The gaming industry is at a crossroads, that's the focus of Microsoft's gaming chief's keynote Phil Spencer Who warns about the dangers of high costs and closed platforms in an interview with Polygon during the Game Developers Conference (GDC).

Touched Phil Spencerto many important and worrying topics that today occupy the gaming industry, including the possibility of launching a portable gaming device and the challenges faced by closed platforms, where the main theme that revolved around the discussion was the changes that the gaming industry is witnessing, and how companies can develop and publish games, including… May Xbox overcome the current obstacles.

Risks of high costs and closed platforms

be seen Spencer Three main factors contribute to the challenges facing the industry, the first of which was the high costs of game development, in addition to the diversity of business models, and finally the exceptional financial risks currently required to launch a AAA game that meets the expectations of the public, and pointed in particular to the astronomical budgets that large games require, which creates a complex set of problems that are difficult to solve.

for me SpencerThe way forward is to move away from the total reliance on the exclusivity principle and to attract new players who no longer prefer to experience traditional games on home gaming devices. In the past, setting a budget for a game and greenlighting its production was a much easier process, as the publisher could set a sales target (e.g. 800,000 copies sold) and profit target, then set the price of the game (usually US$$ 59.99), then the publisher and studio could set a budget based on these numbers, but things have changed now.

By 2024, most games will be sold in multiple stores, and their prices will often be drastically reduced within a few weeks of release or included in subscription services on the day of release. In addition, the games themselves take many years to develop, with hundreds of developers and workers involved, sometimes spread out across the world. All of this leads to higher costs.

High game development costs

He adds Spencer“The cost of developing a video game can sometimes reach around $300 million,” and this cost, he says, leads to three main problems, which are “a common problem among all major games,” “another platform-specific problem — exclusive games,” and “a third that includes the industry as a whole.”

Previously, it was enough to sell just a few hundred thousand copies to cover the cost of a game, but now, new games may need to sell millions of copies, and this cost is a major hurdle for exclusive games that only a limited number of players can access or own. Where he said about this:

“If you’re a publisher, you know that’s a huge number in a world that’s already full of so many video games, so how do you create a name for that product? Am I willing to miss out on a new title or type of game when the risk to profit is so high? I think it hurts the creativity of this industry, which I don’t prefer.”

“Creativity is the foundation of what we should be in games.”

Difficulty in profiting from exclusive games

How he spilled Spencer He highlighted during the interview the dangers of exclusive games and closed platform devices, as for him these games need to make additional money to justify device manufacturers subsidizing the cost of the device, and are exposed to great pressure as the cost of the game increases.

The industry's need to attract new players to generate growth after the recession

The head of the gaming sector confirmed to Microsoft Phil Spencer The gaming console market has not grown over the past year, and despite continued sales of Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch devices, Spencer notes that many home console gamers are simply upgrading to newer devices in the same category, and this does not attract new players and therefore does not contribute to market growth, as he said:

“[فكر] Two years of not growing the gaming industry at the highest level, you start to ask yourself, okay, I don't want to grow at the expense of the industry, I want to grow as part of the industry, and what do we need to do as an industry to get back on the path of growth?

Spencer added:

“I will say that every decision we make today and tomorrow is for Xbox.”

“I know that sometimes things are used as weapons and that there is some evil behind that makes us do things.”

Meet Microsoft's Gaming Chief Phil Spencer The future of Xbox will depend on access and not exclusives, as it is known. Spencer With his always anti-exclusive stance, he believes that focusing on reaching a wider audience is key to the future of his platform, and believes that the new generation of gamers does not differentiate between platforms, but rather seeks out great games wherever they are found.

Therefore, he seeks Spencer Making Xbox a comprehensive platform that offers gamers everything they need, regardless of the device they use, and not everyone may agree with these decisions, but he emphasizes that every decision made is aimed at strengthening Xbox in the long term and for its benefit.

Xbox trends anger platform fans

And he realizes Spencer Some gamers may be disappointed by this change, but he believes it is necessary to attract a new audience, and that the most important thing for Xbox is to provide the great games that gamers are looking for, as it doesn't matter if these games are exclusive or not, what matters is that they meet the needs of gamers.

In conclusion, he added that Xbox faces strong competition from PlayStation and Switch, but is confident in its ability to compete, as it believes its platform will be the preferred platform for gamers of all ages, by betting on access and diversity, and therefore, the future is bright for Xbox, counting on innovation and reaching a wider audience.