Xbox Boss Comments on Possibility of a First-Party Battle Royale Game

Battle royale games are the hottest genre that everyone appears to be latching onto, but Xbox's Phil Spencer says that Microsoft isn't looking to create a first-party take on the trend just to cash in on the success of others.

With how popular the various battle royale games like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds are right now, it's no wonder that some players would be looking to their console creators for some sort of exclusive battle royale game. One Twitter user directed a question at Spencer, the head of Xbox, to ask if the battle royale genre is a subject that's being discussed internally at Microsoft, specifically by any of the company's first-party developers. Spencer responded and gave the genre the credit it's earned while adding that he'd rather support the third-party developers that are already working on the games unless Microsoft's teams can come up with something truly different.

Millions are playing BR games right now. I don't want to just build one because others have built them. FNBR is massive, PUBG is huge, new BR variants being built by some very quality devs, I'd rather support unless we find something special in 1P that's a different take.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 29, 2018

Exclusives have been on ongoing point of discussion within the Xbox community with those at Microsoft as well as players commenting on the console's current state of first-party games, so it's not hard to imagine the idea of a battle royale game on the Xbox One and Windows PCs has crossed gamers' minds. Though PUBG is also on PC via Steam, Microsoft does have that game under its belt at the moment since it's only on the Xbox One as far as consoles are concerned and hasn't yet come to the PlayStation 4.

I imagine BR in Halo.
- No spartans but ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers)
- Players could be all dropped in map by odst's capsules
- UNSC weapons and vehicules
- Beautiful Artistic Direction of Halo Universe
- The zone may could be "the flood" march

What do you think ? :)

— Cyril Bigas (@cyrilbigas) April 30, 2018

However, there is one series that was suggested as a possible Microsoft candidate for a battle royale twist. One Twitter user pitched the idea of a Halo Battle Royale title, and it's not the first time that it's been mentioned. 343 Industries teased a game of the same name this year for April Fool's, but even though many recognized it as a joke, even more suggested that the idea wasn't a bad one at all. No such game has been announced though, so Halo fans will have to just keep hoping.