Phil Spencer: "I know we have to take risks [after Scalebound cancellation]"

@kvally: It's a bummer that Platinum Games needs to defend itself from a fanbase going the way of the dinosaur when it gets hit with a meteor tomorrow.

You say a lot of fantasized things as a person with a non-existent position.

• ReCore sucks? Have you played it? Of course you haven't.
• Quantum Break is disappointing? Have you played it? Of course you haven't.

You parrot, that's what you do, that's what most of you people do, you're without a personal viewpoint because you are not afforded the privilege of having one as you have not an ounce of experience with the things in which you speak. You think that someone taking the helm of an entire brand is all about just games? Is your mentality really so shallow to just ignore everything else... The guy completely turned around everything negative about the Xbox One, literally everything, there's so many things that were wrong or non-existent on the system that have been corrected or added that it would take hours to list, and he's done nothing but make sure community feedback is at the forefront of design and implementation going forward.

He took a console that was a complete disaster and rewrote its course, also its only been three years that this thing has even been out and he's been in control for only two... Do you think that games are created over night or something? You set such unrealistic standards and expectations to where nothing can ever be good enough when it absolutely is.

This is why a place like System Wars is garbage, it breeds nonsense like you have so carefully laid out. Like seriously, what is this shit?

"but why do I give him more chances until he delivers tangible results consistent with what he claims to want to do?"

You don't even own an Xbox One and you're acting like some super scorned adopter, it's ridiculous man... Just, cut the shit, seriously....

Sunset also predated Phil as did KI, but yeah, Ori I can definitely give him credit for. I am interested in Sea of Thieves, I hope it turns out well (I love Rare).

@charizard1605: Ah I didn't realize it predated Phil on those 2. I could see Sea of Thieves being great. I'm glad MS has let Rare do their own thing after like 7 years of kinect garbage. They were still great at the beginning of the 360 lifespan.

Yeah, Kameo was awesome. Didn't care for PDZ, but Nuts and Bolts was great, in spite of the outcry against it.

Rare still have it in them, I even enjoyed their Kinect games for what they were. Just want to see them make a delightfully fresh and addictive game like they used to back on the N64.

@charizard1605: Yeah same. So MS is admitting they decided to cancel the game. Was it a mutual agreement? Did MS lose their patience with Kamiya and not hitting deadlines? Why is Kamiya admitting he let his fans down? God what a mess. A major loss of money for both companies.

No it's the truth. Let's see. Which of the two has had issues with game cancellations before and which has never had a game canceled before Scalebound?

Probably mutual agreement at this point. MS didn't want to (understandably) spend more money on a project that had stalled, Platinum didn't want to (understandably) work on a project where their creativity was stifled. I don't know if the parting was amiable (knowing Kamiya, it probably wasn't lol), but it does sound like both sides held at least some blame.

@flyincloud1116: "One of the best action movies ever!"

The 80's were great.

You realize these things take time, Sony/Nintendo have had DECADES building their gaming developers up. M$ Closes them down as fast as it can acquire them. And alot of their former developers... deserve it.

@charizard1605: Microsoft has taken risks. Games like QB, Recore, Sunset Overdrive, Voice Commander, Ryse, etc.. were all risks. Their main problems is they don't take enough risks with their 1st party studios. Sea of Thieves and Fable Legends were really the first big 1st party risk games. They need 343 Industries, Turn 10, Rare and other 1st party studios to create new IP's. They need to acquire at lease 3-4 more 1st party studios. They just don't have enough.

@charizard1605: I agree. And it's a lose/lose, I hate it for both of them. They really did want it to happen to, or they would have cancelled it last year instead of delaying it. But I guess if they knew then what they know now, if they wouldn't have just went ahead and cancelled it then.

Phil has always been full of shit. Kind of like a few of the Xboners in this thread.

Sony got em' running scared.

Right, I mean, in fairness, the game was in development for four years, so it's not like it didn't get a chance from Microsoft, or that it was dumped at the first sign of trouble. Conversely, Platinum spent four years on it, so it's not like they were treating it lightly either. It's just... I don't know. I don't feel angry anymore about the cancellation like I did at first, but I am super bummed out. This was one game, the one game, I was really looking forward to so badly. A new Kamiya game is an occasion, and this was supposed to be his dream project- given just how great his other games have been, I was so hyped about how insanely good his passion project would turn out to be lol.

Oh well. I hope both parties involved end up learning from this process, and getting around to achieving what they each hoped to achieve from this game, in the future anyway.

That's a huge copout. After the very public track record that MS has for putting near-complete projects on the chopping block, I'd totally pull a Kamiya if MSes goons were sniffing around too hard up my arse, too.

Some of you have thrown in the towel on a seasoned developer all while not hearing a peep on his side of things. Ya'll are cringeworthy. None of you know what kind of conversations were being had between Kamiya and MS.

He may have smelled the house fire months ago and did the smart thing. Find other projects to begin work on. If you're not willing to entertain that possibility given the very bread crumbs your state controlled lemming media has fed you then you're not a gamer. He has worked on far too many great games to just sit back and buy this story about him being a lazy sack of shit wholesale.

