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Phil Spencer Talks His Destiny 2 Power Level And The Weapon He Wants

Xbox boss Phil Spencer was a big fan of Destiny 1, having played some 700 hours of it. He’s also logging time in the sequel, and now he’s told us more about his time with the game. Speaking to GameSpot at the Brazil Game Show today, Spencer said he keeps his fireteam (and sometimes his Xbox Live party settings) open so anyone can join him. His gamertag, which he frequently shares openly on Twitter and elsewhere, is P3

He has to kick people out from time to time, however, because he’s not a high enough level to play end-game activities like Leviathan raid. He told us at the show that his character is Power level 237. You need to be at least 260 to play the raid. Not being a high enough Power level for the raid keeps him awake at night, Spencer said, perhaps jokingly.

Spencer’s public page on Destinytracker shows that his character, an Awoken Titan, now has a Power level of 241. That’s not the highest, of course, but Spencer is a busy, busy person with a lot on his plate, so it’s understandable. He told us he’s traveled to Tokyo, the US east coast, and then Brazil just in the past few weeks.

The Xbox boss also told us about which weapon he wants the most in Destiny 2. After very much enjoying the MIDA Multi-Tool in Destiny 1, he’s looking to get the weapon in the sequel.

Spencer also said he’s bummed that Bungie won’t allow him to play his Destiny 2 character in the PC version right now. The game doesn’t launch for PC until October 24, but given his high-up position and contacts, we wouldn’t be surprised if Spencer received some form of early access.

For more on our conversation with Spencer, check out the stories linked below, and come back soon to see our full Q&A.

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Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Hasn’t Beaten Cuphead Yet, But He Has A Good Excuse

As the Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer played a key role in bringing the critically acclaimed platformer Cuphead to Xbox One and PC as an exclusive for Microsoft. One of the perks of his position is getting to play games ahead of release. He told us at the Brazil Game Show today that while he beat all the bosses ahead of launch, he hasn’t completed the retail version of the game–and he has a good reason.

“I think I finished all of the bosses at one point before it launched. But no. I’ve been traveling for four weeks in a row so I haven’t had much chance to play,” Spencer said. “It is [an excuse].”

Spencer also told us that Cuphead is selling “very well,” though he didn’t get into specifics about sales numbers. “I am so happy for the studio; they worked a long time on the game. And to have the success they’re having–it’s selling very well,” he said. “The reaction has been great. It’s just fantastic when those kind of things come together.”

As part of Microsoft’s exclusivity deal for Cuphead, the game is staying exclusive to Xbox One and PC forever. It is never coming to PlayStation 4. Spencer said the version of Cuphead that exists today might never have happened were it not for Microsoft’s investment.

“The team had certain ambition about what they wanted to go do. And together with them we wanted to invest more,” he said. “We saw more opportunity. And what that turned into was us having an exclusive game on our platform. That’s a game that probably wouldn’t have happened the way it did if we didn’t invest the way we did.”

For lots more on Cuphead, check out GameSpot’s review and tips here. For more on our conversation with Spencer, check out the stories linked below, and come back soon to see our full Q&A.

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It’s A Myth That Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Is Ignored, Exec Says

One of the Xbox One‘s standout features is backwards compatibility support for Xbox 360 games. There are more than 400 titles in the catalog right now, and the library is seemingly always growing. Microsoft is committed to backwards compatibility now and in the long run, Xbox boss Phil Spencer told GameSpot at the Brazil Game Show today.

In June, there was a report that said Xbox One owners “largely ignore” the backwards compatibility feature. Microsoft responded by pointing out that around half of all Xbox One owners have used the feature, tallying some 508 million hours using the service. Spencer doubled down on this, saying it’s categorically untrue that it’s an ignored feature.

“It’s not true that people don’t play it. I’ve seen those online arguments about nobody uses it or everybody uses it. It’s not true that everybody plays backwards compatibility games, it’s not true that no one does,” he said. “A lot of the data is third party data so I can’t really tell you how many people are playing a certain game; it’s not my game. I think the best signal we had so far is when Black Ops II landed and that month it hit NPD’s Top 10 that month for game sales. An Xbox 360 game that’s years old, that shows that people care.”

