“Hopefully, the June showcase can put some fears to rest, but it will take a lot of work for Xbox to regain the trust of its fan base and the wider gaming community. We can no longer take anything the company says at face value, and no matter how many exciting games are announced, there will always be the feeling that more closures are just around the corner.”
And here we are. This week’s news solidified what I’ve suspected since the Tango fiasco: Xbox is no longer Xbox. It’s Microsoft Gaming wearing a dodgy mask—a third-party publisher with hardware at the beck and call of Microsoft proper.
Phil Spencer has received a lot of criticism since the news broke, and rightfully so. He’s spent years preaching about the need for smaller games and studios, as well as the importance of a diverse portfolio on Xbox. His actions since the Activision Blizzard acquisition closed paint a different picture.
Yet, while we rage and call for Spencer’s head, there’s one person who doesn’t share our anger. Unfortunately, he’s the only one who matters. In the eyes of Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Spencer is doing everything that is asked of him.
Growing up, I never subscribed to the console war nonsense, but I identified most as an Xbox player. The bulk of my digital library is on Xbox, and most of my pals are, too. I don’t think I’ll be prioritising that library anymore. When Xbox’s new mandate is to put the games everywhere, why bother? Especially when there are zero guarantees about the future of any studio.
Spencer’s decision to push thousands of developers into unemployment, despite the success of games like Black Ops 6, Forza Horizon 5 and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion remake, shows he’s nothing more than a Yes-man.
What’s more, Xbox’s pivot to making its games available on every platform has given the brand some much-needed momentum. Forza Horizon 5 alone has sold over 2 million copies on PS5 since its debut in April. The concept of an “Xbox exclusive” is all but dead. This no doubt pleases Nadella, considering his previous remarks that he would “love to get rid of them”.
To us, Spencer has become a charlatan who wears cult game logos for a cheap pop. To Nadella, he’s a star pupil: a reliable figure who can “make the tough decisions”.
At Xbox, the success and profitability of a studio no longer seem to matter. The treatment of Tango Gameworks proved that no one is safe. Microsoft rules the roost. If Nadella wants to funnel obscene amounts of money into his dream of Microsoft winning “the AI war”, that’s that.
Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software, and High Moon Studios were all hit with cuts, too. Not even the developers of Call of Duty are safe. Call of fucking Duty!
Most could see where the franchise was headed under Bobby Kotick’s Activision. I hoped that a regime change via the Activision Blizzard acquisition might make a difference. Unfortunately, I was wrong. It killed the man, not the idea. (I say “killed”, but Kotick walked away with a massive payoff and zero consequences.)
It appears that Xbox is taking a relatively hands-off approach to COD so far—we’ve seen how well that has worked with other studios. The cancellations of Everwild and Perfect Dark are just the latest examples of Xbox struggling to manage… anything. Perhaps it’s better to stick with the devil you know, even if that devil is pushing Call of Duty to its breaking point.
Game Pass is another can of worms. While I’ve saved a lot of money by using it, I’m sceptical it’s healthy for the video game industry at large. Subscription services that offer new releases at launch are leaving money on the table. I would’ve paid the 70 quid for Doom: The Dark Ages, but it was “free” on Game Pass. Microsoft can afford to subsidise any losses, I’m sure, but what happens to the service when the inevitable decision is made to stop burning money? And what happens to the millions of players who have been conditioned to access every new first-party game for only a small monthly fee?
While positive stories still exist, like the successes of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Lies of P, it’s hard not to feel bleak about everything. The video game industry has grown increasingly cutthroat since the pandemic. Development costs continue to balloon, and investors who rushed in to fund projects after the lockdown boom are now looking elsewhere to make a quick buck.
Now, thanks to what’s happening at Xbox, it’s a bloodbath, and I don’t think it’s pessimistic to say it’s going to get worse. Microsoft will continue decimating Xbox’s legacy in the name of “streamlining”, and as long as Satya Nadella’s obsession with Artificial Intelligence continues, we’ll see more cancellations, more closures, and more casualties. One day, all that will be left of Xbox is a hollow shell of what it once was. But hey, at least it’ll be agile.
