The Future of Every Xbox Game Studio


Xbox One’s first-party situation has been heavily criticised this generation. Microsoft’s existing franchises like Halo and Fable haven’t been in the best position in the Xbox One’s early years and the console has largely failed to launch any successful new IP either. But in the lead up to the next generation, team Xbox has been making some serious power plays by adding 8 new development studios to their first-party since E3 2018. It’s going to be a few years before we see what many of these studios are working on, so for now, let’s take a look at the state of every Xbox Game Studio.

343 Industries:

343i had big shoes to fill when they took over the Halo series in 2010 and, disappointingly, they’ve stumbled into controversy at almost every turn. But for every misstep 343i have made, they’ve shown their willingness to listen, learn and improve. From Halo 4’s loadouts in multiplayer, to the myriad of technical problems that plagued Halo: The Master Chief Collection, 343i has always taken the time to make things right.

This bodes well for the upcoming Halo Infinite and it’s encouraging to hear it’s being developed as a spiritual reboot. 343i have returned to the series’ classic art style; they’ve returned to an actual Halo ring and they’ve returned to the Master Chief as the main playable character. Halo Infinite was announced at Xbox’s 2018 E3 conference and exuded vibes from the original with a focus on mysticism, hope and heroism. There’s been some hints that the upcoming entry might be set in an open-world (open-ring?) or at least have way bigger environments since there was an uncharacteristic emphasis on wildlife and the natural world in Infinite’s reveal trailer.

Halo Infinite received another trailer at Xbox’s 2019 E3 show, this time with more of an emphasis on story. We met a new, lovable UNSC pilot, saw the Chief’s full design in the game and got a few other cryptic story teases. There’s not much to go on but the game was certainly beautiful. Halo is in a weird position as a franchise at the moment: hardcore fans want the series to go back to its roots with an emphasis on slower, tactical movement; other lapsed fans want the series to do something drastically different. It’ll be interesting to see what direction 343i take when the game launches holiday 2020, alongside the next-generation Xbox.

Read the full article over at the Xbox Hub.

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