Xbox has been in the limelight since the start of 2023. The saga of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues. Unfortunately, Xbox was part of Microsoft’s latest waves of layoffs. Earlier this week, they held their first developer direct and announced several release dates for some of their upcoming titles, and revealed and released a brand new game that came out later that day. In a new interview with IGN, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer spoke on all of these topics and more such as going into  Xbox’s struggles in 2022 and the expectations for 2023.

“Our commitment to our fans is that we need to have a steady release of great games that people can play on our platform, and we didn’t do enough of that in 2022, there’s no doubt,” Spencer told IGN when talking about last year which saw no major releases compared to other publishers. “And fundamentally, that’s on me. I’m the head of the business.” Looking ahead to 2023, Spencer said that it was”important to show games, to show dates.” In the developer direct, we learned when Minecraft Legends, the next chapter for ESO, and Redfall will be released which makes up the next few months starting in April. During the direct, Tango Gameworks also revealed Hi-Fi Rush, which was released later that day. The game has seen a very positive reception since then. “When I think about the rest of the work that we’re doing this year, it’s going to be an exciting year. From a production standpoint, we’re coming out of all of the COVID at home, and I think we’ve got a better working rhythm as an industry and things that are going on, and I’m excited,” Spencer said.

Phil Spencer also discussed whether or not Xbox feels under pressure to establish positive momentum for 2023 coming off 2022. “I think it’s a little different internally, because we obviously know that we have a Developer Direct, we know what content we’re building, we know already what we’re we’re going to be doing in June in our showcase. But our commitment to our fans is that we need to have a steady release of great games that people can play on our platform, and we didn’t do enough of that in 2022, there’s no doubt. And fundamentally, that’s on me. I’m the head of the business. The commitment we have to our customers to continue to deliver great games is something that I take seriously, the teams take seriously, and 2022 was too light on games. So we’re excited about getting to roll into 2023, have the Developer Direct. I felt really good about the games that we were showing. And then also knowing that Starfield is a game that we’d be able to highlight in its own show and then just start off 2023 with good momentum, and like you said, I think we needed that.”

Redfall and Starfield are two of Xbox’s biggest exclusives coming out this year. Speaking to how critical they need to be successful and how they’ll grow Game Pass which saw a decline in the most recent earnings call, Spencer said “Redfall and Starfield are really important games, every first-party game that we’re building is. In terms of the growth of Game Pass, it’s been steady. And as we’re adding new games and sequels to games, we see the continued growth. Sometimes, the growth is in games that we expected, and then every so often a Vampire Survivors or now a Hi-Fi Rush comes along and creates its own excitement. So sometimes you can predict the games that are going to drive excitement, and sometimes you get surprised. And I like that about our industry — that great games can come from many different places.”

Spencer also touched on the recent round of layoffs from Microsoft which affected Xbox. “As somebody who’s been on Xbox for an awful long time, it’s always a challenge whenever a coworker…a team member is not going to be on the journey with us going forward. I take to heart the impact on individuals. I see my commitment and my responsibility as the person who heads the business to create a safe place where people can do their best work. And obviously, we have reductions for certain people there. I haven’t succeeded at that. My commitment is to the business, to the customers, to the teams. I think running a successful business is part of creating a stable place for our team members. The long-term vision that we have on Xbox of building our experience around the player, allowing creators to build games that can reach players on any screen that they want to go play, giving players different ways to build their library, whether it’s buying their games, subscribing to their games, looking at access like xCloud and the work that we do on PC. I’m a strong believer in that vision. Right now, there’s some business that we’re having to work through, and part of that is making sure that we have the right resources in the right places to do the best work. Sometimes, that means we have to make some allocations, in this case, some reductions, and I don’t take that lightly, because the impact on the individuals is real. But it is, I think, important for us, for the larger organization that’s here, that I put this business in the best stable position I can for what we need to go forward, which in the end should create a better place for the great team members that are here building the things that they’re building.”

