Xbox Game Studios |OT4| When everyone plays, we all win

[tanky]

If I want to play a narrative driven single-player game, I know that I'll find quality titles in abundance on PlayStation. However, do I look to that platform to offer top notch multiplayer or co-op experiences? Not at all. I also don't boot up my PS4 to play Gran Turismo because I already have the Forza franchise on Xbox that is the pinnacle of racing games. If I'm in the mood for a platformer, oddly enough, Xbox is the closest to Nintendo in this genre with games like Crackdown 3 and ReCore apposed to the PS4's Knack. Have the itch for a first-person shooter or RTS? Halo's got you covered on both ends while PlayStation doesn't really have an answer to either.

The real hole in Microsoft's first-party porfolio are those single-player games and for my money, they've already made the necessary investments to address that in the form of studios like The Initiative, Compulsion and Ninja Theory. Let's also not forget that Gears 5 and Halo Infinite are set to have the biggest stories yet of their respective franchises. I look ahead to to Age of Empires 4 and Gears Tactics for strategy, Rare for vibrant and whimsical games, Obsidian and InXile for my RPG fix, 343i and The Coalition for multiplayer and so on.

Xbox has variety. They're positioned to offer the most diverse lineup of exclusives of any platform holder. That's what makes playing within their ecosystem so refreshing and exciting.

 

[knightmawk]

I don't see Compulsion, Mojang, Undead Labs, InXile putting out the next GOTY contender.

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I mean Wasteland 2 did receive a game of the year award, Torment was nominated for RPG of the year at Dice, and several other awards. Contrast was also nominated for best downloadable game back when it came out. And if we're talking game of the year competitors, Ninja Theory and Obsidian? Why not mention those? Hellblade won over a dozen awards and was nominated for probably three times that many, Enslaved and Heavenly Sword were also decorated if I remember. And Obsidian, gods even if you look at just the last couple of years both Pillars of Eternity games have been critical darlings, nominated for multiple Game of the Year awards between them.

Also, Fable is hardly a 'known quantity'. The last proper Fable game came out what, ten years ago? Maybe nine? Playground is building an entirely new team of experts in open world RPGs, to make a game that we're not even sure is going to be Fable, that probably won't look anything like it's predecessors except in name and tone. I'd hardly consider that 'known'.

 

[RedSparrows]

I don't give a flying toss about 'GOTY' awards. They mean absolutely nothing to me. That is not the same as not caring about quality, of course.

Gigantic should have won last year anyway, so there. Huff grumble etc.

 

[Hawk269]

Speaking of games I really hope we see a Halo Wars 3 on Next Gen. Halo Wars 2 was great and the support was fantastic, but I think they focused on adding too many leaders instead of giving us more MP maps and more Blitz Maps. They have a great base with HW2, use the same leaders and make larger maps with more units with the power of the next gen system and it would be golden.

 

[Bradbatross]

I just want a variety of unique experiences from MS, both big and small. And I think we'll get just that, in large part thanks to Game Pass. Really exciting times ahead.

 

[Firenoh]

I don't give a flying toss about 'GOTY' awards. They mean absolutely nothing to me. That is not the same as not caring about quality, of course.

Gigantic should have won last year anyway, so there. Huff grumble etc.

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1. Gigantic came in 2017
2. No one played it.
3. You can't nominate a game for GOTY when it's servers are dead and therefore unplayable.

 

[Theorry]

1. Gigantic came in 2017
2. No one played it.
3. You can't nominate a game for GOTY when it's servers are dead and therefore unplayable.

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You are taking it a bit to literal lol. He is saying that every game can be GOTY to a person.

 

[Redesigned83]

So seven weeks tonight and we'll all be getting stuck into our popcorn and Mountain Dew, we're in the Endgame now.

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See, I like this. Better than that 160 days crap.

 

[JayWood2010]

I figured AAA was just a game that gets a boatload of marketing budget and looks pretty.

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Technically it is, but a lot of developers will use it as a marketing buzzword for quality.

As for all the new studios, Microsoft has added a lot of new talent, and I would expect next generation to have a lot of quality games. Personally, I think that Xbox will be the place to be for Western RPG games next generation when it comes to consoles. They have 3 studios working on Western RPG games

Obsidian
InXile
Playground

And you also have them working on RTS games as well like Gears Tactics, and Age of Empires IV.

