Rightisright
Banned
I would like to keep this troll free, so no "MS cant compete with Sony" or "Halo ist shit" posts thanks.
So Microsoft has bought up a number of studios and created some new ones.
What type of games does MS need to close the gap with Sony?
At this point we have this.
Turn 10 - Puts out Forza. No need to change anything here. Forza is a top of the line racing SIM, and while you may prefer other car franchises like Project or GT, reality is that Xbox has a top of the line car SIM with Forza.
343i - Taking care of the Halo franchise, and from what is being rumoured, Infinite is the biggest budget of any game ever at a half a billion dollars. There is alot of time, effort and money going into this game. Halo is one of the big franchises in the FPS.
The Coalition - Currently working on Gears 6. The Coalition is a high level studio, and Gears is one of bigger name shooter franchise around there.
Playground Games - Rumoured to be working on the next Fable game. PG did amazing things with the Horizon games. Quality developer and they should put out a beautiful looking game here.
Not sure what is happening with the next installment of Horizon. Could be that when MS bought PG they split them into two teams, one working on Horizon, and one working on Fable? What ever happens, MS will have another Horizons.
Ninja Theory - NT is a small studio known for their graphics. A really good purchase for MS, and one that wouldn't have cost a heap of cash. Hellblade 2 looks stunning so far, and with the extra resources they will get from being owned by MS, I think Hellblade 2 is going to far surpass anything Hellblade 1 did. Another exciting action third party game for the MS stable.
Rare - Currently working on a new IP called Everwild. Not alot of info about it, but looks like an RPG. After Sea Of Thieves hopefully Rare has their mojo back.
Rumour has it that Rare are also overseeing the development of a new Perfect Dark game.
What ever else Rare gives, it will provide that new and experimental vision, one that alot of people ask for.
Undead Labs - Working no doubt on the next installment of State of Decay. I enjoyed the game, and I expect after the MS buyout the next game will have more resources and should be bug free and fun. Another worthy addition to the survival genre.
World's Edge - Set up exclusively by MS to run the Age of Empire franchise. Not my type of game, by ALOT of people like these RTS games, and it has a following.
Obsidian Entertainment - Bought out by MS, but their last game Outer Worlds was released on PS4 as well, as a publishing deal was done prior to the acquisition. Outer world's was quite well received winning best new game and best RPG in a number of games awards.
So they will be working on an exclusive RPG for MS from now on and have a good pedigree for RPGs.
inXile Entertainment - Another RPG studio that is working on Wasteland 3. After the buyout MS increased their resources and this will result in a better game.
Unfortunately for MS, inXile crowdfunded the original development of Wasteland 3 and looks like they are obliged to release the game on PS4. However, they maybe able to make it exclusive to XSX and not release it on PS5. BC will make it available on PS5, but it wont be enhanced like a XSX version would be. Time will tell.
But regardless, another RPG studio.
Double Fine Studios - Purchased in 2019 by MS, DF is in the same situation as some of the other recently acquired studios in that their next game Psychonauts 2 received alot of its early funding with the requirement of multi platform release. So, Psychonauts 2 will also be on PS4 as well as Xbox. Of interesting note is that if DF had received PS5 dev kits prior to MS buying them and how this would play out at Sony. Things to make you go hmm..
But after Psychonauts all future games will be Xbox exclusives.
DF would not have been expensive and the cost would outweigh the annoyance of a MS studio releasing games on PS. Psychonauts is a platformer games, and this company will give MS another divergence from just shooters and cars.
Compulsion Games - Not alot known about a possible new games from them. After releasing the We Happy Few games they have been busy doing DLC for it. It's another kooky studio like DF so it will give another original type game option for MS.
Again, wouldn't have cost much and with MS as owners you would expect a large increase in resources, so whatever comes next should be of bigger scope than previous games.
The Initiative - MS set the Initiative to be their next big time, high profile studio. They have poached top talent from other studios and are ramping up their development of some unknown new IP. I expect a third person adventure/action game to go against the likes of Uncharted and GOW. Look forward to what they do.
Outside of their studios MS is also going to release the new version of Flight Simulator. I think this game could be a big deal once it has released. Nothing else like it on PS, and a game of such scope that it would be pretty hard for Sony to try and copy it.
So all in all I think MS has the car genre covered with Forza and Horizons. RPGs and RTS are covered, and it has some good action franchises like Halo and Gears. Some of the smaller IPs like State of Decay will benefit from MSs ownership.
I think MS needs to add some more FPS and third party adventure games. These are the big sellers typically, and so I would like to see MS buyout a couple of studios like 4A games and Techland.
Some high level third person story driven hames to counter the likes of GOW and Uncharted/TLOU need to be a priority.
