Phil Spencer: Xbox One games shipping this year are different and will not be Gears / Halo led

Xbox Tavern reports - Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has revealed that Xbox One games this year are not Halo / Gears led, further stating it will be a fun year.

[SpaceRanger]

This is a step in the right direction! Very different year than each year from launch onwards. Sounds like maybe an announcement at E3?

[christocolus]

I sure hope so. While at it I hope they bring back Perfect Dark, Mech Assault, Midtown Madness and Kameo. Anyway looking forward to E3.

@Maybelovehate

Same here. Kameo was one of my favorite games last gen. I would absolutely love a sequel

[maybelovehate]

I want a new Kameo so bad!

[Kingthrash360]

Wait....isn't this something we already know?
Like I knew there wasn't gunna be a halo/gears this year....its a forza year then. How is this exciting if it's a forza led year? Nothing at E3 besides remakes if announced will make the year. It's extremely rare to have a game come same year it's announced at e3.

[Notellin]

I wouldn't mind a new installment of any of those. Hopefully they announce some unexpected games would be good for everyone.

[RpgSama]

"Phil Spencer: Xbox One games shipping this year are different and will not be Gears / Halo led..."

...But next year will!!, That was my first thought upon reading that.

P.s: does he knows that MS is releasing Halo Wars Remastered AND Halo Wars 2? Or does he just count them as Halo games so they can sell more upon name recognition but doesn't when people accuse them of releasing the same things every year?

[bouzebbal]

There is nothing announced on X1 for this year and it's a terrible thing. You guys want to wait for e3 which is 6 months away, meaning those games announced won't be out before fall at least.
X1 has absolutely no games this year.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

From what it sounds like they're leading with very different games. Imo Halo 6 should release next year again imo. Either way this a great step in the right direction.

[creeping judas]

New Midtown Madness would be so frigging awesome!!

[gamer7804]

i'd love to see a new perfect dark game.

[mikeslemonade]

whatever the games are it's coming to PC. Xbox is not a relevant console to core gamers.

[freshslicepizza]

he talks about games shipping this year, that still leaves the door open for a new halo announcement. i know we will see forza 7 in 4k and 60fps being shown off on scorpio. what i do hope for is lots of surpises that dont get leaked and that applies to the competition as well.

[freshslicepizza]

forza 6 was already 1080p and 60fps and that is on the regular xbox one.

[tyasia0]

Well so much for that article that claimed that Halo 6 would be a Scorpio launch title.

[UCForce]

Well, the main Halo series never a launch title. So Halo 6 could coming Holiday 2018.

[Trekster_Gamer]

I will be happy if they show Halo 6 running on Scorpio

[_-EDMIX-_]

Lol

From what teams though?

I wouldn't be surprised if the game they released this fall is just a remaster or a timed exclusive and Halo 6 will just released in Spring...

[UCForce]

Halo Wars 2 is coming this year.

[Chevalier]

Remastered Phantom Dust seems to be one of the titles and Crackdown 3 I assume. Also Halo Wars 2 and Sea of Thieves.

[Gazondaily]

Wanna place bets thay Halo 6 releases in spring? £100. Let's do it.

[XXanderXX]

What I want is for The coalition to split into 2 teams so one can handle GoW , the other can combine Perfect Dark with that Shanghai tech demo to make a game of it . That would be awesome

[_-EDMIX-_]

I would definitely like to see a reimagining of Perfect Dark.

I would like to see anything that isn't the same Halo/Gears combo lol

[Bathyj]

My must admit, my first reaction to No Halo, No Gears is Damn, what do they have then?

But youre right, this is a good direction, not relying on their few staple games every year. I only fear theyve realised this too late in the game. What can they release this year that we dont already know about? Maybe theyve had stuff percolating for a while already? I dont know, but it seems strange for a big AAA game to be announced at E3 and out by Christmas. Games usually get a couple of years of exposure before we see them.

Id love to see Crimson Skies come back. Cant understand why they let great IPs like that just sit doing nothing. And maybe they should resurrect Brute Force as well. Game had a great premise but was poorly executed and then abandoned.

