Microsoft’s retail exclusives library is looking a bit paltry; it pretty much consists of racing sim Forza, RPG-lite Fable, and shooters Gears of War and Halo. What would you expect them to do with those franchises? Yup, and that’s exactly what you’ll be getting; more Forza, more Fable, more Gears and more Halo.
Don’t be despondent though, because the company will be taking each of those games in some new directions, apparently. "We’ve got such strong IP in our stable – with Forza, with Fable, with Halo, with Gears – that we’re going to continue to build on and innovate on those," said Kevin Unangst, Microsoft’s senior director of PC and mobile gaming told Gamasutra.
"… There always has to be a balance, You have to bet big and develop the franchises and universes that you know people care about, and take those and grow those in new directions. You don’t want to just sequel, sequel, sequel, you have to be pushing the envelope; you’ve got to invite new people in.So yeah, we’re still going to double down, you’re going to see us do more with Forza, with Halo, with Fable; all the franchises.â€
I think what he means is “Expect Kinect spin offs of our most popular games.†Thankfully, for Xbox 360 fans the company is working on new IP, that you can probably expect to be announced at E3.
"But we’re also, of course, looking to bring in new IP, looking to bring new things. As a first-party studio, our job is also to experiment, also to lead the way, set the example… things like the integration between Kinect and the phone. This is not the sum total,†he hinted, saying “Although I love what we’re doing… there’s games that we’ve already even talked about coming this year. Games like Forza 4, games like Kinect Star Wars that we’re not yet talking about. That, and some other surprises I’m sure you’ll see and hear from us at E3 about."
Of course, with the deluge of fantastic multiplatform titles headed our way, there’s really no need to focus solely on exclusives. Besides, it’s not a competition, and the console wars are long over, right?
Source : Gamasutra
Last Updated: March 23, 2011
