Earlier this week we were treated to confirmation of the time and date for this year’s Xbox Showcase (June 8th, 6pm BST). Included in that article is a note that states:
“This year, the show will be digital-only – our livestream will bring you everything you’ll need to know about what’s next for Xbox, no matter where in the world you’re watching.”
I think we’re supposed to be grateful for that.
But my initial reaction was one of sadness. I loved E3 and still miss it now, to the extent that I actually find myself looking forward to Europe’s gamescom event more than the various summer showcases. There’s simply no beating the atmosphere, hype and crucially the journalism that comes from these in person events – people going one-on-one with developers, getting up close and personal with new hardware, getting titbits of news and information on unreleased games that wouldn’t otherwise come out.
For the big companies’ various keynote events, the reactions of the fans to new announcements, the camera panning around the auditorium showing the die-hard brand fans who are just like me and you, the feel you get from the show – these are all things we will now never experience again from Xbox. I hate that Nintendo did it too (with digital shows as with game pricing, they have led us down an unfortunate path).
But, over and above the sadness of realising we’ll never again get those iconic moments from Xbox (e.g. Peter Moore’s tattoo, THAT Halo 2 demo), I have other reasons for concern:
The pressure is off
When doing an event like this in front of a live audience, you have to think very carefully about what you’re portraying to the auditorium. While this is, of course, also true for a digital event, you don’t get the same instant reaction in the room that we did with, say, Geoff Keighley’s bombshell about Indiana Jones going to PS5. I think Microsoft learnt a valuable lesson from that experience (which it was quite rightly lambasted for), and undoubtedly that has entered their thinking here.
We know, based on Phil Spencer’s recent interviews, that PlayStation (and Switch) logos are now going to feature on any trailers shown at Xbox shows, where there is a version of the game in development. I fully expect the Xbox Showcase to feature several games where this is in place, including multiple “bombshell” titles.
It’s just too much of a coincidence that the first major show where the new trailer strategy is operational is also the first one where there’s no direct criticism of the presenters possible. Might we also see something like the Master Chief Collection announced for another platform? The idea of what is effectively a non-Xbox release being announced at the Xbox Showcase (i.e. a game that’s already out on Xbox but announcing it’s coming to another platform) seems wild, but I wouldn’t like to bet it won’t happen.
It’s worth noting too that Phil Spencer has done quite carefully curated interviews recently, including after (and during) big events. Generally, no one asks him the difficult questions (like why did you let Geoff Keighley announce Indiana Jones like that?!), and that curated approach no doubt shares motivation with the reasoning behind this switch as well.
A lack of respect for the fans
We’ve also heard that the popular Xbox FanFest event won’t be happening. So not only will there be no in person showcase, but there won’t be any showing of the digital stream where fans can gather and watch it together. This seems extremely bizarre and, while the reasoning above may hold true for this too, it feels like it’s either a cost-cutting measure (which will, I’m sure, save a fair bit of cash), or just an overall lack of respect, or more accurately a lack of care, for their fans.
Xbox do put other events on for fans, of course, and we know they are planning a 10-year FanFest celebration, but this is the one event that most keen gamers look forward to, so it’s got to sting.
We shouldn’t be surprised
Other than certain things Phil Spencer says on occasion, the tide has very much been going against traditional Xbox fans, in terms of the actions Xbox and Microsoft have been taking. Sure, they’re very consumer friendly compared to PlayStation and especially Nintendo, but that’s any consumer, not Xbox fans specifically.
The slow transition to becoming a third-party publisher is a direct affront to those who have invested heavily in the Xbox ecosystem, while other moves like the downgrading of Rewards, fast-paced increase in Game Pass pricing (and removal of the day one feature for lower tiers), plus the shuttering of Tango and Arkane Austin, were also deeply unpopular. In the context of these actions, going all-digital for such events makes perfect sense – Xbox don’t care about reaching their core base anymore, they care about reaching people not already in the ecosystem, so why waste money on an in person event that only die-hard Xbox fans would attend anyway?
The logic may be sound, but we don’t have to like it.