And yes I also hate hearing the term AAA and AA, as if AAA alone makes a good game. Tell that to Bioware and Anthem. All AAA is, is a budget. Meanwhile Ninja Theory was raking in awards with Hellblade which was a AA game. ONe of my favorite games last year was Ashen, another AA game.

Budgets are important too though of course, and I will be interested to see what studios like Obsidian, InXile, and Ninja Theory can make without big budget restrictions.

For me though, and the studio that always intrigues me the most is Rare. You never really know what to expect from them, and they have had a lot of growth recently. I just hope we get another Killer Instinct next generation.

 

[Ebtesam]

So only NT will share it's new Ip in E3 right ??

if it's Exclusive To MS System (Xbox,PC) Then it's a new and good Start for MS for the Next gen....

 

[Theorry]

So only NT will share it's new Ip in E3 right ??

if it's Exclusive To MS System (Xbox,PC) Then it's a new and good Start for MS for the Next gen....

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Offcourse its exclusive?

 

[Deleted member 47654]

So seven weeks tonight and we'll all be getting stuck into our popcorn and Mountain Dew, we're in the Endgame now.

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Doritos and Beer for me

 

[Ebtesam]

Offcourse its exclusive?

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i still can't trust them to put exclusives to MS systems yet (and maybe that Just me)

maybe they still have a contrect or something...

 

[Dimple]

Technically it is, but a lot of developers will use it as a marketing buzzword for quality.

As for all the new studios, Microsoft has added a lot of new talent, and I would expect next generation to have a lot of quality games. Personally, I think that Xbox will be the place to be for Western RPG games next generation when it comes to consoles. They have 3 studios working on Western RPG games

Obsidian
InXile
Playground

And you also have them working on RTS games as well like Gears Tactics, and Age of Empires IV.

And yes I also hate hearing the term AAA and AA, as if AAA alone makes a good game. Tell that to Bioware and Anthem. All AAA is, is a budget. Meanwhile Ninja Theory was raking in awards with Hellblade which was a AA game. ONe of my favorite games last year was Ashen, another AA game.

Budgets are important too though of course, and I will be interested to see what studios like Obsidian, InXile, and Ninja Theory can make without big budget restrictions.

For me though, and the studio that always intrigues me the most is Rare. You never really know what to expect from them, and they have had a lot of growth recently. I just hope we get another Killer Instinct next generation.

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The terms AAA and AA have really screwed up a lot of people's perceptions of what a good game is, if it's not considered AAA then it automatically garbage, I see games like Concrete Genie and Ori being dismissed by fanboys because they're not 'AAA' when they if anthing will be some of the most polished and innovative games we get this year.

 

[RedSparrows]

i still can't trust them to put exclusives to MS systems yet (and maybe that Just me)

maybe they still have a contrect or something...

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?

MS own Ninja Theory.

Edit: ah, about an unreleased game. I think we'd have heard about that by now.

 

[Ebtesam]

?

MS own Ninja Theory.

Edit: ah, about an unreleased game. I think we'd have heard about that by now.

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i know but i meant Unannounce games before acquisition (that have a Publisher)

but you are right (if there one we would heard that long a age)

 

[MattHeus]

i still can't trust them to put exclusives to MS systems yet (and maybe that Just me)

maybe they still have a contrect or something...

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They were self publishing before being bought by Microsoft.

 

[Ebtesam]

They were self publishing before being bought by Microsoft.

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then that good

 

[Territories1]

So where are we with Halo Infinite's budget? Is it still $500?

 

[Bigfellahull]

I mean Wasteland 2 did receive a game of the year award, Torment was nominated for RPG of the year at Dice, and several other awards. Contrast was also nominated for best downloadable game back when it came out. And if we're talking game of the year competitors, Ninja Theory and Obsidian? Why not mention those? Hellblade won over a dozen awards and was nominated for probably three times that many, Enslaved and Heavenly Sword were also decorated if I remember. And Obsidian, gods even if you look at just the last couple of years both Pillars of Eternity games have been critical darlings, nominated for multiple Game of the Year awards between them.

