Summary
Seamus Blackley, one of the original creators of the firstXboxconsole, has shared his opinion of how the brand is currently being run. Known as the Father ofXbox, Blackley was the one who originally had the idea of Microsoft creating its own video game console, and left Microsoft shortly after helping bring the original Xbox to market in 2001.
Currently, there’s a ton for fans of Xbox to look forward to this year. Obsidian Entertainment’s long-awaited fantasy RPGAvowedjust released this week. Next up in April isSouth of Midnightfrom Canadian developer Compulsion Games, as well as a new turn-based RPG inClair Obscur: Expedition 33. Just a few weeks later, Bethesda’sDoom: The Dark Agesis looking to make a major splash in May with its sci-fi fantasy setting and gruesome medieval weaponry. All of this is in the first half of 2025. Xbox still has big games planned for the second half of the year, like Playground Games’Fablereboot and its exciting partnership with Koei Tecmo, Team Ninja, and PlatinumGames forNinja Gaiden 4.
While all of this issurely exciting for Xbox fans, one of the original creators of the brand has a more negative view of Xbox’s past several years.In an interview with VideoGamer, Seamus Blackley shared his disappointment with how the gaming giant has been managed in the past. Blackley expresses that the console power race and the industry’s obsession with photorealism and pristine graphical fidelity is no longer as important as it once was in past generations, and that it’s now all about the experiences that can be created, saying “…this narrative about being more powerful is not helpful today.”
Xbox Creator Seamus Blackley is Disappointed in How Xbox Has Been Managed
Blackley seems to be mostly talking about the Xbox One era, where it can be said that Microsoft valued creating the most powerful console available in the Xbox One S and later the One X, rather than building up its first-party talent. It was during this time that Xbox shut down itsFablestudio, Lionhead, and scrappedScalebound, a fantasy action RPG that was being developed by PlatinumGames. It wasn’t until late in the Xbox One generation, around 2018, that Xbox began purchasing studios, some of which are just now releasing their first-ever titles under Xbox this year, likeCompulsion Games’South of Midnight, and id Software’sDoom: The Dark Ages. Xbox’s refusal to release a mid-gen refresh console like PlayStation has with the PS5 Pro also indicates that Xbox may not be as concerned with having the most powerful hardware anymore, and instead is focusing on creating unique games, Xbox Game Pass, and its new third-party strategy.
…the battle for content has switched away from that sort of technical achievement into other things, and I think that if you want to win you have to find those other things that they’re compelling to people…you have to create an experience where people when they see it they have to have it.
It seems more clear than ever thatXbox’s philosophy has evolvedsince the power-focused Xbox One generation. With a high number of unique and exciting first-party games about to be released by Xbox this year, and many more planned and confirmed for 2026 and beyond, Xbox seems to finally be on the right track moving forward in terms of its games output.
