Microsoft More First Party Games than Ever Befor for Years to Come
Since Microsoft joined the Console Wars late with the Original Xbox back in 2001 they have had to battle uphill against the two giant gaming companies that is Sony and Nintendo with a huge headstart. In this 12 year period Microsoft not only has managed to compete against both of these giants but has taken a huge marketshare from Sony in the process.
How this was done becomes even more spectacular. While Sony helped with making some mistakes with the PS3 after a huge generation in the PS2, Xbox capitilized on their mistakes by buying out 3rd party exclusives and revamping Xbox Live to push forward on what I like to call the Online Generation. Not only did Xbox Live force Sony to pick up the pace with PSN but now Sony has managed to take a page out of Microsoft's books and pay for online competitive gameplay with the PS4.
But that isn't what makes the the massive introduction to the Xbox so phenomenal . It all comes down to First Parties. Somehow Microsoft managed to make the Xbox brand popular and appealing while only having 4 studios that was able to consistently sell games. Bungie, Lionhead, Turn 10, and Rare Ltd. meanwhile Sony and Nintendo has been working with more than double the first party studios as Microsoft. However with games such as Halo, Fable, Forza, and Viva Pinata the Xbox brand grew while it's main competitor's (Sony) marketshare has shrunk.
Now rewinding back to 2006 when Sony seemed to make some mistakes with the PS3 the Xbox One has seemed to make similar mistakes. However Microsoft has managed to quickly turn around and reverse the mistakes they have done. They may have damaged their brand for a short term but it also seems they have quickly learned from this. The biggest disadvantage now is in terms of pricing. Because of this Microsoft really needs to revamp their first party and show some of their magic which it seems Microsoft has done.
While X360 was working with 4 primary studios Microsoft now has 22 first party game studios. They also have seemed to be able to mix some of their magic as well. Instead of only investing in typical First Party Companies they also invested in three First Party companies to specifically publish 3rd party games. Redmond Publishing, EMEA Publishing, and Europe Publishing. This has allowed them to bring in such titles as Ryse: Son of Rome, Dead Rising 3, and Crytek's Warface. We are still unaware of what all games these three companies has or will publish but good chances are that anything published by Microsoft from a third party has one of these three behind it.
Not to mention other big hitters such as Black Tusk Studios that is working on a titles, L.A. Studios which has partnered up with Remedy to make Quantum Break, and Team Dakota which is working on Project Spark. Adding these with the already popular Halo, Killer Instinct, Forza, and Fable they are managing to show a solid first party lineup for years to come. While we wait for the other developers to release information that they are working on such as Victoria Studios and Osaka which are rumored to both be working on AAA games, one thing is apparenent. And that is Microsoft has really taken the first party side of things serious this time both adding your typical core first party developers and adding 3rd party publishing developers. They even have casual first party developers to have all sides of gaming this time around.
This is not to say that Microsoft will sell more than Nintendo or Sony in the 8th generation, but Microsoft is showing signs of having a more serious first party lineup than in both previous generations.
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