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The current number of Xbox 1st-party projects would have been unfathomable a few years ago!

Montresor

Montresor

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Oct 27, 2017
4,219
Picture 2018, a time when Microsoft and Xbox had come under well-deserved public scrutiny after cancelling Scalebound, cancelling a Phantom Dust project, closing down Lionhead, closing down Press Play, cutting ties with Twisted Pixel, and ending their 2nd-party / exclusivity relationship with Remedy. It was grim. Absolutely grim.

Then in E3 of 2018, Xbox adds 5 new studios: Playground Games, Ninja Theory, The Initiative, Undead Labs, and Compulsion Games. Over the coming months and year they would add another 3 new studios: Obsidian Entertainment, inXile Entertainment, and Double Fine. And then in September 2020, they add another 8 new studios with the purchase of Bethesda/Zenimax.

What looked like a grim 1st-party situation now looks much more promising. Below is the list of projects being worked on at Xbox first-party. If you gave me this list in 2018 I would have called you a stone cold liar.


  1. Confirmed projects:
    1. Age of Empires IV by Relic Entertainment (in collaboration with World's Edge)
    2. As Dusk Falls by INTERIOR/NIGHT, via XGS Publishing
    3. Avowed by Obsidian Entertainment
    4. Contraband by Avalanche Studios, via XGS Publishing
    5. Deathloop by Arkane Studios
    6. The Elder Scrolls VI by Bethesda Game Studios
    7. Everwild by Rare
    8. Fable by Playground Games
    9. Forza Horizon 5 by Playground Games
    10. Forza Motorsport by Turn10 Studios
    11. Ghostwire Tokyo by Tango Gameworks
    12. Grounded (full release) by Obsidian Entertainment
    13. Halo Infinite by 343 Industries
    14. Hellblade: Senua's Saga by Ninja Theory
    15. Indiana Jones by MachineGames
    16. Microsoft Flight Simulator (Xbox port) by Asobo Studios, via XGS Publishing
    17. The Outer Worlds 2 by Obsidian Entertainment
    18. Perfect Dark by The Initiative
    19. Project Mara by Ninja Theory
    20. Psychonauts 2 by Double Fine
    21. Redfall by Arkane Studios
    22. Starfield by Bethesda Game Studios
    23. State of Decay 3 by Undead Labs
  2. Rumoured or unannounced projects:
    1. Kojima's game, via XGS Publishing
    2. Project Dragon by IO Interactive, via XGS Publishing
    3. Whatever the various other 1st-party studios are working on, such as The Coalition, inXile Entertainment, Compulsion Games, iD Software, etc.
 
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SunBroDave

SunBroDave

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Oct 25, 2017
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Doesn't Obsidian have a third game in development, led by Josh Sawyer, aside from Avowed and Outer Worlds 2?
 
Governergrimm

Governergrimm

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Jun 25, 2019
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They have come such a long way. I am mostly glad they haven't pushed devs to release any games sooner. Imagine if they had forced 343 to release Infinite last year instead of giving it time. Or psychonauts or Deathloop. Let them make their games once everything under their umbrella starts producing it'll be an onslaught. I'm just glad they aren't forcing it anymore. Quality takes time.
 
Dunlop

Dunlop

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Oct 25, 2017
8,469
Add that all of these games will be available to people who sub to the Gamepass service, would have also been pretty hard to believe in 2018
 
ozumas

ozumas

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User Warned: Thread Derail; Platform Warring
Can somebody do this list but with ps studios? I think the difference is huge in terms of quantity isn't it?
 
Trago

Trago

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Oct 25, 2017
3,600
Granted, some of these are years out, but I agree.

It's night and day compared to what people were looking forward to last gen.
 
Jencks

Jencks

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Oct 25, 2017
8,451
OP I agree with you the Xbox ecosystem has become very compelling but this thread will devolve into list wars
 
DrFreeman

DrFreeman

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May 9, 2020
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A lot of credit goes to Phil Spencer but I'm sure there are others at Xbox who believed what it could become. There wasn't enough will there (clearly money wasn't an object) and once Satya came on board, Phil found a great partner and was able to start putting the pieces in place.

Now Xbox is in the best position it has ever been and primed to shake up the gaming industry in good ways.
 
ozumas

ozumas

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Dunlop said:
If the goal is to immediately explode this thread into console wars and get locked then...yes

:P
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No of course not, it wasn't my intention but seeing that list I was impress with the huge amount of games that are coming by xbox studios and wanted to know the ps list
 

Deleted member 68874

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It really is crazy to think about. They went from 5 first party studios to now having the largest first party in the industry.

Compulsion, InXile, Roundhouse, Obsidian, Rhe Coalition, Zenimax Online and id are all working on unannounced games as well.

This generation is going to be good for all platforms. It's a very exciting time in gaming.

Also wouldn't Crossfire X SP from Remedy count?
 
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DrFreeman

DrFreeman

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May 9, 2020
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Jencks said:
OP I agree with you the Xbox ecosystem has become very compelling but this thread will devolve into list wars
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As a PlayStation gamer most of my life, there's no question Xbox has more 1st party studios and exclusives in development. I can also appreciate what one platform is looking forward to without turning it into a war but that's just me haha.
 
