When Xbox One first launched in November 2013, gamers were horrified at the home entertainment box their beloved gaming system had become. The Xbox One was tailored to casual families who wanted to watch television, play music and games, or Skype friends seamlessly. This tactic backfired on Microsoft, and lowered the Xbox One’s sales for months. Phil Spencer, however, who was promoted to division head in April 2014, has managed to bring the Xbox One back into the spotlight. It’s leading the industry again with features and services.
Spencer started by ridding the Xbox One of the controversial Kinect, while lowering the price of the Xbox One bundle. In June 2015, Spencer announced that the Xbox One would gain backwards compatibility features, emulating Xbox 360 games, by means of a software update. Also, Windows 10 and Xbox One are slowly coming together as one. Spencer has been striving to unite console and Windows gamers together, and seeks to allow gamers to stream their Windows titles onto Xbox One. Starting next year, some Xbox One games will also be compatible with the Oculus Rift, allowing for a new dimension of reality to step into gamers’ homes.
With Halo 5: Guardians releasing on October 27, 2015, and with a new line of Xbox One bundles being announced every day this week, Microsoft should be expecting a fair amount of holiday craze this year. As Phil Spencer boldly leads it forward, Microsoft has little to fear in the upcoming months, constantly striving to lead and to advance the gaming industry.
Source: The Verge
Tristan was a regular ICXM contributor between 2015–2017, publishing 51 articles across opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative. They post on X as @tbogost.