Also, Fable is hardly a 'known quantity'. The last proper Fable game came out what, ten years ago? Maybe nine? Playground is building an entirely new team of experts in open world RPGs, to make a game that we're not even sure is going to be Fable, that probably won't look anything like it's predecessors except in name and tone. I'd hardly consider that 'known'.

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I did mention Ninja Theory and Obsidian? That's why they are not in the list you quoted! I can see them both delivering excellent games - just will they be the next big, system selling Xbox series matching that of Halo or Gears? That was what I was asking. I missed Wasteland as I guess it just isn't my style of game. But that doesn't diminish InXiles quality though.

Maybe Xbox doesn't need any more studios and I am being over dramatic. I hope so. But I guess we'll see at E3 once we see more and find out about Microsoft's plans.

 

['V']

So where are we with Halo Infinite's budget? Is it still $500?

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Yep. $500 and a packet of crisps. It's all Phil had on hand when he went to 343 and they asked him for a budget.

 

[knightmawk]

I did mention Ninja Theory and Obsidian? That's why they are not in the list you quoted! I can see them both delivering excellent games - just will they be the next big, system selling Xbox series matching that of Halo or Gears? That was what I was asking. I missed Wasteland as I guess it just isn't my style of game. But that doesn't diminish InXiles quality though.

Maybe Xbox doesn't need any more studios and I am being over dramatic. I hope so. But I guess we'll see at E3 once we see more and find out about Microsoft's plans.

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No I know you mentioned them, I just thought it was weird that their potential "game of the year" contenders didn't matter, unless you were trying to say every studio acquisition should be of that quality, which just seems unreasonable.

Regardless, I'm sure Microsoft isn't done with acquisitions, and I'm sure every studio they acquire they'll support in the way that will be best for them to make the games they want to make. Probably not all of them will be legendary AAA GOTY 95+ or whatever other arbitrary classification, but that doesn't really matter. Microsoft is mostly going for talented studios that will appeal to a variety of people and can gather passionate fan bases. I fully expect some weird kind of niche stuff to come out of XGS in the future, along with some more mainstream stuff. Xbox is going for all kinds.

 

[tanky]

So where are we with Halo Infinite's budget? Is it still $500?

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Brad Sams corroborated the budget of Halo Infinite's production as being somewhere within that $500 million ballpark.

 

[RoKKeR]

Speaking of games I really hope we see a Halo Wars 3 on Next Gen. Halo Wars 2 was great and the support was fantastic, but I think they focused on adding too many leaders instead of giving us more MP maps and more Blitz Maps. They have a great base with HW2, use the same leaders and make larger maps with more units with the power of the next gen system and it would be golden.

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Do you think it was enough of a success to justify a 3rd one? I played it and thought it was great but just wonder about the viability.

 

[Morgoth Bauglir]

https://twitter.com/blueisviolet/status/1119804993580568576?s=20


We've got Monster 2.0 coming...

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explain please

 

[RedSparrows]

explain please

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[Kasey]

i still can't trust them to put exclusives to MS systems yet (and maybe that Just me)

maybe they still have a contrect or something...

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Microsoft began talks with NT around the time this new game went into production. It's possible it was always meant to be an Xbox exclusive, acquisition or no.

 

[Bradbatross]

Microsoft began talks with NT around the time this new game went into production. It's possible it was always meant to be an Xbox exclusive, acquisition or no.

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I thought the rumor was that this game started production like 6 years ago?

 

[Kasey]

I thought the rumor was that this game started production like 6 years ago?

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Prototypes maybe. Actual production was started after Hellblade shipped.

 

[darthpaxton]

Do you think it was enough of a success to justify a 3rd one? I played it and thought it was great but just wonder about the viability.

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I really think that Microsoft is going to double-down on Age of Empires. They've mentioned it as a "major franchise" in several new blasts and blog posts this year. Relic also had a job opening posted earlier this year for a lead narrative designer for the Age of Empires franchise (leading to many here speculating that Microsoft was acquiring Relic).

I think it makes a ton of sense to leave Halo Wars behind, because I think we'll get another game in the Halo universe that isn't a mainline game. Operating three separate game series (the mainline Halo games, Halo Wars, and a third series) would not help the perception that Microsoft doesn't have many franchises. Bringing back Age of Empires both gives Microsoft another franchise (especially one that's popular with PC gamers) and allows them to explore the Halo universe a bit more freely.

