As you know, there’s an Xbox and Bethesda Launch this Sunday. Before the upcoming launch, Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made some statements together. The duo met with Microsoft Gaming Leadership members and made some statements about the future of Microsoft Gaming with them. In particular, they talked about Microsoft‘s dominance on all platforms and what we might encounter in the future. We found it more appropriate to present the speech to you by making it convenient rather than summarizing it briefly.
Here is the conversation about the future of Microsoft and Xbox in Gaming
” Phil Spencer: I’m excited that Satya Nadella has joined me to talk about how Microsoft can take gaming in general forward. Thanks for being here, Satya. Why don’t we start by talking about how gaming is such a priority for the company?
Satya Nadella: Thank you very much, Phil.
Gaming has been Microsoft‘s priority since our early days. Our oldest currently supported software series is actually Microsoft Flight Simulator. We released it three years before even the first version of Windows. The game is fundamentally in keeping with and woven into our mission as a company. That’s exactly what I think of when you talk about Xbox‘s mission to bring the excitement and community of gaming to everyone in the world, and Microsoft‘s mission to empower every person, every organization in the world. The world deserves to get more.
As a company, Microsoft does everything when it comes to gaming. We believe we can play a leading role in democratizing gaming and defining the future of interactive entertainment at scale. There are really three key areas where we believe we have an incredible competitive advantage. The first is our leadership in cloud computing; second, the resources we have to generate subscription value with Xbox Game Pass; third, our overall focus on empowering creators. I’m really excited about the opportunity to play.
Spencer: Shall we start talking about Azure? Here’s the thing when I think about it. Going back to the birth of the personal computer in the 1970s, the ability to play games was limited by the cost and power of the particular device you were using, whether it was an arcade or PC, phone, tablet. . And that cost and those requirements have always severely limited who can play, where they can play, and with whom.
When I was a kid it was crazy to think of having a Galaga machine or a Miss Pac-man machine in your house. You were supposed to go to the arcade. More recently, if you can’t spend hundreds of dollars on a gaming console and potentially thousands on a high-end PC, you’re not joining the global gaming community in any significant way.
The cloud will allow us to completely remove these barriers to play around the world. Of course, there is still a place for consoles and PCs, and frankly, there will always be, but through the Cloud, we will be able to deliver a solid gaming experience to anyone connected to the Internet, even on the least powerful, cheapest devices. , devices that people already own. And thanks to the cloud, gamers can fully engage in the same Xbox experience as people on local hardware. We wouldn’t be able to do this if we weren’t part of Microsoft.
Nadella: Well said, Phil. I mean, the cloud and Azure basically allowed us to put people at the center of the game and, as you say, play games with high fidelity wherever, whenever they want, on any device. Cloud gaming is truly a groundbreaking experience. I mean, for me, go to Xbox.com/play and let me tell you, it’s a really quick and easy way to start gaming. It’s been a game-changer for me. I love being able to go from my PC to my Xbox and Duo, pick up any game where I left off, and even use the touch controls on the Duo. This is very well done and I can use my controller on my computer of course.
You also see the power of the cloud when you look at the evolution of some of our first-party games, such as Flight Simulator. At least for me, it exemplifies what we can uniquely do by combining the power of the entire Microsoft technology stack, from Azure AI to Bing maps and even spatial computing that combines to literally create a digital twin. the entire planet.
And as you know, we’re also seeing tremendous traction when it comes to game development in Azure, with companies like Phil, Pearl Abyss scaling their games using the power of our cloud. And of course, game development doesn’t stop when the game is launched. In fact, one of the things we’ve learned from all the work you’ve done is, in a sense, it starts after the game is launched because you want to be able to experiment, learn through analytics, and constantly change games.
Also one of the things that excite me the most is how we enable game developers to do just that with Azure PlayFab, which now has over 2.5 billion player accounts. It’s used as a backend for over 5,000 games, so lots of exciting things the cloud can enable.
Spencer: Yes, and the supplement provides access to the games themselves. This is where Game Pass comes into play.
Nadella: That’s right. With Game Pass, we’re truly redefining how games are distributed, played, and shared. Content is the driving force behind Game Pass’s growth, which is why I’m so excited to purchase ZeniMax, which brings some of the world’s most iconic, beloved games to life. With the arrival of Game Pass in the browser, the value of the subscription will move from console to PC and mobile. It’s great to see the progress.
I look forward to how we continue to invest in Game Pass to add more content and expand the service to more geographies as we progress.
Spencer: Yeah, I’m very excited about the potential here. We continue to build the Xbox Game Pass value proposition by building our first-party game studios. As you said, our recent purchase of ZeniMax is something I’m really proud of, just as you mentioned we’re bringing a great catalog of games to Game Pass.
For the first few decades, the only way to play the game was to buy the game outright. And for many players, this can be an investment that limits their ability to play. That cost limited the target audience for the retail model, creators, and the entire industry. That’s why we created Game Pass to open up ways for gamers to play more games with their friends, ultimately bring more players, and make games more accessible to everyone.
Earlier this year, we announced that our Game Pass subscription had crossed 18 million members. And what really surprises us is that it’s changing the way our entire industry thinks about Xbox and how we can reach a wider audience. And we’ll hear more about that later.
Let’s finish by talking about the creators that I know are a huge priority for you and the entire company.
Nadella: Yes, absolutely. Take a look back on the next decade and the evolution of technology. I think one of the most decisive trends will be how to balance consumption and creation and the changes that will bring. Already more and more people are creating something new and magical every day. You see this on all kinds of platforms, and there are growing communities that want to explore, discover and improve the work of others.
I believe we will need this virtuous cycle of content consumption, driven by communities, for everything we build. And there is no better example of this than playing games. That’s why I’m so excited that so many games are evolving into these metaverse economies and societies like Minecraft, right? It is one of the leading platforms in the creator economy.
One of the coolest things I’ve seen over the past year is how people are using Minecraft to create new worlds. In order to maintain even a sense of community and belonging, which is so important at times like these. They make up entire college campuses in Minecraft. They are also expanding this economic opportunity. The creators have made over $350 million in revenue from over a billion downloads of mods, add-ons, and other experiences in the game. That’s great to see.
When I think of Microsoft Mesh, our new platform lets you interact with other people photographically in a very natural way. I think one of the most exciting applications will be gaming. For example, Niantic showed a great demo of Pokémon Go using Mesh at our last event. We’re very excited about what creators can do going forward with the platform changes we’ll be making over the next 10 years.
Spencer: Yes, and we’re going to hear a lot more about creators in our next group discussion. We have created a complete organization dedicated to empowering the gaming industry and developers of all sizes. However, you’re right, we see the health of creators in and around our games as one of the key barometers for our overall business health.
Thank you so much, Satya for joining us today.
Nadella: Thank you very much, Phil. It’s great to see how we are working together at One Microsoft to bring the joy of gaming and the community to everyone on the planet. ”
The content and details of the conversation proceed in this way. What do you think? Are you looking forward to this Sunday as excitedly as we are? Do not forget to share with us in the comments.