Happy for some of the games we got out of it though. You can't take Pentiment from me.
I genuinely think we may be witnessing the end of the “give studios the freedom to pursue their own creative vision” era that Phil Spencer often championed.
I don’t want to single out any specific studios, but I imagine there are teams under a lot of pressure right now to show not only what they’re making, but why players should care and how it can help grow the platform. If Xbox is placing a greater emphasis on commercial viability, then projects with limited audience potential could face a much tougher environment going forward.
Creative freedom is great, and I wish more experimental projects had succeeded. But the reality is that this industry is driven by commercial results.
If Xbox’s long-term goal is to rebuild the value of the platform, then they’ll need games compelling enough to make non-PC players consider buying an Xbox.
That’s also why I wonder whether we’re eventually heading toward major changes to Game Pass. Not necessarily the end of the service, but perhaps a shift away from the idea that every major first-party release must launch there on day one.
Do you think Xbox is moving in that direction, or am I completely off base?