Getting down to brass tacks, the beginnings of Codename: Durango are a car crash, a multimedia focused system out of touch with it's audience, a limelight for only the safest blockbusters of games and invasive DRM and forced peripherals massively harming the consumer experience and appeal of the device. However the Xbox brand begun a slow transformative process back in 2014, some have infamously jumped the gun and deemed this the Phil Spencer effect, however what has undisputably been revealed is a series of policy changes and brand pivots that have both been challenged as questionable and embraced as a return-to-form. What I wish to present is a rough timeline of these events and changes, warts and all
The 2013 DRM Reversal
To begin with this means to start with the rockiest period in the brand's history, in E3 2013 the Xbox One was confirmed by Don Mattrick and co. to feature a DRM process that would require constant check-ins and an online internet connection, this spiraled down to many legendary PR blunders such as "We have a product, its called Xbox 360" and was met with a huge backlash, especially compared to Sony who utilized this glaring problem to their advantage in their own videos and reveal. The DRM had many apparent benefits such as family sharing, however the digital future was not ready and the execution was invasive, messy and harmful to consumers. In an open letter Don Mattrick reversed these DRM policies and went back to the same techniques implemented in the 360. This cycle of events finalized with the departure of Don Mattrick to Zynga.
ID@Xbox
During this backlash though, the ID@Xbox initiative began, whilst vastly overshadowed by the negativity of the Xbox One's launch process, the program ran by Chris Charla promised indie developers an ecosystem that promotes and cultivates creativity, each developer receives two dev kits at no cost (recently retail Xbox Ones have been given a dev mode as well), several games have been given a hefty spotlight from ID@Xbox, including Cuphead which has received many awards, Inside which became a critical darling earlier this year and more such as Superhot and The Long Dark. However the ID@Xbox had received scrutiny for its parity policy meaning that games had to release on the Xbox before any other console or at least in-time with the other consoles, this caused distress amongst indie developers however in mid-2015 this clause was deemed effectively over, with Phil Spencer stating in an interview that MS will discuss a staggered release with developers and still support them.
Kinect removed
One of the biggest criticisms for the Xbox One circa launch was the revelation that Xbox One would have to be bundled with a Kinect, substantially raising the RRP of the product despite many feedback from consumers that shown apathy and disdain towards the Kinect, shortly after the promotion of Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer in early 2014 stated that the Kinect would no longer be required, the price would go down to $399. Alongside this the paywall for apps such as Netflix and Hulu were completely dropped. This was the first cornerstone that signalled Xbox's return to a traditional controller gaming priority, in E3 2014 only 2 Kinect games were shown. In E3 2015 and E3 2016, no Kinect games were shown. In 2016 the redesigned Xbox One S can support Kinect but only through the usage of a Kinect adapter.
Games first
The first big shift in development priority with Phil Spencers tenure meant the prioritization of games from the Xbox division, a quote from Polygon states:
Phil Spencer's work in conjunction with figures such as Microsofts head of first party Shannon Loftis, has resulted in the revival of old IP's and the beginning of new ones. Sunset Overdrive (Insomniac), Ori and The Blind Forest (Moon Studio), Killer Instinct (Double Helix/Iron Galaxy), Sea of Thieves (Rare), Scalebound (Platinum/Kamiya) and Recore (Paccini/Inafune/Staten) are some IP's that have been announced with many of them already receiving critical acclaim, plenty of support and hints of a sequel. however there has been some lukewarm reception as well, Quantum Break received a polarized reception, some praising it's fast and fun gunplay but critiquing the out-dated TV approach and performance issues. Ryse was praised for it's graphical achievements but deemed as being repetitive and mediocre in gameplay. D4 from cult-developer SWERY was praised for its quirky story and Kinect usage, however entered an extremely troubled commercial response and with the deprioritization of Kinect and SWERY's time-off has entered a developmental rut. The Phantom Dust reboot also hit troubled waters and is so far (as we know it anyway) in a developmental rut looking for a new developer, this has been met with an announcement in E3 2016 that the original Phantom Dust would be re-released with online support on PC and Xbox, however news on the reboot still remains cold. Sequels to the heavy-hitters Halo, Gears and Forza still continue to be successful, however any opinions on those franchises are fit for another thread at another time, however in all this, there is one popular IP that I probably missed out, don't worry I didn't, keep reading...
