Sometimes you can’t predict whether a game will be the next big thing, so it’s not worth beating yourself up if you make a mistake. Or at least that seems to be the philosophy of Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who says he has no regrets about not making the original Destiny and Guitar Hero platform exclusives, though those calls seem a bit dubious in hindsight .
He spoke during an interview at PAX West called “Story Time with Phil Spencer” – which seems like the name should be kept in case Xbox production own children’s TV show, but I digress – the executive discussed some of the shows that got away because he didn’t fully understand them right away.
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“I have a lot of mixed emotions and stories surrounding Destiny,” Spencer said, going on to talk about his interactions with the studio and its employees when the studio was part of Microsoft, before going on to discuss receiving publicity for the original. Destiny, I think, is part of Bungie’s ongoing relationship between the two parties after independence. “‘Do we want to sign this?’ We ended up not signing Destiny. It was obviously a partnership with Activision, and to see where it went, like from an Xbox business perspective, I could look at look at it [as] It’s just a really fun ride [Bungie] built.
Spencer went on to say that he didn’t “really like” the first Destiny initially when it came out, explaining: “I’m not a big PvP player, and if anyone looks at my game [history]it’s not something I do a lot of, and I’m a little worried that I’ll be thrown into a PvP world. “As it turns out, that’s not what happened at all,” he continued, “when [the House of] Wolves [expansion] came out and it absolutely fascinated me.
Also on the list of games Spencer and Xbox don’t like is the original Guitar Hero. “[Alex Rigopulos] Pitch a game where they’re actually going to make a plastic guitar and plug it into the console and then they’re going to sell tracks and you’re going to play Simon on this guitar,” the executive recalled. “I’m like, ‘ Really?
Despite the success of both series, Spencer says he doesn’t regret the choices he made, even if hindsight may make them harder to justify. “I’ve had a lot of experiences where I’ve made some of the worst gaming decisions,” he admitted, but later added: “I’m not a regretful person. Maybe it’s my fault. I’ve passed on a lot of Games allow me to look back on the past [be annoyed]but I try to look forward and be positive about what we’re doing.
To be fair, none of us have a crystal ball, even though when your job involves making or participating in big calls like this on a regular basis, you might wish you did.
