Phil Spencer says recent decisions are to "make Xbox stronger in the long run"

Phil Spencer has commented on the Xbox changes in a March 2024 update, which aim to "make Xbox stronger in the long run.

Tom West

Published 27 Mar 2024

Microsoft has been in the spotlight quite a bit already this year. In January, the company laid off 1,900 employees from across Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard, followed by an announcement that a number of Xbox exclusives would be launching on rival platforms. Phil Spencer has commented on the Xbox changes in a March 2024 update.

Microsoft is trying to "make Xbox stronger in the long run."

Phil Spencer says recent decisions are to make Xbox stronger in the long run

During an interview with Polygon, Xbox boss Phil Spencer spoke about his concerns about the lack of growth in the video game industry, and says projections suggest this will be smaller still next year. When players and sales begin to fall, Spencer adds, publicly traded companies begin to scrutinize the cost side of the business, "Because if you’re not going to grow the revenue side, then the cost side becomes challenged."

“We’re a business. I’ve said over and over. I don’t get any luxury of not having to run a profitable growing business inside of Microsoft. And we are that today," Spencer said. "I reflect on friends of mine in the industry that have been displaced and lost their jobs and how just, I don’t want this industry to be a place where people can’t, with confidence, build a career. So that’s why I keep pivoting back to: How does this industry get back to growth? But to your question, for us as Xbox or any of the teams that are out there, it is really an outcome of an industry that’s not growing. It can grow and it will grow again. But you see this time right now and the implications have human impact. And we should all reflect on that and think about it.”

Last month, Microsoft confirmed that four Xbox exclusives are launching on PlayStation and Nintendo. Both Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush have already made the jump, while Sea of Thieves and Grounded are set to launch on the platforms next month. Although we think Sony should follow Microsoft's lead and release some of its exclusives on Xbox to begin ending the trend, the global Xbox community was divided by the plans. For Spencer, though, the move is apparently intended to make some changes and better the Xbox brand.

“I will say, every decision we make today and tomorrow is for the better of Xbox. I know sometimes things get weaponized, that there’s some evil in the background that’s making us do things — ‘Phil hates exclusives and that’s why we’re like PlayStation and Switch now.’ Every decision we make is to make Xbox stronger in the long run," Spencer said. "It doesn’t mean everyone’s going to agree with every decision we make. But it is fundamental for how we make decisions.

“This notion that Xbox can only be this one device that plugs into a television isn’t something we see in the Gen Z research. Because nothing else is like that for them. Some of them will have an iPhone, some will have an Android, but all the games and everything is the same. I can still get to TikTok on both of them, at least for now. All of their stuff is available wherever they want. So for Xbox, our brand pivot — as we attract and maintain relevance with a younger audience — is ‘Xbox is a place where I can find the great games I want to.’”

While he didn't confirm that one was on the way, Spencer also discussed his love of handhelds with Polygon, revealing that the Xbox hardware team has been exploring "different hardware form factors."

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Written by Tom West

Tom has been playing video games since he was old enough to hold a controller, experimenting with a number of systems until he eventually fell in love with Xbox. With a passion for the platform, he decided to make a career out of it, and now happily spends his days writing about that which he loves. If he’s not hunting for Xbox achievements, you’ll likely find him somewhere in The Elder Scrolls Online or fighting for survival in Battlefield.