New Exclusive IP Announcements
Realistic Things to Expect from Microsoft in 2018
If there’s been one thing holding Microsoft back in recent years, it’s been its rather meager exclusive offerings. Sure, Gears of War 4 was sublime back in 2016, and 2017’s Forza Motorsport 7 and Cuphead were delightful treats towards the tail-end of the year, but these infrequent gems aren’t enough to keep up with Sony’s comprehensive library of first and third-party exclusives.
This is something that the company is seemingly already aware of, if Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s interview with Bloomberg in November last year is anything to go by. “We need to grow, and I look forward to doing that. Our ability to go create content has to be one of our strengths. We haven’t always invested at the same level. We’ve gone through ups and downs in the investment.” As such, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft’s E3 focus this year be all about exclusive software coming in the foreseeable future. Something to get Xbox fans excited right now, not four years later (we’re lookin’ at you, Crackdown 3). Be this through direct acquisitions of existing developers as we’ve already heard around the rumor mill, or by directly investing in and opening up more first-party studios itself remains to be seen.
