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As a Consumer Would You Rather?

Traditional Console + Everything Exclusive 20 42.55%
 
Xbox/PC Hybrid + Access t... 27 57.45%
 
Total:47
Ryuu96 said:
Machiavellian said:

Nothing you stated changes the fact that Phil made these decisions.  If anything, because there is no more leeway for Phil to continue to spend money and not be accountable for it that he needed to make these decisions.  Also, lawyers cannot just keep emails away from courts or protect them.  If Satya had any say so in the direction, purchase, Acquistion or input in MS gaming, all those correspondences are game.  

Satya has a reputation just like all CEOs and that include Phil as well.  The only difference is that Phil goes out and make these public feel-good statements while Satya does whatever CEO usually does and keep to himself.  There is a lot of pressure running a company the size of MS and the same is said for Phil when he got promoted.  Yeah, before that promotion he could be mister feel good.  Now he has to account for way more than just those feel-good statements and if he wants to make sure Xbox continue, he has to make some tough sometimes painful decisions.

Ryuu, there is no technicality here.  Phil only reports to Satya and no one else.  Amy may have some input, but she does not direct Phil.  Until we hear otherwise, I suggest you all stop giving Phil a bypass here and believe that he made these decisions not because he was forced but because his job demanded he make them or MS will find someone else who probably would be way more cutthroat.

I didn't say Phil doesn't make decisions, I said Satya isn't blameless, you're acting like the CEO of Microsoft doesn't do a thing in his company.

Satya tells Phil that cuts have to be made, Phil/Booty/Zenimax Boss decide where the cuts will be made, I said that. You agreed with me: "There is no more leeway for Phil to continue to spend money and not be accountable for it" - Accountable to who? Satya! Which is what we're saying! So what are you even debating about? Lol.

Satya factually does have a say so in the direction, purchase, acquisition and input in gaming. Phil straight up referred the Activision acquisition to Satya, Phil literally told Bobby to talk directly to Satya, Lol. Satya factually almost closed the Xbox division once before and told Phil to come up with a plan. Yes, Satya has a reputation as a layoff happy CEO.

Phil does not only report to Satya, it's not a technicality, Phil has literally referred to Amy Hood as his boss before. She is the frigging CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of all of Microsoft! It's not "may have some input" it's she DOES have input - Microsoft CFO Amy Hood Paying Attention to Gaming, Phil Spencer Says

Former Xbox veterans are also saying that this is all being dictated from Satya Nadella and Amy Hood.

I did not give Phil a bypass, I said he shares blame multiple times, but you were trying to argue that Satya Nadella the CEO of Microsoft just sits there twiddling his thumbs while his divisions run wild spending $80bn. The leaders tell them that cuts have to be made, in this case, Amy Hood as she is in charge of Microsoft's financials for all divisions, then the divisions decide WHAT is cut.

Both Phil and Satya share blame, as I said.

Ryuu, you need to keep up.  Phil just got this promotion.

As to Satya, I am willing to say that he actually did not tell Phil that cuts needed to be made. You are throwing him into the mix because you want to believe he had some say into this decision.  I am saying that Satya had absolutely no say into this decision, but Phil made this decision because he felt it was needed.  I actually believe that Satya has complete trust in Phil because he continues to promote him and now Phil only reports to Satya.  Meaning if I were to think about a conversation between the 2, Satya came to Phil and stated, "ABK looks great but everything else is not.  Hardware down big time and subscriptions to GP is not growing at all.  What is your plan to address these issues".  

Satya is not a CEO who understands the gaming market nor about situations that drives it, that expertise is all Phil.  So, no Satya would not tell, force or even make suggestion as to what Phil needs to do.  Phil came to Satya and told him this is what he will do in order to fix the issues he sees in the market and what Phil believes needs to be done.  

My issue with believe that either Amy or Satya told Phil that these cuts need to be made does not sound right especially when you read the email from Phil, Sarah and Booty.  Instead, it sounds like Phil looked at the market and decided that he needs to make some changes because what we see today isn't just a blip but how the market will be for a while.  Either Phil needs to make serious changes that will improve output, get those GP subs to moving and also get hardware back on track or MS might as well just drop all of that become a single big publisher and call it a day.



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Machiavellian said:

Ryuu, you need to keep up.  Phil just got this promotion.

As to Satya, I am willing to say that he actually did not tell Phil that cuts needed to be made. You are throwing him into the mix because you want to believe he had some say into this decision.  I am saying that Satya had absolutely no say into this decision, but Phil made this decision because he felt it was needed.  I actually believe that Satya has complete trust in Phil because he continues to promote him and now Phil only reports to Satya.  Meaning if I were to think about a conversation between the 2, Satya came to Phil and stated, "ABK looks great but everything else is not.  Hardware down big time and subscriptions to GP is not growing at all.  What is your plan to address these issues".  

Satya is not a CEO who understands the gaming market nor about situations that drives it, that expertise is all Phil.  So, no Satya would not tell, force or even make suggestion as to what Phil needs to do.  Phil came to Satya and told him this is what he will do in order to fix the issues he sees in the market and what Phil believes needs to be done.  

