Microsoft Aiming for a First-Party Xbox Game About Every Three Months

Matt Booty, head of Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios, has said that his team is aiming to release a first-party Xbox game about every three months.

[Jin_Sakai]

They can barely push out one decent AAA game a year as it is. Now they’re aiming for 4 first party games a year? Crazy.

[Servbot41]

What do you mean, you don't love absolute classics like Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3? Well I never!

[Zeref]

Say what you want but Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 still has a healthy community in the millions. People love those games.

Only exception is Crackdown 3 thats dead

[jukins]

@zeref in the millions? Where'd you pull that one from

[AspiringProGenji]

I can understand SoT because it is making a comeback, but SoD2? That game fell off the radar fast and it’d br lucky to still have 100k players lol

[conanlifts]

I really enjoyed state of decay 2. Genuinely one of my favourite games this gen on either platform. I hated the other 2 games though and cd3 was so out dated I don't understand how they even released it.

[BLow]

@Zeref

How many people again?

https://www.microsoft.com/e...

Where is State of Decay? Where did you get your numbers from? So your saying that State of Decay has millions of players yet it's not on the top 49 of Xbox Live most played? What about SoT in the 30s? That has millions too? I swear you fanboys are delusional. No wonder things are the way they are with Xbox. All y'all do is defend, deflect, and turn a blind eye.

Good day to you. Btw, no disagree for me. What's the point really lol....

[Livingthedream]

@jukins he's actually right very healthy community with these games. Would be interesting to see how many people are still playing horizon zero Dawn, Detroit become human and all those single player games on ps. It's highly plausible that these Xbox games have more activity, not counting Forza horizon which is still booming.

[rainslacker]

First party doesn't mean AAA games that people get most excited about.

MS can push out 4 games a year, they just only usually do about one AAA game a year for the past few years, and last year, it was Forza. This year it'll be gears, and next year, it's looking to be Halo.

Since they brought mostly mid-tier studios, I'd expect they will be releasing mid-tier games mostly. They might get up to 2 AAA games a year with the purhcase of Obsidian, Playground, and the creation of their new studio. That puts them as having 6 AAA tier studios with their current studios....three of which are known to make Halo, Gears, and Forza.

[Automatic79]

343 Triple AAA
The Coalition Triple AAA
Turn 10 Triple AAA
Rare Triple AAA
Playground Triple AAA
Ninja Theory Triple AAA
Obsidian Triple AAA
The Initiative Triple AAA
Compulsion Double AA
Undead Labs Double AA
InExile double AA
Double Fine Double AA
Mojang Double AA
Microsoft GP Double AA Triple AAA
Age of Empires Triple AAA

I see a balance which is good for diverse games.

[rainslacker]

So...you just list all their studios and say they're all AAA or AA? AA is mid-tier to me. I'm not trying to make up new classifications for gaming to make anyone look better. 343, The Coalition, Turn 10, PlayGround, Obsidian, The Initiative(presumedly), and inXile are their AAA studios. Rare hasn't released a AAA game in God knows how long. NT is capable, but their next game isn't AAA. Age of Empires isn't a studio, and isn't that just a remaster?

I was wrong thought, that actually is 7 AAA studios. 2 of which have games releasing on PS platforms for their next games.

[timotim]

One of the things that I love about what Microsoft is doing since acquiring those studios and empowering those studios to do, is invest back into themselves! Damn near every studio Microsoft currently has, has been investing in new talent to improve the games that they are able to produce. Playground, 343, Rare, Obsidian, InXile etc...they have all been pulling big talent from well known studios.

You want to classify these studios based off how they WERE as independent and struggling in some cases, yet you fail to understand that they are GROWING and improving their abilities. All these studios have produced great games in the past...Microsoft is now investing into them for the future and talent is being hired. The potential for these studios under Microsoft and higher budgets are sure to yield great fruits. Only a fanboy would call them "mid-tier". We just found out that the composer of Halo Infinite is the same guy that did the soundtracks for Spiderman, Uncharted and God of War...

[rainslacker]

I can't base them on anything other than what they were, because I haven't seen what they will become beyond my own speculation. MS is showing a lot, and I mean a lot, of mid-tier titles, which is fine, but they aren't showing a large number of AAA titles, so until MS proves that they are investing in a much larger number of AAA titles than they have so far, I have nothing to base any other assumption on.

Realistically speaking, NT does have the capacity for AAA games. They've released some in the past. But they are mostly mid-tier titles, and their next game is what I'd classify as mid-tier. I believe Playground has the potential to deliver a great AAA game, because they took a yearly franchise, adapted it to a different play style, and constantly improved on it. Oblivian and inXile have a history which shows potential to make AAA games. The Initiative is a new studio, which is being staffed to create AAA games.

But, when I look at some of the other studios in that list, regardless of how good or bad their games may be, they aren't known for making high profile AAA games. If one had asked me if Naughty Dog would be making high end AAA games, much less top of their class ones, when Sony brought them, I'd say no. They had a reputation from some bad games, to some good ones, all within what I would consider mid-tier for their time. But, they were given the resources to become AAA, and they've been delivering ever since.

