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Microsoft Studios (& Partners) Current and Future Landscape
- Thread starter Banjo-Kazooie
- Start date
New hardware and new exclusives coming this year.
Nothing? It takes years to establish studios and relationships to get first party titles out on the regular. They aren't magically going to have first party titles pouring out of the faucet because they have a rough summer, which I'm sure they expect, and try to scramble to make up for it.
Microsoft banks on the holidays. It's their m.o. and that isn't going to change especially with their push to Games as a Service.
Sangetsu-II
Member
New? All I see are sequels of existing franchises.
Salty Hippo
Member
The brand is so down that not even I feel like yelling at Microsoft and Phil Spencer anymore.
Do we have exact sales figures for June?
Do we have exact sales figures for June?
Banjo-Kazooie
Member
He said new, not new IP.
Papacheeks
Banned
Then wtf have they been doing for the past 2 generations? Making mostly Halo, gears, Forza with some games like Viva pinata sprinkled in between?
They should have been making more relationships to PC developers last generation, they should have been making new studios that are not going to become franchise factories.
That's to me the biggest reason they are in the position they are in and it's going to get worse closer we get to the end of this gen rather than better unless something drastically changes.
Sangetsu-II
Member
He said "new exclusives", which imo, they aren't really new if I have played the type of game before. If he said "new games" I would've understood better.
Poodlestrike
Banned
This is a really silly distinction. The word exclusive refers to a game, not a franchise, IP, or what have you.
Sangetsu-II
Member
I'm just saying he could've worded it better. Silly of me then.
I have to agree, they've had a long time to invest in new studios & even in reviving their own dormant IP's.
If MS JUST realized they need to invest more in exclusives/new studios then that's a big problem.
I almost feel like they don't want to invest in exclusives anymore, just kind of get by with their 3 stable franchises, 3rd party games and one or two exclusives signed with an outside studio. They are making profit doing just so, their mentality is the most risk averse I have seen.
Whenever this thread pops up on the front page I think that there's a rumor of some new studio or game and I'm always disappointed that it's the same conjecture that's plagued this thread since it's inception.
I thought for sure this E3 there would have been at least one big announcement, expect we get some vague response after the show about there still being several new large titles Phil just signed that he just didn't want to show because he ain't about that early announcement game no more.
For the love of god MS please invest in more AAA first party games this has gotten ridiculous.
Or just stop leading people on that there's some new big game besides Halo, Gears, Forza on the horizon.
I thought for sure this E3 there would have been at least one big announcement, expect we get some vague response after the show about there still being several new large titles Phil just signed that he just didn't want to show because he ain't about that early announcement game no more.
For the love of god MS please invest in more AAA first party games this has gotten ridiculous.
Or just stop leading people on that there's some new big game besides Halo, Gears, Forza on the horizon.
The thing is, even if they did(we don't know they did or not) tgatbtakes years to come to fruition and they aren't going to show CGI teasers are far off games. So essentially your back at square one where you are now. Also it's probably best practice to assume that any bumps to this thread are the same ole stuff unless MS actually has an event going on
MisterR
Member
Bingo.
PanicFreak
Member
Sea of Theives is a very expensive game. Crackdown 3 is attempting something no other game has ever tried before and is using three studios. Hardly small budget titles.
Too bad Crackdown 3 will bomb though (IMO of course).
I guess I'm in the minority (or maybe not, considering the reception the Metroid Prime 3 trailer had) but I honestly like CGI trailers of announcing games in production just so I know what's coming. Which is way better than the alternative of just thinking they have nothing and taking Phil's word on what vague games they could possibly have in production. I know MS has had a bad track record recently with Fable Legends and Scalebound but I doubt many people would have complained if MS showed a CGI trailer at E3 announcing that AAA Fable 4 (or whatever) is "in production" with no clear date just so we know that they're doing something, anything.
Ah well. E3 2018 right everybody!? *sigh* Oh well. I guess every Xbox fan that's still around is just contempt with the way things are and every one that's been unhappy the last few years has just moved on, making Xbox feel as a whole that it's on the decline with no real bump in sight.
Humdinger
Member
Most of the Xbox guys I know -- the ones that are content, anyway -- are primarily focused on multiplatform titles, with a minor focus on occasional exclusives. Which, I would think, is pretty much all you can do.
