I honestly think Xbox is great. But, worldwide its appeal is not good. I spend an obscene amount of time playing on Xbox, but every great game that I love playing just isn't having the success it's expected to have: from Quantum Break to Sunset Overdrive to D4 to Gears of War 4. I don't want them to stop making the games I enjoy playing. Here's what I would do if I was Phil Spencer:
1) 343's next two projects should not be a main line Halo FPS. For the next 6-8 years, 343 should be focused on two projects: Perfect Dark 3 and a Mass Effect style Halo RPG. First-person shooting is 343's bread and butter - they are excellent at the genre. Perfect Dark 3 is an old Rare IP, and hasn't had a game in almost a decade, and having someone of 343's stature make a new FPS game that isn't Halo and is a totally different IP would be fantastic. Also, Halo's universe and world-building is phenomenal. They should leverage that and make a big western space exploration RPG that involves Spartans, the Covenant, Halo rings, planets like Reach, Earth, different monitors like 343 Guilty Spark. Include high intrigue and drama between the UNSC, Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, Cortana, the Arbiter, etc... Basically take the universe that the Halo trilogy was a part of, and spin that into Mass EFfect.
2) Rare should become a new IP factory - there should be a mandate that for the next 6 years they do not make any sequels. Give them the time they need to polish Sea of Thieves to excellence. Once that's done, it's on to the next one (new IP). If Sea of Thieves is a hit, then contract a talented 2nd/3rd-party developer to do the ground work on a sequel, while Rare works on some new IP. At the same time, leverage Rare's old IPs, like Perfect Dark 3 (giving that to 343) or Banjo Kazooie 3 (give that to Playtonic). Rare can provide input/leadership on those projects, like they did with Killer Instinct.
3) The Coalition and Remedy need to make single player DLC for Gears of War 4 and Quantum Break. We should have already had trailers for some DLC involving Kait and JD (for Gears 4) or some DLC involving Jack Joyce and Beth Wilder (for Quantum Break).
4) Microsoft can't allow big 3rd-parties to skip them anymore. This January to March period really should have been Horizon Zero Dawn versus Zelda Breath of the Wild versus Halo Wars 2. Each company basically had one internally-developed 1st party game. But it was more than that. It turned out to be Guilty Gear + Yakuza 0 + Nioh + 999 + Virtue's Last Reward + Persona 5 + Tales of + Nier Automata + Zelda Breath of the Wild versus Halo Wars 2.
I mean what the fuck. Those third-party games should be coming on Microsoft's system, and the fact that they didn't is a huge failure from Microsoft. Whatever the reason, Microsoft has to fix it. Is it that the audience that buys those games doesn't exist on Xbox? Microsoft should cultivate a strategy to win back that audience.
Imagine a January to March period where the following happens: Sony gets these releases: Killzone 4, Assassin's Creed 7, Black Ops 4, Battlefield 5, Madden, NBA2K, GTA6. And Microsoft releases Banjo Kazooie 3. That's basically what happened. Microsoft and Sony releasing one internally-developed game (Killzone versus Banjo) but a myriad other 3rd-party games were exclusive to PS4. Why should anyone buy an Xbox over a PS4 in that scenario?
5) Microsoft should have parity with Sony when it comes to any sort of publishing leniency. What I mean is: Sony doesn't have a 50k print limit for discs. Microsoft does. Because of this, PS4 fans get a Shovel Knight physical release. Microsoft doesn't. Also, Sony doesn't have any sort of indie clauses enforcing certain release dates or content. Microsoft does. Presumably because of this, there are a myriad of games that aren't releasing on Xbox. For fuck's sake, Fez and Dust Elysian Tail were released on PS4 but not on Xbox. Microsoft needs to fix that.
1) 343's next two projects should not be a main line Halo FPS. For the next 6-8 years, 343 should be focused on two projects: Perfect Dark 3 and a Mass Effect style Halo RPG. First-person shooting is 343's bread and butter - they are excellent at the genre. Perfect Dark 3 is an old Rare IP, and hasn't had a game in almost a decade, and having someone of 343's stature make a new FPS game that isn't Halo and is a totally different IP would be fantastic. Also, Halo's universe and world-building is phenomenal. They should leverage that and make a big western space exploration RPG that involves Spartans, the Covenant, Halo rings, planets like Reach, Earth, different monitors like 343 Guilty Spark. Include high intrigue and drama between the UNSC, Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, Cortana, the Arbiter, etc... Basically take the universe that the Halo trilogy was a part of, and spin that into Mass EFfect.
2) Rare should become a new IP factory - there should be a mandate that for the next 6 years they do not make any sequels. Give them the time they need to polish Sea of Thieves to excellence. Once that's done, it's on to the next one (new IP). If Sea of Thieves is a hit, then contract a talented 2nd/3rd-party developer to do the ground work on a sequel, while Rare works on some new IP. At the same time, leverage Rare's old IPs, like Perfect Dark 3 (giving that to 343) or Banjo Kazooie 3 (give that to Playtonic). Rare can provide input/leadership on those projects, like they did with Killer Instinct.
3) The Coalition and Remedy need to make single player DLC for Gears of War 4 and Quantum Break. We should have already had trailers for some DLC involving Kait and JD (for Gears 4) or some DLC involving Jack Joyce and Beth Wilder (for Quantum Break).
4) Microsoft can't allow big 3rd-parties to skip them anymore. This January to March period really should have been Horizon Zero Dawn versus Zelda Breath of the Wild versus Halo Wars 2. Each company basically had one internally-developed 1st party game. But it was more than that. It turned out to be Guilty Gear + Yakuza 0 + Nioh + 999 + Virtue's Last Reward + Persona 5 + Tales of + Nier Automata + Zelda Breath of the Wild versus Halo Wars 2.
I mean what the fuck. Those third-party games should be coming on Microsoft's system, and the fact that they didn't is a huge failure from Microsoft. Whatever the reason, Microsoft has to fix it. Is it that the audience that buys those games doesn't exist on Xbox? Microsoft should cultivate a strategy to win back that audience.
Imagine a January to March period where the following happens: Sony gets these releases: Killzone 4, Assassin's Creed 7, Black Ops 4, Battlefield 5, Madden, NBA2K, GTA6. And Microsoft releases Banjo Kazooie 3. That's basically what happened. Microsoft and Sony releasing one internally-developed game (Killzone versus Banjo) but a myriad other 3rd-party games were exclusive to PS4. Why should anyone buy an Xbox over a PS4 in that scenario?
5) Microsoft should have parity with Sony when it comes to any sort of publishing leniency. What I mean is: Sony doesn't have a 50k print limit for discs. Microsoft does. Because of this, PS4 fans get a Shovel Knight physical release. Microsoft doesn't. Also, Sony doesn't have any sort of indie clauses enforcing certain release dates or content. Microsoft does. Presumably because of this, there are a myriad of games that aren't releasing on Xbox. For fuck's sake, Fez and Dust Elysian Tail were released on PS4 but not on Xbox. Microsoft needs to fix that.
