Firstly, it’s not the gameplay elements themselves that annoyed fans, but rather the lack of them. Instead, the company decided to show very little in-game action and instead a lot of cinematic cut scenes. Of course, a cutscene does not show the true performance of a console like in-game does. It is worth noting Microsoft did not promise anything major, simply a first sneak peak of gameplay. “For the Xbox 20/20 May update, we will focus on giving you a first look at next-gen gameplay, trailers and sneak peeks from a wide variety of publishing partners and independent developers across the globe and industry, including Ubisoft’s recently announced Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and hear from game creators about what they’re doing with their games on Xbox Series X,” the announcement post said.
Muddles Message
Nevertheless, the blog said gameplay and Xbox Serie X fans expected some gameplay. Many said they were disappointed and expected more than a package they would expect to see at an event like E3.
— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) May 7, 2020 Mike Ybarra, who works for Blizzard Entertainment but was part of Microsoft’s Xbox division for years, defended the company. On Twitter, he argued this was a sneak peak in the truest sense. “To me it means a snapshot of what it is like for a real person to play, with a controller, on that particular build of the game controlling the experience as the game has intended. Making the terminology even more confusing was an incredibly odd move,” he said.
— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) May 8, 2020 That was echoed by Microsoft. Aaron Greenberg, General Manager of Xbox Games Marketing said on Twitter admitted the announcement was the problem: “Had we not said anything & just shown May Inside Xbox show like we did last month, I suspect reactions might have been different. Clearly we set some wrong expectations & that’s on us. We appreciate all the feedback & can assure you we will take it all in & learn as a team,” Greenberg said.
