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[Chukhopops]

I can't believe that Ryan called Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond muppets.

Seriously though, I am getting a strange feeling that Spencer will be gone after the Activision buyout (whether it goes through or not) and the last few months is giving him the send off for making Xbox Division somewhat relevant this gen.

I’m sure they’re going to fire the dude who made the division grow +75% in revenue over 5 years, any day now. Just business sense really.

 

[JackMcGunns]

Is this a positive Phil Spencer thread? here come the haters!!

Load the Gif's before they derail it lol

 

[Roxkis_ii]

What you should get is the avatar change from the avatar bet you lost.

Tag me in the thread and I'll awap it out.

 

[Dick Jones]

I’m sure they’re going to fire the dude who made the division grow +75% in revenue over 5 years, any day now. Just business sense really.

Since we don't see the true profit and loss of the Division in isolation, your revenue stat is meaningless. MS higher ups see more than we do.

Also I can definitely see MS scapegoat Spencer if the Activision deal fails.

 

[Chukhopops]

Since we don't see the true profit and loss of the Division in isolation, your revenue stat is meaningless. MS higher ups see more than we do.

Also I can definitely see MS scapegoat Spencer if the Activision deal fails.

But we know the gaming division profit from 2019 from the Epic trial where it was published. It’s just the same uninformed people pretending MS is bleeding money.

Anyway keep fantasizing if you want, not judging.

 

[Hendrick's]

They're getting ready to send him away.

He will at a minimum see this deal out. I see him retiring or moving on regardless of the outcome.

I'm also fearful of his replacement. As much shit as he gets on this forum, he is hands down the best leader Xbox has ever had.

 

[JackMcGunns]

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I have never seen someone limp (borderline fail) upward and be praised for it as much as Phil Spencer in this industry. How do you get an award for negotiating a deal that hasn't been finalized? What have we seen in terms of industry-leading games from the deals already done in 2002 (Rare), 2018, and 2021? Where are the results that people can definitively point to and say "that's because of Microsoft's involvement."?

They don't exist. I'm sure Phil Spencer's a nice guy, but there are easily other people more deserving of this award (depending on if they haven't been inducted already).

Looking forward to another thread full of ppl crying about Phil.

You think the guy who had nothing but GamePass commercials to show for their brand at the biggest gaming event of the year is a great businessman?

Ok then.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Phil, up there with the GOATs.

Absolute legend.

 

[Kagey K]

You think the guy who had nothing but GamePass commercials to show for their brand at the biggest gaming event of the year is a great businessman?

Ok then.

You took a lot from my one sentence didn't you? I didn't see me saying any of that, but way to prove my point.

 

[levyjl1988]

There’s things in the pipeline at Microsoft, not everything is going to be released quickly. Games take time. People are living in the now while Microsoft sees it as a long term game. Remember people’s reactions before the Switch reveal and announcement with the toxicity at the Nintendo conference. People hated the Wii U, that failure ultimately became the greatest learning for the company, same with Xbox. Every company has mistakes, even Nintendo as they pretty much created the Playstation for going with Phillips. Xbox failed with the Xbox One, but hey they are subtely going into the direction they wanted players anyways, an all digital future, nothing is owned. Same with Nintendo, sure they sell physical copies to reach that other market, but fundamentally all companies will tend towards an all digital future. People doubt Microsoft now are similar to those that doubted Heath Ledger until he proved others wrong. It’s too early to dismiss Microsoft, they haven’t shown their full hand yet.

 

[ComputerBlue]

There’s no doubt he’s a fantastic businessman, he sells snake oil and lies and people buy it up. Dude is a business genius.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I mean Gamepass is pretty great. Though he also ran XGS into the ground.

Gamepass alone is a game changer and forced Sony into following his lead with subpar versions of their own "service"

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

You took a lot from my one sentence didn't you? I didn't see me saying any of that, but way to prove my point.

Okay then; in your opinion do you think he deserves this award? I'm not asking as if that has any involvement in him getting the award, but I think we can both agree there's a sizeable disconnect between the people who dole out these sort of awards and the actual larger gaming public people like Phil are meant to provide satisfactory results for, can we not?

