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E3 2021’s Prettiest Game Might Be This ’80s-Inspired Platformer

June 15, 2021Kotaku

It’s called E3 2021 not because 2021 is the year most calendars are set to but because video game publishers have released approximately 2,021 trailers over the past 72 hours. Given the sheer number of short clips, some show-stealers naturally fall through the cracks. One of the coolest in recent days—provided you haven’t caught it yet—was a brief spot for Replaced, which popped up yesterday during Microsoft’s Xbox digital showcase. First, the music. I’ve tried Shazam. I’ve tried the little microphone in “OK Google.” I’ve tried asking reps from Coatsink, the game’s publisher. (They have not yet responded.) Please, if…

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Xbox head Phil Spencer takes shot at Sony’s PC strategy

June 11, 2021VG247

Phil Spencer has, in a rare occurrence, compared Xbox’s strategy with that of Sony’s.Xbox has significantly changed its approach to platform and content over the course of a few short years. Under Phil Spencer‘s leadership, Xbox went from losing to Sony’s PlayStation, to changing the game completely that this comparison no longer matters.Watch on YouTubeThis was, of course, chiefly achieved by bringing Xbox games to PC day-and-date with console, and expanding the reach of the Xbox platform to the cloud, which opens up the ecosystem to millions of players who wouldn’t, or couldn’t own an Xbox console.At a pre-E3 briefing…

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Xbox Series X/S supply shortages expected to continue until April 2021, says Microsoft

November 16, 2020VG247

Microsoft has acknowledged hardware shortages for the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X may last until well into 2021.Keen gamers around the world have struggled to get their hands on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles since launch, and it looks like things aren’t going to get any easier for eager consumers any time soon.During last week’s Jefferies Interactive Entertainment Conference (transcribed by Seeking Alpha), Microsoft’s chief financial officer Tim Stuart acknowledged the supply/demand disparity with the new hardware and suggested it’s going to last a while longer yet.“I think we’ll continue to see supply shortages as we…

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Despite impressive Xbox Series X launch, Microsoft won’t go back to revealing unit sales

November 12, 2020VG247

Xbox still won’t report sales figures for Series X and Series S.With the launch of the Xbox Series X/S, it appears that Microsoft’s long-held policy of not disclosing sales numbers for the Xbox brand will hold.Console makers used to boast about their sales numbers wherever they could. Even as early as the last generation, both Microsoft and Sony reported their figures… well, until they didn’t. Or more specifically, Microsoft stopped.It doesn’t look like that stance is going to change either. With the start of a new console generation, there was a question about whether sales figures would come back. Xbox…

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“I’d like to see more single-player games from our first-party,” says Xbox chief

October 27, 2020VG247

Phil Spencer is aware that Microsoft’s first-party output has leaned hard into multiplayer over the years.Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, has a very reasonable approach to Game Pass, and a realistic outlook of the output of his platform’s own first-party studios. It’s no secret that Xbox Studios-developed games have either been entirely multiplayer, or had a big focus on multiplayer elements and ongoing live services.Some see Xbox Game Pass as a continuation of that, essentially a single subscription for a host of live service games, but Spencer says this is not Microsoft’s plan for the service or its own franchises.Speaking…

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1 vs 100 may return on Xbox Series X, according to Phil Spencer

October 25, 2020VG247

Xbox boss Phil Spencer mentioned that fan-favorite multiplayer game 1 vs 100 could potentially make a return on the Xbox Series S and X.During an official FanFest live stream on Friday, Spencer made some interesting comments about Microsoft’s plans to revive a trivia game “from [the company’s] past”.As mentioned over on VGC, Spencer commented on the potential revival during a stream that was supposed to run alongside a quiz. Technical issues killed plans for the quiz, but Spencer still appeared on the stream and teased the re-introduction of the popular game.“Maybe we should even be building our own trivia game,…

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Xbox’s Spencer teases cloud gaming TV streaming stick

October 23, 2020VG247

By Alex Calvin, Friday, 23 October 2020 16:04 GMT Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that the company could make streaming sticks for its cloud gaming streaming service.In an interview with Stratechery – as reported by The Verge – the Microsoft exec said that it’s possible we’ll see cheaper tech that can just plug into a TV for use with the streaming platform.“I think you’re going to see lower-priced hardware as part of our ecosystem when you think about streaming sticks and other things that somebody might want to just go plug into their TV and go play via xCloud,”…

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Microsoft may yet end up shipping Halo Infinite campaign and multiplayer separately

