Phil Spencer Considered Ditching Fallout 76
A newly uncovered email chain shows Phil Spencer discussing the possibility of shutting down Fallout 76 in 2021, concerned that it wasn't meeting its player targets. In the email, Spencer says that they should leave Fallout 76 behind if it can't hit ten million monthly average users, a goal it eventually surpassed.
This news comes courtesy of the huge leak of information relating to the Microsoft v. FTC court case. On the court website, largely unredacted evidence can be viewed by anyone, although it appears some is being taken down as we speak. However, this wasn't before huge Xbox plans leaked online, such as a new Xbox Series X model, a handheld console, and Fallout 3 and Oblivion remasters.
Related: Fallout 3's Megaton Decision Is Still One Of Gaming's Hardest
In the email thread, Phil Spencer and others in Xbox are discussing the idea of bringing Fallout 76 to PlayStation Now - a subscription service that was the precursor to the revamped PlayStation Plus. Despite objecting to other games joining the service, Spencer approves of sharing Fallout 76, due to its playerbase falling behind expectations.
"We have not allowed Minecraft to support PSNow as we do see PSNow as competition to XGP [Xbox Game Pass] and don't need to support their financial position with PSNow which would just allow them to compete more effectively with XGP [sic]," reads Spencer's email.
"I don't know why I feel different about F76 so open to conversation here," he continues. "In my view F76 is in this interesting place. Obviously started rough. Team stays focused on improving and finding larger audience. Feels like we either need to see this thing getting to 10M MAU across all platforms or decide to move on from it and if you believe PSNow can
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