Xbox Game Studios recently finished the latest X019 event, with many more schedules titles on the 2020 list. Microsoft is looking forward to the next generation, with a first-party output. This follows about 2 years for the in-house talent purchase, beginning with criticism when it comes to the Xbox One lineup with the other nine brand new studios. Redmond has extended its lineup on the Project Scarlett console, with the purchase of Obsidian Entertainment and Playground Games. They also created new internal labels.
Newly-acquired studios: what’s their story?
Xbox has changed a lot, that is for sure. We have all seen the progress in the last year. Matt Booty talked about their groundwork for the next 10 years. The X019 was opened with a clear message, which gave us details about acquisition and growth for a time of execution and delivery. 15 first-party developers support the content now, starting 2020 with Wasteland 3, Grounded and Bleeding Edge – they all come from newly-acquired studios. Microsoft said that later acquisitions are still in the plan, and he talks about an atmosphere in which they want to support these developers.
Booty stated that this is not a statement about changing the strategy forever. He added that it takes a lot of time and work to acquire these studios. They also want to make sure that, when the studios come in, they have all the resources that they need, and that they have the right team behind them to work with. And when it comes to a smaller studio, such as Double Fine, it can be quite overwhelming – being part of Microsoft, doing everything right, meeting deadlines, and being able to reach the expectations.
