Xbox Game Studios is on a roll

The studios under their umbrella have been producing quality games. I know y'all like review scores so this is what they got in 2021.

Flight Simulator 2020 (XS/XSS): 91

Psychonauts 2 (multiplat): 87

Deathloop (PS5/PC): 88

Age of Empires IV (PC) 82

Forza Horizon 5 (PC/Xbox): 92

There is Halo Infinite to close out the year. Next year we're also getting Starfield (which I bet will be delayed to 2023). Hellblade 2, Avowed, Perfect Dark, and Fable should all be coming out within the next 2-3 years. Remains to be seen on how many platforms their games will release but this is a very strong showing from Microsoft-owned studios.

Yeah, they're doing quite well. It's nice to seem them finally being able to compete again.

Microsoft:Global Domination.

Deathloop isn't an MS game. I'm not going over this again.

Does it matter? It's made by a studio owned by Microsoft under the Xbox Game Studios banner.

@Star67: a game that is made by a company who is owned my microsoft would suggest that it technically is a Microsoft game.

@Juub1990: Agreed.

MGS is still catching up to Sony 1st party, IMO. I prefer the types of games that come out of MGS over Sony, but Sony releases A LOT of AAA titles. But, I could see the day where there is parity between MGS releases and Sony.

Yes, they are doing well as predicted.

Answer this question.. is the studio that made Deathloop owned by MS?

I'm excited for the future of Xbox which is why I've been on the lookout for a Series X. Hope to get one during the holiday season but so are a lot of people lol

None of these games are memorable experiences. Nobody remembers that google maps plane game was even released in 2021 on the xbox.

Yeah things sure have been picking up for them. Definitely very nice to see. A lot of great stuff coming down the pipe as well.

😂 You so want them to but they maybe be the last to.😎

So what you are really saying is that you are upset that Deathloop is an Xbox Game Studios game?

Starfield and Avowed are the games on my radar. I've been following Avowed since it's been announced and I hope it's good, but since I've been following it all I've heard is that development isn't going well. Chris Avellone, co founder of Obsidian who worked on KOTOR2, Fallout: NV, and NWN 2 said that the game keeps loosing lead designers and that Josh Sawyer at Obsidian decided not to work on the game and go to another project. That worries me but I'll wait until we have some gameplay before jumping to conclusions.

Answer my question. Was Deathloop developed and created when MS owned them?

That's like saying Goldeneye 64 is an MS game because MS owns Rare.

MS hasn't had a hand in any game development yet from the Bethesda Acquisition. Just saying.

created no but development was still ongoing when they were bought

@Star67: That has nothing to do with the price of coffee in Brazil. When a dev creates a game, and that company is purchased….the game belongs to the buyer. And if Rare owned the rights for Goldeneye when they were bought then yes, Goldeneye becomes an ms game.

You answer me this. If Deathloop is not owned by Microsoft, who owns it?

Meanwhile Sony making us Indie games nobody even wants. Who the heck wants to play Returnal?

Deathloop continued development under the ownership of Microsoft, which announced their acquisition intent over a year ago. Microsoft owns the Deathloop IP. Deathloop is being made for Xbox by Xbox Game Studios. Microsoft owns Arkane Studios. Microsoft honored the 1 year contract for timed exclusivity for their game.

Goldeneye 007 64 is a James Bond licensed game, which was licensed from MGM by Nintendo. Microsoft doesn't own the license to Bond. Microsoft would need permission from Nintendo to release (or own the game) as Nintendo owns the right to use the Bond license for that game. Only way MS could own Goldeneye 64 is if they acquired Nintendo.

Totally different.

Huh? It's made by MGS, and is only time-exclusive.

You are really struggling with concepts. You wanting them to go third party is not an observation, it is a wish. 😂

Another example of struggling with concepts. 😂🤣

nobody cares about that caveat except someone who wants to somehow reduce the narrative that Microsoft's game studios are selling good games.

I get what you are saying, but honestly it kind of comes off as if games started by a studio already owned by MS had Phil S come in, roll up his sleeves, and make the magic happen, thus "earning" MS the "score" for the game, whereas this game wasn't blessed by his touch and thus the lowly devs get the credit this time around.

But that's not how it works at MS or Sony.

Leaving us with a simple reality: some people had a decent game idea for once, they made it with some money from somewhere, and that group and their IP happen to belong to some company call MS at this time - and therefore their shit like all the other shit owned by MS is "Microsoft's"

I think one of the reasons is that MS has stopped putting strict release dates on games. For example, it's been sometime since there was an FM and FH game (2017 and 2018).