There’s things in the pipeline at Microsoft, not everything is going to be released quickly. Games take time. People are living in the now while Microsoft sees it as a long term game. Remember people’s reactions before the Switch reveal and announcement with the toxicity at the Nintendo conference. People hated the Wii U, that failure ultimately became the greatest learning for the company, same with Xbox. Every company has mistakes, even Nintendo as they pretty much created the Playstation for going with Phillips. Xbox failed with the Xbox One, but hey they are subtely going into the direction they wanted players anyways, an all digital future, nothing is owned. Same with Nintendo, sure they sell physical copies to reach that other market, but fundamentally all companies will tend towards an all digital future. People doubt Microsoft now are similar to those that doubted Heath Ledger until he proved others wrong. It’s too early to dismiss Microsoft, they haven’t shown their full hand yet.

It doesn't take ten years to start consistently releasing fantastic games that resonate with a lot of people, influence the industry in areas of design and have strong marketing behind them, and you don't need a subscription service taking off in order for that to be the case. Digital might be the way the industry is heading but the type of model Microsoft wants in particular is not the future, we have enough stats and long(ish) look at growth to determine this. Not just that, but also the fact that the type of digital future Microsoft wants, is the kind that ONLY they would be able to realistically provide in terms of financing without running into the red or having to be dependent on a whole slew of other companies and their technologies.

The digital future Microsoft wants is an overcorrection for the perceived limitations of the current business model. It's not a model that can realistically serve many other platform holders (hardware and software), therefore it's not applicable to the industry at large, just Microsoft. A genuine future model would be one sustainable by other platform holders in the industry. There are aspects of Microsoft's model that will survive and make up the real future of the industry, but not in the form Microsoft are currently pushing with GamePass.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Phil literally inspired me to take up Video games as a hobby.
Hats off to you Sir.

 

[yurinka]

I’m sure they’re going to fire the dude who made the division grow +75% in revenue over 5 years, any day now. Just business sense really.

Yes, they bought a lot of companies on these 5 years and added their revenue on top, so their revenue did grow. But they also did spend dozens of billions on acquisitions and getting 3rd party games on GP, so their costs must have been increased way more these years, resulting on big loses during this period due to a wild, bold effort on long term investments.

 

[Skifi28]

As I've said before, at least have the decency to give the awards to Nadella.

 

[MacReady13]

I really do admire what Phil Spencer has done to turn Xbox fortunes around, especially after the strong 360 sales and weak Xbox one sales BUT, where are these fucking games Phil? It's all good and well to introduce powerful consoles, to have sub services for gaming but if you have no quality 1st party releases and every year we fans are waiting, well what's the fucking point???

 

[Danknugz]

imagine caring about this

 

[Kokoloko85]

Wow, spending billions from your trillion dollar company because your own division hasn’t made anywhere near that in 3 generations.
This is only something Phil Spencer could do, what a genius…..

 

[Dick Jones]

But we know the gaming division profit from 2019 from the Epic trial where it was published. It’s just the same uninformed people pretending MS is bleeding money.

Anyway keep fantasizing if you want, not judging.

When DarkMage619 is giving you a , you should probably revisit what you type.

 

[Clear]

I’m sure they’re going to fire the dude who made the division grow +75% in revenue over 5 years, any day now. Just business sense really.

75% in revenue growth at what cost? What percentage increase in operating costs do you think his leadership has seen?

 

[Mokus]

Next year Microsoft should $award$ him with the Nobel prize.

 

[Raonak]

I feel like they should probably delay it til phil actually releases a game.

 

[NEbeast]

Congratulations Phil. The gaming industry would be in a much worse state without you.

 

[CosmicComet]

Undeserved.

I'm rooting for Phil to make things competitive but the guy just absolutely sucks at producing games.

This was one the worst years ever for XBox.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Well deserved. He turned the entire brand around in a positive way.

 

[Iced Arcade]

whats more triggering and feared here.... spencer or gamepass

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[JayDucker]

spencer or gamepass

Ohhh, tough choice....... Both over promise and under deliver equally.

 

[Kagey K]

whats more triggering and feared here.... spencer or gamepass

2 sides of the same coin. You can't have one without the other.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

There's still time before the ed of the year for Phil to win a 5th award.

Maybe person of the year?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Gamepass alone is a game changer and forced Sony into following his lead with subpar versions of their own "service"

Not hard to make a sub service an attractive option if you have a blank check by the CEO of a big tech corp bankrolling you

I fail to see how this is some genius strategy on the part of Phil Spencer. If he had any of the limitations that other platform holders have, he'd not be able to do any of that.