[TheCommentator]

MS has Crackdown 3, and we don't know for sure but Mech Assault just got hinted at. Plus, MS has been quiet about the "announced" unannounced titles from last E3. Could MA be one of them? Here's a real stretch: 343 could be developing a new IP?

But yeah, speculation aside, I'm curious about all the old IP too.

[Vandamme21]

Some how I don't believe Phil...his gonna anounce Halo 5 ODLC and Gears of War 5 at e3 and they will be 2017 release.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Lol

[PimpDaddy]

Can the mods ban KingThrash360 from posting in XBox threads already? Never adds anything to the conversation. I swear this site needs some real help.

On topic: I anticipate quite a few good games being released this year for XB1. Microsoft has been tight lipped on purpose. They wouldn't be launching Scorpio if they didn't have a plan to really start investing in making games!!!

[StormSnooper]

No kidding. They just released a Gears. Does Spencer want a cookie?

[IamTylerDurden1]

But it WILL be Halo and Forza led. Halo Wars Remastered, Halo Wars 2, and the next Forza will release this year. It would be interesting to see a year where there wasn't a Forza, Gears, or Halo game. Next year another Forza and Halo 6. It is what it is but if Phil really wanted diversity then why on earth would you cancel your most diverse game? Platinum is talented, make it work.

[oasdada]

Because its forza led

[PhoenixUp]

In other words did Phil Spencer just say Halo and Gears of War weren't fun? Or that the year wouldn't be fun if it were led with Halo or Gears of War?

[spicelicka]

No. He said it won't be led by Halo/Gears, but whatever releases will still make it a fun year.

[Drizzy]

Fusion frenzy 2. Brute force 2 lol jk

[Bigpappy]

There was a fusion frenzy 2 made long time ago.

[Saijahn]

They actually weren't fun , but that's subjective. I haven't seen anything to be excited about for MS in 2017. But again, it's all subjective.

[gangsta_red]

Perfect Dark and Battletoads or we riot.

[poppinslops]

Do people actually want another Battletoads? I can't imagine why - the premise was absurd and the game was almost impossible to beat... I must've had a hundred goes at the third level - the one with the hoverbikes - before I finally quit.

Perhaps my 10 year old self wasn't up to the task? Either way, I just know that I never want to see another Battletoad... Perfect Dark is a much better idea - briefcase guns FTW!

[Bathyj]

The Laptop gun from from Perfect Dark 64 is one of my favourite guns ever. Throw that down and then switch to a Dragon and you were set.

[gangsta_red]

You quit at the hoverbike? Smh!

Back in my day *empties corn pipe* we only had two buttons and three lives but we didn't quit until that game was finished.

But on the real, an updated Battletoads would be awesome. Imagine a Streets of Rage, over the top beat em up game for this gen? Couch co-op of course.

Perfect Dark was better than Goldeneye in every way. But I am hoping MS try something different with PD if they make one. A 3rd person, stealth or action in the same design as Hitman would be really good.

[badz149]

I remember only be able to beat that hoverbike level ONCE. and the following level is just as unforgiving.

[NotoriousWhiz]

I can run through the hover bike level pretty easily. The ice level though..... 300th time's the charm.

I enjoyed beat em ups and would welcome a new battle toads. They should make the combat system like Dragons Crown.

[PistolsAtDawn]

...and a true Fable 4

[Kingthrash360]

Don't know how I'd feel a about fable game without lionhead behind it.

[gangsta_red]

The Fable series have been going down hill with Lionhead. It would be a good idea to give it to someone else.

I say reboot the thing.

[poppinslops]

I don't want another Fable unless Peter Molyneux is involved - his overreaching madness is what made the series special and I doubt that anybody else could capture it's essence... Either way, Molyneux has said he'd be happy to come back for 'Fable 4', but he'll only do so once he's finished with his current projects, which - knowing him - could take years!

[IamTylerDurden1]

I agree with King, Fable WAS Lionhead and Molyneux.

The reason Fable was trash recently is bc Microsoft let Peter leave and they forced Lionhead to make a Kinect game and a free to play.

Fable was great, Fable 2 was even better, and Fable 3 was only decent. Still, Fable 3 wasn't utter garbage like ppl like to say. Also, Microsoft was more strict and unrelenting during the development of Fable 3 and Lionhead admitted they focused too much on shipping on time rather than shipping a great game. If Microsoft had kept the band together there is no reason why Fable 4 couldn't have been great. Oh, and if they did there is no way in hell Peter would've let them turn Fable into a Kinect/f2p.