October 19, 2020VG247

By Sherif Saed, Monday, 19 October 2020 11:51 GMT It sounds like Microsoft is keeping an open mind when it comes to Halo Infinite’s release structure.Halo Infinite, which was supposed to be Microsoft’s big first-party launch game for Xbox Series X, ended up getting delayed, leaving Microsoft’s line-up this November devoid of new first-party games.Reports about the state of development that lead to that decision in the first place are plentiful, but Microsoft itself suggested that it had considered splitting campaign and multiplayer in order to make launch.According to Xbox chief Phil Spencer, things may end up going that way…

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More Xbox games coming to Switch “doesn’t feel sustainable”

October 17, 2020VG247

By Stephany Nunneley, Saturday, 17 October 2020 15:33 GMT There’s no guarantee we will see more Microsoft titles released on Switch. While Microsoft has an amicable relationship with Nintendo, it may not be sustainable to release more Microsoft titles on Switch, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer.“We have a very good relationship with Nintendo,” Spencer told Kotaku. “Every conversation we have with them has really been easy.” A good relationship doesn’t mean more Xbox titles will come to Nintendo systems, though. According to Spencer, bringing more Xbox-published titles to Switch, such as Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and…

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Xbox can recoup $7.5 billion Bethesda investment without going multi-platform, says Spencer

October 16, 2020VG247

By Stephany Nunneley, Friday, 16 October 2020 19:47 GMT Xbox boss Phil Spencer is confident Microsoft can recoup the funds spent on acquiring Bethesda, without releasing the studio’s games on other consoles.Speaking with Kotaku, Spencer said “yes,” Microsoft will be able to recoup its $7.5 billion investment without releasing Bethesda games, such as The Elder Scrolls 6, on other consoles.“I don’t want to be flip about that. This deal was not done to take games away from another player base like that,” he said. “Nowhere in the documentation that we put together was: ‘How do we keep other players from playing these…

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Major Nelson chats with Xbox boss Phil Spencer and Bethesda’s Todd Howard and Pete Hines

September 23, 2020VG247

By Stephany Nunneley, Wednesday, 23 September 2020 20:16 GMT Microsoft’s Major Nelson has interviewed Xbox boss Phil Spencer alongside Bethesda’s Todd Howard and Pete Hines.In the video chat, the foursome discusses Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda and the history between the two companies going back to the original Xbox.Howard touched upon when Bethesda first developed for consoles with Morrowind on the original Xbox. Apparently, with Morrowind when it was running low on memory they were able to reboot the box, so when you got a very long load “that’s us rebooting the Xbox,” said Howard.Spencer states in the chat that Bethesda…

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Microsoft files statement in support of Epic

August 23, 2020VG247

Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently announced that Microsoft has filed a statement in support of Epic as the company continues to publicly debate Apple’s video game publishing structure.Spencer made the announcement on Twitter, where he also posted a link to the full statement. You can check out his tweet below. Today we filed a statement in support of Epic’s request to keep access to the Apple SDK for its Unreal Engine. Ensuring that Epic has access to the latest Apple technology is the right thing for gamer developers & gamers https://t.co/72bLdDkvUx — Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) August 23, 2020“Today we filed…

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Phil Spencer says Microsoft’s approach isn’t about selling more consoles than Sony or Nintendo

August 16, 2020VG247

By Cian Maher, Sunday, 16 August 2020 21:56 GMT Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently stated that Microsoft isn’t concerned about selling more consoles than Sony or Nintendo. Spencer made the statement during an episode of Gary Whitta’s Animal Talking podcast, which you can check out in the video embedded below (it’s clearly separated into chapters, so you can skip to the relevant part relatively easily if you don’t have enough time to listen to the whole thing – although it also has Lisa Loeb and Dylan Sprouse – yes, Zack from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody – in…

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Xbox Boss On Microsoft’s Struggles With Game Quality And Efforts To Improve It

June 21, 2019Kotaku

Whatever the strengths of the Xbox platform, it’s long lagged behind Nintendo and Sony in terms of homegrown, exclusive video games. There have been highlights in its history and even some stellar games of late, such as last year’s Forza Horizon 4, but the Xbox One era has been rough. There have been prominent cancellations, disappointing sequels and games that under-delivered given how long fans were waiting for them.In recent years there have been hints of a coming turnaround. While Nintendo and Sony have turned out Game Of The Year contenders such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the…

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‘Xbox Live Is Not A Free Speech Platform’: Xbox Boss Promises New Features To Make Online Gaming Less Hostile

June 20, 2019Kotaku

You can learn a lot about a person by the values they express, and possibly something about an entire gaming platform by the blog posts the person running it writes. That’s why I was so eager at E3 last week to ask the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, why he recently wrote a 1200-word essay mostly about “building a safe and inclusive gaming environment for everyone.” His answer was illuminating, and hinted at ambitious plans taking shape for Xbox Live that could prove influential for online gaming as a whole.Before getting into what Spencer said and the new initiatives he…

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