One of the biggest companies affected by the layoffs was 343 Industries. There’s been some speculation that 343 will be taken off as lead developer of the Halo franchise, which 343 later said that this wasn’t the case. Shedding more light on that situation, Spencer said:

“Absolutely, but I’m going to start, because I think sometimes it gets a little bit lost in the discussion about Halo and 343, which will always be iconic for Xbox, is just the launch of Halo Infinite a little over a year ago and the quality of execution that that team put into the game. I thought it was fantastic. Obviously, we’re talking about the following year, and I think there are some missteps that we made as a team, absolutely. But I don’t want to take away from the fact that the team did a really good job delivering a great Halo game. I think reviewers commented on that. We definitely saw players last year playing and the success that that game had.

At the same time, when we launched that game, we know we needed to make some commitments to people about the content updates and our timing on those and the quality, and we didn’t hit our own bar for doing that. I believe in the team that’s there, Pierre and the leadership team, and the plan that they have. Obviously, [343 studio head Pierre Hintze], he’s the studio head now, has been on Halo for a long time. He’s worked on [Halo: The Master Chief Collection, he’s done some great work there. The team has a very good plan.

What we’re doing now is we want to make sure that leadership team is set up with the flexibility to build the plan that they need to go build. And Halo will remain critically important to what Xbox is doing, and 343 is critically important to the success of Halo.

In terms of support studios and other things, that’s just part of development and having other partners help us. But the heart and soul of Halo is with 343 and the team that’s there, and I have the utmost confidence in the team that’s there and leading and the plan that they have going forward.”

One of the biggest things that 2023 will bring this year is the return of an in-person E3. During the developer direct, Xbox said that they would also be returning with an in-person event for its showcase during that time. Talking about whether Xbox will make a return to  E3, Spencer said: “Well, we pick our time for our showcase specifically so that we’re there. E3 is just, to me, one of the seminal moments of gaming. I love the history of going down to LA, thousands of people there, getting to see great new things…getting to see people in the industry, the fan events that we’ve had. I definitely want that to continue. Xbox is on the board of the ESA, and I think a successful and healthy ESA is critical to what we’re trying to go do. So we place our showcase, like we always have done, at a time where hopefully it’s convenient for press and even consumers that are going to the E3 event, and that’s what we’re trying to do now. We will continue to work with ESA in terms of their plans. As I said, we’re on the board, and we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to help make the E3 successful.”

There has been a lot of back-and-forth with Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard. Phil Spencer remains confident that the deal will go through.  We’re actively working with the regulatory boards around the world that need to approve for this, and it’s been a learning experience for me. A lot of time spent, a lot of travel, a lot of conversations, but they’re conversations where I get to talk about our industry and the work that we do and why we do it. I think the more regulators are informed about what gaming is, how the business runs, who the players are, and what our aspiration is as Team Xbox is just a good thing for the industry itself.”

Talking about how critical 2023 will be for Team Xbox, Spencer said:

Every year is critical. I don’t find this year to be more or less critical. I feel good about our momentum. Obviously, we’re going through some adjustments right now that are painful, but I think necessary, but it’s really to set us up and the teams for long-term success. I look at 2023, I love the games that we have coming out. Redfall and Starfield, as you commented, will be exciting, just given the timing with Bethesda now that they’re fully integrated into the organization. When I think about the rest of the work that we’re doing this year, it’s going to be an exciting year. From a production standpoint, we’re coming out of all of the COVID at home, and I think we’ve got a better working rhythm as an industry and things that are going on, and I’m excited.

As an industry, when I think about this year, I do think about the state of production in AAA games, and games have become really big. Every year, people have bigger ideas and bigger plans for the games that we’re building. But ensuring that teams are set up for success in the games that we’re building across the industry, that do we really have kind of the necessary skills on production to make sure that when we make commitments to our customers about when games are coming, we can deliver at the quality and the timing that we expect.

I think these are good questions for us as an industry right now. We’re always learning, we’re always evaluating the tools that we have and the process we have and the creative that we put out. There were some great games in 2022. There’ll be some great games in 2023, and this industry will continue to evolve and innovate in ways that hopefully delight players.”