Microsoft showed up in a fairly large way at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, and with Sony sitting this year out, they aimed to take up as much of the spotlight as they could. With a plethora of video games in tow, the company debuted many first looks and cinematic trailers for upcoming titles. However, while not every major franchise was not present during the show, the likes of Halo and Gears was in attendance. The reason for this, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, this is due to the fact of their now stacked roster of studios and it allowing them an opportunity to give developers more time with their games.
During a recent interview with Kotaku, Spencer discussed how they are able to focus on what is happening now and what is to come in the near future, rather than focusing on projects that are still some time off. “I think about of the 14 first-party games, 12 are shipping in the next year,” Spencer said. “We were really able to focus on what’s coming now, which I think is awesome. And then I think about the studios: where was Initiative? Where was [Forza Motorsport studio] Turn 10? Where was Playground’s second team?
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“It was nice, and this hasn’t always been the case with our first-party line-up, where we’ve had the ability to not show everything all the time. In the case of Forza, I want the team, just like we did 343 [Industries].
“We gave them time—we did, what, four Halos in four years?—giving them an opportunity to really think and have a creative impact when they launch. Turn 10 is similar. I want to give them time to think through their plans.”
Spencer went on to say how they must listen to their studios in order to know when they need time to accomplish what they want with any given game. He also mentions how having plenty of studios working on things allows this to happen. “And as you have more content, you’re able to do that,” he said.
All of that said, Halo Infinite will likely be a big focus of Xbox’s E3 2020 show alongside Project Scarlett itself. As for what’s next from Turn 10, Forza Motorsport 8 is currently in the early stages of development, which means we might be seeing it as a launch title for the next generation of Xbox as well.
What do you think about all of this? Are you glad that Microsoft has been able to acquire more studios, allowing others to take their time with games? Sound off in the comment section below, or feel free to hit me up over on Twitter @anarkE7!
