In the video game industry, it can be difficult, if not downright impossible, to predict what will trend and what will fail. Like, who would’ve ever thought that Black Myth: Wukong would be as big as it is, right? So you kind of understand why Xbox should get a pass for missing out on it. But when you’re an executive with a history of misses, you probably should be careful about admitting how many times you failed to land a home run even when it was close to a sure thing.
Case in point: Xbox head Phil Spencer recently opened up about some of the biggest missed opportunities in his tenure at the top of Microsoft’s gaming arm.
Speaking at PAX West during a session aptly titled “Story Time with Phil Spencer,” the executive shed light on decisions that add to the ever-growing list of Xbox’s missteps.
Spencer candidly admitted that he passed on two franchises that would go on to become industry juggernauts: Bungie’s Destiny and Harmonix’s Guitar Hero.
The story of Destiny, in particular, carries significance because of the shared history between Xbox and Bungie, the original developers of the Halo franchise. Despite these ties, when presented with the opportunity to sign Destiny, Xbox ultimately declined. The game would later find a home with Activision, going on to become a cornerstone of the looter-shooter genre and the reason why Sony, Xbox’s main competitor, bought out the studio years ago.
On a similar note, Guitar Hero’s pitch, involving plastic instruments and individual song purchases, struck Spencer as an unlikely success at the time. The franchise’s subsequent cultural impact and commercial success stand in stark contrast to this initial assessment.
While these missed opportunities might seem like cause for regret, Spencer insists on maintaining a forward-looking perspective. “I’m not a regrets-type person,” he stated.
However, you can’t really stop the internet from digging up evidence of the other times that Spencer failed to capitalize on what should’ve been a mega hit. Games such as Genshin Impact, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Baldur’s Gate 3 could’ve all been exclusives to Xbox, or at least, had a deal to make them become more associated with the Xbox brand. Instead, all three have since gone on to become best-sellers on the PlayStation. Marvel’s Spider-Man, in particular, is now one of Sony’s best-selling franchises after acquiring its developers, Insomniac Games, for a relatively paltry sum years after it worked closely with Xbox on 2014’s Sunset Overdrive.
To make matters worse, Spencer’s revelations come when Xbox faces much scrutiny over its handling of key franchises and studio acquisitions. The decline of Halo, once Xbox’s crown jewel, is particularly glaring. Each new entry has failed to recapture the magic that made Halo a system-seller. The same goes for Gears of War. Both were synonymous with Xbox, but neither have been relevant for at least a decade.
The situation with its former best-selling first-party exclusives now extends to how it’s handling its growing library of intellectual properties after acquiring ZeniMax Media and Activision Blizzard in recent years.
Instead of taking advantage of their treasure trove of potential exclusives, Xbox isn’t showing any interest at all, content with letting its flagship franchises to falter, which stands opposite to the careful nurturing by competitors like Nintendo and Sony. To make matters worse, it’s giving away exclusive titles to PlayStation, and some, like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, are expected to run best on other platforms.
Perhaps the writing is on the wall. Maybe Microsoft really is rebranding Xbox, even if it may come at the expense of lifelong fans. Maybe Microsoft hasn’t released as many exclusives despite its vast portfolio of studios and IPs because there isn’t any incentive to do so. It might already be thinking of the next step as it focuses on becoming a third-party publisher rather than bolstering Xbox’s gaming offerings as it bets on a console-less future, which one former Microsoft executive vehemently disagrees with.
With the PlayStation 5 boasting a strong lineup of exclusives and Nintendo offering unique experiences on the Switch, Xbox is struggling to keep up as it settles for bread crumbs and enjoys higher sales only because its competitors started increasing their prices.
Xbox’s only saving grace is its commitment to backward compatibility, which allows players to enjoy games from previous generations. But without exclusives to look forward to, Xbox finds itself in a precarious position.
It certainly doesn’t help when Phil Spencer keeps on making similar statements.