Fable is my all-time favorite franchise and it's been disgraceful to see what it devolved into after Peter left. I'd rather they keep Fable dead than do what they did the last several years. Heck, remaster the second game if you want to do anything.

[TheColbertinator]

Crimson Skies or boycott

[Gaming4Life1981]

Yea ive been waiting on crimson skies for so long that ill take a remaster and be happy at this point.

[Pancit_Canton]

If it's not gears or halo, then it's forza.

[Gh05t]

He said not Halo FPS, so that means Halo RTS... But still Halo.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Lol as to complete the COMBO

[Ashunderfire86]

Halo 6 coming 2018 confirmed!

[sampson3121]

i guess he kinda answered the question, kinda.

[Gh05t]

All he really said is all we have is Halo Wars.

[sampson3121]

his reply seemed flat, which leads me to believe there will be a lackluster line up. I might be wrong though.

[Lennoxb63]

Why do people act like Gears and Halo are annual? They have 3 year dev cycles. The only annual/biannual game that MS has is Forza.

Glad to see they're going for some new IPs though. News that Mech Assault could be making a return is welcome as well.

[NoPeace_Walker]

Excatly!! There are only one mainline Halo and Gears games this gen on Xbox One. No different than PS4 having sequels to Uncharted, Killzone, infamous, God of Wars. All these sequels are popular IPs so of course we are going to get them once every few years. The trolls keep mentioning it is Gears, Halo every year are not making sense.

Halo Wars 2 is an RTS and Forza Motorsports and Horizon rotate every year. Sea of Thieves is a refreshing new and unique IP and Crackdown could potentially be revolutionary. Looking forward to what MS have in store for us at E3.

[LP-Eleven]

No, not like Killzone or Uncharted, or inFAMOUS, or God of War. All of those franchises have their releases far spread out (AT LEAST three years in all of those cases). Not commenting on Microsoft's releases, but those aren't the best examples to use from Sony's end, since they don't release that often.

[Gh05t]

He didn't say anything about new IP... All he really said was we have Halo Wars 2!

[showtimefolks]

Yes sir thank you

It's time to give those games a break

Halo war 2 still coming so halo is coming this year

I am sorry did I say something negative about halo wars 2? All I said was a halo game is being released in 2017

[Gazondaily]

Wtf? Halo Wars 2 is a RTS and sequel to a game that came out 7 years ago.

[starchild]

Yeah, let's be honest, Halo Wars is an RTS and plays nothing like the FPS series. I know people who love the FPS Halo games but don't like Halo Wars, and vice versa, that's how different they are.

When was the last good strategy game on Xbox One? XCOM 2?

[Vasto]

E3 2017 here we come!

[Relientk77]

And the annual Forza game still on it's way

[Gwynbleidd]

Yes, but it is Forza Motorsport. Totally different game than Horizon.
I skip Horizon since I don't like arcade racers. I can't await this years sim racing Forza Motorsport release.

I don't get why people complain about an annual Forza game since they are both two completly different genres. Every time I read a comment where people complain, I think those people must not have played Forza games, because it is so plain obvious that they are not comparable....

[starchild]

It's similar to how some pretend that Halo Wars is the same as the main FPS Halo series, no matter how radically different the experience of playing them actually is.

[Gazondaily]

Let's hope the annual Forza game continues to drive the genre forward, further cementing the throne as the best racing series ever 😎

[DeadlyOreo]

Lol wut 😂

Stop it.

[Gazondaily]

lol stop the truth?

[XXanderXX]

Can't wait to see and buy them

[PlayableGamez-]

Liar: Halo Wars 2 is a front line game.

[Gwynbleidd]

Technically he is right, since there won't be a front running Halo game. Halo Wars 2 is more kind of a niche game for RTS fans. No system seller IMO

[MRMagoo123]

nothing on the xbone seems to be a system seller this gen so that doesn't say much.

edit: I agree halo wars doesn't have a chance at selling as much as the traditional halo , rts isn't the easiest genre to play on console unless you can use a mouse and keyboard.

