Acquire Undead Labs and Playground Games
Instead of focusing shifting on timed-exclusivity, Microsoft should spend more time on acquiring studios that have been doing and continue to do great work for them. Two of those studios are Undead Labs and Playground Games.
Headed by former Diablo, Warcraft III, and Guild Wars developer, Jeff Strain, Undead Labs has released only one title, State of Decay in 2009. However, State of Decay released exclusively on Xbox 360 and PC with enough critical success to warrant a re-release, State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition, on Xbox One. The studio has big plans to expand on the success they created with State of the Decay, and Microsoft would benefit from locking the franchise up long-term moving forward.
Playground Games is the developer behind the open-world racing title, Forza Horizon. While supporting developer, Turn 10 Studios, is under the first-party umbrella, the UK-based studio remains a 3rd party developer. The pedigree for greatness is there, however, with former employees from Ubisoft, Criterion, and Slightly Mad Studios.
