New First-Party Studios
Continuing to address the ‘exclusives issue’ on Xbox One, Microsoft opted to put its money where its mouth was and announced that it had purchased five game studios and welcomed them into the Microsoft Studios family. Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Undead Labs, and Compulsion Games have all been acquired in order to bolster Microsoft’s group of first-party studios and hopefully flesh out the number of Xbox One exclusives we see each year.
Microsoft also announced that an entirely new, California-based studio was being set up and headed by Darrel Gallagher, who was previously studio head at Crystal Dynamics. The studio, called The Initiative aims to “create groundbreaking new game experiences,” though we’re yet to find out exactly what they’re working on.
Again, Microsoft was clearly investing in 2019 and beyond. We’re unlikely to see any brand-new unannounced games from any of these developers release this year on Xbox One, but they’re certainly exciting additions to the Microsoft Studios family all the same.
