Naturally, there has rightfully been a lot of talk about upcoming games from many of MS’s in-house developers, both existing and newly acquired. From the mystery of Everwild to the ambition of Starfield to the scope of Avowed and so on and so forth. However, one discussion I feel gets lost in the shuffle a bit is Global Publishing, and I get why. They are not as easy to define as any of the other existing dev teams, and questions remain as to whether Global Publishing has any hands in timed exclusivity, co-developed games (like Gears Tactics and Battletoads), etc., etc. What we do know is, on paper, these were the titles released by Global Publishing this gen (not counting co-deved games like FH or third party exclusives like Dead Rising, but acquired second parties like Undead):
Crimson Dragon
Powerstar Golf
Ryse Son of Rome
Xbox Fitness
Zoo Tycoon
Dance Central Spotlight
Project Spark
D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die
Sunset Overdrive
ScreamRide
Ori and the Blind Forest
Quantum Break
ReCore
Phantom Dust (re-release, not remake)
Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure
Disneyland Adventures
Super Lucky’s Tale
State of Decay 2 (technically)
Crackdown 3
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Super Lucky’s Tale
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Tell Me Why
Needless to say, this gen has had its ups and its downs, but the quality of several of the games listed here is not to be disputed. This year alone, 2 of their games alone exceed 90+ on Metacritic, a feat only PlayGround has done this gen (although many devs have come close).
With that said, what do we expect to see from Global Publishing, and what do we hope to see?
To start, I expect to see:
Tell Me Why Season 2
Continued support for MSFS
As Dusk Falls (the only confirmed game of theirs thus far)
A Japanese title of some sort, possibly JRPG
A horror game from Bloober with a bigger budget and publishing duties under MS
A AAA “Sony-esque” game like Quantum Break
A few family-oriented titles
What I’d like to see:
DONTNOD signed to a multi-game partnership
An exclusive title from From Software (there hasn’t been one since Ninja Blade)
All future Asobo titles from beyond Plague Tale 2 (which Focus has the rights for). If they don’t want to sell, solidify them as your Insomniac/Intelligent Systems. A close dev everyone knows you wanna tie the knot with but you are still happy to live together regardless.
An arcade racer al a Burnout/Project Gotham/etc. by Sumo Digital
A New Itagaki game
Continued support for AA developers to nurture like Asobo and Moon have been
A fun music title from Harmonix
Another sim title from Frontier. Planet Coaster and Zoo are big hits. Maybe it’s time to make a new tycoon title or city builder. PC gamers will love it as will console enthusiasts.
And, of course, I’d like to see Banjo Threeie and all them but that’s Rare’s call. What do you think w’ll see from XGS GP?
A DC comics exclusive, probably not Batman as that’s too big an IP, but maybe a Green Arrow game in the same universe as Arkham, or even in the Gotham Knights universe that way they can bring more of Green Arrow team into the world.
I just wanna take this opportunity to say i loved Crimson Dragon and sometimes i feel like the only one who did. As for Global publishing I’d like to see Microsoft publish more Japanese games.
I like the idea of an arcade racer, and I think it would be cool to use sumo digital to make a mascot racer for Microsoft. I know mario kart is king, but it’s always nice to see others enter that market. Like what Sumo did with Sonic racing games have been great, and I think a mascot racer would be perfect for Microsoft and it fits gamepass well especially if people want to use it on the go via xcloud
Also want to see Microsoft link up with Remedy either for a new IP or maybe continuation of Quantum Break since it’s a Microsoft IP
Lastly, I think Microsoft should leverage global publishing to create dormant Rare IPs. Like what they’ve done with Killer Instinct and Battletoads was genius imo. I think they need to continue killer instinct because the first game is way too good to throw away because it was imo best fighting game of last gen. I think using global publishing for Rare games such as; Conker, Banjo, Kameo, Viva Pinata, Jet Force Gemini, etc.
Same here. Game Pass might help with MS taking more risks on project funding in the future even if they are from genres that are not that popular right now. Character action games and arcade racers come to mind. I know that with so many studios it will be even more difficult to give a AAA budget to some studio for suggestions like above but one can dream right?
Anyway what I’d like to see are:
A new character action game from Itagaki/Valhalla Game Studios.
Give a second chance to Recore, this time with the time and budget it deserves.
A From Software exclusive game with Miyazaki or Tanimura as the director.
Another high quality 2d game like Ori, Moon Studios are probably trying something different for their next game but Game Atelier (the studio behind the excellent Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom) will be a great choice for a project like that.
Collaborate with Enhance, Inc. for their next project.
Binary Domain 2 by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 by Capcom.
I can go even more crazy but I think I’ll stop here.
Not to be an asshole or anything but I would like to see them partner up for more games that I actually want to play. Only 2 out of the 23 games on that list I played and completed. Ryse and Quantum Break.
Would it be Global Publishing that could end up making a deal to publish Black Myth Wukong for Xbox Series X/S? If so, I really wish they would give Game Science a call.
Great thing with gamepass it allows microsoft and their global partnership to take risks, and can also help convince publishers to bring games over. Since these deals are most likely front loaded it can help convince developers to use gamepass for marketing and may be a low risk move since gamers become price conscious of games they’re unsure about and gamepass can help boost sales from word of mouth
I certainly do hope they publish a JRPG this gen. Something in the vein of Lost Odyssey would be great. I feel like Xbox is going to place less of an emphasis on their publishing and instead focus more on their first-party studios this gen. Still, really hope we can get some good stuff from them, perhaps with Game Pass other studios would be more willing to work with Xbox.
Also, 1 vs. 100, please. I think it could work and do well with Xbox Game Pass. Was never able to experience it back on the Xbox 360, I’d love to be able to someday.
Don’t sleep on Sunset Overdrive, man. I did, and didn’t get around to it until last year. That game was incredible. But I’m with you Ryse, Quantum, (and Sunset) are the only things that really interest me from that list. Ok, SoD2 as well but really only in co-op.
For me I want more narative driven, third person, action adventure kinda games. I sometimes get the feeling that we as Xbox fans can’t expect those kinds of games because the usual retort is oh just go get a PlayStation. Hopefully some of the games being worked on fall into that category, whether they are from Xbox Game Studios or Global Publishing.
I played Sunset Overdrive a while back and it didn’t last long. Just wasn’t my type of game but I can see some of it in Spider Man in regards to the swinging and whatnot. I played SOD 2 for 15 hours and then quit it. It just wasn’t up to par for me and while the base building was better than the original SOD, I think everything else was equal or worse than the original. For me, game has to be better. Really hoping that SOD 3 ends up looking like their July trailer because if it ends up looking like SOD 2, im pretty much done with that franchise and Undead Labs. Hopefully, they can give me a great game because I did enjoy the first game a lot.
I agree completely with wanting more third person story driven action adventure games. Really hoping that The Initiative gives me just that. Not sure about Global Publishing as looking at that list, only the two games I completed (Ryse and Quantum) fall into that category. Just have to wait and see.
There are quite a few independent devs that MS can work with without having to straight up acquire them. Especially for the supposed E rated titles that Phil wants. Rare should also try to expand to include more smaller single player style games.
I think right now the only things for sure are the supposed Asobo game and Dontnot apparently has 6 games in development and likely one of them is a Tell me Why sequel.
