Microsoft has had a quiet year in 2022 in terms of first-party game releases. However, 2023 has been one of the biggest years in Xbox history with the release of several first-party titles – and that’s the kind of momentum the company plans to take forward.
In 2019, Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty revealed that Microsoft wanted to launch a new first-party title every quarter. The company has doubled down on that promise in 2021 and reiterated its commitment to bring “at least four first-party games a year” earlier in June.
Microsoft kicked off the year with the surprise release of Hi-Fi Rush and followed it up with Minecraft Legends. However, things went a bit south with the highly anticipated release of Redfall in May. Phil Spencer was disappointed with the release of the vampire shooter as it was launched in a seemingly unfinished state.
The company now focusing all its attention on the highly anticipated release of Starfield next week. Microsoft has high hopes that the upcoming space RPG from Bethesda will kick off a string of first-party releases on Xbox. Jerret West, chief marketing officer for Xbox, said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that he is really excited about the release of Starfield on September 6.
“This is, in my mind, the doorway, almost like a starting gun, to what I think is going to be a multi-year relay race of first-party titles,” West said, somewhat puzzlingly. Starfield may be hyped up, but this seems like a weird line to draw when Microsoft has steadily released first-party games already.
“I was sitting there watching the same [Starfield presentation] you were this morning and I was like… this is really the start of something that’s going to then lead to Forza, then in 2024 as we go to Hellblade, and we think about Towerborne which is on the show floor, we think about Avowed, and we’ve got stories we haven’t told yet as well, that are going to unfurl in 2024 and 2025.”
He adds, “And then if you layer in also, Game Pass and the third-party relationships that we have… I think we are entering a period where this is the beginning of something that’s going to be really special over the course of the next several years.
Phil Spencer is also very confident that Microsoft can deliver on its promise to release four first-party titles in 2024. “We have talked about it as an aspiration, now we talk about it as our plan,” Spencer said. While hopeful, this does ultimately feel like a lot of corporate flower babble hyping up the company for stakeholders.
Earlier this year, Microsoft said that while it aims to release four first-party exclusives each year, the company still needs to “balance that out with careful consideration for each project’s needs.” Xbox plans to also focus on growing its existing gaming communities for games like The Elder Scrolls Online, Sea of Thieves, Minecraft, and Forza.
Having a multiyear release plan will surely be good for Xbox. Having a constant stream of exclusives that players want to try out will boost the console’s viability and get more players on the platform. The Xbox Game Pass will also benefit from having a parade of big games on the subscription service.
Starfield is coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 6. Players can purchase the premium bundles to have five days early access starting September 1.
