Battle Stations

GamesIndustry.biz spoke to Xbox Europe's Chris Lewis and Richard Teversham at E3 earlier this month, on the day following Microsoft's press conference.

Part one of the interview was published last week. Here, in part two, the Xbox execs discuss the software line-up and their policy on price drops, plus why downloadable video and Xbox 360 Elite will be key to winning over European consumers.

GamesIndustry.biz: Letâs talk about software. The message last night was very clear; you wanted to talk about software for Christmas this year. Among our community, there was a split view - people that said, 'This is fantastic, Iâm going to be able to buy this in a couple of months,' and those who said, 'This is rubbish, whereâs all the new stuff?' Do you think that youâre going to be able to match the idea of the "perfect storm" in 2008?

Chris Lewis: Weâve got a catalogue like no other. Iâm staggered to think that anyone would describe that as "rubbish". But there we are, Iâll let that rock and roll.

To the core question the answer is yes. Itâs not about piling all the content in one hit then going dark for a while; itâs about the right variety of the games, exclusives are important, working on blockbuster franchises are important.

Clearly the business peak for us will be Christmas, of course, and itâs important that we bring the right products to market at the right time. However we donât compromise on the quality of the product; we bring it to market when itâs ready, and that will also continue to be the case.

Chris Lewis: Quite a lot of things have changed in the last year. Weâve been trying to work out how best to use the various milestones throughout the year as announcement platforms. Leipzigâs fantastic for Germany and Eastern Europe. Last year and the year before I had a super opportunity to announce some very significant things... Leipzig is a very important part of our calendar.

Now with the changing of the E3 timing and with a number of other events moving, weâre trying to work out how best to utilise those different events. And I have to say, we havenât landed where we want to be with that.

We will be at Leipzig without doubt. Quite what we use that event for as regards announcement activity versus other things later in the year, weâre not yet certain. But clearly, we recognise the important of having a loud voice at those types of event.

Chris Lewis: I havenât seen exactly what theyâve had to say, but Iâve listened to some of the rumours and thatâs always dangerous.

We represent fantastic value; weâve got the greatest holiday line-up, weâve got momentum like weâve never had before. We think the pricepointâs just where it needs to be.

If you look at the ecosystem now that weâre providing, thereâs a wider selection of consoles themselves. Weâve got the Elite coming to Europe at a critical time for us. Weâve got nothing to say about the price point.

Chris Lewis: We dance to our own rhythm. Of course weâre not complacent about the competition. Ultimately great competition in this industry keeps everyone on their toes and keeps the proposition to the consumer even better.

The people that really benefit are the consumers, which is the way it should be. We have a clarity of direction that isnât compromised, and shouldnât be compromised in terms of looking over your shoulder too many times at what the competition are doing.

Richard Teversham: Theyâre adding more value into the SKUs theyâve already got... Theyâve announced a USD 100 price drop, great, ultimately thatâs what they feel they need to do, and letâs see what happens.

Chris Lewis: Letâs take the UK as an example. As ChartTrack will tell you - Iâm not giving away any secrets here - we already have some clear blue water between the back of our boat and the front of theirs.

Weâre very excited about that position, so let me say again: weâre confident about the path that weâre on.

Chris Lewis: Weâre not announcing specific partnerships today. You saw last night what weâre doing with Disney, but weâre not talking specifically yet about what that means for EMEA.

EMEA is so, so important for our worldwide success. In some ways itâs the on-the-fulcrum geography for our worldwide success, and that point is made to me on a regular basis, which is good [laughs].

Chris Lewis: It has a role to play. I think back to your earlier point about the various appetites in Europe. As Iâm sure you know, we have to plan that inventory flow fairly carefully; it will reflect what we think will be the percentage appetite for that product across the region.

I think places like the UK for instance will be relatively a little bit higher than weâll see in other parts of the region, like Spain. Although we do get surprises down there periodically. And France, and Italy - we have this notion of a lower propensity to spend income, or lower levels of disposable income, but if you get you proposition right people want to spend the money.

Back to your point about the Elite SKU - weâll plan accordingly and we have pretty good data there as to what the appetiteâs likely to be, and that can ebb and flow.

Richard Teversham: People that buy Elite, I would imagine that theyâre going to sell on their old console, so itâll probably broaden the audience in that way. But then also you may have a buyer thatâs not into gaming who wants HDMI, who wants to download, who doesnât want to decide on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD - who just wants just hi-def content.

Chris Lewis is regional vice president of Microsoft's EMEA home and entertainment division. Richard Teversham is head of marketing for Xbox Europe. Interview by Patrick Garratt. Part one of this interview is already on GamesIndustry.biz.