Microsoft launches Xbox Player Voice portal to listen closely to player feedback, fans immediately ask for “great game exclusives”
Embrace tradition?
It’s been roughly three months since Asha Sharma took over Xbox, and changes to corporate and business direction haven’t stopped coming. From scrapping the “This Is an Xbox” ad campaign to dropping Game Pass prices in exchange for new Call of Duty titles not being on the service from day one, today’s Xbox is already feeling different. However, Xbox leadership knows the work is only starting, and it’s closely monitoring player feedback via the newly-launched Xbox Player Voice.
The Reddit-like player forum allows users to quickly share their thoughts on the direction of the overall brand and features they’d like to see. We must assume moderation has been effective so far, as most suggestions seem sensible. In any case, Microsoft is telling everyone to “avoid sharing your personal info” since everyone can see, upvote, and comment on the posts.
The most boosted comment to date (with over 6K upvotes so far) asks for “EXCLUSIVES” (all caps, yes), explaining “XBOX was built off of great game exclusives” and underlining selling consoles is harder “without a reason to buy the console compared to your competition”. Of course, the comments section isn’t all applause, with some players pointing out “no amount of exclusives is going to get millions of us to budge and buy overpriced single-purpose hardware that’s inflexible”.
Other requests that people seem to be backing are the return to backward compatibility efforts and making the online multiplayer “free to access” and separate from the Game Pass subs. The latter point is an interesting one, as Sony has just announced PlayStation Plus prices are going up for new subscribers.
As a reminder, Project Helix is expected to be impacted by the rising cost of memory and other components due to the ongoing shortage crisis, so it remains to be seen how Xbox will kick off a new generation under such circumstances and with player sentiment affected by all sorts of big issues: Beyond project cancellations and internal hiccups, Microsoft and the Xbox brand remain priority targets of the BDS movement for reported complicity in Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian population and state.
Meanwhile, Sony has confirmed it’s choosing to return to the strategy of keeping its first-party single-player games exclusive to PlayStation consoles for the foreseeable. Debate is served.
It’s been roughly three months since Asha Sharma took over Xbox, and changes to corporate and business direction haven’t stopped coming. From scrapping the “This Is an Xbox” ad campaign to dropping Game Pass prices in exchange for new Call of Duty titles not being on the service from day one, today’s Xbox is already feeling different. However, Xbox leadership knows the work is only starting, and it’s closely monitoring player feedback via the newly-launched Xbox Player Voice.
The Reddit-like player forum allows users to quickly share their thoughts on the direction of the overall brand and features they’d like to see. We must assume moderation has been effective so far, as most suggestions seem sensible. In any case, Microsoft is telling everyone to “avoid sharing your personal info” since everyone can see, upvote, and comment on the posts.
The most boosted comment to date (with over 6K upvotes so far) asks for “EXCLUSIVES” (all caps, yes), explaining “XBOX was built off of great game exclusives” and underlining selling consoles is harder “without a reason to buy the console compared to your competition”. Of course, the comments section isn’t all applause, with some players pointing out “no amount of exclusives is going to get millions of us to budge and buy overpriced single-purpose hardware that’s inflexible”.
Other requests that people seem to be backing are the return to backward compatibility efforts and making the online multiplayer “free to access” and separate from the Game Pass subs. The latter point is an interesting one, as Sony has just announced PlayStation Plus prices are going up for new subscribers.
As a reminder, Project Helix is expected to be impacted by the rising cost of memory and other components due to the ongoing shortage crisis, so it remains to be seen how Xbox will kick off a new generation under such circumstances and with player sentiment affected by all sorts of big issues: Beyond project cancellations and internal hiccups, Microsoft and the Xbox brand remain priority targets of the BDS movement for reported complicity in Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian population and state.
Meanwhile, Sony has confirmed it’s choosing to return to the strategy of keeping its first-party single-player games exclusive to PlayStation consoles for the foreseeable. Debate is served.
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