Microsoft
Microsoft came out swinging to kick off the Big Three’s set of major conferences with a strong showing, hitting all the major notes fans have been clamoring for. The conference introduced heavy-hitters like the newly-announced Halo Infinite, the latest entry in the massively popular Halo series. It was a strong start to the conference, despite only giving us a few brief seconds of footage, and a reminder that Microsoft is likely hard at work on plenty of other follow-ups just like that one, because it’s well aware of what people want. Introducing the sixth game in the franchise was the kick Microsoft needed to jumpstart what would end up being an excellent conference, and we’re all glad to see Master Chief again, even if it was for a few fleeting moments.
Other highlights included Gears of War 5, along with two spin-offs for mobile and PC in the form of Gears Pop and Gears Tactics, though the next numbered Gears entry will indeed be an exclusive. Crackdown 3 made an appearance with a trailer featuring Terry Crews wreaking havoc on the city, despite its delay, and Forza Horizon 4 stole the show in terms of realistic racers, bringing a ridiculous amount of content to the table and taking the series to Britain. Dying Light 2 will also prove to be an exciting entry in the series with a big emphasis on player choice, and a map four times the size of its predecessor.
The conference overall was structured in a cohesive and easy to follow manner, with big reveals for non-exclusives as well, like Devil May Cry 5 and Cyberpunk 2077, a game we’ve all been dying to hear more about. While the vast majority of game reveals from Microsoft weren’t all exclusive games, there was a veritable buffet of them to pick apart and analyze once the show was over, including new Sea of Thieves DLC and more information about PUBG’s console version, which remains solely on Xbox One and doesn’t appear to be coming to PlayStation 4 in the near future.
Overall, Microsoft had a strong showing, and kept the momentum going throughout its entire live show with the exclusives it had on tap. With big games that sizzled as well as the same grandiose scale we expect from the company, it offered a hopeful and exciting look into what’s planned for Xbox One and the muscle behind it as well. With a strong set of exclusives like the ones shown off during this conference, it’s easy to understand why folks are hyped to see what’s next from Microsoft.
