Welcome, everyone, to the second Microsoft Studios official discussion thread. Here, we talk about all the spicy rumors, hot takes, and vague, unfounded assumptions that plague our lizard brains as we struggle to comprehend the oftentimes backwards logic of a massive, multi-billion dollar corporation.
And sometimes, we discuss real things that are actually happening. But keep that a secret. Hushity hush.
Everything posted here will be updated as new information rolls in and out of the thread. For now, let us marvel at the various studios and partners that Microsoft employs to entertain us whenever they feel like doing so.
1. First Party Studios
Founded in 2007, 343 Industries is Microsoft's home team for all things Halo—video games, movies, TV shows, comics, et cetera. Here's some info:
Noteworthy Persons: Bonnie Ross (General Manager), Frank O'Connor (Franchise Director)
Studio Size: 500 employees
Notable Releases:
- Halo: Spartan Assault (XB1, Steam, Mobile | 2013 | Metascore 53/70/86)
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection (XB1 | 2014 | Metascore 85)
- Halo 4 (XB360 | 2012 | Metascore 87)
- Halo 5: Guardians (XB1 | 2015 | Metascore 84)
- Halo: Spartan Strike (Win10, Mobile | 2015 | Metascore 66)
- Halo 5: Forge (Win10 | 2016 | No Metascore)
- Halo Wars: Definitive Edition (XB1, Win10, Steam | 2017 | Metascore 81)
- Halo Wars 2 (XB1, Win10 | 2017 | Metascore 79)
- Halo Infinite, the future of Halo.
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Noteworthy Persons: Rod Fergusson (Studio Head)
Studio Size: 250 employees
Notable Releases:
- Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (XB1, Win10 | 2015 | Metascore 82/73)
- Gears of War 4 (XB1, Win10 | 2016 | Metascore 84/86)
Upcoming Projects and Rumors:
- Gears of War 5
- Gears Pop!
- Gears Tactics
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Noteworthy Persons: Alan Hartman (Studio Lead), Dan Greenawalt (Creative Director)
Studio Size: 100 employees
Notable Releases:
- Forza Motorsport 5 (XB1 | 2013 | Metascore 79)
- Forza Horizon 2 (XB1 | Collab W/ Playground Games | 2014 | Metascore 86)
- Forza Motorsport 6 (XB1 | 2015 | Metascore 87)
- Forza Motorsport 6: Apex (Win10 | 2016 | No Metascore)
- Forza Horizon 3 (XB1, Win10 | Collab W/ Playground Games | 2016 | Metascore 91/86)
- Forza Motorsport 7 (XB1, Win10 | 2017 | Metascore 86/82)
- Forza Horizon 4
- Forza Motorsport 8
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Noteworthy Persons: Craig Duncan (Studio Head), Gregg Mayles (Creative Director)
Studio Size: 200 employees
Notable Releases:
- Kinect Sports Rivals (XB1 | 2014 | Metascore 60)
- Rare Replay (XB1 | 2015 | Metascore 84)
- Sea of Thieves (XB1, Win10 | 2018 | Metascore 68)
- Rare working on two "extra IPs" other than Sea of Thieves
- Rare has turned into a "New IP factory"
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Noteworthy Persons: Jens Bergensten (Lead Creative Designer), Lydia Winters (Brand Director)
Studio Size: 70 employees
Notable Releases:
- Minecraft (360, PS3, Wii U, XB1, PS4, Switch, Win10, PC, Mobile | 2012-2017 | Metascore 88)
- Cobalt (XB1, PC | Collab w/ Oxeye Studios | 2016 | Metascore 66)
- Will update when more information is revealed.
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Established in 2010 by a large group of former racing developers from some of the best studios in the industry, Playground Games pioneered the breakout hit spinoff franchise Forza Horizon, and continues to maintain that series into its fourth iteration, as well as focuses on other projects.
Noteworthy Persons: Will be updated as more info is made known.
Studio Size: Will be updated as more info is made known.
Notable Releases:
- Forza Horizon (360 | 2012 | Metascore 85)
- Forza Horizon 2 (360, XB1 | 2014 | Metascore 86)
- Forza Horizon 3 (XB1, Win10 | 2016 | Metascore 91/86)
- Forza Horizon 4
- Unannounced open-world RPG
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Originally founded in 2000 as Just Add Monsters, the studio was rebranded as Ninja Theory in 2004 during the development of Heavenly Sword. Comprised of action game experts and a storied history in gaming, Ninja Theory is one of the leaders of action-heavy games and setpiece design.
Noteworthy Persons: Will be updated as more info is made known.
Studio Size: 100 employees
Notable Releases:
- Kung Fu Chaos (OGXB | 2003 | Metascore 68)
- Heavenly Sword (PS3 | 2007 | Metascore 79)
- Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (360, PS3, PC | 2010 | Metascore 80)
- DmC: Devil May Cry (360, PS3, PS4, XB1, PC | 2013 | Metascore 86)
- DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition (XB1, PS4 | 2015 | Metascore 86)
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (XB1, PS4, PC | 2017 | Metascore 81)
- Will be updated as more info is made known.
