Phil Spencer seems to be doing a good job of running the Xbox brand. I’ve been impressed by things he’s said, and he makes some valid points. Now he has responded to the Street Fighter V PS4 exclusivity deal and it certainly makes sense.
Over on twitter, Phil Spencer was asked what he thought of SF5 being exclusive to PS4 and PC. Here is his response:
@CapitanoCasella Business deals happen. We won’t do all of them. When we have a 1st party franchise in a genre I’d rather invest in ours.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 6, 2014
Consider what Geoff explained yesterday about how Sony is probably (at least partially) bankrolling Street Fighter, it makes sense that Xbox would make this decision. Not only is Street Fighter a competition to them, but Killer Instinct should be satisfying that demographic. It’s not, but that doesn’t mean that Microsoft can afford to just invest money in all the games across all genres. They need to pick their tactics, and it probably makes more sense for them to lose out on a few million sales rather than throw money towards two titles that will be competing for players. As Spencer says, it’s just business.
@BRUSH0GUN I’d love it if XBOX fans could play all the games, but business just makes some deals happen. It’s all part of competition.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 6, 2014
@broggiedoge Love the idea of game franchise bartering, I’ll work on making amends for SF.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 8, 2014
While I hate exclusives when they mean that I miss out on cool titles, they do make a whole bunch of sense. Otherwise, the only reason to buy one console over another is simply price… and controller, and operating system, and brand loyalty, and resolution. Okay, so it being all about the games isn’t really true when it comes to which console you choose to buy, but they still make a whole bunch of good business sense. Here’s hoping that Xbox retaliates with another cool game announcement exclusively on Xbox One, and we can all rant and rave about whether this is a good thing or not. Either way, it shows the competitive nature of the business and proves that Phil Spencer can yet against say cool things in the face of possible PR nightmares.
Last Updated: December 9, 2014
ToshZA
December 9, 2014 at 10:09
Much better than “Bla bla we don’t care #dealwithit”.
Admiral Chief BellatorMachina
December 9, 2014 at 10:16
lol
RinceThis
December 9, 2014 at 10:12
Not bad Spencer. Not bad. Also not Street Fighter 5, trolol.
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 9, 2014 at 10:12
More “coming to console A and PC” announcements will make me lol.
Hammersteyn
December 9, 2014 at 10:13
I bet Phil has an intern with access to his Twitter account who just answers tweets about SF5 in the most generic way possible like above
Ragnar The Vengeful
December 9, 2014 at 11:05
I think SF5 was a bitter Phil to swallow.
Hammersteyn
December 9, 2014 at 11:08
LOL!
CAE9872
December 9, 2014 at 11:14
hahahahaha clever!
rollingmol
December 9, 2014 at 22:00
Hey thats below the belt, stop acting like a philistine.
Ragnar The Vengeful
December 10, 2014 at 12:24
That would be more like a Philanderer.
Hammersteyn
December 9, 2014 at 10:19
At least XBOX wont miss out on Tekken 7 as well………………… right?
Norm (@e3zype3zy)
December 9, 2014 at 10:20
Um….
Gameprophit
December 9, 2014 at 21:10
I hope we do I hate that game.
Jonah Cash
December 9, 2014 at 10:23
I only play Mortal Kombat in this genre so where ever the rest are going doesn’t really matter to me!! I downloaded Injustice and it is pretty good, but it isn’t Mortal Kombat good… But for free it is beyond excellent!!
Hammersteyn
December 9, 2014 at 10:24
Well the new Mortal Kombat is going to be a bit more like Injustice. Especially when it comes to using the environments during battle.
Jonah Cash
December 9, 2014 at 21:07
I don’t have any problems with that at all!! I enjoy the environment element, it adds a whole new dimension for me!!
Hammersteyn
December 10, 2014 at 07:33
Combat does feel a lot faster.
