Its absolutely appalling that Microsoft wants to paint the larger industry as having, coincidentally, the same particular set of issues they seem to be the facing. I get it - he doesn't wanna get canned and all. This industry requires journalists to hold the feet of someone like Phil far closer to the fire though. They can't simply let these folks roll over on them like this.
Whats even worse is how the entire industry, not just Phil mind you, can't seem to decide what to do about Nintendo in this larger talk. Yes, the PS4/Switch generation did see growth coming from the 360/Wii/PS3 generation. Sure, Phil wants to make the correct argument that that growth was in significant part fueled by users leaving Xbox and going over to PS (and PC, increasingly), but new users were coming in. Heck, they themselves back in 2022 were touting numbers about some significant % of XSS users were brand new users to their ecosystem. Sony said a very similar thing bout some significant % of PS5 users were brand new to console gaming back in 2022 as well, then Sony went on to sell even more consoles in each subsequent year (so far) after that, while Xbox sales cratered.
How come journalists don't go into these interviews armed with the fiscal reality this industry is living in? Sure, I get going after Geoff Keighley for not mentioning the historic layoffs at the TGAs last year, but Phil has done at least 3 interviews now with gaming media folks, and to say that hes been treated with kids gloves would honestly be underselling it, given that Phil is essentially going on an 'apology/excuse tour' as to why he had to kill exclusives at XGS. If you care about the folks being laid off and you cover this industry, you should know about the financial aspect of this industry and how the significant metrics for it are going in. If an industry is a collection of folks operating within a market, a body if you will, then the money is the literal blood of it. Every 3 months, the entire industry is forced to spill the beans on how they are doing, and yet none of the folks covering the media side of it care to talk to execs about it. I've legit seen CNBC go after Spencer harder than these folks who are actually in the industry are.