OT, Part 1
Welcome, Moon-and-Star, to Xbox Game Studios |OTXII|, the place where destiny is made. Why have you come unprepared? Come, Nerevar. Friend or traitor, come. Come and look upon the future of gaming. I welcome you.
Xbox Game 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.
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection PC version (in conjunction with Ruffian and Splash Damage)
- Unknown project
Noteworthy Persons: Will be updated pending more information.
Studio Size: ~300 employees
Notable Releases:
- Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (XB1, Win10 | 2015 | Metascore 82/73)
- Gears of War 4 (XB1, Win10 | 2016 | Metascore 84/86)
- Gears Pop! (Mobile | 2019 )
- Gears of War 5 (XB1, Win10 | 2019 | Metascore 85/82)
- Gears Tactics (PC | 2020 | Metascore 81)
Upcoming Projects and Rumors:
- TBA
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 (XB1, Win10 | 2018 | Metascore 92/88)
- Forza Motorsport 8 (potentially just called Forza Motorsport)
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"
- Partnership with Dlala Studios to create Battletoads
- Everwild
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)
- Minecraft Earth (iOS, Android | 2019)
- Minecraft Dungeons (XB1, PS4, Switch, PC | 2020 | Metascore 75)
- TBA
Noteworthy Persons: Gavin Raeburn (Studio Head), Trevor Williams (Studio Head), Ralph Fulton (Creative Director)
Studio Size: ~240 employees
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 (XB1, Win10 | 2018 | Metascore 92/88)
- Brand new Fable
- Third team being created, as per rumor (citation needed)
Noteworthy Persons: Nina Kristensen (Chief Development Director), Tameem Antoniades (Chief Creative Director), Wil Driver (CTO), Joe Nelson (Game Director)
Studio Size: ~140 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)
- Star Wars: Vader Immortal Episode I (Oculus Quest, PC | 2019)
- Star Wars: Vader Immortal Episode II (Oculus Quest, PC | 2019)
- Star Wars: Vader Immortal Episode III (Oculus Quest, PC | 2019)
- Bleeding Edge (XB1, PC | 2020 | Metascore 66/62)
- Hellblade II: Senua's Saga (XB1, XSX, PC)
- Project Mara
- Project Insight
Noteworthy Persons: Darrell Gallagher (Studio Head), Dan Staley, Christian Cantamessa, Brian Westergaard, Dan Neuburger, and Tom Shepard
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.
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
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 (XB1, PS4, PC | 2018 | Metascore 65/68/62)
- Unannounced third person game
Noteworthy Persons: Feargus Urquhart (CEO), Chris Jones (CTO)
Studio Size: ~190 Employees
Notable Releases:
- Fallout: New Vegas (360, PS3, PC | 2010 | Metascore 84/82/84)
- South Park: The Stick of Truth (360, PS3, XB1, PS4, Switch, PC | 2014 | Metascore 82/85/85/85)
- Pillars of Eternity (PC | 2015 | Metascore 89),
- The Outer Worlds (XB1, PS4, PC, Switch | 2019 | Metascore 86/85/82/NA)
- Grounded (XB1, PC | 2020 | EARLY ACCESS)
- Josh Sawyer's Project Missouri
- Avowed, a new Skyrim-like RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe
- The Outer Worlds DLC
Noteworthy Persons: Brian Fargo (Founder and based in Newport Beach, CA), Matt Findley (former president, NOLA Studio Head), George Ziets
Studio Size: ~80 Employees
Notable Releases:
- Wasteland 2 (XB1, PS4, Switch, PC | 2015 | Metascore 77/80/74/87) [Newport Beach Studio]
- Torment: Tides of Numenera (XB1, PS4, PC | 2017 | Metascore 79/76/81) [Newport Beach Studio]
- The Bards' Tale IV: Barrows Deep (PS4, XB1, PC, macOS, Linux | 2018 | Metascore 71) [NOLA Studio]
- Wasteland 3 [Newport Beach Studio]
- Wasteland: Remastered (XB1, PC)
- Unannounced AAA RPG
Noteworthy Persons: Tim Schafer (Studio Head/Lead Developer)
Studio Size: ~73 Employees
Notable Releases:
- Psychonauts
- Brütal Legend
- Costume Quest
- The Cave
- Broken Age
- Grim Fandango Remastered
- Massive Chalice
- Psychonauts 2 (XB1, PS4, PC, macOS, Linux | 2020)
- Untitled online multiplayer game
Noteworthy Persons: Shannon Loftis (Studio Head)
Studio Size: Unknown
Notable Releases:
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (PC | 2019)
- Age of Empires IV (2020), in conjunction with Relic Entertainment
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (2020)
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