[Gwynbleidd]

@MRMagoo:
But I would not see as many casual gamers buying Halo Wars 2 as they bought Halo 5. I don't expect any salesnumbers in the same ballpark.

[Tussin187]

So are they going to be new IPs or the ones we already know about. Crackdown, Cuphead, and Forza. Those are not Halo or Gears. Gotta read between the lines. Hopefully, they have some surprises. They have a lot to prove now because thier track record is a little tarnished right now. E3 2014 comes to mind. Most of those games (the big heavy hitters) got cancelled. 4 out of 5 to be exact. MS, you have so many IPs from back in the day. USE THEM!!

Hopefully, besides Scorpio, MS brings their A game. Well just games period. New IPs. Competition is needed because Nintendo is doing their own thing as usual. They need to keep Sony on their toes. Can't wait for E3. It's going to be a great year. One console announcement and a crap ton of games. Really excited to see what Sony and MS have up their sleeves.

[paulogy]

It is worth noting he specifically said "not Halo FPS/Gears led". So you'll still see Halo (Wars 2), and perhaps something else Halo, just not the usual FPS, and no Gears this year. But Forza, Crackdown 3, and ???

[CPTN MITCHELL]

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[KillZallthebeast]

I feel bad for xbox1 adopters looks like microsoft decided to postpone anything of note to release side by side with the scorpio to make it seem like it has a huge launch line up and not like they are just porting over games originally meant for the x1. I am guessing their E3 will be quiet a few new IPs and sequels announced for the fall of this year and that most were just held back to make a bigger launch impact for the scorpio.

[Gwynbleidd]

Don't feel bad for us, we have plenty of fun with lots of awesome games on Xbox.
I don't get where the notion comes from that Xbox suffers a lack of games? Just because Sony already showed the "most anticipated games of 2017 and beyond" does not mean there are no interesting games to come on Xbox. MS most of the times holds back the big game announcments till E3, so there is nothing new about that or any indication that MS leaves the X1 gamers behind.
Scorpio is no new platform per se, since the "new" platform is XBL with more frequent hardware itterations to make use of it with forward and backward compatible games with different graphic presets. A necessary step IMO to leave this stupid console generation thing behind and to keep up with the new way we interact with all our electronic devices: A cloud-like service that takes all our stuff to all our devices the service runs on.

[KillZallthebeast]

Well honestly if microsoft isnt hiding exclusives to suddenly announce side by side for scorpio and x1 soon. This year at least looks pretty bad. Fan or not I would hope they are hiding at least a few. Yes the x1 has plenty of games coming number wise, but nothing that is really huge and stands out amongst competitors.

I typically don't bother with these though since its all relative to peoples own interests and no one can ever agree.

Also edit- i wasn't implying they are abandoning the x1 I was implying they could be stalling on announcing games until they can make it look like it was made for both scorpio and x1 side by side instead of hey we designed this around the x1 but decided to delay it to rush a scorpio refined version to launch sode by side.

[Gwynbleidd]

@KillZall:
They so far announced Sea of Thieves, Halo Wars 2, Cuphead, Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2 and accidently by a racing-wheel company (but within the expected 2 years dev-cycle) Forza Motorsport 7.
That looks good to me till E3. The new game announcements, as every year, come at or around E3.

But I agree with you that it is all relative to peoples own interests and that no one can ever agree. And I don't want to personally attack you. I simply want to express my opinion and that I have a differnt one :)

I simply want to say I have fun gaming on Xbox and IMO there a lots of games.
Of course I hope there will be more IPs but I also think that MS should further invest in standing IPs like Halo, Gears and Forza. But they should take more risks like with Ryse or Sunset Overdrive or bring back some OG Xbox IPs.

[BeardedPriest]

Why are the xbox fans getting down voted?

[XXanderXX]

Your not in Kansas anymore . lol

[MRMagoo123]

there is no voting down there are agree buttons and disagree buttons, the idea is you click on the agree if you agree and you click disagree if you disagree, it's not a difficult concept. here's a lil thing you can do while feeling sorry for xbone , go into a ps4 article or a pc article or a Nintendo article and you will see everyone gets disagrees and agrees.

