While speak at the Paley International Council Summit on November 12, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer did what every CEO must do when called upon: talk about one of the company’s arguable failures.
Spencer appeared at the annual media conference for a panel on the collaboration between Hollywood and the video game industry with Jonathan Nolan, director and executive producer of the Fallout television series on Amazon. The two took a victory lap due to the show’s critical success and second season renewal, but Spencer still took the opportunity to tackle the gaming side of things as well.
“We didn’t have a new (Fallout) game ready for launch,” Spencer said. “I actually think this has given us some creative freedom that (we) wouldn’t have had if we were trying to coordinate the production of two very different creative processes to land at the same time. The stretch is much longer lasting than trying to buy gifts.
It’s almost like the Fallout The adjustment surprised Microsoft. Similarly, Wizards of the Coast vice president of design Aaron Forsythe told Polygon last month that the overwhelming success of the Fallout theme Magic: the meeting decks, released around the same time as the show’s debut, was “not really planned, just amazingly coincidental”, indicating a lack of communication with Bethesda or Xbox. We’re constantly told that managers earn their exorbitant salaries because they specialize in this type of high-level decision-making. But when exactly did that happen here?
Fallout developer Bethesda teased the Amazon adaptation in 2020. Microsoft completed its acquisition of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media a year later. With all that time – not to mention Microsoft’s massive corporate capital – you’re telling me Xbox couldn’t come up with something to coincide with the show’s premiere? Of course Bethesda was busy with it Starfield. But it’s strange that Spencer doesn’t acknowledge the missed opportunity, and perhaps even offer some platitudes about the difficulties of re-releasing or remaking beloved titles like Fallout 3 And Fallout: New Vegas. (As it stands, these games aren’t exactly friendly to non-gamers new to the franchise, most of whom may not understand backwards compatibility or have the basic knowledge to make them work on modern PCs. Despite that, tons of people flocked to those games after the show came out anyway.)
Spencer reportedly concluded his comments by pointing out the existence of massively multiplayer Fallout 76 And Fallout shelter on mobile as potential Fallout video games for people who come to watch the television series. I would argue that while both have their merits, neither is the crux Fallout experiences.
Oh well. I guess this isn’t anyone’s fault, huh?