Announced by Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer at the Xbox E3 2018 briefing, Microsoft is investing in the future of its platform by creating and acquiring new studios to develop original games for their platform. Spencer announced one new studio and four others who have worked with Microsoft in the past.
The new studio, The Initiative, is based in Santa Monica, California and will be lead by Darrell Gallagher. Gallagher is a veteran of the industry, having worked for a number of different publishers and studios, including Sony, Rockstar, and Square Enix. Gallagher was the studio head at Crystal Dynamics during the reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise, and left Activision, where he was the Senior Vice President and Head of Development to join Microsoft and be the Studio Head for The Initiative in April. Because the team is so new, nothing was mentioned about what sort of games the team would be working on.
Playground Games, also officially entered the Microsoft fold. The two have been development partners since 2010 when the studio was formed, working together to develop the Forza Horizon series. The studio is hard at work on developing Forza Horizon 4, which is due out on October 2nd. They are also working on a completely new project that leverage their “open-world expertise.”
Keeping with studios you thought Microsoft already owned, Undead Labs will soon officially be a part of the family. Sending a letter of intent to acquire the studio, Microsoft is committing to State of Decay and hoping to grow the franchise. Undead Labs just released State of Decay 2 on May 22nd and has DLC planned for the title.
Also receiving a letter of intent was Compulsion Games, developers of We Happy Few. We Happy Few has been a part of the Xbox One Preview program since 2016 and was given a August 10th release date at the media briefing. The studio previously developed Contrast, a launch title for the Playstation 4. By acquiring Compulsion, Microsoft hopes they “will have the resources, platform and freedom to take even bigger creative risks and create even more ambitious worlds with its future projects.”
Probably the biggest surprise was the announcement that Microsoft intends to acquire Ninja Theory, the studio behind the ambitious title Hellblade. Microsoft worked with the team to bring Hellblade to the Xbox One earlier this year, but their relationship actually goes back much further. Microsoft Game Studios published their very first game Kung Fu Chaos, back when the studio was know as Just Add Monsters. Of course Ninja Theory is know for some incredibly well received games like Heavenly Sword and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. A new project for the studio was not announced, but with the resources and freedom that being acquired by Microsoft brings, the skies the limit.
Microsoft is clearly investing in the creation of great games for their platforms, for now and for years to come. Maybe next E3 we will get a look at some of these new projects.
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