While speaking at the Paley International Council Summit on November 12, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer did what every CEO has to do when asked: talk about one of the company's arguable failures.
Spencer appeared at the annual press conference for a panel on collaboration between Hollywood and the video game industry with Jonathan Nolan, director and executive producer of the radioactive dust TV series on Amazon. The two were taking a victory lap, due to the show's critical success and season two renewal, but Spencer still took the opportunity to address the gaming side of things as well.
“We didn't have a new [Fallout] game lined up for launch,” Spencer said. “In fact, I think that gave us some creative freedom that [we] We wouldn't have done it if we had tried to coordinate the production of two very different creative processes so that they landed at the same time. The play is much more long-term than trying to boost gift buying.”
It's almost like the radioactive dust The adaptation took Microsoft by surprise. Similarly, speaking to Polygon last month, Wizards of the Coast vice president of design Aaron Forsythe said the overwhelming success of the Fallout theme Magic: The Gathering The decks, released around the same time as the show's debut, were “not really planned, just surprisingly serendipitous,” suggesting a lack of communication with Bethesda or Xbox. We're told all the time that executives earn exorbitant salaries because they specialize in this type of high-level decision making. But when exactly did that come into play here?
Fallout developer Bethesda brought forward the adaptation to Amazon in 2020. Microsoft finalized its acquisition of Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media, a year later. With all that time, not to mention Microsoft's immense operating capital, you're telling me Xbox couldn't pull it off. something to coincide with the premiere of the program? Of course, Bethesda was busy with star field. But it's strange that Spencer doesn't acknowledge the missed opportunity, perhaps even offering some platitudes about the difficulties of relaunching or remaking beloved titles like consequences 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. (In their current forms, those games aren't exactly friendly to non-gamers encountering the franchise for the first time, 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 anyway after the show came out.)
Spencer reportedly closed his comments by pointing out the existence of massive multiplayer. Fall 76 and nuclear shelter on mobile as potential radioactive dust video games for people who come from watching the television series. I would say that while both have their merits, neither is essential. radioactive dust experiences.
Oh ok. I guess this isn't anyone's fault, huh?