@charizard1605: I completely agree. On an unrelated note, are you getting the Scorpio? Lol

I was excited for it (put off the One S Christmas purchase for it), but... I'll probably wait lol. I need MS to convince me first, this E3 better be good.

@charizard1605: I gotcha. I just thought you'd be really interested in the performance it would give out. 1080p, 60fps on every game ( developer willing) sounds amazing. Or 4k, 30fps, maybe 60.

If it hits 60 frames in all games, I'd be really tempted. Don't actually care about resolution beyond SW lol, but I'm super sensitive to low framerate, so I'd appreciate that.

@charizard1605: Oh yeah I'd definitely be more interested in FPS than resolution too. Still, itd be cool to see what 4K looks like.

I don't even have a 4KTV lol, so it's going to be meaningless to me anyway

None of those are risks though. They either have guns in them (popular) or push multiplayer (also popular). Risks are games like Until Dawn, Horizon, Detroit Become Human, LittleBigPlanet, Puppeteer, Dreams, The Last Guardian and Knack. None of those games are shooters (even if they feature guns), don't have multiplayer and are not the most popular genres. Sony also took different directions with established franchises such as; Killzone Shadow Fall, Infamous Second Sun, Gran Turismo Sport, HowShots Golf and God of War. Outside of Forza Horizon, MS has taken no risks with their franchises which both Halo and Gears needed something fresh.

PS4Pro already does 4K on games that use it. It looks ok, but the HDR is what really makes the difference. Scorpio won't be powerful enough to do 4K at 60fps. PC can't even do that.

A variety of thing played a roll in Sony's success not just power. The competition had more expensive console, DRM polocies, forced camera, 24 hour check ins, Ps3 also had major hype in 2013 and it carryed over to Ps4 sales. They also had impressive E3 showings that got people hype like Final Fantasy 7 remak, Horzon Zero Dawn, TLG, Uncharted 4, Persona5 etc .

Over the years Sony games have been just as unique as Nintendo's. Nintendo even copyed LBP. Uncharted 4 and TR are the only games in that genre so I don't understand what you mean by "Uncharted 4 type games are everywhere". Sounds to me like a poor attempt at dumping on Sony.

When it's all sad and done there many niche and mainstream franchises poeople like on Playstation. The sales are coming from many different type of core gamers and casuals. While a small demographic prefers Xbox One.

What it comes down to is wich console is offering the most balance of everything it's not about just one thing. lol Sure it SEEMS like power is most important but that's far from true,

So what Phil is saying is, MS is weak and Sony kept charging through the PS3 era by never giving up. I can see why Lemmings are in love with MS, they just love giving up.

But how do you know if the game was near-complete?

Well, there's a weird give-and-take in game development where things can diverge greatly. You either have a playable demo because you are running early engine code you cleaned up in a very specific scenario/scene and have just enough finalized art assets to "fake it til you make it" (Episode Duscae comes to mind) or you have a game that's basically post-beta and found a clean enough spot out of testing to share with the world.

So, no, I don't know if it was near-complete but it's not at all an unreasonable assumption that they could easily be months away from gold.

Little harsh on Recore. Have you even played it? Its a fair game as the score here indicates. Platforming is its strong suit.

As for taking risks, Recore was a Risk, Quantum Break, an experience that blended two mediums was a risk and its good. Not great, but yes its good. Halo Wars 2 an RTS on console is a risk. Who else is doing that? 8 years since the first one tells me they are making it because a small number of Halo fans asked for it. There's no way they are expecting huge money from it.

The thing is what do you expect the guy to say? "Well sorry folks, we're getting our asses kicked but I want to keep my job so just like us anyway"? I've said it before, they need to open studios and make a wage war for the best talent. Offer money that nobody else can, to entice the top talent into their studios. Why don't they? I don't know, but I also am a 44 year old making 30-50 grand a year. WTF do I or any of you really know about multi billion dollar corporate business?

And what chances are you giving Spencer? You don't even own an X1, dude.

Its also a shame a studio with about 180-200 people take on a shit load of projects, were still having trouble with their game engine for Scalebound 3 years into development but its all MS' fault. Lets be real here, it takes two to tango. Platinum wasn't fault free I bet.

These project members then returned, but Scalebound was now behind schedule. With continuing issues surrounding the game's engine and overdue deadlines, the decision was made that the project could no longer continue

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-01-09-sources-microsoft-and-platinum-part-ways-on-scalebound-development-ceased

Fair, I just don't think it's right for so much fact stating when we don't know much yet. The E3 demo could've been running on PC and maybe they were having a lot of issues with Xbox. These sites have to be clamoring over eachother to the be the first to report the big story of what happened.

Yup. So much risk taking has been done so far this gen. All those studios you opened up and new IP's you funded. Keep it up Microsoft.

That he knows before signing them for Sclebound. Makes no sense why would he hires Platinum Games. No matter what, it was a shitty move by MS.

