5 Unanswered Questions We Still Have After Microsoft’s E3 2018 Conference

What’s Exclusive and What’s Not?

Unanswered Questions We Still Have After Microsoft’s E3 2018 Conference

Microsoft’s E3 2018 press conference was packed with tons of new trailers and world premieres, but one big question we have is which games are exclusive to Microsoft and which aren’t? To be more specific, the new Gears of War Funko Pop and tactics games were listed as “world premieres” but not “exclusives,” which is odd, especially considering how Microsoft is usually pretty on the ball with labeling their exclusive titles like Halo and Forza Horizon 4.

We also got a glimpse of a few other promising titles like the indie game Tunic, along with another look at We Happy Few. Will these games continue to be exclusive to the Xbox One and Microsoft’s Play Anywhere program, or will they eventually come to other platforms as well?

About Those Newly Acquired Studios

Unanswered Questions We Still Have After Microsoft’s E3 2018 Conference

Along with announcing new games and showing off world premieres, Microsoft also took the time to talk about a few developing studios that they’ve recently acquired. These studios are Playground, Undead Labs, and Ninja Theory. Microsoft has been working with Playground and Undead Labs for a while now, and Ninja Theory is the real, notable pickup here. Acquiring the studio is all very well and good here, but we want to know if Ninja Theory is working on any new projects for the Xbox One.

When you compare Microsoft’s first-party exclusives to Sony’s, it’s clear that the latter has a very strong focus on story-driven games with well-written narratives. Ninja Theory is certainly a studio capable of crafting great stories, as evidenced by the recent Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. We’d like to know more about what they’re working on for the Xbox One now.

What’s the New Studio Working On?

Unanswered Questions We Still Have After Microsoft’s E3 2018 Conference

Speaking of new studios, Phil Spencer also announced during the E3 2018 conference that they’ve formed a new developing studio called The Initiative. The studio is based in Santa Monica, and it’s being led by the former head of studio from Crystal Dynamics, Darrell Gallagher. They went on to state that they were currently in the process of expanding the team to recruit world-class talent. In addition to that, The Initiative would also focus on games with strong storytelling and world-building.

The new studio is already working on a new project for Microsoft, and the big question here is, what is it exactly? It’s exciting to see Microsoft taking steps to expand their development team and create new IPs, but at the moment, we’d really like to know more about the new stuff they’re coming up with, and this studio is at the center of that mystery.

Third-Party Showings

Unanswered Questions We Still Have After Microsoft’s E3 2018 Conference

One of the odder aspects about the E3 2018 press conference was the number of third-party games Microsoft showed off onstage. It was certainly exciting to see new gameplay footage of games that are set to be released later this year and early next year, and we’re definitely not complaining about getting to catch our first proper glimpse of Cyberpunk 2077 and From Software’s new game. However, our question is, what was the point of showing all these third-party games? A large part of the conference was dedicated to these trailers, but are they going to come with any sort of Microsoft-exclusive content, or were they just in the conference to build up hype?

Again, we’re not complaining about seeing more third-party titles; it’s just that they don’t do all that much for the Xbox brand itself, or convince players that the Xbox One is the quintessential console to own this generation.

Any New IPs Coming Down the Line?

Unanswered Questions We Still Have After Microsoft’s E3 2018 Conference

Last but certainly not least, our biggest question from this conference is still the same that it’s been for the past couple of years. Are there any big, new exclusive games coming to the Xbox One soon? With this conference, Microsoft essentially fell back on Halo, Forza, and Gears of War yet again, with no new IPs announced. It was nice to see more footage of Ori, along with a glimpse at the new content coming to Sea of Thieves, but Microsoft is still lacking that X factor to really capture players’ attention, and we think that can be done with a brand new IP.

The company has already announced the acquisition of three new studios, along with the creation of The Initiative, but that’s simply not enough right now. The Crackdown 3 delay still hurts, and aside from falling back on their holy trinity of the first-party series, Microsoft doesn’t have a new triple-A blockbuster game to wow the fans.