Head.spawn
Junior Member
Is it? It's only been two years. Are there numbers flying around or something?
Sea of Theives is not AAA level. We can see that from every preview video so far.
I understand that with Crackdown they tried to do cloud computing to tie into their cloud service, but maybe it didn't work out. They chose not to show the destruction at E3 and so far Terry Crews is the main star.
Steelyuhas
Member
Huh? It's the nearly full might of a 200+ person studio for 3+ years. How is that not AAA?
Pretty much. People still equate AAA games to graphics. Rare has been working on it for almost 3 years and is a 200 person studio. The budget isn't small
DriftingSpirit
Member
Yeah, it is the opposite. SoT is a rather expensive project. This does mean it has to hit big on the market though.
I do think it will have a launch that draws a lot of attention with twitch streamers and people just in it for the goofiness but the longevity is is question for me
But then again people are still playing Friday the 13th and it's still selling well digitally on the Xbox at least
RedSparrows
Member
The thread of 'wish they would release anything but Halo'
'How about game X'
'Doesn't count, want more'
'We all want more, MS should get on with that'
Ad nauseum.
'How about game X'
'Doesn't count, want more'
'We all want more, MS should get on with that'
Ad nauseum.
DriftingSpirit
Member
Mhm, the endurance of the title may be more important given the type of game this is. It isn't impossible for it to sustain itself but I think it will be tough to keep it relevant for an extended period of time.
If only Quantum Break were successful
You know, I recently had the experience of playing it finally since it was on sale not to long ago, and I just have to ask how people line this up with previous Remedy games?
For as long as the project took (and how much money it probably took), I cant help but be disappointed. When I see Remedy on the box I'm expecting the next level of TPS shooting mechanics and controls paired with a distinct narrative experience complete with a few other quirks, and QB comes up short.
The action rarely reaches the heights of any of the Max Payne trilogy, and the story, while entertaining, really never hits the heights of Alan Wake for me.
This is made even worse since we haven't really gotten many TPS that are very satisfying to play from a control/mechanic perspective recently either, and it doesn't look like there's one coming up to take the title anytime soon. Last games worthy of praise are either 2015's MGSV or 2012's Max Payne 3. I'm honestly a couple months away from a bitter thread asking if we will ever see another TPS that surpasses either of those titles. Don't even have Lost Planet to look forward to anymore SMH, and Resident Evil went first person for now.
Quantum Break was my most anticipated game from last year. I really liked it but I can see how it may not be for everybody.
What I liked the most is finding the correct rhythm for every encounter in order to chain the powers correctly and efficiently. In that sense I found the combat to be more satisfying than Max Payne and Alan Wake, but it definitely did not revolutionise third person shooting. I found the story to be well told and it made sense to me, so I definitely don't get the complaints there.
It's true that it has its flaws (fuck that final boss) and the TV show is not where it shines although it was nice to have the chance to expand the narrative.
What really bothers me is that MS executives will most likely not give this IP a second chance, and transmedia stuff will still remain low budget and optional for a while (praying for that Halo TV show...).
What I liked the most is finding the correct rhythm for every encounter in order to chain the powers correctly and efficiently. In that sense I found the combat to be more satisfying than Max Payne and Alan Wake, but it definitely did not revolutionise third person shooting. I found the story to be well told and it made sense to me, so I definitely don't get the complaints there.
It's true that it has its flaws (fuck that final boss) and the TV show is not where it shines although it was nice to have the chance to expand the narrative.
What really bothers me is that MS executives will most likely not give this IP a second chance, and transmedia stuff will still remain low budget and optional for a while (praying for that Halo TV show...).
Anything I am missing in the lineup of exclusives(launch or otherwise) to look forward to
Cuphead- September
Forza 7- September
Crackdown 3- November
Super Lucky's Tale- November
PUBG- 2017
Sea of Thieves- early 2018
State of Decay 2- early 2018
Black Desert-2018
Ashen-2018
Ori 2- 2018
Cuphead- September
Forza 7- September
Crackdown 3- November
Super Lucky's Tale- November
PUBG- 2017
Sea of Thieves- early 2018
State of Decay 2- early 2018
Black Desert-2018
Ashen-2018
Ori 2- 2018
greendomo's ghost
Member
Below???? If it ever comes out
Banjo-Kazooie
Member
This is a thread about MS first party and partner projects. PUBG, Black Desert, Ashen are not part of this.
