Phil Spencer says the cost of living is hurting Xbox, ‘we aren’t food or shelter’
The cost of living crisis has played a critical role in everyone’s lives, we all have to cut down and make hard decisions. However, the question remains: how does non-essential entertainment like games factor into this?
Recently, in an interview with The Verge(opens in new tab), CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, talked about how the cost of living crisis has affected the likes of Xbox and what one of the biggest AAA companies is trying to do to help players during this time.
No one’s pretending that gaming consoles and games are essential items. “We are clearly in the entertainment space”, said Spencer, “we aren’t food or shelter”. As families are having to find ways to cut down on their spending, non-essential sectors like entertainment will inevitably see less spending.
Spencer also talked about how families aren’t just paying for consoles and games but also energy costs, an expense that isn’t always in the front of everyone’s mind. But, it’s not all doom and gloom for gaming.
“Games have tended to be a little more resilient and weather these times better than some other sectors”, said Spencer, “because we’re good value for the dollar”. Good value; this seems to be the strategy for Xbox going forward.
One of the best things Xbox is doing currently to ensure value for money is keeping games accessible on old and cheaper consoles like Xbox One and Xbox Series S. While it’s not been popular across the board due to some developers believing that these older models are holding back next-gen consoles, other devs seem to think their complaints aren’t entirely justified.
The whole “Series S is holding back next-gen games” argument seems really broken to me. Most of these games also come to PC and already have to cover a
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