Me too, for me acquisitions equal more games in Game Pass, so I’m all for that.
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It’s a third person adventure game with stealth and some puzzles. I never said it was “action”. Outside of the few set pieces, there’s no action at all. It’s all about the story, characters and the journey.
Agreed or day one deals like The Ascent now being in Game Pass.
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Even if Xbox doesn’t acquire another publisher this year, I’m thinking there’s going to be a ton of activity in terms of acquisitions. They started getting a return on gamepass, Amazon/Google/Tencent started a push, they launched xcloud and their new console, now they just need to focus in on the games to get more people in their ecosystem. I have very little doubt that next year will be a bigger acquisition year than 2018. It just doesn’t make any business sense for them to sit around and I’m sure Satya won’t let them.
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Yep exactly I think they will look into a Japanese studio for JRPGS that is one genre they are lacking as well as a E rated one as well sega solves both but its doubtful because of the Sammy merger
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its almost entirely a puzzle stealth game not a adventure…
To me, A Plague Tale is a third person adventure game because well, you’re going on an adventure with your brother. It has puzzles, light combat sections and stealth. To each their own. We’ll just have to agree to disagree when it comes to genres. lol.
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The only difference between A Plague’s Tale and Last of Us is when you get caught in one its over and the other you can fight your way out.
Unfortunately already bought. But I think they have so much potential if only for amazing graphics
Acquisitions and everything else that I’m hoping for aside, in 2021, I’m hoping it brings a realization to some people that a camera perspective is neither a genre nor a definition of what a game can be. I hope it brings a sudden clarity that we’ll be able to move past this constant, reduction of a game/genre/developer based on their capability of making a narrowly-defined type of game.
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I just looked into my crystal ball and nope, people will continue to do what they always do. 
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I’m idealistic I know 
I don’t expect any of that to change. I hope that when people, at least here, talk about looking for studios and/or what games XGS’ devs should be making that they’ll realize that Xbox isn’t going to chase a bubble. It’s smarter in the short-term, based on their sales success, and in the long-term to be looking for studios that enhance their existing niches (FPS, RPGs, Racing, etc.) and expand their audience via new, unique, and genre-diverse content (and their respective creators). This sad-Dad-begging is past old and frankly unnecessary: if you want that type of game, you know where to go (and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that), but the gaming industry deserves to flourish beyond just mimicking movies. Gaming allows the developer and the player to achieve so much more than what movies are able to, by definition, and that extends to the genre, camera type, interaction mode, etc.
I’ve had a love and respect for Tim Schafer for more than 2/3 of my life, and after hearing both of his recent interviews, I think what Xbox is doing is better for the industry precisely because of all those aforementioned reasons. Sure, we can cynically just say they’re just doing it to bolster Game Pass subs by providing a steady flow of content and content diversity, but I think that would be failing to see the forest through the trees. Hearing from a man like Tim that Phil and Matt understand that art flourishes when you don’t try to force a team to make something, and that their culture isn’t being changed (or even asked to change), fills my heart with joy.
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It’s great to see this new shift in strategy for MS. Letting your devs make what they want is precisely why Sony’s 1st party games are held in such high regard. And when you have 23+ studios, Gamepass and soon full XCloud functionality, you don’t have to worry about a few games flopping and can let the talented, creative people funnel their ideas into what will hopefully be awesome games that will undoubtedly help flip the narratives against Xbox.
As for future acquisitions, I think they’ll make an attempt to fill some gaps in their portfolio, but I don’t think they’ll pass up on a great opportunity just because a studio makes games in a genre they already have covered.
Regardless, the future looks bright for sure.
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Hopefully. Thought I’m kinda selfishly happy, cause I love first person. Be it story or multiplayer or coop driven. Not so much this generation.
We had literally 3 Bioshocks, 2 Metro games, 4 Halo Games, Sigularity and soo much more 
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Agreed; Xbox’s focus is creative, well-managed, and efficient teams, regardless of genre and gameplay perspective.