First party studios
That IP I was referring to was Fable, a four-player co-op game by the name of Fable Legends was in development for a cycle of many years with a development sum of $75 million. Analysis of the game seemed to indicate a massive disinterest from players after the first match or two, user engagement dropped massively and it's developer Lionhead hadn't shown many promising results, many would say the ill-fated focus on Kinect from previous years didn't help, this resulted in the axing of the game and the unfortunate closure of the talented Lionhead Studios much to the dismay of the gaming community. The Fable IP seems to be on hold as of now, and Press Play was also closed who were in the middle of the development of Project Knoxville, a promising Hunger Games style game. Another casualty probably down to lack of user engagement in testing. Blacktusk was also rebranded as The Coalition, a Gears of War focused studio. In early 2014, Mojang was acquired by Microsoft for 2.5bn and the Minecraft series was recruited into the ranks of Microsofts biggest IP's, quickly recuperating the costs and being used as a showcase for their Windows 10 ecosystem union.
However a glimmer of hope has shone on Rare, Rare's original journey into this generation looked dull, another Kinect Sports game that was commercially successful but didn't resonate with core audiences and most importantly, the fan's of Rare. Before this in 2012 Phil Spencer and other first party development members sought to revive some of these Rare franchises, whilst trying to avoid the ire of shareholders and investors during the multimedia heavy Kinect era, one of these was Killer Instinct, development of this game began under Double Helix and the supervision of Ken Lobb, response towards the faithful reboot ended up being good yet lukewarm due to it's lacking of launch content, the game eventually thrived into a fan favourite within the FGC with development being shifted towards Iron Galaxy and many seasons of additional characters and stages later, also being used as a somewhat substitute for Microsoft's Smash Bros. However whilst quality reboot's are good, it's the studio themself that matters, In E3 2015 a new logo for Rare was shown, sporting the old legendary yellow and blue as opposed to the sterile pear green it was blemished with. A faithful compilation of Rare's classics under the name of Rare Replay received critical and commercial success and it's new game Sea of Thieves was shown, sporting concepts from designer Gregg Mayles Banjo prototype and 'dream game' Project Dream. The multiplayer pirate game is still in development but has already received rewards and plenty of critically successful previews, whilst rumours of circulated massively of new games in development at Rare and a new Battletoads in the cards, Rare and Rare themself still are popular today and they show the potential to become a favourite in the industry again.
Microsofts first party approach seems to be an amalgamation of it's original Xbox era and Don Mattrick era, with a handful of internal studios working towards their big blockbusters (with the exception of Rare, who have apparently been given a degree of creative freedom) whilst plenty of outsourced developers are given the job of making the next big IP for Microsoft. They maintain a firm hand on their most important of IP's whilst makiing investments in new ones from outside sources.
Gamer first
In E3 2015, Microsofts first announcement was a bombshell. an emulator had been developed for the Xbox One that would allow for 360 backwards compatibility. Whilst support has been individually managed for each new game and it had to be downloaded with a software wrapper, games would play as close to possible as they did on the 360, for free. This received widespread positive reception and was widely seen as the first big pro-consumer move the brand had made in a while. Many games have seen positive results from this, Red Dead Redemption and Black Ops 1 user engagement multiplied by substantial amounts and software performance has seen improvements for several games. However some games don't perform perfectly such as Halo Reach which performs with a choppy framerate. Overall though the effects of backwards compatibility have been a plus for gamers and a plus for publishers, with many assertions from Microsoft that they are working to extend this support all the way to the original Xbox.