Tbone187
December 9, 2014 at 15:10
You’re really missing out on Tekken with this staunch stance… 🙂
Jonah Cash
December 9, 2014 at 21:08
I played Tekken till 4 and then they lost me somewhere… But I had fun up until then!! Maybe one day I will revisit it and see if it is still working or not!!
house_hero
December 9, 2014 at 10:27
yup
WitWolfy
December 9, 2014 at 13:59
Hey thats me!
Kikmi
December 9, 2014 at 14:14
lol’d pretty hard for this.
HisDivineOrder
December 9, 2014 at 10:33
I think it’s refreshing that a console exclusive deal happened and left PC gaming out of the arrangement. This is the way it should be going forward.
Let the consoles squabble like children, but the PC gamers should have all the games. Eventually, the entire industry will wake up and realize that PC gaming is where you go for all your games.
Then one day the two bickering children will wake up and realize no one cares about them anymore. Hopefully, they’ll go away about then and that’ll open Microsoft and Sony up to joining up with Steam as publishers, releasing their new titles to Steam first, and paving the way for gaming transcendence.
Hopefully, the Dark Times–wherein consoles control gaming–are almost over.
CAE9872
December 9, 2014 at 10:39
I will have to say I disagree – I for one do not want to play games on PC. The supposed benefits, etc leave me non-plussed. Not sure why we cannot have both as we have now.
Who gives a shit what one plays on surely?
Ragnar The Vengeful
December 9, 2014 at 10:47
This! I play games on both my PC and my PS4. Why do I have to choose? I’m pro-choice. Having multiple platforms is actually good for the gaming industry.
wo0two0t1
December 9, 2014 at 12:54
Fine if you had the choice I completely agree but that sadly isn’t the case due to exclusives – business decisions always trump everything else so now I need a PC, PS4 and a XBOX One to play all the games I want – how is that good for anyone besides the manufactures? If my preferred platform is Xbox or PC then I should be able to play all my games on that platform – as the hardware is more than capable. Sony and MS pay studios big money to delay/stop games on certain platforms how is this good for anyone besides the manufactures again? Business Business business.
Gareth Smith
December 9, 2014 at 14:27
Connect your PC to ur TV, plugin an Xbox/PS4 controller and you’re all set. Might just enjoy better graphics as well =P
Hammersteyn
December 9, 2014 at 10:34
😛
http://img-9gag-ftw.9cache.com/photo/aKgOBe3_460sa.gif
Raptor Rants A Lot
December 9, 2014 at 10:37
http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130117222318/smuff/images/d/da/Deal_with_it_dog.gif
RinceThis
December 9, 2014 at 10:51
hahahaha
CAE9872
December 9, 2014 at 10:41
A genuine question – why all the hate for Killer Instinct? I don’t get that at all – I have played it a little and is fun. I am not saying its SF4 or 4.5 or 5, etc but is good fun. Characters are cool and looks absolutely beautiful.
Hammersteyn
December 9, 2014 at 10:47
I think exclusivity mostly
Tbone187
December 9, 2014 at 15:08
Lets face it, anything outside of the big 3 (MK,SF and Tekken) is gonna get hate as it’s seen as trying to take a piece of the (reserved) pie.
Holeybartender
December 9, 2014 at 20:20
Killer Instinct is the same game that it was on Super Nintendo,nothing else.Its nowhere near SF or MK caliber.
Ragnar The Vengeful
December 9, 2014 at 10:43
I don’t mind exlusivity deals for fighting, sports, or racing titles. It’s only story driven franchises that makes this a bitter phil to swallow. An exclusive sequel to a multi-platform title like Tomb Raider irritates me just a tad. I know it’s “Timed exclusivity” but it’s the only example I can think of.
WitWolfy
December 9, 2014 at 14:00
Do you have a source where MS said its only a timed exclusive. Because as far as I know its a exclusive FOREVER…
Ragnar The Vengeful
December 9, 2014 at 14:25
http://www.lazygamer.net/general-news/tomb-raider-deal-has-a-duration-says-microsoft/
http://ie.ign.com/articles/2014/08/13/gamescom-2014-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-is-a-timed-exclusive-on-xbox
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/12925/20140815/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-is-xbox-one-timed-exclusive-why-did-square-enix-signed-deal-with-microsoft.ht
WitWolfy
December 9, 2014 at 15:06
It says it has a “duration”… For all we know that duration could be 3-5 years.
they never stated how long of a duration its going to be.