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I care about camera perspective because it affects how the game plays which before anything else, is what matters to me. I personally prefer third person over first person because I like to see my entire character, third person is normally always voiced (as opposed to a silent protagonist which is more common in first person games than third person), first person usually has a character creation which I don’t like because first it leads to a silent protagonist the vast majority of the time and second, you can’t even see what the character looks like so what’s the point?
The main thing though for me is combat/gameplay in games. In first person, I see everything as inferior, from shooting to melee combat to stealth to cover elements to using gadgets and magic/spells. Dishonored 2 has the best melee combat in arguably every first person game but it’s good at best and only better than everything else because the rest are normally crap. I know majority will say that shooting is better in first person than third person and for pure shooters like Doom where that’s all the combat really is, sure but in games where there’s so many other options, third person is better.
One reason for this is “cover systems”. In third person, your character is literally “stuck in cover” against a wall standing up or crouched behind a crate ala The Division but in first person, you’re never truly in cover, you’re basically just hiding/leaning behind a wall or crouched down behind a crate. Plus you can’t “blind fire” in first person behind cover like you can in third person. I can be crouched behind a crate in The Division 2 and blind fire at my targets/enemies without exposing myself due to having to aim.
I also see stealth as better because you can see everything around you and have a far wider field of view due to the camera perspective.
So it’s not that the camera perspective is a genre because it’s obviously not but for me personally, I do care about what the camera perspective is based on what I posted above. With that said, I still play first person games and have a bunch that im interested in playing but I simply prefer third person over first person.
Also, over the last 18 years, third person games have won 12 times in regards to overall game of the year. 5 out of 18 was first person and 1 was The Walking Dead but whatever. This includes the last 8 years in a row. Honestly, this should probably tell everyone something.
Hold on most shooters are in first person because it’s the best perspective to have for it.
The only TPS shooter with constant combat are gears Ghost recon and the division
Maybe because those shooters haven’t been that good? That last considerable shooter I call a masterpiece was Titanfall 2. Prey was totally snubbed. And Wolfenstein fall down pretty hard… and Metro left stuff to be desired.
Shooter have been the mainstream multiplayer go to thing but in recent years haven’t been the stellar cinematic experience.
Where is the something like Bioshock?
If the Ascent ends up good (and I think it’s looking fantastic), they should look at Neon Giant. they’re only 11 people (so probably not that expensive) in Sweden. And while this is their first game as team, individually they have credits on Gears of War, Bulletstorm, Wolfenstein, Doom, and Far Cry. And what I’ve seen from The Ascent seems to be overachieving for such a small team.
And most importantly, they’re a third-person studio. (Kidding, kidding)
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Yep, I agree. The game looks really impressive considering the team is only compromised of 11 people and it also looks fun, I’m confident it’ll be a good game and I’m looking forward to it. Besides, I think Xbox could use a couple of small studios, Neon Giant could be a good pick.
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Depends though. Take Rage 2 for example. The shooting mechanics and gunplay were excellent but there’s nothing else in the game. There’s no melee combat or stealth so outside of the “powers” you get in the game, there’s nothing else there. No other gameplay elements. So in this example, sure but then take Dishonored 2. Gunplay and shooting mechanics are fine but nowhere near Rage 2. But it has other gameplay/combat elements to where if it was in third person, I believe that it would be better all around.
Uncharted/Tomb Raider/TLOU have combat like Gears where you advance a certain amount and boom, combat encounter. Resident Evil 2/3 have shooting combat and it feels better than how RE 7 did.
For me, unless it’s just a pure shooter like Rage 2, I have always seen the shooting mechanics and gunplay in third person games as being better, more fluid and responsive.
Titanfall 2 was awesome. Wolfenstein 2014 was great but has declined since then. Prey isn’t for me so I can’t comment on it. Metro is great overall but the shooting mechanics/gunplay and combat in general is stiff and clunky.
Shooters have been the mainstream multi-player go to simply because there’s nothing else to them. Shoot/kill everyone else on the map and done. Rinse, repeat.
Like Prey, I can’t comment on BioShock. Rumors have it that 2K is developing a next gen BioShock so maybe, you’ll get your wish. Of course, there is that other game that’s like BioShock but I can’t remember the name of it. It’s supposed to release in 2021.