Microsoft is considering investing more into first-party games like Halo 5, as opposed to third-party games (those that are also available on the PlayStation or other consoles) such as Call of Duty.
Phil Spencer, head of the Microsoft Xbox division, mentioned in an interview with Gamescores at China Joy 2015 that he wants to invest more into first-party Xbox games developed by Microsoft, as opposed to third-party games created by other developers.
One of the games that will be an Xbox exclusive for a while is the next version of the Tomb Raider series: Rise of the Tomb Raider. Spencer explains,
“It’s great to have Tomb Raider as part of our lineup, but investing in first-party is really core to our strategy.”
“My strategy is more around first-party franchises, and investing in franchises that we own, and probably fewer exclusive deals for third-party content. I want to have strong third party relations, but paying for many third-party exclusives isn’t our long-term strategy.”
Best selling games like the Tomb Raider are quite expensive for Microsoft to snag as an Xbox exclusive. Whereas games developed by Microsoft don’t cost nearly as much, so Microsoft wants to use those games as incentives to get people onto Xbox consoles. Spencer explains,
“This year the fact that we’re shipping Halo 5, Gears of War, Forza 6, Fable — we can only do that, and build the best line-up we’ve ever seen on the back of the franchises that we own.”
China Joy is a conference in Shanghai that celebrates trending games and other digital entertainment. At one point, it was actually illegal to sell game consoles in China. Luckily the ban has been recently lifted, and consoles can now be sold all over the country.
Spencer did mention that the Xbox team does need to add Simplified Chinese as a language option in some of their Xbox titles.
What do you think on Spencer’s idea on investing into first-party games for Xbox, and how do you think this will effect sales of the Xbox One? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Further reading: Halo 5, Microsoft, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Video Games, Xbox
