Phil Spencer Discusses How Microsoft Picks What Titles Get Turned Into Other Media

You might feel that Microsoft has been “a bit quiet” recently, given all the events that have happened in the last few months or so. For the most part, that’s true. While we know one of their showcases is on the way, the company is doing its best not to “stand out” too much while other things are going down, especially since many wonder if Xbox will have a “monumental shift” in the gaming space in the not-too-distant future. Now, on the positive side, a recent movie success has brought positive buzz, and Phil Spencer is all about talking about such matters.

Obviously, we’re talking about the success of A Minecraft Movie in theaters. Across just two weekends, it’s done $500 million in revenue, which is impressive in every way, especially when you consider that it only had a 50% drop off at the box office on its second weekend. In a chat with Variety, Phil Spencer broke down how the brand decides what IP gets the movie treatment and how to go forward with it:

“It starts with the fact we’re in the entertainment business. And whether you’re building games, movies, television, doing an album, you have to accept that you’re going to have a hit rate and it’s not going to be 100%, and making sure the culture inside of the teams is, “We can do new IP. We can do new games. Some things will vastly exceed our expectations, and some, we will be disappointed by the results, and let’s learn and go forward as an organization.” And that’s just got to be something, even in the game space alone, about the culture of being in Microsoft Gaming and Xbox.”

He went on to note:

“I really start from, does the team have a unique point of view around what they want to get done? Have they found a partner that really understands the franchise and the core of what these worlds are? And then support them.”

While that may sound like a basic approach, it’s actually a rather good one overall. We’ve all seen flops in the gaming movie space when the wrong groups get together, including one with Xbox featuring a certain Master Chief. However, when the right things come together, it can make magic, as Mojang’s beloved title is proving.

Could we see more Xbox titles get the movie treatment soon? Only time, and Phil Spencer can give you the answer to that.