Xbox Boss Believes that the Company Is Investing 'More Than Ever' In Story-Driven Games

RJ Pierce, Tech Times 13 July 2021, 01:07 pm

Xbox is carving a new path for the future.

This comes straight from Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who stated that the company has recently invested way more into story-driven games than it ever did, writes GameRant. Spencer further claims that the games are "risky but valuable."

(Photo : Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 10: Phil Spencer, vice president of Microsoft Game Studios at Microsoft Corp. speaks during Microsoft Xbox news conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo at the Galen Center on June 10, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Thousands are expected to attend the annual three-day convention to see the latest games and announcements from the gaming industry.

In a video game industry wracked with multiplayer-focused titles that don't have an overarching narrative, this is a big move by a company considered an industry giant. Xbox and Microsoft seemingly want to veer away from any games considered "always on" and even live service games for the Xbox Series X platform.

According to Spencer, so-called "platform holders" are actively investing in brand-new, risky IPs because those investments have the potential of bringing new players into the Xbox ecosystem. And with their plans to bring Xbox to 3 billion players globally with or without consoles, this could be a goldmine.

Matt Booty, Xbox Game Studios head, also adds to this by saying that developers don't exactly have a mandate to have an ongoing, continuously sustained game, writes PureXbox. He then goes on to cite the platforming game "Psychonauts," and how they wouldn't tell designer Tim Schafer to create a new "Psychonauts" game out of the fact that "always on" games are finding a lot of success these days.

Xbox Going the PlayStation Route?

Despite Phil Spencer seemingly throwing shade at PlayStation's PC release strategy, what Xbox plans to do for the foreseeable future is a little reminiscent of their biggest industry competitor.

PlayStation Studios have long been at the forefront of making excellent narrative-driven games, writes GamingBolt. Just think of the "Uncharted" series, "The Last of Us," and "Horizon: Zero Dawn." These titles are considered among the best of their generation not because they're always kept updated, but because the stories they had left a major imprint in the consciousness of the gaming community.

(Photo : Fatih Kurt / Anadolu Agency)
ANKARA, TURKEY - FEBRUARY 27: In this photo illustration a mobile phone and a computer screen display the PlayStation and Sony logo in Ankara Turkey on February 27, 2020.

So far, Xbox has only been known for "always on" types of games such as "Forza," "Sea of Thieves," and "Grand Theft Auto Online." However, they already have a few new single-player projects in the pipeline, namely "Hellblade 2" and "The Outer Worlds 2," both of which are being made by first-party Xbox studios.

Bethesda Acquisition Likely To Play Massive Part

Earlier this year, Microsoft acquired Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media. This brought the iconic game studio into their fold, which will be more than enough to help them with their renewed focus on making narrative-driven games.

Among the biggest ones include "Starfield," Bethesda's first new IP in over 20 years, which is one of the much-anticipated games of the current generation. There's also the long-awaited "Elder Scrolls 6," which still hasn't had much news about it lately since being teased three years ago.

Should those two games (and others like them) become successful, then the risks that Phil Spencer and Xbox are taking will pay off monumentally.

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Written by RJ Pierce