Tbf Klob didn't label it as 1st party, he said Xbox Studios which is accurate, Xbox Game Studios Publishing comes under Xbox Game Studios and they are the ones who are publishing Ninja Gaiden 4 and XGSP isn't just "Here's some money now go make this" but a team consisting of around 200 developers of all varieties, from creative directors to writers to tech, etc.
So it's not 1st party as Microsoft doesn't own the IP but it is an Xbox Studios project. As for what that is called, gamers invented the term 2nd party for that, but I say invented because the majority of the industry doesn't actually recognise 2nd party as an official term. It has been said multiple times by those in the industry that 2nd party isn't a term used by them.
Microsoft in recent history didn't bother publishing stuff they didn't own the IP of, I can't remember the last time they did, Lol. I could be forgetting something but over the Xbox Series Gen and later half of the Xbox One Gen they pretty much switched to only publishing IP they own, now they've changed that so Idk what they consider these things to be anymore.
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 15 May 2025