My issue with believe that either Amy or Satya told Phil that these cuts need to be made does not sound right especially when you read the email from Phil, Sarah and Booty.  Instead, it sounds like Phil looked at the market and decided that he needs to make some changes because what we see today isn't just a blip but how the market will be for a while.  Either Phil needs to make serious changes that will improve output, get those GP subs to moving and also get hardware back on track or MS might as well just drop all of that become a single big publisher and call it a day.

Phil got a promotion to a new higher title that didn't exist before to satisfy the growing managerial needs of the Xbox. However, from MS's standpoint, Phil is still the higher-ups at Xbox and the change of title does not absolve him of any responsibility to MS he previously had or give him any more leeway.

You are throwing him into the mix because you want to believe he had some say into this decision.  I am saying that Satya had absolutely no say into this decision, but Phil made this decision because he felt it was needed.

But that's not how things work, I guarantee that whatever operational budget Xbox is attributed is a- decided by MS, B- used to the fullest by Xbox. Because, like with every company, when a division/department doesn't use all attributed budget, it will get a reduced one the next time around. So no one in Phil's position will self-sabotage in this way.

Also, Phil does not have to answer shareholders directly, that's MS BoD and Satya's roles, so if he was not mandated to operate with lower budgets it would even be grounds for MS to terminate his contract for acting in a way that resulted in unwarranted backlash and reduce long-term output. The same way Phil would terminate any Zenimax/ABK/Xbox Games studio's head contract if they made such decisions because they felt it was needed.

My issue with believe that either Amy or Satya told Phil that these cuts need to be made

That's not what we are saying, they didn't need to tell Phil what cut needed to be made if they told him to operate with a lower budget. And Phil also likely did not choose the end targets here. Most likely he, in turn, reduced Zenimax's operational budget with an instruction to preserve ongoing projects as much as possible. 

Last edited by EpicRandy - on 13 May 2024

Ryuu96 said:

For HD titles, the Group will aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs. Especially, in regards to major franchises and AAA titles including catalog titles, it will build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles.

====

Exclusivity was a bad thing? I'm shocked.

"including catalog titles" that means late ports of back catalog titles to platforms they skipped initially. Hopefully we get some of the recent year games Xbox has missed over the years, such as:

  • FF7 Remake and Rebirth
  • FF16
  • FF Pixel Remasters
  • FF Crystal Chronicles Remaster
  • Trials of Mana remake
  • Neo TWEWY
  • Star Ocean First Departure R
  • Star Ocean The Second Story R
  • Live a Live
  • Octopath Traveler 2
  • Triangle Strategy
  • Valkyrie Elysium
  • SaGa Frontier Remaster
  • SaGa Emerald Beyond
  • Tactic's Ogre Reborn
  • The Centennial Case

Some of those are probably too small to get late ports, but I hope we at least get the ones I bolded.



NobleTeam360 said:

Quality over quantity probably means the smaller stuff like TWEWY, Bravely Default, Valkyrie, etc... are gonna be dormant/dead franchises. Shame since those were some of their best games imo.

I do think their main focus will be on their highest selling franchises moving forward, those being Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, and Nier, but I think their mid tier series will continue to get releases, albeit at a slower rate, take for instance Mana, the new Mana game looks like they took their time with it, I think they saw what Namco Bandai did with Tales of Arise by catapulting that series up in sales to make it one of their core series, and are hoping to do the same with their Mana series. Additionally I think their HD 2D team have proven themselves with games like Octopath, Triangle Strategy, and Live A Live remake and will continue to make games.

The smallest and most niche franchises will indeed be the ones that suffer, I doubt TWEWY will get a 3rd game after the 2nd flopped, and it seems like the recent Saga Emerald Beyond flopped as well with an 18k debut on Switch in Japan and failing to chart top 10 release week on PS4 or PS5, so I don't see SaGa continuing probably. Valkyrie might continue, it's my understanding that while Valkyrie Elysium physical first week sales were fairly weak in Japan, it actually sold through it's entire physical allotment apparently, so digital sales and late physical sales after restocks may have made up for it. Bravely Default may be safe, Square said Bravely Default 2 sold 1m in the first 10 months, and that was with a late PC release and no release on Xbox or Playstation, with late ports to Xbox and PS5 it may sell well enough to justify continuing the series.

My thoughts here:

Safe

  • Final Fantasy
  • Kingdom Hearts
  • Dragon Quest
  • Nier

Possibly Safe

  • Mana
  • HD 2D games (Triangle, Octopath, etc.)
  • Valkyrie
  • Star Ocean
  • Bravely

Probably Not Safe

  • TWEWY
  • SaGa
  • Forspoken
  • Theatrhythm
  • Diofield
Last edited by shikamaru317 - on 13 May 2024

-CBA-

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 13 May 2024

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8 more days till HB2 drops!



Ride The Chariot || Games Complete ‘24 Edition

I was just looking at the highlights of the last June showcased. It was quite the show and despite all the current drama, all those projects are preserved or have already released.
So I'm really looking forward again to this June Showcase. IMO, Xbox need to deliver something on par or even better than 2023, maybe with a tad more first party content vs third party.