I don't think the reason Sony games were more polished was because of some nurturing BS, but what they did do was give their studios space and near unlimited time to finish the games.

And look, MS released their console without any exclusives, no rush jobs. Whether that was good or bad, they are far more committed to giving studios space now and it shows imo.

I mean what does Sony and MS actually do. Green light a game, finance it, maybe send in some engineers to help with any development complications (and other tech support) and give it a marketing budget. That is literally it.

It's really a bit of a stretch to venture MS are on a roll just because they have finally reached a level just above mediocrity after all these years of literally nothing.

This post says more about the desperation of the fanbase on SW than it does about a notable shift towards producing anything even vaguely in line with all the studios they have from MS. They'll get there no doubt, they spent ridiculous money buying out Bethesda to cover up Phil's pathetic efforts and it will pay off in the end but yeah, this isn't quite it, settle down boys and girls.

Definitely a great time to be a gamer.

It's always cute to see Sony and Microsoft duking it out for third place.

Yes they are. Sony has to stay awake this gen.

@Star67: you can't compare Golden eye to deathloop. Golden eye was a known nintendo game for the n64 entire life, developed entirely by rare and nintendo. It was only 5 years later during the xbox/GameCube generation that MS bought rare from nintendo.

In the case of deathloop, it was still under development when MS bought them out. MS even paid the studios development cost of deathloop while it was being built along with all the debt and liabilities. They also published the game. If MS wanted to, they could have even canceled the contract with sony by paying the fee, but they didn't.

Many, I believe. Not Sony fans though.

@eoten: “ It's always cute to see Sony and Microsoft duking it out for third place.”

They’ll catch up to Switch.

Wait, you meant PC? Whoops.

I personally do. What really doomed Returnal was trying to be a PS5 exclusive when it should have been both PS5/PC release on the same day is why it flop. Now seeing Sony is slowly supporting PC, I can finally return to be a SonyPony...on PC of course😉

Meanwhile the bovine brigade remain fiddling their hooves. lol :P

Microsoft/Xbox has finally started investing in first party studios and here's the result.. Not terribly surprising to anyone actually paying attention but some people seemingly still won't accept the reality that Xbox Game Studios is to be taken seriously moving forward..

and this is only the beginning..

So, game that came out last year. Two games that aren't on Xbox consoles, a crossplat racer AND a multi? I guess Xbox is great to people that don't own new Xbox consoles? Okay.

Also, where are you getting that 91 for Psychonauts 2? Surely not Metacritic or Opencritic

@HalcyonScarlet: I think the main reason is they bought the studio(s) while these games were nearly completed. The real test is seeing if the sale will ruin upcoming releases because of MS's incompetence.

I'm excited for Starfield. None of the games out right now are really my thing, but cool for fans. I've heard Forza is great. I have Deathloop for PS5. Will be cool when it comes to Xbox.

@davillain-: Lol, it didn't flop because it wasn't released on PC day one, it flopped because Sony tried to make it a $70 game when nobody else thought it should be priced that, along with it being a launch title to a system that to this day is hard to buy.

@sealionact:

Im not talking about ownership, the game wasn't "made" by a Microsoft game studio at the time, MS had no involvement in making the game, owning and creating are two different things

It's an Arkane game, end of story.

You can't just swoop in at the last moment, buy something...anything, and take credit for the creation and reception of the work. **** that. It's an Arkane game, same with every other Bethesda release before MS bought them.

Games releasing in the future sure, MS will probably have involvement in the creative process, sure, Elder Scrolls 6, MS game all the way. Skyrim? **** no we all know it's a Bethesda game

That's not even the point. The point isn't to give "credit" to Microsoft. The point is to highlight that their studios have produced quality games this year or very recently. The takeaway is that those studios who just released great games are owned by them and this bodes well for the future, hence why they're on a roll.

ok I guess every one with a series x can go out play it today right?

@Star67: We are talking about ownership because you specifically said “Deathloop isn’t an ms game”.

Twist it any way you want…it’s an ms game.

what does that have to do with anything?

I can not play Age of Empires 4 on my XSX and that is still owned by MS

Your comment is just plain stupid

I mean, I know what he's saying. It's just a point that has no business outside of system wars.

Can you explain your MS point?