 

[RedSparrows]

ME-style Halo RPG plz.

 

[Poodlestrike]

ME-style Halo RPG plz.

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Still do not get the appeal here. Halo just isn't built for all the RPG mechanics that something like this implies.

Imagine Mass Effect, except there's only one version of all the weapon types and the only class available is Soldier.

 

[RedSparrows]

Still do not get the appeal here. Halo just isn't built for all the RPG mechanics that something like this implies.

Imagine Mass Effect, except there's only one version of all the weapon types and the only class available is Soldier.

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PLOT TWIST: You're the Arbiter, and so you got space wizard shit up your sleeve too!

(I dunno, I just want more Halo)

 

[Klobrille]

Prototypes maybe. Actual production was started after Hellblade shipped.

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I don't think you'll see the game by the Hellblade team at E3.

 

[knightmawk]

PLOT TWIST: You're the Arbiter, and so you got space wizard shit up your sleeve too!

(I dunno, I just want more Halo)

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Various people have kicked these ideas around here for a while, fir genres spin offs of Halo and Gears and etc, I think Halo could work as a third person survival lite shooter.

Something like a former marine, or even a former Spartan, in hiding on some backwater planet that gets hit by Guardians after Halo 5 because it has some sort of Forerunner artifact in or on it, could be a shield world like Onyx or something. You're in hiding in your little shack in the mountains, but the Guardians blow up your spot and start hunting you because they recognize you as a spartan, so you're trying to fight your way somewhere, crafting weapons from destroyed Guardians and building traps out of trees and rocks and stuff. Then end the game with the installation opening up or being destroyed. I dunno what story beats work best, I just like the idea of a sort of Halo does Predator situation.

I thought the rumor was that this game started production like 6 years ago?

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You may be talking about Razer, which was in production something like 6 years ago but put on hold to throw all hands on Hellblade. Unclear if one of NTs current games is a revival of that, some rumors say it is. Even if it is, it's unclear if any of the original production could be used. From what I understand though, Ninja Theory has a couple of different teams doing different things right now, and there's a chance we see on of them at E3.

 

[darthpaxton]

I don't think you'll see the game by the Hellblade team at E3.

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I agree. I was under the impression that Ninja Theory had three teams right now?

 

[Deleted member 47654]

ME-style Halo RPG plz.

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Coventant is not as interesting as ME's alien races. But everything else would work.

 

[Dokkaebi G0SU]

I don't think you'll see the game by the Hellblade team at E3.

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More information eh? Nice, can't wait for the following weeks when you hint at things (on your twitter) :p

Do you have an idea of how much new stuff we may see? I think it's still early and a lot of e3 will focus on what is releasing within 2019 and early 3020.

 

[solis74]

https://twitter.com/blueisviolet/status/1119804993580568576?s=20


We've got Monster 2.0 coming...

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???

 

[Klobrille]

More information eh? Nice, can't wait for the following weeks when you hint at things (on your twitter) :p

Do you have an idea of how much new stuff we may see? I think it's still early and a lot of e3 will focus on what is releasing within 2019 and early 3020.

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Just my opinion. As I said already I don't know anything about next NT game. I don't see how this can be the Hellblade team project though when they have other creative directors working on something before that.

 

[Dokkaebi G0SU]

Just my opinion. As I said already I don't know anything about next NT game. I don't see how this can be the Hellblade team project though when they have other creative directors working on something before that.

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I'm just trying to twist your arm and confirm you are reading new info you can't comment on .. yet :p

 

[solis74]

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cool! I know it will be awesome.

 

[Ratazk]

Still do not get the appeal here. Halo just isn't built for all the RPG mechanics that something like this implies.

Imagine Mass Effect, except there's only one version of all the weapon types and the only class available is Soldier.

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I'd say quite the opposite.

You have your standard weapon archetypes (battle rifle, pistols, sniper, etc.) and while they don't change, you can upgrade and differentiate through mods, similar to ME1.

There might not be powers per se, but different armor mods could give you different cooldowns.

I mean, the Division features an all-human cast but there's room for different builds depending on perks and mods.

 

[solis74]

"A known quantity" excludes developing great games? You could make the same argument about Naughty Dog, Horizon Zero Dawn 2, Gran Turismo, God of War 2, Super Mario, Pokemon etc. then. Just because something is to be expected doesn't mean it isn't exciting.

