Phil Spencer Admits The Initial Xbox One Reveal Was A Mistake

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There’s few things as infamous as that initial Xbox One reveal back in 2013. Microsoft chose to highlight the machine as more of a multimedia device over a gaming console. That, coupled with a higher price, hobbled the system and largely was the way for Sony to return to dominance in the market with the PS4. Now, the current head of the Xbox division reflects on that reveal, admitting that it wasn’t the right way to go about it.

In talking with Gamespot, Phil Spencer thought back to that reveal event just ahead of E3 in May 2013. It was one that was very much focused on the TV aspects of the Xbox One, although some games were highlighted. Spencer says that, in the end, it was a mistake and one that lead to a lot of confusion both from consumers and actual employees who didn’t quite understand the direction Microsoft had chosen in marketing the Xbox One. It even caused some internal backlash from said employees who seemed to think the marketing team had mislead them.



“The feedback we got from the employees, maybe said and unsaid, was, ‘We’ve been working really hard for two years to ship this product. You stand on stage at this event and blow up all the good work that we’ve done by talking about the product in a way that’s not really matching what the soul of an Xbox console is about and what our customers are looking for from us,'” Spencer said. “I think the team just gets disappointed because they feel let down by the leadership team and I’d say that’s the feeling I heard the most from the team. I had people come up emotional, like they’re reading the forums and people are accusing us of being dishonest with them or having bad intent with why we were building the product that we were, and if you’re a member of the team, you don’t necessarily see across everything that’s going on.”


While the Xbox One has managed to recover somewhat, the dent made from that initial poor launch is still one that undoubtedly still stings even if Spencer nor anyone else at Microsoft will publicly say it. The industry has changed significantly since then, and the company is looking to the future to get back on track. Hopefully, the company is on the same page this time around.

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Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: https://gamingbolt.com/phil-spencer-admits-the-initial-xbox-one-reveal-was-a-mistake

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YinPosted:

I understood where all the TV talk came from and didn't entirely hate it personally, but yeah, it absolutely was a mistake. While that stuff can be cool and nice, you can't make that the heart of your marketing because that isn't the heart of a game console. On top of all of that, you had the mandatory Kinect and the Xbox One was going to be always online. I'm glad Don Mattrick left. Xbox fell hard. I don't think it has regained what it lost, but at least it isn't in the ground yet.

EvoVIIIPosted:

TheUnholy1994 I swear all they mentioned was TV, TV, TV, online every 24hrs, TV, TV, no 2nd hand games, TV, TV., huge price tag bundled with kinect, TV, TV, TV. Is how I remember it


That's pretty much how it was.

DanielPosted:

Everyone makes mistakes, Sometimes making a mistake is the best thing you could do cos you will learn from it and never do it again.

TheUnholy1994Posted:

I swear all they mentioned was TV, TV, TV, online every 24hrs, TV, TV, no 2nd hand games, TV, TV., huge price tag bundled with kinect, TV, TV, TV. Is how I remember it

Mario350Posted:

gotta love phil spencer he maybe a tool when he became the head of xbox ruined the rep and stuff but im so glad they fired the pro/the man, since hes owning up to the mistakes the xbox im just gonna call it a reboot/reimagining at this point as the xbox one is the 2001 model, the 2012/2013 showing was what killed them when they said your console will be bricked if you dont go online every 24hours and the blocking of used games/second hand market. yeah big failure but glad he realized that was a big big fat no no.

i have more fate in phil now then i did back when he got promoted to be the head of xbox, when i heard the news he was now head i thought microsoft is so gonna tank which that thought i had was true, the xbox one is now finally seeing the light of day even if the boot and loading of games is longer then the ps4 just glad to see him owning up to the mistake of e3 2012/2013

PinkRibbonPosted:

You just have to make a mistake in life to fix your mistakes.

AnimePosted:

You live and learn from it.