Xbox Game Studios executive vice president Phil Spencer has reiterated Microsoft remains open to adding more teams to its first-party stable, but doing so is not a priority right now.
Speaking to Stevivor, Spencer said that “a strong, growing first-party is definitely part of our strategy… I’d love to see us continue to get new storytellers with new points of view into our first-party portfolio.”
He expressed a particular interest in the Asian market, where Microsoft currently does not have any internal developers: “[W]e don’t have any first party studios in Asia. I think that’s an opportunity for us.”
However, after acquiring and establishing a plethora of studios over the past two years, including Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, and The Initiative, growth is no longer foremost. Instead, Xbox Studios is in “execution mode” and focused on getting games made.
These remarks reflect comments made by both Spencer and head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty at the tail end of last year.
Microsoft is currently planning to release a new first-party game every three-to-four months, with Bleeding Edge, Minecraft Dungeons, Psychonauts 2, and Halo Infinite just some of the titles expected to launch in 2020. Meanwhile, at the end of the year, the company will launch its next-generation console, the Xbox Series X, though its first-party titles will continue to be cross-generation compatible with the Xbox One.
