Hi friends. You may know me as Jez, or perhaps @MSFTY on twitter. I’m that guy obsessed with all things Microsoft.
I started XboxMAD with my good friend @XboxMADUK, Liam to his pals. We understood the vision Microsoft had proposed with the Xbox One. Roaming digital licenses, family sharing, bold Kinect vision, all things slammed by super pr0 games journ0 editors looking to capitalise on the controversy. No longer, we felt, was there a website where Xbox fans could congregate without fear of being shunned over their plastic box preference.
With that, XboxMAD was born. The last 10 months have been incredible. It’s time to discuss the next 10 months.
We have an awesome readership from all walks of Microsoft fandom. People who know me on twitter know of my Lumia love, and regardless of what mobile OS you prefer, if you read this site, we likely gel over a mutual love for Xbox and gaming. I believe Xbox is the glue that ties Microsoft’s consumer fan base together, and right now – I believe we are the only site that caters for fans of the New Microsoft.
The New Microsoft also needs New Media. Phil Spencer, humble as he is, agreed to jump on a fairly new, utterly obscure YouTube podcast – which enjoyed just a few hundred subscribers. Why would he do this when he has a direct line to the IGNs and Gamespots of the world? I can’t speak for the Xboss, but if I were to guess – it would be that the New Microsoft wants a direct line to its fans. Almost every Microsoft product now has a Uservoice page – where fan feedback can be aggregated and acted upon. Gone is the Microsoft who told fans what they should want, say hello to the Microsoft who wants to deliver what you want.
We want to follow Microsoft’s lead, and deliver a unified front for Xbox fans. TiC will continue to deliver awesome interviews with industry luminaries. XboxMAD will continue to deliver up to date Xbox news and work towards building relationships with games developers to receive exclusive content. We will both do so under a single entity, known as ICXM.net
ICXM.net
ICXM stands for the Inner Circle of Xbox and Microsoft.
This website is built by, and for Microsoft’s inner circle of real fans.
We are the guys who tried to explain the Xbox vision to our friends, we are the guys who bleed the Xbox green, and carry that passion around with us. We are all the reason Phil Spencer describes us as the best fan base in the world – and we at ICXM want to deliver a world class website that reflects that. XboxMAD and TiC Podcast will rebrand to ICXM.net over the next few weeks to reflect our unified direction, and renewed passion for all things Xbox and Microsoft.
Dropping the name has been hard, but XboxMAD will live on via Liam on Twitter, who will take up the mantle of @XboxMAD. Liam is my co-founder, friend, and will be sadly stepping down from his role as my partner in crime. I urge you all to give him a follow on @XboxMADUK for now. Joining him will be Andy, who has also been here from day 1. Both have commitments that prevent them from taking this to the next level – but between you and me, I’ll drag them back at some point. The majority of XboxMAD’s writing team will remain as well as TiC Podcast. Since TiC and XboxMAD share a fan base, all you’re likely to see a user is more interaction between us all, but we’re going to push harder than ever to bring you original content and blockbuster reviews you’ve come to expect of The Inner Circle.
Ethos
Just like Microsoft, we want to hear your comments and feedback on how we produce content, on how we do business. If you think we’re doing something wrong: tell us, we will fix it (or at least argue the reasoning behind a decision).
We will continue in our endeavour to avoid clickbait, console wars and the fanboy echo chamber which other sites benefit from. We will continue to support devs with our reviews, taking ID@Xbox budgets and value for money into account before scoring. We believe reviews are to help you decide whether a game is for you, and also to give feedback to developers who ply their craft for us.
ICXM is MAD about Xbox. ICXM is by the fans, for the fans.
We hope you’ll join us for the ride. 🙂
Check out mine and KoR X Kal El’s take on the merger below:
Thank you to EVERYONE who ever worked on XboxMAD for helping us get to this point. Thanks to the teams at Xbox, Lumia and the devs of the world who have been so kind and generous with their time. Most importantly thank YOU for reading. Any one who ever retweeted an article, anyone who ever left a kind comment, liked a video, told a friend, said hi – you inspire all of us to continue.
Stay XboxMAD.
Jez C (MSFTY) is a games journalist, Executive Editor at Windows Central. They contributed 39 articles to ICXM in 2015, focused on game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: now leads Xbox coverage at Future plc’s Windows Central as Executive Editor.