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August 14, 2015   360, 360, PC, PS Vita, PS3, PS4, Xbox One   45 Comments

Phil Spencer isn’t Goaling his team to Outsell Sony, Big Investment into 1st Party Games

Phil Spencer

Xbox boss Phil Spencer isn’t pushing his team with the goal of outselling Sony. The head of Xbox feels that his mission is to build a big community of gamers across all of their platforms and release great games.

“I honestly don’t goal the team on how many units Sony sells,” Spencer told Eurogamer. “I think about what we’re going to do, and how many Xbox customers we have across 360, Xbox One and Windows - thinking about the combined community of people on Xbox and playing those games, and that number’s never been bigger.

“There are ways to sell consoles by losing more money on hardware and building an unnatural business construct that I’d never want to do - at the end, when people make a commitment to Xbox and the consoles they buy, the games they buy, they want to know that Microsoft and Xbox is in it for the long run. To sacrifice the long term for any short term gain doesn’t make any sense.”

“I really focussed on our first-party investment, and you see it showing up in 2015 and 2016. Next year’s line-up is pretty incredible, and we haven’t even talked about all the games that are coming next year. Investments in first-party, there’s more risk involved, and people can say it’s more challenging building first party investments, and you could say it’s easier doing third-party deals, but they’re critical to our business, and we’re in this for the long run.”

Via: VGChartz

Author: Francis@PE (19589 Posts)


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  • Tedthesporthead

    now that is convenient for him to say now, at this point in history.

  • android138

    you guys do realize he’s refering to Sony right. sony may have made a profit this quarter but the last two quarters were not good for them as well as last year and for their predicted future.

    “There are ways to sell consoles by losing more money on hardware and building an unnatural business construct that I’d never want to do – at the end, when people make a commitment to Xbox and the consoles they buy, the games they buy, they want to know that Microsoft and Xbox is in it for the long run. To sacrifice the long term for any short term gain doesn’t make any sense.”

    • FalconLawnch

      But the PS4 hardware has been profitable for well over a year now. It’s the rest of Sony that’s currently eating up all the profits of the gaming (alongside financial services and devices) division.

      • android138

        There is more to it then just the ps4 being profitable. If Sony doesnt start producing profit made from content for the ps4 , than selling 40 million over 3 years won’t help. Software is where the money is made. Third party devs are pulling in the dough because they are creating content for the ps4
        This is why Nintendo can still show a profit even with the sales of the wii u Nintendo is making content for their system. Sony relies on third party devs, and that doesn’t equal A large profit specifically for the gaming division. IMO

        • awang0718

          But Sony does make profit off of the PS4 (and recently, a lot more than Nintendo’s profits) which is what FalconLawnch was referring to. Whether the profit is from third party royalties, PS+ subscription fees, and revenue from whatever first party titles they muster up throughout the year, profit is still profit. For SCE, first party software profits isn’t somehow more valuable than third party royalties + PS+ subscription fees profits, because once again, profit is profit, and a dollar/Euro/Yen equals another dollar/Euro/Yen no matter where that dollar/Euro/Yen may have come from.

        • FalconLawnch

          The PlayStation division brought in almost twice as much money as Nintendo in its entirety during the most recent fiscal year, and this is taking a 90 million dollar loss on the Vita into account.

          http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/14q4_sony.pdf
          http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2015/150507e.pdf

          • android138

            If you include the profits made in their imaging sensor technology than yea. Try isolating the gaming division and than will talk.

          • FalconLawnch

            I’m not, though. Go read their earnings statement again.

            Game & Network Services, Operating income - 48.1 billion yen (401 M USD, based on the exchange rate at the time).

          • android138

            Go back and read the fine print they are not profiting. The operating profit is subject to incurring charges and past quarterly failings

          • FalconLawnch

            Care to point out this fine print to me?

          • android138

            at the beginning of page 5 the fine print that says to refer to page ten. Basically the division gets a clean slate because other divisions were never with the gaming division. Easy to hide the real numbers

          • FalconLawnch

            Nowhere does it say that the division is getting a “clean slate” or anything of the sort. What actually happened was that they took the Network Services segment from the All Other category and rolled it into the Game segment, which makes sense as most of their network services revenue already came from sales of content through the PlayStation Network on their gaming devices (their other networking services such as Movies and Music Unlimited flopped spectacularly).

