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Phil Spencer says ‘2022 was too light on games’

In 2021, Microsoft’s gaming division published games like Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite, Age of Empires 4, and Psychonauts 2. It was declared Metacritic’s publisher of the year (opens in new tab) thanks to its games receiving an average metascore of 87.4, helped also to the Xbox Series X port of Microsoft Flight Simulator releasing that year. While in 2022 Microsoft backed some well-received smaller games—Grounded, Repentance, and As Dusk Falls—its biggest releases, Starfield and Redfall, were delayed into this year.

Xbox standing weren’t happy about this, though I think maybe we could do with less rushed videogame releases and maybe less videogames overall. During a recent interview with IGN (opens in new tab) following the Xbox/Bethesda Developer Direct livestream, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer agreed with the fans, saying, “The commitment we have to our customers to continue to deliver great games is something that I take seriously, the teams take seriously, and 2022 was too light on games.”