Microsoft posted a job listing recently looking for experience building "AAAA" games (that's one whole extra "A"). Much of the criticism on the Xbox team lately has revolved around its exclusive games lineup, which, at least on paper, isn't resonating as strongly as Sony's PlayStation exclusives.
We're currently discussing it on our Xbox forums and would like to hear your thoughts on the situation.
So yesterday news broke that Microsoft is looking to hire some new team members in California to focus on what some people see as its "Trouble with AAA Titles," or its lack of quality first-party big name games. It's tough to argue that the company doesn't have a problem there. It does. And this seems like a good first step. But there is a lot of work to be done, and I'm not sure Xbox should...
Al Sacco
I've written about some of the reasons behind Microsoft's current slump on the first-party side of things. One studio alone won't be enough to satisfy the hunger some core gamers have for big-budget "Hollywood"-style single player games. I feel like Microsoft would have to make some acquisitions in existing games to truly bring home the goods and scale quickly, but whether Microsoft actually wants that for its Xbox business or not remains to be seen. Third-party publishers like Activision, EA, Ubisoft, and Bethesda continue to pump out huge games on Xbox, and Microsoft reaps the benefits as the platform holder. I suppose we'll see the true nature of Xbox's future vision at E3 2018 this June.
In any case, jump in the forum thread below and let us know your thoughts on the situation.
Is building more studios enough for Microsoft's Xbox lineup?
Jez Corden is a Senior Editor for Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by caffeine. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his Xbox Two podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!