The Xbox One is the only new-generation console that has true backwards compatibility support. The PlayStation 4, by comparison, requires users to re-purchase older games to play on the system through PlayStation Now and the PS2 Classics program.

“We continue to invest in back-compat because it matters. Not because somebody else [Sony] doesn’t have it. If somebody else did it tomorrow, we wouldn’t stop. We see it as a commitment to our customers that the games you buy from us [will work on new platforms].”

In addition to Xbox 360 games, the backwards compatibility lineup will add support for Original Xbox games before the end of the year. Microsoft is “really close” to launching this, Spencer told us, also teasing some news about support on Xbox One X.

Also in our interview, Spencer spoke about how he wants to move beyond the old way of thinking that when you buy a new console, your purchases for the older device are rendered useless. That’s part of the reason why backwards compatibility is so important to Microsoft.

“I want to give gamers a choice. It’s about growing gaming not being divisive and artificially trying to move you ahead. That’s why Xbox One X plays the same games Xbox One S does. PC has done this for years. It’s not rocket science in how you figure this out.”

For more on our conversation with Spencer, check out the stories linked below, and come back soon to see our full Q&A.

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Xbox Boss Unsure If Cross-Play With PS4 Will Ever Happen

Back in March 2016, Microsoft extended an invitation to other online networks to connect to Xbox Live to allow cross-play between Xbox and competing consoles. The head-turning announcement made waves, as this has never happened before. At E3, Microsoft and Nintendo announced a partnership for Minecraft cross-play between Xbox and Nintendo Switch, but Sony has held out. The company says it won’t connect PlayStation Network to outside networks, in part because it fears for the safety of its users.

Now, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has provided an update on where things stand with Sony. He told us at the Brazil Game Show today that Microsoft speaks with Sony all the time, but the conversations haven’t amounted to anything–and they may never.

“We talk to Sony all the time. With Minecraft on PlayStation, we have to be one of the biggest games on their platform in terms of sales and gameplay,” Spencer said. “Same with Nintendo. The relationship with Nintendo on this front has been strong. They’ve been great supporters and we continue to collaborate with them. But I think Sony’s view is different. They should talk about what their view is…”

Asked if cross-play between Xbox One and PS4 is a lost cause, Spencer said he doesn’t want to speak for Sony. Nothing is ever set in stone, but the way things are now with Sony makes Spencer believe the company may never come around.

“I have a real struggle making comments about their motivation or timelines. I know there is a certain view that says if my friends have this console, they can’t play with people who buy another console. That’s a reason they go buy my console,” he said. “That reason is not going to go away. So we’re putting Minecraft out there as one of the biggest games on any platform and allowing people to play together regardless of what device they bought. I don’t think everybody is taking that same approach to the ecosystem. So I’m never going to call anything a lost cause but I think some of the fundamental reasons and certain scenarios, they’re not really going away. So I don’t know what would change.”

Speaking generally about the appeal of cross-play, Spencer said it allows the multiplayer environments for games to stay rich, because the player pools are larger than they otherwise might be.

“I think people look at [cross-play] and say is it better for gamers. If it’s better for gamers, I have a hard time thinking why we shouldn’t go do this, especially when you’re trying to make the gaming business a bigger business; grow it, get more games, create more opportunity,” he said. “Especially in the indie space, actually. If you’re creating an online indie game and you’re going to create five [shards] of your game–the Steam version, Xbox Live on PC, Xbox version, the PlayStation version, the Switch version creates hard matchmaking scenarios. We should help developers, not make their lives more difficult.”

Getting cross-play up and running between Xbox One and PS4 is not a technical issue, as Epic’s Fortnite accidentally added this recently before quickly removing it. It’s a matter of politics and deal-making, it seems, between Microsoft and Sony. Rocket League developer Psyonix has said it’s just waiting on Microsoft and Sony to give the go-ahead to unlock cross-play.

Our conversation with Spencer covered a number of other topics, and you can check out the stories below to learn more. Check back soon for the full Q&A.

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