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The story
On October 8, Xbox announced the launch of a new division called “XP.” The group is meant to expand game IP into film, TV, and other screen content, apparently prompted by the smash-hit live-action “Minecraft” movie and the critically acclaimed “Fallout” TV series. On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board, the thread lit up over the wave of sarcastic replies from foreign users under the announcement post and comparisons to Nintendo’s “Mario” movie and Sony’s live-action track record — though some posters also brought up Xbox’s own past retreat from the video/film business and voiced mixed feelings about Phil Spencer’s leadership, making the overall reaction far from unanimous.
Today, we announced XP.
This is a new Xbox division that will help grow our great games into experiences that go beyond the games themselves.
Source: x.com / Original post here
What people said
That opportunity is exactly why we're building XP.
They've got a ton of strong game IP, so this is about running an IP business through movies and shows.
The Minecraft movie and the Fallout series already hit it stupid big, after all.
Both of those sound like they'd be disasters
They'll just get steamrolled by Netflix, Disney+, and Paramount+
Wonder if Asha will even still have the job by then.
They just bundled already-in-motion projects under one department, that's all.
Fallout already has a new season in production, and CoD and Gears both had their movie adaptations greenlit a long time ago.
Ever heard of the Minecraft movie?
That company got bought out this year and lost even its own name.
A textbook case of total failure.
Back in the One days it was totally unclear what they were even trying to do.
This time it's after a movie actually became a massive hit, so it kind of makes sense.
About the only other win is Minecraft.
Weren't Sea of Thieves and Gears movies also in the works?
No reason to go out of their way to publicize it.
Even something like this needs to be announced to keep the hype fuel flowing.
Cut them some slack, read between the lines.
Could even end up having Sony handle the actual movie production.
Hard to say, since they've got God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, and Horizon all lined up.
Though Until Dawn didn't really make any waves.
CoD, which hasn't gone down that road, being the success story says it all.
The one thing they absolutely had to change was quitting screen adaptations altogether.
and Microsoft scored huge hits with the Minecraft movie and the Fallout show,
but Sony's the only one with zero hit game adaptations, huh.
The Last of Us was way bigger a hit than Fallout, come on.
but now that ‘incompetent’ Phil's games-only focus has failed, everyone's doing a total 180 and calling Asha's strategy a success instead — it's hilarious.
Phil was undeniably competent right up through 2023.
Even accounting for pressure from Nadella, the last year and a half can only be described as him tarnishing his own legacy.
I genuinely feel relieved I never became an Xbox fan.
Though I'm sure not everyone's like the die-hards grinding away on Geha.
They let Phil do things his own way for almost 10 years, and it was only because he failed to hit the targets that they stepped in.
But the intervention just made performance worse, so doesn't that make Nadella incompetent too?
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Around 2013, Xbox had already ventured into original programming with “Xbox Entertainment Studios,” only to shut it down within a few years — making this “XP” initiative its second attempt. The backdrop is the live-action “Minecraft” movie becoming a worldwide smash hit, plus the Amazon-streamed “Fallout” series earning strong critical acclaim. The thread discussed this alongside Nintendo’s increasingly aggressive IP expansion following the Mario movie’s success, while opinions on Sony’s live-action track record were split — some cited “The Last of Us” as a genuine success while noting its other titles never gained similar traction. Opinions were also divided on CEO Phil Spencer, whose reputation has wavered amid major layoffs and Xbox hardware’s declining presence, as well as on how to judge Satya Nadella’s intervention in the company’s management. It’s worth noting that the announcement itself concerns an organization separate from the game development division and is not a new product or game title announcement — a point that’s easy to misread.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [Geha]) thread “[Breaking] Official ‘XBOX XP’ Announcement.”
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