Triggerhappytel
Member
I was talking a lot in this topic and the Sony equivalent a lot a couple of months ago, but my interest had kind of waned in both since then as I think they both had a pretty flat E3 in terms of exclusives.
I kind of feel like we're probably not going to know about anything new until E3 next year now, unless MS attends Gamescom with some new stuff ready to show (but I seriously doubt it). They'll have Halo 6, Forza Horizon 3 and probably Gears 4 to announce next year, but as great as those games will certainly be it's reached the point where MS need to show some major new IPs of a similar scale to The Last of Us, Bloodborne or Horizon Zero Dawn. I really don't think Spencer deserves the benefit of the doubt any more, but in terms of developing new first-party software I don't think there will be a lot to talk about before E3 next year, unless they choose to announce Halo 6 at its own event before then.
Yearsoflurking
Member
I doubt we find out anything new til E3 2019 
Triggerhappytel
Member
I doubt we find out anything new til E3 2019
If that were the case they might as well shift development on anything we don't already know about to Xbox Two.
DriftingSpirit
Member
Yep, this is what I want. Something like what Gears was for X360.
SicSemperTyrannis
Member
I doubt we find out anything new til E3 2019
This seems likely to me as well, with Phil's statements that he wants to wait to show projects until they are further along.
Why? When is that supposed to come? Xbox One X is only launching this year.
It's 2017. The X is coming out this fall. Ain't gonna be another console for 3-4 years likely. And even then he games would still probably would be cross gen
Steelyuhas
Member
Banjo-Kazooie
Member
Only new thing they will show at Gamescom is a new Age of Empires me thinks
I guess thats when we find out if decisive exists or not anymore, if they do announce a new Age of Empires I would be surprised it seems like it would be too big for a Gamescom livestream. Especially when they don't have a conference this year to get as much attention as possible, but then again they are at the heart of PC gaming. I just don't see them announcing AOE4 until remastered is out because it has a ton of excitement around it going by metrics, I think it would be unwise to distract away from it.
EDIT: This is based on the fact that I don't think Skybox would be up to making a new AOE, also with the talk of the original team from ensemble being on the Gamescom livestream makes me think they would be involved in a new AOE.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Man, that'd be amazing.
Decisive is definitely gone, but it's totally plausible that there's either a new team we haven't heard of or they've kicked some more dough at the guys they have doing updates on the old AoE titles to make a brand new one.
Also, I think you're overstating the amount of impact the remaster's release is going to have. AoE2 and AoM were way more beloved and their remasters are already out.
That's my thinking not that it would be what decisive originally was but a team similar in nature, that's mostly due to people from the original team being involved in the livestream makes me think they might be involved in the development of a new AOE. With Gears they got Rod and a bunch of the old team before they relaunched the series, something tells me they would do something similar for AOE. I just don't think Skybox is anywhere near big enough, experienced enough or can float as many projects as they have right now to make AOE.
Well AOE 2 HD has sold 4.3million copies and AOE 3 HD has sold 2.1 million, if I remember correctly AOE 1 sold incredibly well and it has the most nostalgia factor for people. My only measure of the amount of interest in the game is through basic metrics which aren't accurate enough to predict sales, though other people in this thread have used them as measures of potentials sales of a game. It's basically all we can go on right now but it's charting far far higher than AOE 2 HD and AOE 3 HD which sold very well so who knows, I just don't think it's a good idea to distract away from remastered or to not give a AOE4 a E3 stage to give it the farthest reach.
Salty Hippo
Member
There's no Xbox Two, everything from now on will be an incremental upgrade with every game being "cross-gen". It makes zero sense for MS to hold games, they're not showing much because they don't have much. It has been the case since the Nadella and Spencer era started 3 years ago, and we have zero signs of that changing other than wishful thinking from some people. The "they have nothing so they must be coming guns blazing next E3" (I'm not implying you said this) is an expired excuse that doesn't fly anymore.
+ You complaining about people having valid concerns. Ad nauseum.