IF MS does this, then that's great, but I'm not going to give credit before it's due. Especially to MS, who has failed in so many ways to prove they are worth having any kind of faith in. If you disagree, that's fine, but that's just my perspective on it, and the response of just listing off all their studios doesn't change the fact that what they brought into isn't capable of delivering 4 AAA games a year as the OP posited. Sony rarely even hits that mark, and 2-3 is more the norm, with mid-tiers to bolster the numbers.

Mid-tier isn't a dirty word, or a bad thing. But I was first responding to the OP, who put forth that MS was talking about AAA games, instead of just games in general.

[badz149]

when will MS learn that "talk is cheap"?

[itsmebryan]

They have more studios now. It won't be as hard as it was in the past. Stop being a Debbie Downer.☹️

[BlackIceJoe]

If this was true Microsoft would have announced they bought more than just one new developer in Double Fine at E3. I'd say MS Needs at least four more game studios. If they bought a publisher like Capcom or ZeniMax then that would work too. Another idea would be if The Coalition and 343 could work on two games instead of just one with Gears of War and Halo.

[FallenAngel1984]

Make sure the quality content is there Booty. There’s nothing worse than going on a long period of time without a First party title and the next one is underwhelming

[ravens52]

Nice, I hope this happens. Then I can get a scarlett and my ps5

[sampsonon]

bull$hit

God Of War, The Last Of Us 2, Death Stranding, Days Gone, Ghost Of Tsushima, UC4, Blood Borne .
i can go on but.

[BlackRaven85_1]

Point being?

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Maybe he's pointing out it takes a long time to make quality games. And good games don't fall out the sky.

[sampsonon]

while MS is not making AAA games except the same 3 games when they decide to make them, sony is making new ip's and fan favorites. 4 games per year means crap quality and handhelds.

i would rather MS make quality games instead of trying to market single A games to casuals.
Sony could make 20 single A games per year. if they wanted to. yes 4 AA games can be done, but then we have games like sea of thieves that launched half made.

[Kiwi66]

So what relevance do they have to do with what this article is talking about

[RizBiz]

You know what I love? Some good ol' Game Pass filler. And one every three months means you're paying $30 for filler. Yaaayyyyyyyy.

[timotim]

They have the studios to do it. They have a talented team in place to manage the portfolio. I wish them the best of luck.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Talented teams? Did you see how average Halo (their premier title) looked at E3 2019? They've got a long way to go. A looong way.

[timotim]

Talented team, I said...as in singular. I was referring to Matt Booty's team...the guy now in charge of portfolio and who announced the Double Fine acquisition. Your so ready to troll, you dont even understand what your responding to. Halo Infinite looked anything but average my friend, in fact, it looked damn good and was a great trailer for Halo fans to dive into. And yes, they have the studios to pull off 4 games a year...15 studios in all now. I'm sure you'll find something wrong with each of them...but that is typical of fanboys...

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Fair chance most of those studios were hoping to be brought, xbox will get some nice AAA games no doubt - but a crap tonne of gamepass pap. That'll suit ms customers fine, they have a backlog of BC titles to play.

And yes - Halo looked average, not even close to PS4 titles from 3yrs ago. Have a look at the scowl on the guys face just he plugs the cables together, he does it twice - they are exactly the same. Have a look when he throws his arms in the air when MC wakes up, again he does it twice and it's the exact same animation. Small things - absolutely, but that's the difference between ms and Sony's studios. And will continue to be.

Anyway you enjoy the slim pickings of quality games coming your way, remember not every game announced is going to be great - same goes for Sony.

[timotim]

You seem to be under the impression that GP is meant for weak games...that couldn't be further from the truth. Their are many great games currently on GP from both first and third party. Forza Horizon 4, Doom, Metro Exodus, Gears 4, MCC, Halo 5, Batman Arkham Knight, Shadow of the Tomb Raider...the list goes on and on. Now PC users are getting in on the action too. No problems there.

Your opinion of Halo doesn't surprise me at all.

And we know that every game announced isn't going to be great...I never implied that it would. We can take one look at Days Gone to figure that out.

[extermin8or]

Their release policies mean all these games will come to pc so why the hell would anyone by an xbox???

[PhoenixUp]

You seriously telling me Microsoft has been a console manufacturer for 18 years and they still have issues with maintaining a consistent flow of quality first party games?

What a joke

[timotim]

You make it seem like that was one of their issues for the entire 18 years...it wasn't. It has been an issue this generation because of the shift in leadership...not just from the gaming or entertainment divisions, but from the CEO on down. Microsoft as a whole has changed a ton since 2013, and we are just now seeing the fruits of their labor begin to come together. They currently are the world's most valuable company, and Xbox in particular is generating more money than they ever have before. New studios are being acquired and talent is being hired. What Phil is doing is setting up for the future. 15 studios and a huge market to sell to in their eco system tells me they have motivation to do so.

[Chevalier]

Its because of people like you constantly giving them so much leeway and set the bar so low that you guys get such bad exclusives. In what world is 18 years a short time? Did you forget MS is apparently loaded with money, but, can't make a half decent game. Explain how Xbox One in year 6+ has significantly less games on the way than the Switch in year 2?!

Nintendo's E3 destroyed Xbox in terms of 1st party content by a country mile. But yeah keep those excuses coming. The best one is just wait till next E3. Guess wait till next E3?

[AK91]

guessing 90% these are Early Access games aka completely irrelevant.

[lellkay]

They can barley deliver one a year....