Pretty much. Alot dont see the benefits of it. Some of the best Devs are 3rd party and it's healthy for the industry keeping them supported aswell. There really is no point in 1st party unless you have a major game series like Halo or Forza which release every 2 years and need the dedication of the devs long term.

Where is the poll option for "bullshit rumor"?

The Xbox One X is getting closer to launch. Expect these kind of articles to try and sink the ship before it sets out to sea. Ppl start the rumors then the negativity ball starts rolling all in an effort to get as many ppl as possible to not buy the system.

I think the "$500" price will sink it more than anything else against a $249 S, $249 PS4 slim and $299 Switch. Why would anyone pay $500 for a console that plays the same games at barely noticeable differences? I personally don't see it. It'll do nicely it's first month on shelves but after that not much else. 

The article might be clickbait rubbish from what people are typing here (I didn't click on it myself) but when you seen this E3 it would appear that there was some credence to what they're talking about.

I mean.... sticking the word exclusive on games when they're either available on other machines or literally on the rival console a matter of days after your system isn't first party games... it just isn't.

Its only a console launch. There is no ship without support and that support is games. The one point of exposure or weakness Microsoft has always had since they entered the industry was they had the weakest first party or had a questionable vision for the future of their first party. They pay anyone just to make first party without thinking creatively about what they want.

It seems like that will be the case. They have more games coming, but without Gears or Halo they pose no visible threat to Sony or Nintendo. The core base dont seem to have accepted the first party they offered in the beginning of the generation. It would be a lie to say they didnt try, but it would also be a lie to not admist that they are not as tenacious as their competition about nailing a solid firrst party new IP. If that Horizon inspired new IP is coming, its most definitely next gen. If Microsoft brings the games, im always on board. 

Well. Not "increasing investments" is fine.
As long as we actually see the fruition of those investments, I hate games that are announced and we never see or we don't see until the next console generation. (I am looking at you Perfect Dark: Zero and The Last Guardian.)

Shuttling Fable and Scalebound before they saw the light of day was still costly investments with no gain for us gamers too.

Having smaller-budgeted experiences I am fine with, not every game needs to be a $100+ million dollar monster.
My most played game of all time is Minecraft... And that had an initial development budget that even I could afford.

In short, smarter investment is better than large wasteful investments.
Both Large+Smart investment of course preferred, but not always practical, especially when you are being dominated hard by the competition.
It will be interesting to see where Microsoft takes things, although I wouldn't hold my breath, Microsoft has *always* had an exclusivity problem dating all the way back to the Original Xbox, so I don't think that will magically change anytime soon.

Closing Lionhead, FASA Studios, Ensemble Studios, Digital Anvil, Press Play... Letting Bungie and Twisted Pixel run off into the sunset and loosing big second party like Bioware... Sure hasn't helped them.
Studios closing is a normal process, nothing lasts forever, but you need a plan to fill that content-void once those studio's have closed... And Microsoft hasn't been the most proactive on that front.

Microsoft needs a company they can control as they are not exactly creative. They are like EA and Activsion....in which they score a developer and seek to have them make the same games forever on a year or two year cycle. Getting random third parties will only sour their relationships with them. This is why  Epic and Bungie both had to get their freedom eventually from Microsoft.Coddling their behavior is bad for the future of their exclusives.

Microsoft saw Halo and Gears before they were finished and invested in them because they knew they were going to be hits. Its not an example of what they are capable of. Forza is an example of what they are capable of.

^see