At the same E3, the Elite Controller was announced, which some deemed to be a risky investment in the premium controller, the controller was built with the hardcore gamer in mind, allowing for customized button mapping and physical layouts, and a more luxury buld quality. The Elite Controller saw success across the board and is regarded as one of, if not the best controller ever made by some (of course, a highly highly subjective matter) This extended further next year with the Xbox Design Lab, allowing gamers to single-handedly design their controller with their own gamertag and colors. User input will also be further extended with keyboard and mouse support at some point in the future (likely with Halo Wars 2). A blemish on all this was the fact that TV DVR recording was announced at Gamescom 2015, and has now been left on hold for an indefinite amount of time.
At E3 2016, Xbox began their new Gaming for Everyone program, promising that they'd make an inclusive environment for everyone to enjoy through embracing diversity and allowing gamers to find like-minded players and socialise through Clubs and match up in Tournaments. This program aims to tackle widespread misogyny and racism that has been seen within the industry and wants to make the gaming space fun for everyone.
also xbox onesies, if you want
Xbox Play Anywhere, UWP and Windows 10
Perhaps one of the most surprising moments of this generation was the announcement that Microsoft would begin to unify the Xbox One within the Windows 10 ecosystem, the simultaneous promotion of CEO Satya Nadella and Xbox Head Phil Spencer has resulted in a large union of Microsofts products and services whilst trying to create a core that would allow for ease of development and porting between them all. Xbox Play Anywhere is the branding thread tying this together, buy a game on Xbox One and play it on Windows 10 and vice-versa. Play a game on Xbox One and play with your Windows 10 friends and vice-versa.
UWP is the developmental thread, whilst promising an easier conduit for developers to get their games in the Windows 10 ecosystem, it has received quite a bit of criticism for it's lacking of features and locked down approach. UWP initially lacked basic features like V-Sync however many of these graphical issues have been given support over time. UWP has been interpreted by some as an attempt at monopolizing the market, Microsoft has responded to this by stating that developers and consumers can sideload apps and allow them to be sold anywhere. There was also mixed results with some games developed with UWP, whilst Killer Instinct and Forza 6 Apex performed well, games like Gears Ultimate and Quantum Break did not. The store itself has also received a negative response, with Microsoft promising future updates based on feedback.
The Xbox One itself received a drastic rehaul of it's OS under the engineering team, its much maligned Windows 8 UI was redesigned with a Windows 10 look, a Windows 10 core and support for Windows 10 apps. This improved the performance and speed of the dashboard, however the layout has received a mixed response for it's store and layout of games library. Both of these have been refined and updated in later updates for more intuitive use.
And most importantly the future sees Microsoft releasing the vast bulk of first-party games in conjunction with both PC and Xbox, games will features across devices such as cross-play and cross-save (and the newly revealed Xbox Connect implementing that standard). According to Microsoft not every game will be released on Xbox and PC but the majority in the foreseeable future will. This initiative promises a greater chance for IP's to become successful, for IP's to cultivate and to connect gamers across devices.
This new approach to being open to multiple devices has resulted in Microsoft connecting an open invitation to developers and platform holders alike, such as Sony, Valve and Nintendo. Developers such as Psyonix and CDPR have said they are open to this program and have the technology necessary for multi-network crossplay for Xbox Live, however as of yet there has still not been a substantial response from Sony.
Beyond generations, and Project Scorpio
This year saw Microsoft announce their venture into going 'beyond generations' and announcing two consoles. The Xbox One S, an aesthetic re-design of the Xbox One with 4K streaming and HDR, and the future Project Scorpio, a heavily upgraded 'premium' Xbox One with support for 4K and VR gaming. The Xbox One S right now has seen a relatively strong response from both the market and critics, praising it's smaller design, removed power brick and display features. However there is still relative uncertainty on how Project Scorpio will operate. Microsoft promises that Xbox One owners will not be left behind and that it will receive the same support it's always done, with Xbox One, Xbox One S and Scorpio existing as tiers of consumer choice, and that the barriers between generations will be removed in the future, your existing games library, digital and physical, your existing accessories and your profile will be the same as you'll have in the far away future. With PlayStation Neo adopting a similar (maybe not the same, but similar approach) it still waits to be seen as to whether these new iterative consoles are accepted or rejected.
