The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase is proof, Microsoft is about to complete its transformation

The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase is behind us. Microsoft’s annual conference revealed around thirty games, with very diverse genres and ambitions, which will be released by June 2023. Excellent news for the brand’s players who, between Starfield, red fall or Forza Motorsport, will have plenty of fun. The only downside, if the release schedule already seems particularly busy for the first half of 2023, the manufacturer will not release any first-party games by the end of the year. An absence of flagship releases that testifies to one certainty: Xbox is still in a transition phase. But fortunately, the beginning of a new era seems very close.

Noticeable absences

Coming out of the Xbox 2022 conference, a reproach was very widely heard. In addition to the absence of major releases for the end of the year, many fans are wondering where the Fables, Perfect Dark, Avowed and others Indiana Jones or Everwild. Particularly anticipated games, the announcements of which date back to 2018 for some. Years of absence during which we had almost no information or gameplay images. And on a video game scale, two, three or four years is a long time. Very long.

So how can these absences be explained? A first element of response can be found in the conference itself. For the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022, Phil Spencer and his teams have decided to focus on releases for the next twelve months. An ambition held with however an exception called Kojima. But that’s only a detail since out of the 95 minutes of video, almost all of the speaking time was occupied by games that will be released within a year.

With this postulate, it is then obvious that the big behemoths of Xbox are de facto excluded. Fable, Perfect Dark, Project Mara, Hellblade II… all will be released after June 2023 and so it was neither the time nor the place to dwell on these upcoming productions. So, you will ask me, why did you talk about it so soon? Why focus today on the next twelve months when these titles with immense potential have been announced for years already? Well I come back to this: because Xbox is in transition.

Preparing for the future

In 2018, Game Pass becomes Microsoft’s main development axis. A major change of strategy for the firm which wishes to develop thanks to its service and not to the hardware only. A game-on-demand subscription service that can only be viable on two conditions: record sustainable growth in the number of subscribers and ensure sufficient retention to guarantee substantial and recurring revenue. And to generate retention, to keep subscribers over time, you need content. Rich, varied and regular content.

To achieve this, Microsoft has therefore chosen the path of rapid growth. With colossal means, the firm has seriously boosted its production capacity to comfortably supply its Game Pass and has multiplied its workforce. Some studios have thus been able to set up new teams (Mojang, The Coalition), new structures have been created (The Initiative, World’s Edge) and a host of studios have been acquired. Six in 2018. One in 2019. And eight in 2021 with the acquisition of Zenimax Media.

With a total of 23 internal studios, Microsoft is therefore now in an ideal position to water the market with its in-house productions. Especially since with the announced acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, in the future 33 studios will develop for the American firm. Colossal.

Except that, to produce new games it takes time. Almost all the studios have recently released projects and, in addition to the production of new titles, it is necessary to collect the takeover, the increases in staff, the new means made available, moves and change of premises for some… all that in the middle of Covid history to add a layer.

A transition that comes from the studios

To be more specific, you have to keep in mind that Compulsion Games has released We Happy Few in 2018, which inXile launched Wasteland III in 2019 and that Obsidian offered the public The Outer Worlds the same year. Forza Horizon 4 was released in 2018 and Playground created a new studio from scratch to develop Fable. Ninja Theory completes development of Bleeding Edge in 2020 while Turn 10 is immensely involved in the Xbox Series architecture in addition to the reboot of Forza Motorsport.

And on the Bethesda side, it’s not much better. Bethesda is working on Starfield for years and id Software just released Doom Eternal in 2020. Future projects include Arkane, which is working on death loop and Tango Gameworks on Ghostwire Tokyo. But contracts signed with Playstation deprive Microsoft of exclusive releases and minimize, for a time at least, the offer addressed to Game Pass subscribers.

In short, more than Microsoft, all the studios are in full transition, ensuring the end of development before embarking on new projects. And that, Phil Spencer and his teams know perfectly well. Ahead of them, with a few exceptions, is a slack period. Like the withdrawal of the sea, before a tsunami which is announced. And we have to deal with it.

Beautiful promises and a good dose of patience

Between 2018 and 2020, Xbox therefore adopted a communication strategy based on a presentation of projects with an insolent number, but whose developments are in their infancy. Yes, between 2018 and 2020, Xbox doesn’t have much more than promises to offer gamers. And that’s exactly what she will do.

The company promises great games in the future. Productions with substantial budgets, with all the creative freedom needed to surprise us and guarantee outstanding works. Xbox promises to power Game Pass each quarter with standout titles. When ? We do not know, but the essential is not there. You have to communicate, you have to explain, you have to teach and occupy the field until the studios, acquired or created, are operational.

So of course games are produced. Forza Horizon 5, Flight Simulator, Halo Infinite Where Age of Empires IV captivate the public. Even to the point of making Xbox the best publisher of the year 2021. But it’s a bit like the tree that hides the forest. Especially since the outputs of Wasteland III, We Happy Few, The Outer Worlds or Psychonauts 2 are done on almost all platforms. This reduces Microsoft’s impact on its exclusive catalog and distorts public perception of the amount of titles Xbox Game Studios has released recently.

The beginnings of a new era

Fortunately, several projects are in their final stages of development. The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase and its change of angle is also the witness. By choosing to stop on the next twelve months only, Xbox is changing the way it communicates to adapt to its schedule which promises to be rich as never before. This transition period is slowly coming to an end and now, when we hear of Fable, Hellblade II Where Everwild it is because these titles will be very close to their release.

And this will also be the case for the next surprises from Xbox Game Studios. Compulsion Games (We Happy Few)id Software (Doom Eternal)MachineGames (Wolfenstein)The Coalition (Gears) or even Zenimax Online (TESO) all have projects in development for several years that need to be presented publicly. And when they do, we’ll only have to wait a few months to find out. In the manner of Penance or of Minecraft Legends Besides.

Yes, definitely Xbox has almost completed its transition phase. The new era that is beginning should be synonymous with almost continuous play with experiences regularly available on the Xbox Game Pass. A transformation which should definitely end in 2023 and which will probably culminate in the definitive takeover of Activision Blizzard.