[XXanderXX]

What MRMagoo said is some what true most of the time , other times it the hive mind set of how we are only really suppose to only like one platform and only that one . if u are doubtful just stick around and observe.

[TheRacingX]

I doubt MS will ever have the amount of exclusive IP's like it released with the original Xbox, its understandable they want to recoup the investment, but sometimes a new IP takes awhile to catch on and may need a sequel to expand the IP and keep attracting new fans. I feel sometimes they dont give these type of IP's the time to take off, where as Sony and even Nintendo will stick with them a little longer to see if they will stick and grow a fan base. Look at the 1st Uncharted, it sold ok , but wasnt a blow out success not until Uncharted 2 then 3. MS really needs to take a look back at IPs like Crimson Skies, Brute Force, Jade Empire, Kameo, Conker, etc and figure a way to get new titles to fans...

[PizzaSteve]

Probably another 1 year timed exclusive game.

[butchertroll]

"this year are not Halo / Gears led, further stating it will be a fun year."

But Forza 7 is coming out.

[LoveSpuds]

Sorry Phil, but its going to take more than a tweet to convince me. Other than Cuphead I am not anticipating anthing on XB1.

Having played Last Guardian I am now looking forward to Gravity Rush 2, Yakuza O and most of all, Nioh in the next 3 weeks.

[starchild]

Nioh and Yakuza 0 are going to be great. At least for me. Especially Nioh, which is my most anticipated game.

[Automatic79]

@LoveSpuds

If you like Cuphead try Rise and Shine, Vanhelsing Deathtrap, Conan Exiles, Halo Wars 2. Two games released already and a few will arrive in next few weeks, all console exclusive. Don't get clouded by BS about no games, every week new Titles arrive.

[LoveSpuds]

No interest in Halo to be honest with you squire, I am more of a Total War kinda guy where RTS type games are concerned. As for the other indies, Rise and Shine looked pretty good but its going to be a steam sale jobby for me and these titles just dont stack up against the PS4 exclusives that I am chomping at the bit for. Conan is going to XB1 in an unfinished state as an early access type gig which Sony won't allow so I will just wait for the PS4 release there.

While I am not levelling this accusation at you personally, its funny to see a large portion of the XB1 fanbase try and slate PS4 for its indies yet when it suits them, claim indies as a big deal when they need to.

MS never invests in enough games, never have in my opinion, for the last 3 or 4 years of the 360 if you were bored of Halo, Gears or Forza you had practically nothing of note.

[Automatic79]

@LoveSpuds

Thanks for the response, this is the interaction I respect in gaming forums. It makes for a great discussion.

As to all your points about the games coming out on Xbox One, when it comes to preference and if you choose to wait for months, year, or for bargains, or even for the occasional it will arrive on PS4 theory, than I can respect that. I understand regarding playing on your primary console.

In response to your comment about slating Indies on PS4, you have to understand that argument did not start with the Xbox fan base it actually started with the Sony fan base, if you look back at Xbox 360 with Xbox live arcade, many Sony fans knocked the games and at that point and time Xbox was miles ahead with fantastic games and overall a lot more games than PS3, kind of how they have become now with indies, maybe not at the start of this generation but definitely now as you can see by the upcoming indies, Rise and Shine, Ashen, ION, Cuphead, Below, Tacoma, Path of Exile's etc. Further, I never understood the theory regarding people standards with games, to me games are games regardless of whether triple AAA or Indie, as a matter of fact I have enjoyed way more indies than I have some triple AAA and vice of versa. Ultimately, preference is preference but to say one company stacks against another sounds like pure bias. I call hyperbole especially, when the titles you speak of wind up being hyped more than they stack up, in my opinion.

In addition, with regards to your comment about Xbox 360 in the latter half, with regards to big Triple AAA titles, yeah they fumbled by taking the foot off the metal and not releasing enough Triple AAA titles, however there arcade titles where thriving and at the inception of Xbox One they started strong and have continue at a steady pace to provide Xbox One gamers with great games. They may not get the plethora of Japanese JRPG'S that PS4 get but even you have to admit that every year post launch (at launch 3 triple AAA compared to PS4) we have received at least 5 solid titles a year. Stating they don't invest just sounds dismissive.