This write-up was maybe a bit too daunting for the typical thread, but I hope this creates some insightful discussion as to what happens with Xbox from here.
What do you think of where the Xbox is now GAF? Where do you think they are heading? Has there been any significant changes for you? Good or bad?
The 2013 DRM Reversal
To begin with this means to start with the rockiest period in the brand's history, in E3 2013 the Xbox One was confirmed by Don Mattrick and co. to feature a DRM process that would require constant check-ins and an online internet connection, this spiraled down to many legendary PR blunders such as "We have a product, its called Xbox 360" and was met with a huge backlash, especially compared to Sony who utilized this glaring problem to their advantage in their own videos and reveal. The DRM had many apparent benefits such as family sharing, however the digital future was not ready and the execution was invasive, messy and harmful to consumers. In an open letter Don Mattrick reversed these DRM policies and went back to the same techniques implemented in the 360. This cycle of events finalized with the departure of Don Mattrick to Zynga.
ID@Xbox
During this backlash though, the ID@Xbox initiative began, whilst vastly overshadowed by the negativity of the Xbox One's launch process, the program ran by Chris Charla promised indie developers an ecosystem that promotes and cultivates creativity, each developer receives two dev kits at no cost (recently retail Xbox Ones have been given a dev mode as well), several games have been given a hefty spotlight from ID@Xbox, including Cuphead which has received many awards, Inside which became a critical darling earlier this year and more such as Superhot and The Long Dark. However the ID@Xbox had received scrutiny for its parity policy meaning that games had to release on the Xbox before any other console or at least in-time with the other consoles, this caused distress amongst indie developers however in mid-2015 this clause was deemed effectively over, with Phil Spencer stating in an interview that MS will discuss a staggered release with developers and still support them.
Kinect removed
One of the biggest criticisms for the Xbox One circa launch was the revelation that Xbox One would have to be bundled with a Kinect, substantially raising the RRP of the product despite many feedback from consumers that shown apathy and disdain towards the Kinect, shortly after the promotion of Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer in early 2014 stated that the Kinect would no longer be required, the price would go down to $399. Alongside this the paywall for apps such as Netflix and Hulu were completely dropped. This was the first cornerstone that signalled Xbox's return to a traditional controller gaming priority, in E3 2014 only 2 Kinect games were shown. In E3 2015 and E3 2016, no Kinect games were shown. In 2016 the redesigned Xbox One S can support Kinect but only through the usage of a Kinect adapter.
Games first
The first big shift in development priority with Phil Spencers tenure meant the prioritization of games from the Xbox division, a quote from Polygon states:
Phil Spencer's work in conjunction with figures such as Microsofts head of first party Shannon Loftis, has resulted in the revival of old IP's and the beginning of new ones. Sunset Overdrive (Insomniac), Ori and The Blind Forest (Moon Studio), Killer Instinct (Double Helix/Iron Galaxy), Sea of Thieves (Rare), Scalebound (Platinum/Kamiya) and Recore (Paccini/Inafune/Staten) are some IP's that have been announced with many of them already receiving critical acclaim, plenty of support and hints of a sequel. however there has been some lukewarm reception as well, Quantum Break received a polarized reception, some praising it's fast and fun gunplay but critiquing the out-dated TV approach and performance issues. Ryse was praised for it's graphical achievements but deemed as being repetitive and mediocre in gameplay. D4 from cult-developer SWERY was praised for its quirky story and Kinect usage, however entered an extremely troubled commercial response and with the deprioritization of Kinect and SWERY's time-off has entered a developmental rut. The Phantom Dust reboot also hit troubled waters and is so far (as we know it anyway) in a developmental rut looking for a new developer, this has been met with an announcement in E3 2016 that the original Phantom Dust would be re-released with online support on PC and Xbox, however news on the reboot still remains cold. Sequels to the heavy-hitters Halo, Gears and Forza still continue to be successful, however any opinions on those franchises are fit for another thread at another time, however in all this, there is one popular IP that I probably missed out, don't worry I didn't, keep reading...
