Windows Central Interview with Phil Spencer - the Future of Activision-Blizzard

Live Опубликовано 02.12.2023 в 08:51 Archimtiros

interview with Windows CentralWhat Makes Microsoft's Strategy Different?

Microsoft has put over a billion dollars a year into supporting third-party games coming into Game Pass - what they've created is a financially positive service supporting all games, from the biggest studios with hit franchises to small individual publishers introducing their games to new players. Having people play more and stay engaged on the platform, regardless of the types of games they're playing, is a part of their strategy.

Phil Spencer, via Windows Central

When you look at things, we've done over the past 12 months. If you look at things like Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, long-term investment in games like Grounded, all of these games have had real success for us in our subscription and in our platform. The diversity of business models allows us to invest in different kinds of content and still have financial success with that content. When we look at the back catalog of games from Bethesda, we get really excited. We look at the back catalog from Activision and Blizzard, we get really excited about the things we can do. It's early days, so we need to be talking to the teams that are fully staffed and working on things already. It's not like, 'hey, there's a spare team' that you can just go and put on something. You need to make sure those teams have passion for what they want to work on. I will say that the diversity in business models that we have in Microsoft Gaming really lets us support different kinds of games, different sizes of games, and not every game we build has to be the kind of game that takes up all of your time."
Name Dropping Isn't All Tease

Previous press tours in the lead-up to acquisition mentioned fan-favorite franchises like Guitar Hero, Skylanders, StarCraft, and other dormant Activision-Blizzard classics, and while Spencer isn't giving away any of their plans, he is adamant that he doesn't bring up games just to tease them - it might not happen quickly, but they're not just trying to lead people on.

Phil Spencer, via Windows Central

In the case of Blizzard games specifically, really what I'd want to do is work with Blizzard's leadership to see where they have passion. I say all this, but I'm not at all suggesting that Blizzard doesn't have passion for reviving franchises too, I know that from my visits to the team. They absolutely have the passion in this area. There's a lot of excitement for possibilities that we can all do together. But also, I want our fans and customers to know that I don't bring up games just to tease to no end ... if people have watched how we've teased things in the past. There's usually some kind of reconciliation of those hints later on ... I'm not one to try and lead people on. It might not happen on the timeline that people would love, but usually when I tease, there's something there.Chasing Project Passion

While Xbox has been able to revive "niche" games like Age of Empires and Killer Instinct, reviving past games or porting existing ones over to new platforms is a matter of finding the right team and the right opportunity. Spencer isn't keen on taking projects away from their existing teams or ignoring the lessons of their original creators.

Phil Spencer, via Windows Central

"Thinking about Age of Empires, we're on the 10th anniversary edition of Killer Instinct, which is another nice example to think about. There has to be passion in the team behind the projects. That doesn't mean that the team has to be the original team every time. I'm not one — and maybe this is just my approach — I'm not one to come in and take a franchise from a team and remove them from the discussion or development process on how something new gets built. I think the original creators, the culture — frankly, some of the lessons we've learned from past experiences here are very important. You've seen from our history that we haven't touched every franchise that people would love us to touch — Banjo fans, I hear you. But it is true that, when we find the right team and the right opportunity, I love going back to revisit stories and characters that we've seen previously."

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