          • Mythosa

            Problem is that they keep spending shit loads of exclusives. They are doing well, but they aren’t running a sustainable model right now.

          • FalconLawnch

            That’s a fair way to look at the situation. To be frank, I’m more concerned with their ventures into markets that are not only unproven but also highly competitive (Morpheus) alongside a streaming service that no one asked for (PS Now). They should be investing that money into beefing up their first party studios, their servers and maybe figuring out how to finally make a profitable handheld instead of swinging for the fences.

          • Mythosa

            I’m just not overly concerned. I can’t think of a time where don’t has had the consumer interests at heart. Or perhaps they do too much that they give everything that consumers want but not what they desire. It’s no secret that consumers generally don’t know what they want, cause the majority of the time they don’t like exactly what they ask for. I’m thinking ff7 remake and she my 3. Just wait. Isn’t the first time.
            ‘ give us something like smash but more adult with don’t mascots!’ Lol

  • Revolution5268

    This is what I want to hear. Also I would love for them to brick back their old IPS and make them have proper sequels not just remakes or old ports. Viva Pinata anyone?

  • D.M.T

    Phil Spencer is saying all the right things these days to make sure that the Xbox brand has a good reputation. He’s a very smart man because now many gamers will think that he’s the perfect boss for Xbox and that he’s a very humble person.

  • getagrip

    an unnatural model

    xbox devision of MS is 20 billion in the hole, each xbox model has lost BILLIONS xbone is already over a billion down

    • Mythosa

      It’s a very similar model to what Nintendo uses. Why is it unnatural? If anything, it seems far more natural than anything, the ideal is to try to make the division profitable for the long term. That’s about as natural as you can get.

      • getagrip

        3GENS IN 20 billion down

        XBOX 4 BILLION LOSS

        x360 5 billion loss

        red light of death 1 billion

        kinect 1 billion

        i can go on what on earth is natural about that they will never recoup that 20 billion or so and xbone is already over a billion down

        when ms said we are entering the console market they said they would spend 20 billion if thats what it takes to beat sony

        they have spent it xbox has never profited

        • Mythosa

          Yes yes. I’m aware of their history, not the exact numbers done they aren’t actually released but it’s no secret that they have lost money on the division. Not the point.
          Read the article again. They are now using a NEW business model under Spencer. History has nothing to do with it.

  • *NormalGamer*

    It’s good that Phil is focusing on self-improvement (abieit self-competition) for the division than to focus on being better than Sony in terms of sales in general; good that he’s taking a page out of Nintendo’s book.

    Meanwhile, Nintendo can ‘definitely’ take care of themselves since they have a large and rich library of IP’s they can use in addition to healthy profits in the bank just as long as it’s spent properly and wisely on gaming and any other non-gaming projects that align with Nintendo’s philosophy; Sony corp., on the other hand, will have to face dealing with their debt, despite good PS4 sales reported by the NPD.

    • Wegotexclusives

      His job now is not to make huge console numbers his job is to fix the gaps microsoft skip during the early years of the xbox brand and that is ip o the level of mario and others. They should bring Blinx back even if it just a HD collection.

  • Ryuken13

    Kinda common sense you do not set goals based on competition. They are a factor but many other metrics go into goal setting.

    Besides, Xbone never had a chance of winning that race anyway.. Xbone is a Western product and Ps4 is more global.

    • Wegotexclusives

      What you really meas is that ps4 is the casual console if this gen .

      • Ryuken13

        No.. I meant exactly what I said.. Never said the word “casual”.. Please don’t spin my posts to fit your bias.

        • D.M.T

          I know you didn’t mean casual but now that I think about it, the PS4 is indeed the casual console of this gen.

        • Wegotexclusives

          You did not say it but that is what it is. PS4 The 8 gen casual console. Im not bashing it though.

          • Ryuken13

            Define the consoles as you wish it is irrelevant IMO.. As stated Sony is global with games and Microsoft is a Western product.. For example, Xbone does horribly in Japan.

