And why exclusive products have become a risky business
What the hell is Phil Spencer thinking??
"The math of [creating] a game has definitely changed," said Phil Spencer, President of Gaming at Microsoft.
Polygon spoke with Spencer during the annual Game Developers Conference, and while the conversation ranged from the possibility of a handheld console to the problems of closed platforms, one theme was inescapable: What the hell is going on with the gaming industry? And how will video game makers and publishers – including Xbox – get out of it?
Spencer's views point to a collision of rising budgets, diversified business models and the exceptional financial risk now required to meet audience expectations for a AAA release. He specifically pointed to the astronomical budgets of big-budget games, which have created a lot of problems that have been a challenge to sort out. And for Spencer, the way forward is to abandon assumptions of exclusivity and attract new customers who have cooled on the console experience.