@cainetao11: I don't think there is anything wrong with the statement in and of itself; I do think that I am disinclined to believe his statement, however, unless I have something substantive backing it up. Phil himself anticipates this reaction, as this statement itself says, 'I know this might sound hollow...'

He's right. Right now, it does. His statement is the best one he could have made- but that doesn't necessarily make it a convincing one, either. That's all I am saying.

I get ya, bro. But as a person that doesn't even own an X1, you never gave Spencer a chance. How did you? By taking the time to read his tweets? You never bought the product. Sorry, you never gave him or it a chance.

When Sony screws up, I don't remember them being as visible or willing to talk to people. This guy engages with people, like myself, who reach out to him via twitter. Do I believe he's the salt of the earth? No, of course not. But I appreciate someone answering my tweets to him stating how unhappy I am with certain things.

@BeastFireTimdog Easy to be public when things are great, it's important to me to also be public with things aren't great. No thanks needed

^ was one of his tweets to an Xbox community member today and I appreciate that. It is easy to be vocal and seen when all is well. But let's face it, this gen hasn't had much of that for the Xbox. They fucked up royally and he was given the pieces with the task of rebuild it. It isn't going to happen quick. I believe there are things that should be done differently but like I said, what do I really know about billion dollar business management?

if MS wanted to take risks then they would have not cancel "scalebound"

@cainetao11: I've always been appreciative of Spencer's openness. He comes off as genuine, frank, and someone who actually does care- all day today, I have spent explaining to multiple people that he is ultimately a great, well meaning chap, who is probably making do the best with what he has. I don't think Spencer is the problem- I think Microsoft's upper management is. As far as Spencer goes, I have the utmost respect for him.

No, I did not buy the Xbox One. That doesn't mean I didn't give him a chance. Spending $300 I may not have on something I don't need is not the only way for me to show my support for him. I have been openly appreciative of Spencer. I have been more than willing to consider an Xbox purchase (originally a One S for last christmas, which was shelved in lieu of Scorpio this year, which... bleh, we'll see if MS can convince me). Last year, I wrote a 1,500 editorial on why Spencer was the best visible personality in the gaming industry (and I voted for him again for this year's ballot, though I didn't write that editorial).

So sure, I didn't purchase an Xbox One- but I have to manage and ration my funds. I cannot justify an Xbox One- I couldn't justify it at the best of times, when there is no reason to purchase it just yet, but I absolutely cannot right now, when funds are at a premium anyway. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate Spencer, bro. In fact, I can have problems with Xbox as a whole, but still be appreciate of Spencer. His response yesterday ('better for Xbox gamers') has been widely blown out of proportion and misquoted. I didn't take this chance to jump on the Spencer hate train. I still think he's the best man to lead Xbox- I just wish Microsoft would give him more room to do things.

That said, I do agree that I wish Sony and Nintendo were as open as Spencer is.

@charizard1605: Well we'll agree to disagree amicably on this. If I'm talking about a product or the person in charge of it, I give both a chance by buying in. We rationalize this differently, dude and that's being human.

Can we agree Scalebound should be a PS4 title? It's clearly directed at the Japanese audience. So why not let him take his game to Sony so we can enjoy it? It looks ok. I'd like to give it a chance.

@BlackShirt20: Did you not see the main character, he is directed for a western audience.

Flopio is the last xbox console and Phil knows it. Its very obvious.

Sorry but i'm with a few others in here that believe one has to buy/experience a product to give it and the people behind it a chance.

I also wanted to ask if you have ever played a game that the critics have called crap and has a low score on Metashitic, and enjoyed said game?

Why do you parrot whatever sites give a game as the final judgement of a game? and i'm not saying that because you have picked a couple of games that have been given poor reviews, i'm also saying it because you put Forza Horizon 3 on the best games of 2016 list, again a game you've never played, so you can't judge it to be one of the best games of 2016.

He's a damn dude bro frat boy who has one speed: fps, racers and sports titles.

@charizard1605:

Scalebound's 4 years of development with 3rd party Unreal Engine 4 and still in uncompleted state? Is this a f**king joke?

References

1. http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a818659/microsoft-cancels-scalebound/

4 years in development

2. http://www.onlysp.com/platinum-games-xbox-one-exclusive-scalebound-developed-using-unreal-engine-4/

Scalebound powered by Unreal Engine 4!

I'll fire PD for this debacle. Scalebound's development is slower than some indie UE4 games.

Steam Green Light indie project example Save our Souls which is also powered by UE4

My word. Some people sure are making a massive mountain out of this rather small mole hill.

Who's favourite game of 2016 was Inside thats not very dude bro frat boy, unlike the way you just made yourself look with that comment lol.

I get it you're pissed off over Scalebound and i was really looking forward to the game also, but as an adult as have come to except it, not like it, but except it. But your comments of late are just childish, you need to build a bridge and get over it man it's just not healthy :(

Both Scalebound and Fable Legends are UE4 based 3D engines.

LOL. The hate from Xbox fanboys is too funny.

@mems_1224: and they gave their online gaming away for free...

Microsoft's gaming group revenue is greater than Sony's