          • Wegotexclusives

            So? But they are treating them like crap like Sony does everywhere.

          • Ryuken13

            Treating who like crap??

            Again your bias resonate loudly in your posts..

            Simply put, Sony has a more global sales demographic for PS4 and Xbone primarily does well only in the West.

            Spin that however you wish that is a statement of fact as I know it. I am not saying 1 product is better or worse than another.

          • Wegotexclusives

            Sony sony is treating their consumers like crap.

          • Ryuken13

            One may argue all large corporations treat their consumers like crap..

            Like I mentioned you are really biased on the issue.

            Sony and Microsoft IMO are right about even in how they treat consumers and Nintendo listens when it fits their plans (treats their customers the best of the 3)..

            Steam sucks as far as customer service they win on their monopoly, cheap sales, and ease of use.

            Best in customer service and actually caring about the customers is GOG.com..

            If a company treats you like crap vote with your money and don’t give them business..

            IMO Sony is no better and not significantly worse than the rest.

          • Wegotexclusives

            Im talking about consumer support not some kiddy shit about how i did not had metroid for wiiu kind of things.

          • Ryuken13

            Wow it is amazing how you really narrow the scope of your statements.. Should have done that in the first place..

            Again, pissed off customers are going to say a company does not have good consumer support.

            Let’s just agree to disagree with regards to Sony.. I am not biased for or against them and IMO they are really doing no better or worse in any single metricthan their competitors..

            Honestly, IMO the company you prefer for most people provides the games you want to play.

          • Wegotexclusives

            Fair enough but i don’t have reasons to be pissed at then cuz i don’t own their products. Is because of sites that report real news like this.

          • Ryuken13

            “Real news”?? You do realize this article is simply good PR and advertising for Microsoft?

            Calling this news is like calling a Dyson Vacuum cleaner commercial news lol.

          • RickyDelRio

            “Real News” lol

            Was that satire?

          • android138

            yes but most games are built in windows with ms product. do you see what is happening here. sony is only selling one product globally the ps4. ms has many products they produce and sell all over the world. ms shows profit yoy. so does nintendo.

          • Ryuken13

            Sony pictures?? Sony TV’s and electronics?? You are absolutely incorrect.. Sony sells a ton of different things globally.. Sony also has fierce competition over all the products it sells so it does not see profits like Microsoft with it’s virtual monopoly on OS and Nintendo has a narrow focus it does well with.. Am I defending Sony?? No.. I am simply not using a childish bias towards a product to bash them or support them..

            So no I do not see what is happening here.. Why does it matter if a company profits YOY to you? Working there? Buying stock??

            I simply have no idea why some gamers obsess over financials.. It is a Lakers fan getting pissed if ticket sales or merchandise sales are down. Absolutely ridiculous.

    • Mythosa

      Oddly enough, this approach will likely help Xbox grow more than any prior attempts. Along with that, there is a chance it could help expand beyond just NA. Europe could easily be taken, as long as the exclusives, shooters and Fifa are there. Japan would be harder, but again, with proper appeal it could happen. Not saying it will happen, but could.
      They need the ideal of leading, not following like they always have historically.

      • Ryuken13

        Agreed, they need to follow their own gameplan..

      • Ryuken13

        Agreed, they need to follow their own gameplan..

      • awang0718

        There is no chance that the Xbox can possibly overtake Sony in Europe or Japan. Sony has an established fanbase in both those regions (especially the former) and Xbox has not and will not be able to steal those fans. The $599, hard-to-develop-for PS3 handily outsold the Xbox 360 in Europe and Japan, and trust me, Sony won’t be making those two mistakes ever again.

        It is for this reason why Microsoft will be following their own strategy of not outselling Sony.

        • Mythosa

          Lol. That’s pretty absolute. I must be completely wrong…
          Nintendo had a strong hold at one point in Japan. SEGA had NA in the bag with the genesis. If MS were to get the whole rights for FIFA games they would probably take Europe. Japan sends like a lost cause, but at the same time if don’t pulls out of the biz then MS will outsell them by default.
          Again, not saying this will happen, but could. Your little game of absolutes will end up biting you in the ass.