted untold time, PR, and resources on a failed acquisition
MS has certainly opened their check book and finally backed up years of vacuous talk about beefing up their content pipeline. But I fail to see how any reasonable assessment of Phil's performance specifically doesn't demonstrate chronic under-performance and lack of delivery.

That all said, I find it pretty likely Phil will stick around in the mid-term. Just from the perspective of their company-wide culture, MS seems reluctant to meaningfully deal with leaders of underperforming divions and initiatives, instead content to keep them in power year-on-year and wait until enough pressure mounts their hand becomes forced. They continue to strike me as a company unwilling to consistently put - and keep in power - strong leaders with uncompromising, long-term visions, and instead appear overly reactive to current market trends yet late to the game.

Oh, and thanks for the quick approval. It's a pleasure to have a platform that actually welcomes these kind of actual discussions.
You're very welcome. Please spread the word about the place....

We started the place because of the suppression of frank discussions about videogames and the over politicization of the hobby.

It was one of the mods who approved you but I'll pass on the word.

Very well structured explanation of the deep rooted issues at Xbox / MSFT gaming.
Beautiful post! Spread this article around.


The only place where it was allowed to speak the truth. Everywhere else Xbox fans are dominant and protected by the mods. Many xbots joined here to troll and laugh at us but today their cocks flew out the window. They have to face the reality.

feelsgoodman niccage GIF by FirstAndMonday
All three of you hit the nail on the head here.

This is the only place that it feels like you can just say how things are and won't get shut down for political and/or stupid reasons. The only thing you can't do in this forum is be a douche. And even that rule is pretty lax.

If you are new here and realizing that this is the case, bring your friends.
 

Eternal_Wings

Dein Nomos
24 Jun 2022
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2,758
Honestly I don’t understand till this day why Microsoft is so obsessed, with the thought of beating Sony. After decades of taking massive defeats they still haven’t given up. They will never achieve victory against Japanese Gaming companies.
 
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Johnic

Veteran
24 Mar 2023
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4,540
Outer Heaven
Well, let's see - over the course of Phil's tenure:
  • Xbox HW sales have fallen behind the disastrous Xbox One generation
  • Global, non-US marketshare, brand relevance, and SW splits continue to decline
  • Prioritizing 12 TF has increased build complexity, exacerbating Series X supply issues and created a wider, slower chip that's harder to maximize than PS5's narrow, fast design
  • Series S has utterly failed at its stated goals, increased development complexity, and consumes silicon that otherwise could have been dedicated to Series X
  • Through Game Pass, has conditioned their customer base to prioritize subscription content over traditional purchasing, sacrificed gobs of first party revenue, and diminished the attractiveness of the platform for third parties
  • Failed to address systemic rot at the studio helming the very IP on which the entire Xbox brand was built, only to keep incompetent, chronic hacks like Frank O' Connor, Kiki Wolfkill, and Bonnie Ross at the top, leading to a disastrous release, permanent damage to the Halo IP, and gutting of 343i
  • Maintained an extremely dysfunctional first party pipeline that continues to be marked with extended development cycles and high profile departures
  • Failed to establish the Windows store on PC
  • Wasted untold time, PR, and resources on a failed acquisition
MS has certainly opened their check book and finally backed up years of vacuous talk about beefing up their content pipeline. But I fail to see how any reasonable assessment of Phil's performance specifically doesn't demonstrate chronic under-performance and lack of delivery.

That all said, I find it pretty likely Phil will stick around in the mid-term. Just from the perspective of their company-wide culture, MS seems reluctant to meaningfully deal with leaders of underperforming divions and initiatives, instead content to keep them in power year-on-year and wait until enough pressure mounts their hand becomes forced. They continue to strike me as a company unwilling to consistently put - and keep in power - strong leaders with uncompromising, long-term visions, and instead appear overly reactive to current market trends yet late to the game.

Oh, and thanks for the quick approval. It's a pleasure to have a platform that actually welcomes these kind of actual discussions.
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