They dont need freedom (they were created for the purposes of a single franchise so...yeah..no). Microsoft has no creativity and literally has the mentality of Activision and EA when it comes to game development. Focus on a team forever on a franchise. This is exactly why Bungie left them. They did not have any plans  to work on Halo forever. If Microsoft owns the studio, they dont have to work on the new IP. They can just keep pumping Halo out until it dies , much like Activision is doing with COD. Ever wonder why people questioned Bungies sanity when they left Microsoft for activision? Its because its like going to the same exact person in terms of operational philosophy.

Sony can allow their devs to pump out new IP's because their devs have. Microsoft has tried and failed since they entered the gaming industry. This is why they keep their good games that they purchased like cards that are held so close to their vest. Without them they are strategically naked.

I don't say they don't have more variety, they do. But saying Sony has "excellent" first party games in every genre is just wrong.

Like always, your Xbox opinions are mixed with some chaff.

No one of importance questioned Bungie's decision to become independent in 2007 from MS, as they made it clear even before they dropped Halo 3.

You don't know the MO of MS studios, they get shuffled around every now and then within MS studios.

And having a studio focused on a game is never bad. That's the reason most MS IPs have the best mp functionality in the industry, be it FPS, TPS or Racing.

Allowing devs to create multiple IPs or keep a single one is a mere management option and doesn't reflect quality of the publisher. Actually is a good one considering someone said that 6 out of their 10 1st party games don't sell well.

Dude...If you dont see the writing on the wall you will never get it. Microsoft has three studios dedicated to three specific games. Sony only has one of those with Polyphony. The rest of Sony's studios can develop new IP's. Microsoft has never (EVER) created a blockbuster franchise so they have to maintain the franchises they purchase and bring up financially. Microsoft invested a shit ton into first party their first and second gen and most were failures except for Fable and Forza and Crackdown which are not considered blockbusters. I will grant you that Forza is their premier car racing sim though.

They have three studios that make them money, that sells games and perfect the gameplay, the most important aspect of Microsoft development process.

You talk like Sony is an amazing entity where they shit talents out of their ass. Let's take Naughty Dog out of the equation and look at Sony studios and IPs.

Guerilla never made a blockbuster in your terms. Santa Monica never made a blockbuster in your terms. Sucker Punch, JapanStudio, TeamIco, all the same.

The only one of worth left to mention is Polyphony, the team that had been re-using PS2 assets on their games thoughout PS3 era on a sub-par racing topped by a MS created IP. Where was Sony to guide Polyphony and the others? To you they shit rainbow and cough wit.

How much money has Sony sinked into them? The non-blockbuster/failures you speak of?

Whether a company buy IPs or create them is all the same. They get revenue from both, equally.  You're just looking for moral victory, which has left your beloved company in serious need for a blockbuster to foot the bill.

Actually its more like 5

• Turn 10 - Forza Motorsport
• The Coallition - Gears of War
• 343i - Halo
• Mojang - Minecraft
• Lionhead - Fable

• Polyphony Digital - Gran Turismo - 18 years
• Sony Santa Monica - God of War - 11 years (assuming gow PS4 is out next year and they don't continue)
• Sony San Diego - MLB The Show - 11 years
• Suckerpunch Infamous - 10 years (last sly cooper for them was 2005)
• Team ICO - The Last Guardian - 10 years
• Sony Bend - haven't made a new IP since 1999

I will bump this thread every time any of the above studios do not make a brand new IP. Also if:

• Naughty Dogs next game after U4 is The Last of Us 2 or any other pre-existing franchise
• Geurilla Games next game after Horizon is Horizon 2 or any other pre-existing franchise
• Media Molecules next game after Dreams is Dreams 2 or any other pre-existing franchise
• If Evolution studios....actually, no need to bother with that one

With 30 million copies of Kinect Adventures in a single game and Halo on the verge of exceeding Gran Turismo sales despite a 4 YEAR HEADSTART, reality is against you this day....plus, you better tell Microsoft that Minecraft "doesn't count ".

If Forza is not a blockbuster, then with GT6 being the sales failure that it is, Sony has no blockbusters.

One thing I think you missed. More people will enjoy playing entries from Halo and Forza and Minecraft and Fable and Gears of War this year on Xbox One then they will playing the New IPS from Sonys internal studios this year on PS4 (thats a big fat zero games if you wondered.).

...eh? 

Not only is TLG (and every Team ICO game) a new IP, it's also not a studio; the studio is Sony Japan who churns out more new IPs than MS's entire organization.

It's been 10 years since Team ICO made a new IP, potentially more if you consider ICO, SotC and TLG may in fact be all set in the same universe.

Read the edit

Not exactly a bad thing, Activision especially is hugely successful from this. Xbox fans like Xbox franchises, we like to see them do well because that means we get more of them. The more successful they are, the more risks Microsoft can take elsewhere with other developers who are still looking to make "their Halo".

Bungie wanted to own their IP and reap the rewards. Any grandeur about stifled creativity is immediately debunked with Destiny...a sci-fi FPS game that looks and plays eerily like Halo ...only not nearly as good. 5 years for that? Oh what could have been.

Can't blame Microsoft that Halo has a longer lifetime than Killzone, Motorstorm, wipeOut, Syphon Filter, Colony Wars, Star Hawk, Jak & Daxter, Playstation All Stars, Puppeteer, Sly Cooper, Driveclub.....Gran Turismo.

Microsoft just know how to nurture like a loving father, Sonys deadbeat Dad approach with cutting and running is why most of their studios are shutting down.

Sony "allowed" - sheeez, they probably begged -  Geurilla to leave Killzone to die for Horizon because of Shadow Falls meta score and sales. It will be many years before Halo, Gears and Forza come close to that. Had it sold 10 million with a 95% meta, Killzone 5 would be their next game.

Unfortunately Microsofts top tier studios are indeed victims of their own success...and success ....and success.