Xbox Game Studios Has A Goal to Deliver A New Game Every 3 to 4 Months - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 08 June 2020 / 3,179 Views
Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, speaking with GamesRadar said that the goal with the 15 first-party studios is to release a new game every three to four months.
"When we think about these 15 studios that we now have… we've been on this journey of working with new creators and we've been on this journey to bring them all into the fold," said Booty.
"You wake up one day and realise that you have reached this critical mass; that this nuclear reactor is beginning to glow. The question now is how do we now make sure that we can get behind that and use it to deliver going forward?
"We feel really good heading into 2020. We've got a goal of being able to deliver a game, roughly, every three to four months. We have a little bit of work to do to get there. It'll be lumpy, but we’re closer than we were. And so we feel really good going into 2020 – and the run-up to Project Scarlett – with our content line-up."
Booty added that it is important that there is more than just first-party games, but also third-party partnerships. He specifically mentioned video game series Yakuza, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy coming to Xbox One that was announced at X019.
"I think we've certainly felt more confident and proud to be able to talk about first-party lately," he added. "However, I think it's super important to remember that content comes under Xbox through three avenues. So there is Xbox Game Studios; that's our first-party.
"There's our third party, and we have got a tremendous volume of content coming in through third-party partnerships – and that includes things like we announced at X019, with series like Yakuza, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy coming to Xbox.
"And then there's this third avenue of content, which comes in through ID@Xbox; I'm always amazed by ID@Xbox, they put up these montage trailers that go on for like 20-minutes [laughs]. I'm blown away by the success that we've had with that programme.
"I don't think there's been a shift… no one, at least in Redmond, would say: 'Oh, we've shifted from third-party over to first-party.' Sarah Bond, who leads our third-party team, is out there day in and day out working with our third-party partners.
"If you were to sit in a meeting back at Redmond, I think you would hear an equal amount of talk about first-party, third-party, and ID@Xbox. We take that altogether as our content stream. I think it’s just that, lately, we felt a little more proud about talking about what we’ve got going on with first-party."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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lets hope for a few new IPs in these time frames
Well Rare and Obsidian already have new IPs. Personally I'm not that concerned with new IPs when plenty of old ones could be revamped into something great and fresh as well.
Just an example, the problem with Spiderman wasn't its an old IP. A talented studio finally just did something great with it.
@Mr Puggly. Exactly, I keep scratching my head every time I hear this "New IPs" talk. Like, shouldn't we be asking for GOOD games instead? I mean, GoW, Uncharted 4, BotW, Mario Odyssey, FH4, GTAV, etc. were not new IPs. Should've people said no to any of these games just because they were not "New IPs"?
Thats`s a good ratio and most of theese studiosdelivered good quality games as well, so let the games go on^^
I don't believe anything Microsoft says about game output when every single year since 2013 they always tout next year as THE year for XBone. It has yet to happen. Still a rather diminutive library of exclusives.
@aiwass: They had games, just as much 1st party content as there competitors, just not many hit the critically acclaimed territory. MS are planning to fix its game output and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. 15+ with most having two teams each are not going to sit around and do nothing.
great , because all will be free on game pass and people can play on PC or xcloud
Swap "free" with "available."
It appears they're just throwing around numbers that sound good. Last time it was 4-5 BIG games per year. Now it's one game every 3-4 months, making it 3-4 games per year. Roughly. This time no budget category.
I think they are talking a little to early and will be burned by it. And of course we will hear a lot of damage control about it.
Between 1st party and 3rd party content, games launch on Gamepass regularly already.
They also said they have 15 studios now. That means they can achieve this goal if each studio can make a new game every 3 years.
Most importantly, this is about pushing Gamepass. That needs new content constantly to encourage subscriptions. If it fails, oh well. Sony and Nintendo have failures as well. How is Playstation TV doing?
They may have 15 teams, but they don't have a good track on launching a constant stream of games (and counting multiplatform games is kinda strange since there are many more than one every 3 months anyway), so they saying that so early in the game just mean people complaining as early as next year that there isn't a game launching in that quarter. It will take quite some time for them to really be able to launch this many games.
Unless you guys are expecting not that good games the 3 year average for next gen won't really be enough for AAA games shooting for the stars.
With 15 studios some studios could take 4 or 5 years. Other studios making smaller games could fill voids with more frequent releases. Then you have 3rd party studios making games, such as Age of Empire IV.
OK, so how soon can we start complaining if no exclusive is launched in a 4 month window? It have been like what 6 months since they purchased those studios right?
Maybe they hyped a bunch of nonexclusive content coming to Gamepass because they cant hype exclusives soon. At best, they can get maybe 4 notable games on Gamepass in 2020.
Its worth noting Outerworlds came to Gamepass due to the purchase of Obsidian. I suspect other nonexclusives from studios they purchased will launch on Gamepass as well.
Unless its delayed, Bleeding Edge is coming in March. Wasteland 3 wont be exclusive but may launch on Gamepass. Then you numerous indie games and ports launching on Gamepass.
Perhaps the confidence is due to the amount of content launching on Gamepass early in 2020 even if its not exclusive.
Doesn't make much sense to say they will have a game every 3 or 4 months added to gamepass, as that have been happening for a while. He is linking the purchase of studios, so having 15, to exclusives launching every 3 or 4 months on Xbox and that is where I'm saying it is a little to soon to talk about because that can generate unnecessary complains when they not delivery it.
In early 2020 their studios planning on launching Bleeding Edge, Wasteland 3 and the Ori sequel.
Maybe other content is coming in late 2020 like Halo, AoE, Forza, etc.
So it seems the middle of year might be empty with new 1st party content. Meanwhile 3rd party ports and indie games are going to launch on the service throughout 2020. Either way, Gamepass is still a great value even in that scenario.
Oh, and I guess Battletoads is coming someday. In retrospect MS can already release a game ever 3 or 4 months.
What they really need to improve is more frequent releases of AA/AAA content.
So, the last news bit from 5 days ago was 4 to 5 AAA games every year....The distinction between that goal, and the target in this goal is minimal, separated only perhaps in the securing of an AAA third party exclusive. The amount of PR noise from MS/Xbox is, to my recollection, heretofore unseen in the industry. To the point where veritable clone articles regarding Xbox has almost become normalized. Maybe it will pay off for them to some degree. As much as the brand has suffered, it still has clout. Maybe it will be viewed with cynicism. Or indifference. And Bill? Please, never take anything I may say about the predominance of very similar Xbox stories in the news cycle on VGC as a slight against you. It is what it is, and they certainly seem to gain traction.
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