It’s been a whirlwind week or so for Xbox. The weekend of February 3, rumors started swirling that main console exclusives like Starfield and the upcoming Indiana Jones sport would head to different platforms, and Xbox followers’ reactions have been intense, to say the least. The backlash prompted head honcho Phil Spencer to announce a seemingly impromptu “enterprise replace” going down on February 15. That replace got here within the type of a particular version of the Official Xbox Podcast, and after watching it I can safely say: This might have been an e-mail.
First, the format was odd: The 22-minute-long sit-down with Spencer, head of Xbox Sport Studios Matt Booty, and Xbox president Sarah Bond (moderated by director of Xbox broadcasts Tina Amini) was uploaded in its entirety to YouTube and podcast suppliers at 3 p.m. ET sharp. Because it didn’t debut as a reside occasion, it meant that you would scrub by way of your complete video—which I instantly did to get to all of the newsworthy stuff.
Second, it actually felt like this whole “particular” podcast was one huge reactive response to the reasonably fervent Xbox neighborhood, reasonably than an replace the group had deliberate on making for months. Spencer himself even form of confirmed this immediately, stating that the group would have most likely opened up with chatting in regards to the plans for Activision Blizzard (which Microsoft acquired in October of final yr), however as an alternative pivoted to exclusivity questions due to the “unexpected information” that got here out.
And third, if the plan was to place video games like Starfield or Indiana Jones on different platforms, what modified? Spencer refused to say which video games would find yourself on different consoles, however confirmed that it could be 4 titles, and that their lack of exclusivity standing doesn’t mark a “change to our basic unique technique.”
Amini’s query after Spencer’s “4 titles” assertion was if both of these 4 titles could be Indiana Jones or Starfield, the 2 video games main the rumor pack, and the 2 most certainly to rile up console warriors. Spencer confirmed that neither title is included within the foursome. Why? Was it as a result of the plan was to present Starfield a greater probability at having the form of spectacular legs that Skyrim has had (and which Spencer himself has mentioned he desires) by providing it to PlayStation gamers, and the web meltdown over the rumors freaked out the Xbox group?
Did they need to be certain that “Starfield stays Xbox unique” was the most important takeaway of the day? In just a few months, when the mud has settled and the console warriors have returned to their respective HQs to lick their wounds, will Starfield quietly pop up on the PlayStation Retailer?
Most significantly: Why did we want a particular, hyped-up occasion for this? Isn’t the mere existence of this distinctive Official Xbox Podcast episode feeding into the problematic nature of console allegiances? Doesn’t it, no less than implicitly, condone the habits of these pushing the backlash by dignifying it with a response?
A lot to consider.