First party studios
That IP I was referring to was Fable, a four-player co-op game by the name of Fable Legends was in development for a cycle of many years with a development sum of $75 million. Analysis of the game seemed to indicate a massive disinterest from players after the first match or two, user engagement dropped massively and it's developer Lionhead hadn't shown many promising results, many would say the ill-fated focus on Kinect from previous years didn't help, this resulted in the axing of the game and the unfortunate closure of the talented Lionhead Studios much to the dismay of the gaming community. The Fable IP seems to be on hold as of now, and Press Play was also closed who were in the middle of the development of Project Knoxville, a promising Hunger Games style game. Another casualty probably down to lack of user engagement in testing. Blacktusk was also rebranded as The Coalition, a Gears of War focused studio. In early 2014, Mojang was acquired by Microsoft for 2.5bn and the Minecraft series was recruited into the ranks of Microsofts biggest IP's, quickly recuperating the costs and being used as a showcase for their Windows 10 ecosystem union.
However a glimmer of hope has shone on Rare, Rare's original journey into this generation looked dull, another Kinect Sports game that was commercially successful but didn't resonate with core audiences and most importantly, the fan's of Rare. Before this in 2012 Phil Spencer and other first party development members sought to revive some of these Rare franchises, whilst trying to avoid the ire of shareholders and investors during the multimedia heavy Kinect era, one of these was Killer Instinct, development of this game began under Double Helix and the supervision of Ken Lobb, response towards the faithful reboot ended up being good yet lukewarm due to it's lacking of launch content, the game eventually thrived into a fan favourite within the FGC with development being shifted towards Iron Galaxy and many seasons of additional characters and stages later, also being used as a somewhat substitute for Microsoft's Smash Bros. However whilst quality reboot's are good, it's the studio themself that matters, In E3 2015 a new logo for Rare was shown, sporting the old legendary yellow and blue as opposed to the sterile pear green it was blemished with. A faithful compilation of Rare's classics under the name of Rare Replay received critical and commercial success and it's new game Sea of Thieves was shown, sporting concepts from designer Gregg Mayles Banjo prototype and 'dream game' Project Dream. The multiplayer pirate game is still in development but has already received rewards and plenty of critically successful previews, whilst rumours of circulated massively of new games in development at Rare and a new Battletoads in the cards, Rare and Rare themself still are popular today and they show the potential to become a favourite in the industry again.
Microsofts first party approach seems to be an amalgamation of it's original Xbox era and Don Mattrick era, with a handful of internal studios working towards their big blockbusters (with the exception of Rare, who have apparently been given a degree of creative freedom) whilst plenty of outsourced developers are given the job of making the next big IP for Microsoft. They maintain a firm hand on their most important of IP's whilst makiing investments in new ones from outside sources.
Gamer first
In E3 2015, Microsofts first announcement was a bombshell. an emulator had been developed for the Xbox One that would allow for 360 backwards compatibility. Whilst support has been individually managed for each new game and it had to be downloaded with a software wrapper, games would play as close to possible as they did on the 360, for free. This received widespread positive reception and was widely seen as the first big pro-consumer move the brand had made in a while. Many games have seen positive results from this, Red Dead Redemption and Black Ops 1 user engagement multiplied by substantial amounts and software performance has seen improvements for several games. However some games don't perform perfectly such as Halo Reach which performs with a choppy framerate. Overall though the effects of backwards compatibility have been a plus for gamers and a plus for publishers, with many assertions from Microsoft that they are working to extend this support all the way to the original Xbox.
At the same E3, the Elite Controller was announced, which some deemed to be a risky investment in the premium controller, the controller was built with the hardcore gamer in mind, allowing for customized button mapping and physical layouts, and a more luxury buld quality. The Elite Controller saw success across the board and is regarded as one of, if not the best controller ever made by some (of course, a highly highly subjective matter) This extended further next year with the Xbox Design Lab, allowing gamers to single-handedly design their controller with their own gamertag and colors. User input will also be further extended with keyboard and mouse support at some point in the future (likely with Halo Wars 2). A blemish on all this was the fact that TV DVR recording was announced at Gamescom 2015, and has now been left on hold for an indefinite amount of time.