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Founded in 2018, and headed up by Darrell Gallagher, The Initiative is a brand new studio operating out of Santa Monica, California, dedicated to working on brand new AAA games for Microsoft Studios.
Noteworthy Persons: Darrell Gallagher (Studio Head)
Studio Size: Will be updated as more info is made known.
Notable Releases:
- Will update as more info is made known.
- Will update as more info is made known.
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Founded in 2009 by Jeff Strain, Undead Labs operated on a laser-guided focus on zombie-based games. Their first game, State of Decay (360), was a smash Xbox Live Arcade hit. Acquired in 2018, Undead Labs remains committed to bringing out the best in zombie-related games, and potentially other projects as well.
Noteworthy Persons: Jeff Strain (Studio Head)
Studio Size: 75 employees
Notable Releases:
- State of Decay (360, PC | 2013 | Metascore 78)
- State of Decay 2 (XB1, Win10 | 2018 | Metascore 68)
- State of Decay 3
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Founded in 2009 by Guillaume Provost in France, Compulsion Games is comprised of various developers from Valve to Ubisoft, and focuses on story-driven games with weird twists.
Noteworthy Persons: Guillaume Provost (Studio Head)
Studio Size: 40 employees
Notable Releases:
- Contrast (360, PS3, XB1, PS4, PC | 2013 | Metascore 59/62)
- We Happy Few
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Other Studios/Teams:- ID@Xbox, publishing support and pilot program for independent game developers
- Microsoft Studios Global Publishing, handles Microsoft Studio publishing between first party and partner studios
- Mixer, streaming service
- Backwards Compatibility Team, handles Xbox One BackCompat
- Microsoft Foundry, intern program
- Mixed Reality Team, works on AR/VR content for Xbox and Windows 10
- Microsoft Casual Games, works on the casual games collection for Microsoft, including MS Solitaire, Wordament, and MS Mahjong
- Xbox Growth Team
- Mojang acquired with the purchase of Minecraft in 2014
- Havok acquired in 2015
- Beam (later Mixer) acquired in 2016
- Simplygon acquired in 2017
- PlayFab, acquired in 2018
- Playground Games, acquired in 2018
- Undead Labs, acquired in 2018
- Ninja Theory, acquired in 2018
- Compulsion Games, acquired in 2018
- Twisted Pixel (The Maw, Splosion Man), left in 2015
- Press Play (Max and the Curse of Brotherhood, Kalimba), closed in 2016
- Lionhead Studios (The Fable Franchise), closed in 2016
- Team Dakota (Project Spark), disbanded in 2016
- Xbox Fitness Team, disbanded in 2016
- Decisive Games, disbanded before public outing in 2016
- Black Tusk's new IP, cancelled to shift focus onto Gears of War and subsequent titles
- Project Spark, servers closed in 2015
- Fable Legends, cancelled with Lionhead's closing in 2016
- Project Knoxville, cancelled with Press Play's closing in 2016
- Xbox Fitness, servers closed June 2017
- Sea of Thieves
- State of Decay 2
- Crackdown 3
- Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
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Microsoft Studios Global Publishing
& Other Information
Below we have information regarding upcoming titles created by partner studios, as well as any other relevant material not mentioned previously. Don't fret. This section will get a MAJOR rework in the days and weeks to come.& Other Information
We begin with the Upcoming Partner Titles:
Title: Crackdown 3
Developer: ReAgent Games, Cloudgine, Sumo Digital, Ruffian Games
Release Date: February 2019
Description:
Website: https://www.crackdown.com/
Developer: Dlala Studios
Release Date: 2019
Description:
Website: https://www.dlalastudios.com/our-games/
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Current Partner Studios:
- 4J Studios, original console versions of Minecraft
- Armature, ReCore DLC/updates
- Beep Industries, VooDoo Vince Remastered
- Capcom Vancouver, Dead Rising 4 DLC/updates
- Certain Affinity, assistance on Halo projects
- Cloudgine, Crackdown 3
- Creative Assembly, Halo Wars 2
- Flaming Foul Studios, Fable Fortune
- Forgotten Empires, Age of Empires 1: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires 2 & 3: Definitive Editions
- Iron Galaxy Studios, Killer Instinct new characters/updates
- Moon Studios, Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- ReAgent Games, Crackdown 3
- Relic Entertainment, Age of Empire 4
- Saber Interactive, assistance on Halo projects
- Skybox Labs, Age of Empires DLC, Halo 5: Forge updates
- Smoking Gun Interactive, Age of Empires: Castle Siege
- Splash Damage, assistance on Gears of War 4 DLC
- StudioMDHR, Cuphead
- Electric Square, Miame Street
- Sumo Digital, Crackdown 3
- None so far
- Cancelled Obsidian RPG
- Cancelled Halo Mega Blocks game
- Phantom Dust reboot cancelled in 2015
- Scalebound cancelled in 2017
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To reiterate, this post will be updated whenever new information is revealed or things need to be adjusted to reflect the current outlook as per the facts. If you have any suggestions, or believe I've left something out, please ping me in the Discord or send me a message here on Era and I'll address any issues as soon as I can.
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