Hello all, Wounded Xbox fan here.
This is something that has been on my mind recently and your input would make for a good discussion.
I know many of you have excellent opinions on Xbox and Uncle Phil
They are not as behind this gen as they were during the dark times of 2013.
What does Xbox need to do in order have a more favorable opinion amongst yourselves?
My main gripe - The slow output of AAA first party, we know they have the studios so where are the games? the recent 'E3' did not bolster my confidence as a fan for the next 12 months of Xbox. Although I will play Starfield and Redfall.
Still nothing from the Initiative, very sad 'live service' from 343. Is Rare even still making new games?
So sound off friends!
In general, im way more hyped, excited and confident in Microsoft in regards to Xbox than I have been in over a decade. Just seeing the massive investment into studios, publishers, etc. that started in mid-2018 was enough for me to give them this generation to win me over.
With that said, 2022 is a freaking disaster and makes 2017 look good in comparison. My biggest issue is the fact that they don't learn from their mistakes. Take Halo Infinite for example. Was given a Holiday 2020 release date at E3 2019. 18 months out. What happened? It was delayed a full year. Starfield gets a release date at the Xbox Showcase 2021. 18 months out. What happened? It was delayed to first half of 2023 but then changed at the showcase to coming 2023. My guess is that it gets a full year delay. For the second year out of three, they have no backup or contingency plan in case plan A which seems to always be their only plan goes to shit which it did in 2020 and 2022.
Next would be is that Microsoft is said to be hands off and maybe this works for a studio like The Coalition and a few others who know what they're doing and release great games on a consistent basis. I believe that they should be hands on once they green light a game. So let the studio choose which game they want to do and once green lighted, Microsoft should be checking in every 3 months minimum for an update and status report. I believe that Spencer and company didn't see Starfield until a week or two before it was delayed when they showed pictures at the BGS studio or something like that. He probably saw the game and was like, WTF?
There's no oversight and what is there is simply way too nonchalant and lenient. I believe Spencer needs to be more strict and realize that he's the boss as opposed to trying to be everyone's friend because in my mind, if my boss is my buddy, I can take advantage of that and so would so many people. My friend believes that the majority knowing this go to work and do nothing but collect a paycheck because they don't fear Spencer or fear losing their job. I would like to think this isn't the case but the execution has been piss poor thus far this generation so it's like, how can I not think or believe this is happening?
I do believe that Microsoft made a few mistakes prior to this generation starting. First and foremost was not buying out contracted games. This includes Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo, Wasteland 3, Psychonauts 2 and The Outer Worlds. Why wouldn't Embracer Group and Take Two Interactive accept a buyout for the contracts they had in regards to Wasteland 3 and The Outer Worlds? Also, why isn't there an upgrade for The Outer Worlds? So damn weird to me. I also believe that they should have delayed Ori 2 to be a launch cross-gen title for Xbox especially since they could have used an extra six months to polish the game.
Granted, in hindsight, they wouldn't know how the 2020 launch or 2022 would go at this time but still, plan ahead. Always better to have more than less. If Microsoft would have at least bought out the contracts for Deathloop and Tokyo, they could have delayed them both to 2022. Deathloop this past Spring and Ghostwire Tokyo this summer for Xbox. I have zero interest in either but at least it's freaking something. At least, it's two AAA titles.
I believe that Booty can't over see all 15 or so studios he's responsible for. He needs help. He needs someone who knows what they're doing so they can split it all into two. Of course, this doesn't include Bethesda or ABK. I would write more and a rundown of how I see every studio but that would take me way too long to type and I have work tomorrow morning. Will try to write this tomorrow evening if I can. If not, Thursday evening since from there, im off for six days. All in all, in regards to Xbox, Microsoft is leaving a lot to be desired.
