Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has paid tribute to PlayStation boss Jim Ryan following the news that the Sony executive will retire from the Japanese gaming giant next year.
23.09.2023 - 21:15 / wccftech.com / Phil Spencer
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer attended Tokyo Game Show 2023 in person to meet with fans and press alike. Japanese website Game Watch published a new interview with the executive just a few hours ago, and the conversation provides several tidbits worth reporting.
To begin with, Spencer said Game Pass is doing very well following the launch of Starfield, and with Forza Motorsport now looming on the horizon, Microsoft has finally achieved its goal of regularly releasing big titles on the subscription service. However, when asked about the likelihood of another Game Pass price increase in the future, Spencer said it's ultimately inevitable.
First, we always want to give you options in how you build your library. You can subscribe to Game Pass and play, or you can purchase the game. Currently, millions of users have subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, and many of them are satisfied with using it. Although the main premise is to provide more value, the price is I think it is inevitable that it will rise in the future. We recently raised our prices once, but the decision was made after careful consideration. We believe it is important to provide services that are recognized as being of sufficient value even if prices are increased.
In late June, Microsoft announced the first-ever Game Pass price increase, bumping the console subscription price from $9.99 to $10.99 and the GP Ultimate price from $14.99 to $16.99.
The executive also said that updating Starfield will be essential to encourage continued subscriptions and engagement with both Game Pass and the game itself, and that's exactly what Bethesda Game Studios is working on. The developer recently outlined its first patch.
Later in the interview with Game Watch, Spencer teased that Microsoft is working with Japanese studios to develop new games for Xbox, some of which are currently unannounced.
You can count on it. In fact, we released "Hi-Fi RUSH" this year. Although it was a small work rather than a masterpiece like "Blue Dragon'', it was a high quality work. Japanese game creators are also part of Microsoft Game Studios, and although there are some titles that cannot be announced yet, we are working with Japanese manufacturers to develop new games. The development environment is growing, including first-party and third-party, so I think we can expect more Japanese titles to appear in the future.
Nearly four years ago, Spencer said he would have liked to add more Asia-based game creators to Microsoft's first-party roster. However, between COVID and the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it's likely the opportunity never materialized. It'll be interesting to see whether the executive's attention will turn in that direction again now that the aforementioned
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has paid tribute to PlayStation boss Jim Ryan following the news that the Sony executive will retire from the Japanese gaming giant next year.
As the dust from the monstrous Microsoft leak begins to settle, the various players and publishers in the industry are making their positions known on the subject of acquisitions. It might seem like hubris, but Xbox chief Phil Spencer was privately musing about acquiring Warner Bros Interactive, Nintendo, or even Valve, which does put things into perspective.
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass has proven to be quite a hit for Xbox players. This subscription service was introduced to allow players access to a wide range of video games at their disposal. For the past several years, we’ve seen the service evolve with cloud gaming first-party exclusives launching day one on the service, among several deals that brought in third-party video game titles to the service. However, don’t anticipate Microsoft to make a game that would only be accessible through Xbox Game Pass.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is visiting Kojima Productions today, as testified by the pictures shared by Kojima himself on Twitter. Xbox executives Sarah Bond (Corporate VP) and Aaron Greenberg (VP of Marketing) are also in attendance, and they brought Kojima a nifty Starfield-themed backpack. They later went with many Kojima Productions members to visit the Kanda Myojin sanctuary in Akihabara, Tokyo.
Phil Spencer has stated that Xbox players can see more AAA releases by Japanese studios come to the platform in the future. Speaking to Game Watch, Spencer said that Xbox will get more games described by the interviewer as “uniquely Japanese AAA titles” down the line.
There’s been a lot of talk about Phil Spencer and Xbox lately due to the leaked email issue that flooded the news channels last week. The brand and Microsoft were put under the spotlight in the worst way because of past statements that were made public by accident because of the FTC court battle they won. But even with those issues, Spencer is still taking time to build up the Xbox brand and assure gamers that big things are coming. For example, you might know that the Xbox line has never done well in Japan sales-wise.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said players can expect to see triple-A exclusives from Japanese developers in the future.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has revealed the one game we would love to see revived: MechAssault.
Microsoft’s big bosses were recently asked about the big games that they would want to see return. Interestingly, Sarah Bond and Phil Spencer had completely different answers.
Given how many first party studios now fall under the Xbox Game Studios banner, it’s no surprise that Microsoft technically has the power to oversee revivals of as many dormant franchises as it can- a list that’s bound to grow further still once the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is finalized. However, one name in particular that Xbox boss Phil Spencer has personally had his eyes on that may take some by surprise is MechAssault.
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it was raising the subscription prices for Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate in all markets except the US, Japan, Chile, Brazil, and Columbia, and as many may have expected, it looks like it won’t be the only price hike we’ll see for Microsoft’s subscription service.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently claimed players could expect more Microsoft-published games coming from Japanese developers.