Microsoft Reveals They’ve Added 5 Studios to Develop First Party Line-Up
Today Microsoft made a massive announcement that shows they’ve been listening to feedback and they understand their first-party lineup needs some work. During this years E3 press conference Phil Spencer revealed the addition of five first party studios to the Xbox line up.
That’s right! Following some long standing criticism about a lack of Xbox studios and exclusives it looks like fans can expect a whole lot more to come from Microsoft as Phil Spencer announced Xbox has partnered with five studios. These are: Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, Playground Games, Undead Labs, and a brand new Santa-Monica based studio called The Initiative. All except the last studio are all veteran studios that have already created some successful titles.
Ninja Theory is the team behind Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, the psychological action-adventure title that dives deep into mental illness. This game took home a bunch of awards last year, including five BAFTA awards! Compulsion Games is the studio behind We Happy Few, a title that takes place in 1960s England where players will have to either fight or blend in with its drug addicted inhabitants. This actually got a brand new trailer during the Microsoft E3 press conference this year as well. In addition to this, they’re also known for the PS4 launch platformer Contrast.
Undead Labs of course is the studio behind the State of Decay franchise. Recently they launched State of Decay 2 that while it received mixed reviews across the board, Microsoft has announced the game had positive launch numbers. Playground Games are the creators behind everyone’s favorite racing series for the Xbox: Forza Horizon.
Finally, The Initiative is a newly created studio based out of Santa Monica. So far no information about the studio or its future projects are known at this time.
What do you think about this huge announcement? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to keep it locked for updates as well as our full E3 coverage.