Einchy

Einchy

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Oct 25, 2017
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My Xbox One collected dust the entirity of the last gen but you're essentailly required to own a Series S/X this time around.
 
rrc1594

rrc1594

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ozumas said:
yeah but maybe we don't know projects in production in xbox studios that are listed in op
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The big difference is MS needed to announce a lot of things early to show commitment to Xbox, while Sony doesn't need to do that. Xbox needed to kill the notion that they have no games.
 

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FarSight XR-20

FarSight XR-20

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Jan 4, 2018
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Mojang is working Minecraft Caves & Cliffs + 2 new unannounced games apparently.

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OCD Guy

OCD Guy

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Nov 2, 2017
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And despite that Sony has still managed to release more exclusive games on PS5 lol.

In all seriousness though after having purchased a series X recently I've been really impressed with gamepass.

I recently bought and converted 3 years Gold to take advantage of the $1/£1 deal and to think I'll be able to play all the exclusives without having to pay anymore is great.

Just Horizon 5 and Halo infinite campaign will give me back more than what a years Gold cost me.

While it's great having all the studio's I'm hoping Microsoft splashes the cash and gets some massive third party games on the service. That's just so I selfishly don't have to spend more than I have to.
 
christocolus

christocolus

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Oct 27, 2017
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It's crazy and there's obviously a lot more projects in the works from 1P and Publishing and more projects might join that list through possible acquisitions. Gamepass is one hungry baby.
 
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rrc1594

rrc1594

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Oct 25, 2017
9,772
OCD Guy said:
And despite that Sony has still managed to release more exclusive games on PS5 lol.

In all seriousness though after having purchased a series X recently I've been really impressed with gamepass.

I recently bought and converted 3 years Gold to take advantage of the $1/£1 deal and to think I'll be able to play all the exclusives without having to pay anymore is great.

While it's great having all the studio's I'm hoping Microsoft splashes the cash and gets some massive third party games on the service. That's just so I selfishly don't have to spend more than I have to.
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Yeah because Sony already had their shit together lol
 
Bede-x

Bede-x

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Oct 25, 2017
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It's an amazing list and shows how absolutely massive their first party is now.

The RPGs really do it for me, but it's also impressive how much variety they've got, running everything from MMOs to RTS to something like Flight Simulator. We're at the point where it's easily concievable to be a fan of their games, without caring at all about Halo, Gears and Forza.

One thing the list doesn't show is that they're also releasing content for several service games on top of it like Minecraft, Fallout 76, Elder Scrolls Online, Sea of Thieves etc.

If we count those, the studios that haven't announced their games and unknown partnerships, I'm starting to think they might have 40+ projects on the way, possibly even higher.
 
GooberDooberCBC

GooberDooberCBC

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Sep 7, 2020
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Just to make sure I preface my response. MS definitely needs to release these games and just because they have alot of compelling games on paper does not mean the games will be good. However, they have ALOT in the pipeline that we know about and we don't know about. It really is exciting to see. They are being very aggressive and we will continue to see content added via Gamepass, studio acquisitions, third-party partnerships, and more. It really is a good time to see what they can deliver on.
 
xxracerxx

xxracerxx

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Oct 25, 2017
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I mean...duh. That is what happens when you buy a lot of active studios. They have made great strides over the last 5 years.
 
BradleyLove

BradleyLove

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Oct 29, 2017
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I mean, if you buy an entire publisher then it's kind of expected, no? It's exciting times for Xbox, but let's be honest here—nothing about it is organic growth.

But if it works, it works /shrug
 
samcastor

samcastor

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Apr 21, 2021
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A couple years ago, Microsoft paying $8 Billion to acquire whole of Zenimax would also be just as unfathomable to most I think. Looking at the list, 6/23, so slightly over 25% are games that from Zenimax that now have Xbox's name attached to them as a result of this deal. Not trying to downplay their catalog but money works and Xbox finally got some weight of its gigantic parent company behind it recently so it should be expected that they are able to show something on paper at least. I look forward to how these games are received. I am even more curious to see the next wave of games that will be developed with full knowledge that they are "Gamepass games" so to speak and if that has any impact on the games and their design. Also curious to see the return on investment from their 1st party portfolio though I highly doubt that this will ever be revealed in clear terms.
 
Maple

Maple

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Oct 27, 2017
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What's crazy is that almost 20 of those are not coming out for the Xbox One and are Series X|S exclusive.
 
Governergrimm

Governergrimm

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Garrett 2U said:
And yet 40% of Era claims that Xbox has not changed the narrative about it having no games 🤔
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General opinion won't change until they've been releasing exclusives for a while. I understand honoring previous commitments but imagine the narrative if Wasteland 3, Deathloop, Ghost Wire Tokyo, Outer Worlds, and psychonauts 2 were all exclusives.
 
Yautja_Warrior

Yautja_Warrior

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Oct 25, 2017
11,691
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Yep Xbox has a lot coming in the future, just a shame they didn't invest in Studio's a lot sooner, last gen, so the wait for a lot of these games wouldn't be so long.

It's crazy it took close to a whole year, since Series X/S came out, to get their first 2, big 1st party games out the door (Forza and Halo Infinite)
 
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