 

[Punished Miku]

Not hard to make a sub service an attractive option if you have a blank check by the CEO of a big tech corp bankrolling you

I fail to see how this is some genius strategy on the part of Phil Spencer. If he had any of the limitations that other platform holders have, he'd not be able to do any of that.

Probably why everyone views Bob Iger as a failure of a CEO as well. Only CEOs that limit themselves to actions that their less wealthy rivals could afford conduct themselves with true honor and get business awards.

Time Business Person of the Year went to a 10 year old with a lemonade stand in 2020. Not only did she have zero money for investment, but she wasn't even old enough to work. From these intense limitations, she managed to save enough to buy a bicycle all by herself.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Probably why everyone views Bob Iger as a failure of a CEO as well. Only CEOs that limit themselves to actions that their less wealthy rivals could afford conduct themselves with true honor and get business awards.

Bob Iger was a steward of many very important IP and franchises that developed organically, which is much of what his success is attributed to. Disney Plus is already coming under fire from shareholders for costs, and the same will happen to GamePass.

Unlike Bob Iger, Phil Spencer has been at the top of Microsoft while their development teams have seen significant erosion in prominence, quality, and timely releases. It has caused them to need to make moves of desperation, like buying out entire publishers such as Zenimax and Activision/Blizzard, which again are enabled as the result of financial big tech backing.

So again, I ain't going to Crown Spencer on a business strategy that aint exactly difficult when you have a blank check, nor is it particularly brilliant. Not hard to package together content and sell it cheaply while it's subsidized by the mothercorp.

 

[Punished Miku]

Bob Iger was a steward of many very important IP and franchises that developed organically, which is much of what his success is attributed to. Disney Plus is already coming under fire from shareholders for costs, and the same will happen to GamePass.

Unlike Bob Iger, Phil Spencer has been at the top of Microsoft while their development teams have seen significant erosion in prominence, quality, and timely releases. It has caused them to need to make moves of desperation, like buying out entire publishers such as Zenimax and Activision/Blizzard.

So again, I ain't going to Crown Spencer on a business strategy that aint exactly difficult when you have a blank check, nor is it particularly brilliant. Not hard to package together content and sell it cheaply while it's subsidized by the mothercorp.

Maybe so. All I'm trying to do (besides crack jokes) is suggest that maybe business people are giving Spencer awards for a reason. It's not like he's getting them over and over from Xbox fanboys. I think people that actually understand what the goals and tools are for a man in his position are acknowledging that he's made substantial impact not just on his company, but the industry as a whole and influenced the way everyone is doing business and looking at the future of the industry. Most people in his position just keep things moving along and don't make a lasting impact.

I won't drag out the Iger comparison, but he's got some issues with IP stewardship.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Maybe so. All I'm trying to do (besides crack jokes) is suggest that maybe business people are giving Spencer awards for a reason. It's not like he's getting them over and over from Xbox fanboys. I think people that actually understand what the goals and tools are for a man in his position are acknowledging that he's made substantial impact not just on his company, but the industry as a whole and influenced the way everyone is doing business and looking at the future of the industry. Most people in his position just keep things moving along and don't make a lasting impact.

I won't drag out the Iger comparison, but he's got some issues with IP stewardship.

Bloomberg is a business site that pretty much is a paid advertisement from the biggest conglomerates. It's not hard to imagine they would want to shill for the people that pay their bills at the end of the day.

So, no...I think these awards are completely unjustified. He needs to do better and his continual apologies year after year for dysmal competitive organic performance isn't going to be made up by the GamePass blank check. This economic cycle will definitely expose many of these sub services for what they are, and when growth is no longer tenable shareholders will not subsidize it at all costs like they have in the past. We are moving from a regime of economic fantasy to harsh economic reality.

 

[Punished Miku]

Bloomberg is a business site that pretty much is a paid advertisement from the biggest conglomerates. It's not hard to imagine they would want to shill for the people that pay their bills at the end of the day.

Is every single award he's gotten a paid advertisement?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Is every single award he's gotten a paid advertisement?

Not all, but he's been in the position long enough that you probably are going to win awards regardless of how well you've actually done. He's far outlasted the vast majority of gaming executives.

 

[ChoosableOne]

Bill Gates should reward him with the new Vampire Survivor dlc, he deserved it.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Not hard to make a sub service an attractive option if you have a blank check by the CEO of a big tech corp bankrolling you

I fail to see how this is some genius strategy on the part of Phil Spencer. If he had any of the limitations that other platform holders have, he'd not be able to do any of that.

