Microsoft is Develops More Narrative Games than Ever

4 years ago

The head of the Xbox brand Phil Spencer shed the light on the company's direction. In an interview with The Guardian, he reckoned that platform holders are investing more money in story-driven games than ever before. Spencer claims that such an approach should help Microsoft bring new players into the Xbox ecosystem.

There are at least several big narrative games in the making for Xbox. One of them is Senua's Saga: Hellblade2, which is a promising sequel to a critically acclaimed action-adventure story. Another one is an upcoming AAA game Avowed from Microsoft-owned Obsidian. The fantasy RPG is based on a completely new IP.

Sony’s experience has shown that expensive exclusives are great system sellers. Blockbuster games like The Last of Us and Marvel's Spider-Man definitely helped with sales of PlayStation consoles. Xbox went a different route, though. The company does not only sell systems right now.

Phil Spencer specifically mentioned the Xbox “ecosystem” during his interview. All the biggest Microsoft games are available on Xbox Game Pass and PC now, which reduced their roles of system sellers. At the same time, they make the platform stronger overall.

Existing single-player titles are also becoming more accessible for Xbox users. As soon as Microsoft acquired Bethesda, most of its games were added to the Game Pass lineup. Future titles from the renowned studio will also launch on the service, including blockbusters such as Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6.