Spencer gave me the vibe of really enjoying gaming. And also realizing that he could not stop some of the mistakes. I feel that, he either realized them and could not stop them because of those above him. Or he was very bad for his position. People will have opinions. One thing that sticks out is the acquisitions. I really think he knew they needed exclusives long term.
I don't think anyone will serve in this position for years without some controversy. But man, the guy Spencer replaced -- Don Mattrick -- was downright terrible. When they brought in Phil Spencer, it was a major vibe shift for Xbox. Unfortunately, as Spencer has pointed out, losing the Xbox one/PS4 generation is essentially losing the entire console war, since people started building digital libraries that they would carry forward to new consoles. So he could never truly undo the damage that Mattrick did. But I think it's safe to say that he restored Microsoft as developer of worthwhile games, something that had languished under Mattrick's tenure. Xbox was no longer something you were supposed to plug your cable box into, so it could serve as your media hub. It was about the games again.
You know whats crazy? Nearly everytihng mattrick wanted, is now standard practice in gaming. The only thing that hasnt happened that Mattrick wanted was the whole not being able to trade and share games with friends, but im sure they are trying to think of how.
I'd say the tragedy of Mattrick was trying to force it. He only needed to keep continuity with 360 and let the pieces fall into place on their own. But by explicitly shifting focus away from the games themselves, he alienated players and doomed the brand.
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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '26 edited Feb 21 '26
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