So it's going to be an interesting few years to see how these studios produce.
What do people think
So Microsoft has bought up a number of studios and created some new ones.
What type of games does MS need to close the gap with Sony?
At this point we have this.
Turn 10 - Puts out Forza. No need to change anything here. Forza is a top of the line racing SIM, and while you may prefer other car franchises like Project or GT, reality is that Xbox has a top of the line car SIM with Forza.
343i - Taking care of the Halo franchise, and from what is being rumoured, Infinite is the biggest budget of any game ever at a half a billion dollars. There is alot of time, effort and money going into this game. Halo is one of the big franchises in the FPS.
The Coalition - Currently working on Gears 6. The Coalition is a high level studio, and Gears is one of bigger name shooter franchise around there.
Playground Games - Rumoured to be working on the next Fable game. PG did amazing things with the Horizon games. Quality developer and they should put out a beautiful looking game here.
Not sure what is happening with the next installment of Horizon. Could be that when MS bought PG they split them into two teams, one working on Horizon, and one working on Fable? What ever happens, MS will have another Horizons.
Ninja Theory - NT is a small studio known for their graphics. A really good purchase for MS, and one that wouldn't have cost a heap of cash. Hellblade 2 looks stunning so far, and with the extra resources they will get from being owned by MS, I think Hellblade 2 is going to far surpass anything Hellblade 1 did. Another exciting action third party game for the MS stable.
Rare - Currently working on a new IP called Everwild. Not alot of info about it, but looks like an RPG. After Sea Of Thieves hopefully Rare has their mojo back.
Rumour has it that Rare are also overseeing the development of a new Perfect Dark game.
What ever else Rare gives, it will provide that new and experimental vision, one that alot of people ask for.
Undead Labs - Working no doubt on the next installment of State of Decay. I enjoyed the game, and I expect after the MS buyout the next game will have more resources and should be bug free and fun. Another worthy addition to the survival genre.
World's Edge - Set up exclusively by MS to run the Age of Empire franchise. Not my type of game, by ALOT of people like these RTS games, and it has a following.
Obsidian Entertainment - Bought out by MS, but their last game Outer Worlds was released on PS4 as well, as a publishing deal was done prior to the acquisition. Outer world's was quite well received winning best new game and best RPG in a number of games awards.
So they will be working on an exclusive RPG for MS from now on and have a good pedigree for RPGs.
inXile Entertainment - Another RPG studio that is working on Wasteland 3. After the buyout MS increased their resources and this will result in a better game.
Unfortunately for MS, inXile crowdfunded the original development of Wasteland 3 and looks like they are obliged to release the game on PS4. However, they maybe able to make it exclusive to XSX and not release it on PS5. BC will make it available on PS5, but it wont be enhanced like a XSX version would be. Time will tell.
But regardless, another RPG studio.
Double Fine Studios - Purchased in 2019 by MS, DF is in the same situation as some of the other recently acquired studios in that their next game Psychonauts 2 received alot of its early funding with the requirement of multi platform release. So, Psychonauts 2 will also be on PS4 as well as Xbox. Of interesting note is that if DF had received PS5 dev kits prior to MS buying them and how this would play out at Sony. Things to make you go hmm..
But after Psychonauts all future games will be Xbox exclusives.
DF would not have been expensive and the cost would outweigh the annoyance of a MS studio releasing games on PS. Psychonauts is a platformer games, and this company will give MS another divergence from just shooters and cars.
Compulsion Games - Not alot known about a possible new games from them. After releasing the We Happy Few games they have been busy doing DLC for it. It's another kooky studio like DF so it will give another original type game option for MS.
Again, wouldn't have cost much and with MS as owners you would expect a large increase in resources, so whatever comes next should be of bigger scope than previous games.
The Initiative - MS set the Initiative to be their next big time, high profile studio. They have poached top talent from other studios and are ramping up their development of some unknown new IP. I expect a third person adventure/action game to go against the likes of Uncharted and GOW. Look forward to what they do.
Outside of their studios MS is also going to release the new version of Flight Simulator. I think this game could be a big deal once it has released. Nothing else like it on PS, and a game of such scope that it would be pretty hard for Sony to try and copy it.
So all in all I think MS has the car genre covered with Forza and Horizons. RPGs and RTS are covered, and it has some good action franchises like Halo and Gears. Some of the smaller IPs like State of Decay will benefit from MSs ownership.
I think MS needs to add some more FPS and third party adventure games. These are the big sellers typically, and so I would like to see MS buyout a couple of studios like 4A games and Techland.
Some high level third person story driven hames to counter the likes of GOW and Uncharted/TLOU need to be a priority.
So it's going to be an interesting few years to see how these studios produce.
What do people think