[LoveSpuds]

Its a very fair point to say that Sony extremists ridiculed the 360 when it embraced indies early on, I guess borne out of MS's unwillingness to invest in AAA outside of it core series, all the while being envious of great titles such as Shadow Complex, Limbo, Mark if the Ninja etc. While I agree it is innacurate to say MS dont invest, I think there was and is, a clear gulf in the way they invest in games.

I feel that MS want profit, above all else, and as such you see less risk and far fewer titles in the stupidly expensive AAA development space. While nobody should be naive enough to think Sony arent in it for profit, there is a long track record of developing or financing very unusual and different kinds of games. I recall reading an article interviewing Sony where they stated that they are satisfied with investing in games where 6 or 7 out of 10 might break even or lose money but these are financially supported by the 2 or 3 that are successful.

This of course, is backed up by being a Japanese company supporting Japanese customers so you get some truly excellent but sometimes very niche titles too, but they do add even more choice and variety and to me, this is a crucial factor.

Anyhow, you are spot on squire, people should be able to discuss things like adults. I realise people love their favourite devs, games series or manufacturers and its difficult to accept opinions that oppose your own, however, civil discussion is always more enjoyable to me so thank you mate, happy gaming buddy!

[Automatic79]

@LoveSpuds

I can't dispute your perspective regarding Sony taking risk and having some incredible niche titles. Excellent point you made.

Overall, if MS with Xbox One can provide 5-6 solid titles this generation, every year and break away from that stigma that people perceive as not having games or escape the notion that Xbox only drops Halo, Gears and Forza, and aggressively invest in more games and add one or two solid studios, than I truly believe this can be one of there best generations for Xbox. I always use this expression, slow and steady wins the long term race, building a fan base that appreciates what you do to gaming is key, not console wars.

Thanks again for your response, much respect to you.

I hope we can send a trend of civil discussions among our fellow gamers.

[Universal 08]

My dream would be to have Project Gotham Racing Collection, Mech Assult, Kameo, and Crimson Skies back.

[ratedviper]

Don't get your hopes high, We already know you cant trust the games E3 shows because in most cases those games are always downgraded, delays, not what you expect, coming soon becomes a never seeing the day of light (poor Scalebound) and more disappointments

[TheTony316]

Isn't Halo Wars 2 one of the bigger Xbox games this year? And Forza 7 got leaked by Fanatec a few weeks ago. So, pretty much the same as always.

[Fishy Fingers]

Having only recently opened up to the PC (MS exclusives) is of happy welcomed the usual Forza, Gears and Halo because my hands on time with each franchise had been limited.

But I recognise they need to introduce different IP to keep the library fresh and I'll keep an eye on those too.

[Artemidorus]

That's another Forza then. Xbox is more like a borefest

[Profchaos]

Happy to hear it. I've been saying for a while now xbox needs some new ideas to avoid franchise fatigue

[r3f1cul]

really??? even as an xbox owner and primarily player this is a shocker to me... do they just have tons of games they havent even teased in the slightest stowed away ready to release? because i havent seen anything coming thats new or different really O.o

[jaymacx]

Thats good news if true..

[andrewsquall]

Yeah, the biannual Forza 7 isn't out this year, right Phil.

[AizenSosuke]

Yeah...Halo....and Forza led this year just like every other year.

Halo RTS I know but still Halo.

[MilkMan]

Like I said before, MS is in serious trouble. They need a slew of new IP's. I would basically flood the market with every new and interesting idea presented to me at this point and see what sticks. Relegate indies to just that, indies and stop trying to have these guys carry your console and soft-retire Halo, Gears and Forza for a bit.

[2cents]

I've heard this many times over the years but have yet to see compelling new ip's that hit the mark with any sort of consistency.

Come on Xbox, show us the games this E3!!!

[ratedviper]

Quantom Break failed miserably

[jaekapow]

I still want a Jade Empire sequal. Throw your money around MS and make it happen!

[ShadowWolf712]

Of course they are, Phil.

[gamer7804]

nothing against indie titles, but as long as they aren't relying on indie titles to be that "different" type of game. (i.e. cuphead)

[SynestheticRoar]

Alan Wake 2 would be awesome.