Microsoft’s 2017 E3 press conference focused on the Xbox One X and how powerful the console is. While a console that makes games look pretty is great, it needs the games to make it all worth it! While we saw more from Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3 and Forza 7, there seemed to be a lack of major first-party games from Microsoft. According to Xbox head Phil Spencer, the games are coming.
In the video interview with Waypoint above, Spencer is aware there was a lack of new games on display, but it wasn’t the focus for the company when he started. “When I started this job three years ago, hardware was a real focus for us because I thought we had more work to do there,” Spencer said. “[Xbox One] S we shipped last year, [Xbox One] X is coming out this year, I love our hardware line.”
Spencer also mentioned that along with hardware, improving the Xbox Live service was another priority for Microsoft.
“Xbox Live was something I really wanted to focus on in terms of cross-platform, getting it on iOS, Android, Windows,” Spencer said. “Focusing on getting our stuff coming to Windows because I really want people to play great games on the devices they want to play.”
Now that all this is done, the games are the next big push.
“First-party, my previous job was the head of first-party, is a critical part of that equation. Sitting here today [after the press conference], showing our games, it’s about 42 games filling up the time, but I know people want to see what we’re investing in new,” said Spencer. “We signed things just recently that I thought about, ‘Hey from a PR standpoint it would be really easy for me to put a trailer on-screen even though the game’s not coming for two and a half or three years.’ I didn’t want to do that.”
To those who wanted to see what’s coming for the console before making a major purchasing decision, Spencer said to just have faith in the company. “I understand certain people will say, ‘but that gives me confidence in the future of Xbox.’ This is a kind of cheesy line, but trust that it is important to us as a platform,” he said. “From the CEO of the company down, if you talk to Satya [Nadella], he will say we need to invest in content in the gaming space. That is important and we are going to invest.”
So what do you think? Are you excited to know more first-party games are coming for Xbox One (and probably PC) gamers? Would you rather Microsoft did show off a trailer, even if the games aren’t coming for a few years? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
