Game On: Can The New Head Of Xbox Fix Things? Game On: Can The New Head Of Xbox Fix Things?
BY JACOB FERREIRA It has been about five months since the Xbox One and PS4 were released in stores and unfortunately for Microsoft, the lead... Game On: Can The New Head Of Xbox Fix Things?

BY JACOB FERREIRA

It has been about five months since the Xbox One and PS4 were released in stores and unfortunately for Microsoft, the lead they had over Sony in the last generation of consoles is long gone. According to the most recent reports, Sony has sold over 7 million PS4s to consumers, while Microsoft has only shipped out about 5 million to stores. One of the main reasons for Xbox’s fall from glory is its infamous reveal at last year’s gaming expo, E3.

When gamers watch the big reveals and announcements at one of the largest gaming expos of the year, they expect to see all sorts of new and innovative games. Microsoft’s show at E3 was anything but, probably due to a terrible PR team (or lack of one) and a CEO who put business first and quality second. All they really managed to do was annoy their loyal fans with a product that not only forced them to pull out an extra hundred dollars for something most of them didn’t even want, but also didn’t allow them to trade or sell back games they bought. The latter of these issues managed to anger over half of Microsoft’s fan base, and even more of them declared they were done with Xbox after the now former CEO, Don Mattrick, played no heed to their criticisms. By the time Microsoft realized that their plan was not well liked, and decided to fix their problems, it was too little too late in the eyes of most consumers. According to those who have actually used it, the Xbox One is a great console, possibly even better than the PS4, but unfortunately many people have a bad taste in their mouths and have refused to get it, or simply don’t know what they are missing. It seems like Xbox might be preparing for an early loss this generation; however, the new head of Microsoft’s Xbox division may be able to help it catch up to its competitor.

After Microsoft’s new CEO announced Phil Spencer as the new head of Xbox, the gaming community burst into excitement. Spencer has worked at Microsoft for the past 26 years, and with various Microsoft-owned video game studios, such as Rare, and Lionhead. Spencer is known to have more of a passion for gaming than most people in the industry, and as a gamer himself,  he appears to understand exactly what it is that consumers want. Until now, he hasn’t had much of a choice in the direction that Xbox would take, but as the head of Xbox, Spencer has much more power than ever before. In the short month that he has been in his new position, he has already announced that this year’s E3 will prominently feature games, some of which have yet to be revealed. This alone is a major change from last year’s sad excuse for a presentation. More importantly however, are his plans to keep the Xbox One a video game console first, and an entertainment system second. Playing video games was something that Microsoft seemed to forget was the main purpose of the Xbox, but hopefully the new change in leadership will help it remember what allowed Xbox to dominate the previous generation.