Last year was a strange one for Xbox. While Game Pass continued to be a big win for Microsoft, it failed to release any big exclusive, first-party games. But as we enter the final months of 2023, this year has been different. Microsoft has actually released games, including some big, popular ones. It’s a sign that after years of growing its resources, Xbox might finally have some games to show for it all.
Overall, 2022 was a quiet year for big games, thanks in part to the ongoing pandemic and its effects on game development. But even still, Sony and Nintendo were able to release exclusives like God of War Ragnarök, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Horizon: Forbidden West, and two different Pokémon titles. During that same time, however, Microsoft seemed unable to ship similarly large exclusives. By the end of the year, Xbox’s first-party output mainly consisted of Obsidian’s Pentiment, Bethesda’s Ghostwire: Tokyo, and a few third-party games published via Xbox Games Studios. One of those, Ghostwire: Tokyo, was a PS5 console exclusive for a year and Pentiment, while a really cool game, ain’t the kind that sells consoles.
After spending the last few years buying up Bethesda and numerous other big and small studios, Xbox Games Studios ended up with over 20 different development studios as of 2022. And soon, it’ll likely be adding Activision to that list, too. Microsoft seemed unable to ship any big games last year, but all that investing into studios finally seems to be paying off, as Xbox is having a pretty jam-packed 2023.
Everything from Xbox in 2023
From Xbox proper we got Forza Horizon 5: Rally Adventures, Minecraft Legends, Forza Motorsport, and Age of Empires IV on Xbox. Plus the upcoming Halo Infinite update for season 5 looks pretty great.
Meanwhile, Xbox-owned Bethesda provided Hi-Fi Rush, Redfall, Starfield, while Ghostwire: Tokyo landed on Xbox and Game Pass after its PS5 exclusivity period ended. The upcoming Fallout 76 expansion, adding Atlantic City to the game, seems like a solid next chapter for the online RPG. And then you have all the third-party games that, while not console-exclusive, have launched on Game Pass in 2023.
It feels like, as the kids might say, Xbox is cooking right now. (Am I using that right?)
This is a huge 180 from how I felt about the brand last year, when I looked around and wondered where all the money and resources Microsoft had poured into game studios had actually gone. The question is, can Microsoft continue this momentum through the rest of this year and into 2024?
Assuming the Activision deal goes through, Fable or something else big lands in 2024, and games like Avowed and Hellblade II don’t get delayed into 2025, it seems likely that Microsoft can avoid another quiet year like 2022. Which would be nice, as I like having a reason to pay for Game Pass every month.
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