We can just agree to disagree

The hard part was getting said blank check (warchest if you will)

I think its a great service and sets a bar for the industry and forced Sony into attempting to follow their lead.

Its cool though if we disagree

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

We can just agree to disagree

The hard part was getting said blank check (warchest if you will)

I think its a great service and sets a bar for the industry and forced Sony into attempting to follow their lead.

Its cool though if we disagree

Not hard to get a blank check when Big Tech sees Netflix strategy and has ridiculous cashflow to bankroll it.

Not like the concept was novel, just needed a CEO willing to pony up. Also don't think it's that great. The only great thing about it is the extremely low prices you can get. The minute those rise, they will see a big exodus of people only doing monthly subs for big game releases instead.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Not hard to get a blank check when Big Tech sees Netflix strategy and has ridiculous cashflow to bankroll it.

Not like the concept was novel, just needed a CEO willing to pony up. Also don't think it's that great. The only great thing about it is the extremely low prices you can get. The minute those rise, they will see a big exodus of people only doing monthly subs for big game releases instead.

Again we can agree to disagree as I think the service is great and IF they can deliver their lineup of upcoming games then it becomes an amazing deal and thats a big IF

Oh and people leaving until big games release then resub is exactly how I do Netflix anyhow

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Again we can agree to disagree as I think the service is great and IF they can deliver their lineup of upcoming games then it becomes an amazing deal and thats a big IF

Oh and people leaving until big games release then resub is exactly how I do Netflix anyhow

Yeah but I think that even Netflix is going to have to take creative measures to countering that kind of consumer behavior. And as a result, it doesn't become nearly the good deal it once was.

I have 3 years of GamePass becauase it cost me $150. That's like the price of two AAA games. But if by the time 2025 rolls around and it's now $20+/month, I may go month to month and even that seems unsustainable so I expect we may see these Sub Services require multi-month commitments instead.

 

[Punished Miku]

Yeah but I think that even Netflix is going to have to take creative measures to countering that kind of consumer behavior. And as a result, it doesn't become nearly the good deal it once was.

I have 3 years of GamePass becauase it cost me $150. That's like the price of two AAA games. But if by the time 2025 rolls around and it's now $20+/month, I may go month to month and even that seems unsustainable so I expect we may see these Sub Services require multi-month commitments instead.

The fact that we're even talking about it and wondering how the industry is going to be shaped by this in the future is enough reason to get an award. Most people in his position accomplish or change nothing.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

The fact that we're even talking about it and wondering how the industry is going to be shaped by this in the future is enough reason to get an award. Most people in his position accomplish or change nothing.

lol what?

Pissing away cash isn't worth of an award if you find out "ohh, yeah we need to change course dramatically".

Most people in his position don't have a willing CEO that likes pissing away money

 

[rofif]

At this point, I must be the only one who sees right past his slimy smile.
"we all play we all win" bs is destroying the industry and people eat this shit up
GP will lead to massive gaming devaluation if it's too popular.... like netflix

 

[SlimySnake]

I think any time you acquire Minecraft, Zenimax and Activision, you are going to be nominated by default. He's getting things done and thats what people like to see on resumes.

But if you look a bit deeper, cracks begin to emerge but I dont think thats what these awards care about. it's more of a big picture kind of thing.

 

[Chukhopops]

Yes, they bought a lot of companies on these 5 years and added their revenue on top, so their revenue did grow. But they also did spend dozens of billions on acquisitions and getting 3rd party games on GP, so their costs must have been increased way more these years, resulting on big loses during this period due to a wild, bold effort on long term investments.

Source? Lmao who am I kidding, there is never a source in the Phil hater circus.

Meanwhile everyone knows they were profitable in 2019 and growing their revenue from 2017… before they made any large acquisition.

When DarkMage619 is giving you a , you should probably revisit what you type.

You think MS was losing money on hardware in 2019?? Before the XSX/XSS launch?

I don’t know what to tell you.

 

[Punished Miku]

lol what?

Pissing away cash isn't worth of an award if you find out "ohh, yeah we need to change course dramatically".

Most people in his position don't have a willing CEO that likes pissing away money

Really all you're saying is "no it sucks." That's fine. Guess everyone nominating him is wrong.