The existence of a white Xbox Series X appears to confirm that Microsfot has canceled or pushed back the refreshed version of the Xbox Series X console that appeared in FTC v. Microsoft documents last year.
Und wie fandet Ihr den Showcase? Was hat Euch gefallen und was eher nicht?
Und wie fandet Ihr den Showcase? Was hat Euch gefallen und was eher nicht?
"In the end, I've said over and over, I have to run a sustainable business inside the company and grow, and that means sometimes I have to make hard decisions that frankly are not decisions I love, but decisions that somebody needs to go make.
Spencer’s marketing memo in full:
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The Integrated Marketing team led by Kirsten Ward and the Programming and Events team led by Tina Summerford will come together as an expanded Central Gaming Marketing team under Kirsten, who will report to me as a member of the Gaming Executive Leadership Team. Chief of staff Pav Bhardwaj and executive assistant Kim Nold will report to Kirsten.
The Bethesda Publishing Marketing team, led by Erin Losi, will move to Game Content and Studios, reporting to Matt Booty.
The 1P Games Marketing Team including Xbox Game Studios and Mojang, led by Aaron Greenberg, will also move to Game Content and Studios, reporting to Matt.
The Xbox Marketing team, led by Chris Lee, will move to the Xbox Org, reporting to Sarah Bond.
The International Marketing team, led by Jim McMullin and Florian Liewer, will move to the Consumer Sales Org, reporting to Ami Silverman.
The Bethesda International Marketing team, led by Adam Carter, will also move to the Consumer Sales Org. Adam will be taking on a new role leading Business Operations at Bethesda, reporting to Jill Braff. The Consumer Sales Org will work on backfilling his role and share more at a later date.
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Und nicht vergessen: Sonntag 18:00 ist die Skribbl-Gruppe
During the showcase, first-party titles DOOM: The Dark Ages, Fable, and South of Midnight were all slated for 2025, while Gears of War: E-Day, Perfect Dark, and State of Decay 3 were not given release years at all. Per Booty, this is due to wanting to find the exact right time to launch a game, while making sure it doesn't conflict with another first-party or third-party title, namedropping Grand Theft Auto 6 as a game the entire industry wants to avoid.
"We certainly want to make sure every game is given space and has got an opportunity to shine and we don't end up overshadowing a game by launching it too close to another," Booty explains, adding that the portfolio planning revolves around ensuring the teams don't conflict with other companies' titles, but also "so that we're not getting in our own way."
Booty also notes that there is interest across the teams at different studios in sharing ideas and technology, and there are some early discussions happening as Microsoft figures out what facilitating that looks like.
Earlier in the year, the shocking news broke that Microsoft was closing Bethesda's Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Tango Gameworks. The latter came as a particular shock, as the now-shuttered first-party Japanese developer had shipped Hi-Fi Rush in 2023 to critical acclaim.
"Those decisions are never made lightly, they're never made quickly, and there are a lot of people and processes and oversight to make sure we're making a good decision," Booty says when asked about the closures, adding that he didn't want to share "nitty-gritty" details, but mentions that Microsoft looks across leadership at studios and if the teams are set up for success in the future, not just if they were successful in the past.
Booty also points out that Microsoft has been open to allowing teams to go independent in the past if it's clear things weren't a good fit, including recently with former Activision subsidiary Toys for Bob, which is now an independent studio, though the team's first game is a project being published by Xbox.
When asked about what this means for future Xbox exclusives, Booty reiterates that the teams are evaluating games hitting other consoles on a "case-by-case basis," adding that Xbox players can absolutely continue to expect many games to launch as exclusives, and that the "Xbox promise" that all Xbox first-party games come to Xbox Game Pass will continue to be true.