Another reader expresses his disappointment at the recent Inside Xbox showcase and worries that Microsoft’s leadership has lost its way.
So by now I’m guessing we’ve all seen the Xbox 20/20 livestream and… probably weren’t that impressed. I feel bad for the indie games involved as a lot of them looked very promising, like The Medium, Scorn, Chorus, The Ascent, and Call Of The Sea. But it should’ve been obvious to Microsoft that these were not the kind of games people were expecting to see. Not to mention that none of them were shown being played and I’m very dubious any of it was real gameplay.
I had thought Microsoft were on the right track when they showed that brief clip of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 before Christmas, as that looked amazing and a real step up from what the Xbox One can do. That’s what people want to see: proof of what the new console is about and evidence that it’s clearly better than what you’ve got at the moment.
I don’t think that was the case for any of the games on Thursday though and that just opened Microsoft up to criticism they wouldn’t have otherwise got, especially as the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla footage was so short and underwhelming, and again looked like it was probably not real.
People felt duped and let down, given everything Microsoft was hyping the event up to be before it happened and I cannot believe anyone working at the world’s richest company couldn’t guess that there would be a backlash. They’ve been making mistakes like this for years now and it’s seriously making me question whether I should even consider the Xbox Series X.
They’ve bought a lot of new developers, but none of them are ones I thought much of beforehand and are not what I would’ve expected from such a rich company going round the industry with a blank chequebook. And why did they advertise this event as being about third party games and then not have any major reveals?
They must’ve known that people would interpret that as meaning reveals for Elden Ring and other hotly anticipated games, and you could see right in the chat feeds that that’s exactly what they were asking for. If Microsoft didn’t anticipate that then I really have to question who the people are in charge of these decisions and what they’re playing at. Whether it’s Phil Spencer or someone below him they seem to have lost the plot and are making repeated mistakes that could’ve easily been avoided.
I realise that the coronavirus may have messed up plans, but whether this had been last month or this month doesn’t make a bit of difference. We all showed up for gameplay from third party games and all we got was canned footage from indie games. You can’t promise one thing and give the other when you’re trying to hype up your new console.
I fear that Sony are going to swoop in and end up doing the opposite of what Microsoft are doing, just like they did last time, and that will be the end of the next gen console wars right there. And to be honest, as much as I hate to admit, I think Microsoft will deserve it.
Their next event, next month, had better be a major step up on this because my patience as a fan is being tested and so far Microsoft are getting almost everything wrong.
By reader Robbo
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
MORE: Xbox 20/20 was a disaster and so is Xbox Series X – Reader’s Feature
MORE: EA will not support Xbox Smart Delivery, has its own upgrade system
MORE: Xbox Series X games: every confirmed title from Halo Infinite to Scarlet Nexus
Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk
