Xbox Game Studios |OT4| This is for Studio talk. Studios. It's the Studios OT. Studio talk here (Part 1)

[javycane (Javier Ruiz)]

@Klobrille

focus is on Game Pass and not the console itself

I do agree game pass is the service that makes money but the xbox hardware should still be essential.

[FindTheGamer (Tarik)]

@javycane

I do agree game pass is the service that makes money but the xbox hardware should still be essential.

and they have designed two really good machines that infact have more thought out hardware and software for optimization.

[Shadowgasm]

@javycane

I do agree game pass is the service that makes money but the xbox hardware should still be essential.

Which is why they made the most powerful console. Is that not essential enough?

[Knottian (Daniel)]

@javycane

I do agree game pass is the service that makes money but the xbox hardware should still be essential.

The hardware is every bit as integral to the overall strategy for Xbox, but Game Pass is the piece that connects all of those components. There isn’t a zero sum at play here.

[Klobrille]

@javycane

I do agree game pass is the service that makes money but the xbox hardware should still be essential.

That hardware is selling out in minutes everywhere, so the hardware is doing fine regardless, which comes back to Game Pass and backward compatibility initiatives, which are pretty much driving the success of these two consoles so far, as first-party is not ready yet.

[thiagosilva (thiagoツ)]

@Klobrille

…ost recent examples acquiring studios is a mid- to long-term investment many Xbox studios are working on evolving, live-service games. It’s not always just about new games at Xbox, and stuff like the regular content updates to Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves, Halo MCC, Minecraft etc. all require just as much resources as new games.

… Which we could all discuss in length, but at the end of the day that won’t change the fact Xbox studios titles will only begin to roll starting this Summer, and then kind of create a better flow of first-party content with MS Flight Sim, Psychonauts 2, Halo Infinite, Age of Empires IV and so on. Tl;Dr: the current drought of actual first-party content is not planned well and that’s valid criticism; will change with a steady flow of new games this year.

I think this year will be huge for Xbox Studios. having Halo Infinite, AoE IV possibly: Forza Horizon 5 and Starfield. looking forward to it.

[Mort]

@javycane

I do agree game pass is the service that makes money but the xbox hardware should still be essential.

Like others have pointed out, how do you think it’s not?

[Mort]

@thiagosilva

I think this year will be huge for Xbox Studios. having Halo Infinite, AoE IV possibly: Forza Horizon 5 and Starfield. looking forward to it.

Which also brings up an interesting point… Halo Infinite was scheduled for 2020, so was Psychonauts 2 and MS Flight Sim allready released then, so what was the original plan for 2021?

[Biggzy (Hassan)]

@Klobrille

That hardware is selling out in minutes everywhere, so the hardware is doing fine regardless, which comes back to Game Pass and backward compatibility initiatives, which are pretty much driving the success of these two consoles so far, as first-party is not ready yet.

Yeah, Xbox has been doing a fantastic job making the games we have play much better on the new consoles.

There is more than one way to skin a cat and with the Pro consoles last gen, it does seem like we have reached a point where new consoles are not an arbitrary line in the sand, but more of a continuation .

[PoderickPayne (Travis Norris)]

@javycane

I do agree game pass is the service that makes money but the xbox hardware should still be essential.

What if you’re a PC gamer who loves your rig and mouse and keyboard and you might become a long time Gamepass subsciber>

Should that person not be catered to as well?

[javycane (Javier Ruiz)]

@Mort

Which also brings up an interesting point… Halo Infinite was scheduled for 2020, so was Psychonauts 2 and MS Flight Sim allready released then, so what was the original plan for 2021?

¯_(ツ)_/¯

From XGS? FH5 it seems and whatever XGP has cooked up.

[PoderickPayne (Travis Norris)]

@Mort

Which also brings up an interesting point… Halo Infinite was scheduled for 2020, so was Psychonauts 2 and MS Flight Sim allready released then, so what was the original plan for 2021?

Starfield, Wolfenstein 3, Forza and while not 1st party BF6 on Gamepass will be a biggy, if true

And maybe some big content update for what would have been the already existing Halo Infinite

Oh and also, the things that we get in 2022, maybe some of those were supposed to be 2021, but they got delayed too because…well you should know why

[Mort]

@PoderickPayne

Starfield, Wolfenstein 3, Forza and BF6 on Gamepass?

And maybe some big updates for what would have been the already existing Halo Infinite

Oh and also, some things that we get in 2022, maybe some of those were supposed to be 2021, but they got delayed too because…well you should know why

Yeah, I hope it plays out like that. We’ll know in a month or so I suppose!

[Staffy]

@Mort

Which also brings up an interesting point… Halo Infinite was scheduled for 2020, so was Psychonauts 2 and MS Flight Sim allready released then, so what was the original plan for 2021?

Just the fact that it was planned for last year. Sorry to say, but it’s a big fuck up by Xbox that the “alarm” didn’t go off sooner about Halo. Around the time of reveal it should have been crystal clear that this wasn’t going to be finished and suitable for release, yet they went on and gave it a full reveal in all it’s extreme WIP glory, mostly visually speaking.

But that’s the past and I hope such mistakes won’t be made again, here’s to a extremely promising future for Xbox.

[Mort]

@Staffy

Just the fact that it was planned for last year. Sorry to say, but it’s a big fuck up by Xbox that the “alarm” didn’t go off sooner about Halo. Around the time of reveal it should have been crystal clear that this wasn’t going to be finished and suitable for release, yet they went on and gave it a full reveal in all it’s extreme WIP glory, mostly visually speaking.

But that’s the past and I hope such mistakes won’t be made again, here’s to a extremely promising future for Xbox.

Yeah Halo Infinite seems to have been a victim of perhaps a too hands-off approach with the studios? Idk, will be interesting to read the book in 10 years or so.

Indeed, future looks awesome for Xbox!

[FindTheGamer (Tarik)]

@Mort

Which also brings up an interesting point… Halo Infinite was scheduled for 2020, so was Psychonauts 2 and MS Flight Sim allready released then, so what was the original plan for 2021?

Maybe their thought process was halo infinite and the falconeer 2020

Then you have for 2021 flight sim, forza horizon, the gunk, scorn, medium, starfield, warhammer darktide ,and stalker 2. (would be fairly certain all these would be out this year without covid) Then smaller titles like the ascent, 12minutes, exo mecha, tunic, song of iron

This lineup looks stacked on its own and would have easily pushed us to 2022 with plenty to play

[Staffy]

@Mort

Yeah Halo Infinite seems to have been a victim of perhaps a too hands-off approach with the studios? Idk, will be interesting to read the book in 10 years or so.

Indeed, future looks awesome for Xbox!

A lot of that can be made up if Starfield actually drops this year, along with Halo, FH5 and stuff from other devs like The Gunk, The Ascent, CrossfireX maybe. We should be getting updates on all that at E3. And hopefully a glimpse of the far future too, meaning Avowed, Fable and so on.

[thiagosilva (thiagoツ)]

@Mort

Which also brings up an interesting point… Halo Infinite was scheduled for 2020, so was Psychonauts 2 and MS Flight Sim allready released then, so what was the original plan for 2021?

Thats a good question.

Covid-19, pandemic ruined everything. certainly the “Xbox E3 2020 Briefing” it would have been huge. a lot was pulled from the Xbox Games Showcase event. maybe there originally on XboxE3 2020 we would be getting another AAA from XGS Publishing for 2021 and we would see Hellblade 2 etc.

we will know now on XboxE3 2021.

[Mort]

@Staffy

A lot of that can be made up if Starfield actually drops this year, along with Halo, FH5 and stuff from other devs like The Gunk, The Ascent, CrossfireX maybe. We should be getting updates on all that at E3. And hopefully a glimpse of the far future too, meaning Avowed, Fable and so on.

Oh we will forgive and forget so fast once the games start to drop, lol.

[Roronoa_Zoro90]

@mrbobman15

…try news about first party. Microsoft hasn’t attempted a triple A 2nd party title in years. Xbox should have had a AAA 2nd party launch title with the Series X|S to go alongside Halo Infinite

Overall after owning my Series S since February I’m officially over the honeymoon period, I can’t wait for the future of Xbox but right now I’m finally understanding the lack of exclusive complaints. We need more exclusive titles. As a huge RPG fan I’m very excited for the future of First Party from Xbox though, the Bethesda acquisition was MASSIVE news and I ended up playing all their titles that came to Game Pass. I’m very excited for the future, but it still feels like lightyears away just because of Microsoft respecting obligations to release stuff like Psychonauts 2 and Wasteland 3 on PlayStation.

I agree with many points, in particular with the Ori situation and the lack of AAA global publishing titles, I hope these new typhoon and dragon projects will be big projects like we don’t see since Quantum Break. Sony often fill the AAA void with publishing deals, Death Stranding is only the last of a long list (technically Spiderman 2018 was a publishing deal).

2016-2021 is a big gap, it only show the drought of investments before Phil’s promotion in 2017.