E-Rated Content Will Strengthen The Xbox Brand says Phil Spencer

Guillermo Ortega

The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer has admitted that Xbox Game Studios is lacking in the production of E-rated content, he suggests that filling that gap is “critically important for the future of the company.

If we look at what people are playing on Xbox, what Game Pass subscribers are playing, I think what is missing from our portfolio is casual content with a broad appeal. E-rated content (to use an ESRB rating) is not a strength for us. We obviously have Minecraft and we have some other franchises. But when I think about expanding the creative palette that our teams have, I think that is critically important.

Certainly, Microsoft’s first-party developers can produce E-rated games, but Xbox might be forced to incorporate a new studio to ease up the development of ongoing projects, this was suggested by Spencer when he explained how Xbox was underinvesting in the past, he changed the situation as he convinced the hierarchy of the company with a different business model prioritized investing in content.

Spencer also advises customers that the gap in E-rated content will be sustained in the next few years.

Now, the thing with game production is that it takes a lot of time, so if you underinvest it actually doesn’t show up next year or even in the next two years. It’s maybe three, four, or five years down the road.

Teams that can build new franchises, tell new stories, those are always sought after. That’s why I’m excited about projects like Starfield and the next Compulsion game because I like teams that think about new creations. And frankly, as Game Pass continues to grow, we need to continue to feed that subscription. So, with the growth that we are seeing, I expect we will constantly be in this mode of bringing more creators into the fold.

Last week, Spencer revealed that Xbox’s Cloud Streaming technology, Project xCloud could be available on plug and play devices for HDTVs and monitors, he also mentioned that the service could be available soon through an app on Smart TVs. xCloud is now available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and will be a big selling point of Xbox Series X|S.