Also, we literally know nothing about Playground Games, The Initiative, Rare, Ninja Theory, inXile or Obsidian. And contrary to what you said, inXile already has been putting out GotY games on PC.

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true.

 

[GamerDude]

If I want to play a narrative driven single-player game, I know that I'll find quality titles in abundance on PlayStation. However, do I look to that platform to offer top notch multiplayer or co-op experiences? Not at all. I also don't boot up my PS4 to play Gran Turismo because I already have the Forza franchise on Xbox that is the pinnacle of racing games. If I'm in the mood for a platformer, oddly enough, Xbox is the closest to Nintendo in this genre with games like Crackdown 3 and ReCore apposed to the PS4's Knack. Have the itch for a first-person shooter or RTS? Halo's got you covered on both ends while PlayStation doesn't really have an answer to either.

The real hole in Microsoft's first-party porfolio are those single-player games and for my money, they've already made the necessary investments to address that in the form of studios like The Initiative, Compulsion and Ninja Theory. Let's also not forget that Gears 5 and Halo Infinite are set to have the biggest stories yet of their respective franchises. I look ahead to to Age of Empires 4 and Gears Tactics for strategy, Rare for vibrant and whimsical games, Obsidian and InXile for my RPG fix, 343i and The Coalition for multiplayer and so on.

Xbox has variety. They're positioned to offer the most diverse lineup of exclusives of any platform holder. That's what makes playing within their ecosystem so refreshing and exciting.

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Ratchet & Clank is way better than those other platformers that you mentioned. Also, if you have PSVR: Astrobot is simply mind blowing.

Not to mention that AAA action/adventure games are a pretty large category - it's arguably the most popular genre out there.

It's a little reductive to lump games like Spider-Man, Horizon Zero Dawn, Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, and God of War all in the same category just because they are single player. There is notable variety in there. And this doesn't take into account very different games like MLB The Show, Until Dawn, Resogun, VR Games, the upcoming Dreams, Concrete Genie, etc.

 

[solis74]

I don't think it's really sunk in yet that Ninja Theory, inXile, and Obsidian are part of Xbox Game Studios/MS. Mostly because they are making multiplats. But I actually sat and thought...damn, these studios are 1st party and it's finally feeling like an immense improvement to where they were a couple years ago

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indeed.

 

[Firenoh]

I think it makes a ton of sense to leave Halo Wars behind, because I think we'll get another game in the Halo universe that isn't a mainline game. Operating three separate game series (the mainline Halo games, Halo Wars, and a third series) would not help the perception that Microsoft doesn't have many franchises. Bringing back Age of Empires both gives Microsoft another franchise (especially one that's popular with PC gamers) and allows them to explore the Halo universe a bit more freely.

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IDK, Nintendo pumps out a ton of Mario games.
Mainline Mario, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario Paint, Mario Maker, Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi, & Mario is Missing.
But people still know Nintendo makes other games too. I don't think keeping a Halo spin-off series active would hurt Microsoft's image. Microsoft putting out any games regularly at all can only improve their image, in my mind.

 

[Ser Bloodraven]

I'd say quite the opposite.

You have your standard weapon archetypes (battle rifle, pistols, sniper, etc.) and while they don't change, you can upgrade and differentiate through mods, similar to ME1.

There might not be powers per se, but different armor mods could give you different cooldowns.

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The Halo universe is large and expansive enough to create a story-driven RPG that's canon but not directly related to Master Chief.

Halo's (and Gears') world to me has the potential to branch out like Star Wars stories do.

 

[solis74]

I just want a variety of unique experiences from MS, both big and small. And I think we'll get just that, in large part thanks to Game Pass. Really exciting times ahead.

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yeah should get better from here on out.

 

[statham]

hate to ask, but does every understand why the rumor 4tb and 12tb difference is okay? I at first was thinking the same thing, only 4tb? but when 4k takes 4x the power of 1080, you can do pretty much everything a 12TF 4k system does with only 4TF at 1080p, I know its not totally equal, but its close. and both are 4+, 12+, so expect higher.

They arenot making 2 4k systems, but 1 1080p and 1 4K. I hope I'm not being captain obvious. But some posts seem confused.