We are once again seeing more closures of gaming companies under the Xbox company umbrella, with two more studios set for cuts and closures. However, many fans feel that this may be unfair, expressing their anger and dismay towards one man in particular, Phil Spencer. Social media has been a hurricane of people berating and defending this dividing figure but is all the hate really warranted?
More Closures Planned at Xbox Even After Recent Closures
It has become commonplace as of late for news of closures at massive gaming companies and unfortunately, the latest victims of these closures are Tango Gameworks, the company that helped develop the Evil Within series, and Arkane the company behind Redfall. These two companies had promising plans for the rest of 2024, with Arkane planning more DLC for Redfall and, of course, having a hand in the development of the new Marvel Blade game.
This has of course left many fans upset and angry at this news, with many of them directing their anger at CEO Phil Spencer, as the court of public opinion is very much that he has been a divisive figure in these recent closures, as one user explained on X, expressing his and many others feelings on the situation:
Buck wild that @XboxP3 logs more playtime than most of us, sucks at his job so much that mass firings are routine, and keeps his high-paying career in tact while THOUSANDS lose their livelihoods. pic.twitter.com/XgossekSrQ
— Jake Steinberg (@JakeNoseIt) May 7, 2024
This post clearly shows the anger some fans feel towards the executive, with the caption expressing the anger towards the CEO being allowed to keep his job while thousands of other developers lose their livelihoods.
What Does the Court of Public Opinion Have to Say?
The comments below this post are pretty much split 50/50 on whether Phil Spencer deserves all this criticism, with one comment saying that it could be his kids using his Xbox account as his account is one of the top five percent of all Xbox users.
his kids use his account
— longstoryshort (@longstorychort) May 7, 2024
Another commenter seems to dismiss people’s claims that he is a good CEO by pointing out that he is playing more than working:
People said "he's a good CEO because he's a gamer". Fuck no. He plays more than actually runs the company.
— k1z4cz3k (@k1z4cz3k_) May 7, 2024
However, it’s not just this one post all over X. Gamers are making their feelings heard with another post made to the site claiming, “It’s time we all admit Phil Spencer never understood gaming, what gamers want and what makes a good game“.
One comment sums up a lot of feelings in just three lines:
Agreed.
— PeterOvo (@PeterOvo5) May 8, 2024
They never understood their customers.
The evidence is overwhelming
So it seems that while many fans feel that Phil Spencer does not understand what fans want with Xbox, others believe that he is doing what needs to be done for the betterment of the company. As the CEO, he has to make difficult decisions, but there is a large amount of evidence that fans have found that he may not always have their best intentions at heart.
What do you think? Do you believe all this criticism is warranted? do you think Phil Spencer knows what he is doing? Let us know in the comments!