At E3 2016, Xbox began their new Gaming for Everyone program, promising that they'd make an inclusive environment for everyone to enjoy through embracing diversity and allowing gamers to find like-minded players and socialise through Clubs and match up in Tournaments. This program aims to tackle widespread misogyny and racism that has been seen within the industry and wants to make the gaming space fun for everyone.
also xbox onesies, if you want
Xbox Play Anywhere, UWP and Windows 10
Perhaps one of the most surprising moments of this generation was the announcement that Microsoft would begin to unify the Xbox One within the Windows 10 ecosystem, the simultaneous promotion of CEO Satya Nadella and Xbox Head Phil Spencer has resulted in a large union of Microsofts products and services whilst trying to create a core that would allow for ease of development and porting between them all. Xbox Play Anywhere is the branding thread tying this together, buy a game on Xbox One and play it on Windows 10 and vice-versa. Play a game on Xbox One and play with your Windows 10 friends and vice-versa.
UWP is the developmental thread, whilst promising an easier conduit for developers to get their games in the Windows 10 ecosystem, it has received quite a bit of criticism for it's lacking of features and locked down approach. UWP initially lacked basic features like V-Sync however many of these graphical issues have been given support over time. UWP has been interpreted by some as an attempt at monopolizing the market, Microsoft has responded to this by stating that developers and consumers can sideload apps and allow them to be sold anywhere. There was also mixed results with some games developed with UWP, whilst Killer Instinct and Forza 6 Apex performed well, games like Gears Ultimate and Quantum Break did not. The store itself has also received a negative response, with Microsoft promising future updates based on feedback.
The Xbox One itself received a drastic rehaul of it's OS under the engineering team, its much maligned Windows 8 UI was redesigned with a Windows 10 look, a Windows 10 core and support for Windows 10 apps. This improved the performance and speed of the dashboard, however the layout has received a mixed response for it's store and layout of games library. Both of these have been refined and updated in later updates for more intuitive use.
And most importantly the future sees Microsoft releasing the vast bulk of first-party games in conjunction with both PC and Xbox, games will features across devices such as cross-play and cross-save (and the newly revealed Xbox Connect implementing that standard). According to Microsoft not every game will be released on Xbox and PC but the majority in the foreseeable future will. This initiative promises a greater chance for IP's to become successful, for IP's to cultivate and to connect gamers across devices.
This new approach to being open to multiple devices has resulted in Microsoft connecting an open invitation to developers and platform holders alike, such as Sony, Valve and Nintendo. Developers such as Psyonix and CDPR have said they are open to this program and have the technology necessary for multi-network crossplay for Xbox Live, however as of yet there has still not been a substantial response from Sony.
Beyond generations, and Project Scorpio
This year saw Microsoft announce their venture into going 'beyond generations' and announcing two consoles. The Xbox One S, an aesthetic re-design of the Xbox One with 4K streaming and HDR, and the future Project Scorpio, a heavily upgraded 'premium' Xbox One with support for 4K and VR gaming. The Xbox One S right now has seen a relatively strong response from both the market and critics, praising it's smaller design, removed power brick and display features. However there is still relative uncertainty on how Project Scorpio will operate. Microsoft promises that Xbox One owners will not be left behind and that it will receive the same support it's always done, with Xbox One, Xbox One S and Scorpio existing as tiers of consumer choice, and that the barriers between generations will be removed in the future, your existing games library, digital and physical, your existing accessories and your profile will be the same as you'll have in the far away future. With PlayStation Neo adopting a similar (maybe not the same, but similar approach) it still waits to be seen as to whether these new iterative consoles are accepted or rejected.
This write-up was maybe a bit too daunting for the typical thread, but I hope this creates some insightful discussion as to what happens with Xbox from here.
What do you think of where the Xbox is now GAF? Where do you think they are heading? Has there been any significant changes for you? Good or bad?