Ragnar The Vengeful
December 9, 2014 at 16:02
For all we know it could be 5 days. All we know is that they have struck a deal not to release the game on other platforms for a certain amount of time. Therefore it is a timed-exclusivity deal. After the contractual obligations have been met (X amount of time passes) the developer can still decide not to release the the game on the other platforms at all. That is up to the devs and would cause an internet sh@t storm.
Ragnar The Vengeful
December 9, 2014 at 14:30
I believe it coz the interweb says so.
Pieter Kruger
December 9, 2014 at 20:26
Microsoft will be publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider, so chances of it ever going to PS just got very very slim…
rollingmol
December 9, 2014 at 22:03
the also published mass effect way back and it came…late though
Pieter Kruger
December 10, 2014 at 08:16
Only after they got paid very handsomely for it…….
WitWolfy
December 9, 2014 at 13:58
Now Xbox fans know how PS4 fans felt when MS signed TR 2 as a exclusive deal earlier this year.
Tbone187
December 9, 2014 at 15:12
PS guys have been rubbing Metal Gear in Xbox owners faces for many a year. TR still doesn’t compare.
WitWolfy
December 9, 2014 at 15:19
What are you talking about?? MGS 2 substances was released on Xbox 1 and they had Twin Snakes for GC. Guess what, they didnt sell well.
Convincing Kojima productions and Konami to stay exclusively to the PS brand.. Plus MGS 5 is coming to PC too next year so umm ya, I dont see your point I’m afraid.
Tbone187
December 9, 2014 at 15:31
Sorry mate, the defining game that is Metal Gear Solid has never been released on Xbox so xbox owners are well aware of what it feels like to get shafted.That’s my point. In fact, Sony has had so many top exclusive titles over xbox, it’s not even funny.Let them have TR at least I reckon.
WitWolfy
December 9, 2014 at 15:38
You talking about MGS 1??? Dude the Xbox didnt even exist back then… I had it on PC though.
Josh Melton
December 9, 2014 at 18:04
Don’t you remember MGS IV, Guns of the Patriots Never came to Xbox 360
Josh Melton
December 9, 2014 at 18:05
His comment was about MGS IV Guns of the Patriot.
WitWolfy
December 10, 2014 at 07:40
Oh… Well you can say thanks to Hideo Kojima for that. He didnt want to compress the audio files of MGS4 that were a massive 25GB alone.
Josh Melton
December 9, 2014 at 18:05
One of the Top 5 greatest games on PS3
Josh Melton
December 9, 2014 at 18:02
He’s talking about Metal Gear Solid IV
Holeybartender
December 9, 2014 at 20:22
Silent Hills needs to be PS4 exclusive.
Gameprophit
December 9, 2014 at 20:25
Phil spencer is the fucking problem they need to fire his old ass. Same fucker who turned down shenmue now he’s talking crash bandicoot and Conker. Same guy who told ed boon that injustice is absolute KI is the future isn’t that backwards. Good sign to your fans to have ps poster boy crash as your savior. No one wants that game or Conker. Why not jade empire 2 oops I forgot that’s kung fu they don’t want to promote that,it goes against the agenda to create fat lazy bastards. The xbox one is a glorified movie watcher at this point. And that says a lot coming from me the original xbox fanboy. I have bought every xbox. Haven’t seen the type of games I like on the one accept Rise. Fire Phil spencer before we all get ps4’s.
Gameprophit
December 9, 2014 at 21:21
What happen to creating games from scratch,new fighting game. How bout forming a company with the terrordrome guys buy up horror writes. How bout the legends of kung fu IP. Both games were done well for what they had to work with. Imagine if the companies got a Microsoft make over instead of tekken part 7. Check out the new horror fighting game terrordrome. https://www.youtube.com/embed/5BD1qXzHyxc