Is Microsoft Making A Mistake With The Xbox One In 2015?

EGMR writes: "We’ve had some good discussion on Sony and the PS4 so far, so I want to turn my attention to the other camp. I want to tackle a particular delicate subject matter, because while acknowledging that 2015 is a huge year for Microsoft, I do also wonder whether the big boys of team green are making a mistake with the Xbox One this year by going in guns blazing."

[Sureshot]

We appreciate your concern but more games will be announced at Gamescom for 2016.

[christocolus]

Exactly. Well said. The author talks about MS not having games for 2016 and we are still in 2015, does he know MS's plans for 2016? then he talks about MS not having any major title planned for next year and downplays Quantum Break, Crackdown and Sea of Thieves.I thought the media didn't want MS relying solely on Gears, Halo and Fable?They have new ips now and suddenly that might not be enough??? MS has been focusing on titles coming out this year and i'm sure there will be some major announcements at Gamescom. I don't even see the need for this article cos Xbox One fans will most likely get Quantum Break, Forza Horizon3, Crackdown 3,Below, Inside, Sea of Thieves, Gears 4, Scalebound and Recore next year and that's even more than we got this year.

[Gazondaily]

Precisely. The Xbox One is stronger than ever now and it has an absolute killer lineup. It's finally doing what it should have so long ago and then some.

I can't wait for the new UI! And there needs to be more hype regarding Sea of Thieves!

[Magicite]

They are doing better than Nintendo, but cant hold a candle to Sony.

[Gazondaily]

^^ Yeah we aren't talking about sales here mate.

@Below

Yeah the disagreers mentioned nothing so I wonder what the people are silently agreeing with? We are all used to haters buzzing around this platform like flies obsessively but I would like to hear from them.

[madmonkey01]

no one mentioned sales.

[FlexLuger]

@madmonkey01

Well he cant be talking about much else.....

[kickerz]

They're not holding a candle to Sony.. They're holding a FLAMETHROWER :)

[WelkinCole]

MS has done great with new IPs this gen. However it is obvious that he was referring to sales as in system sellers as well as the sales of these games. Not quality. Who knows, Quantum Break might be better than Halo 5

Halo is MS biggest franchise. After releasing it this year there really is no other game as strong as this game to sell more xbox ones next year. Gears is perhaps their second biggest but not as big as Halo.

Looking at it from this perspective it does seem like MS are betting everything on it this year especially the second half which is very risky but I understand why they need to. Sony are just not slowing down and MS has to do something.

Then factoring in the fact that Sony really have not released any of their big hitters until next year couple with improved 3rd party support. I can see why he things MS is a making a mistake this year.

In saying this though it has been a real big improvement since Spence took over. X1 should still do great this gen.

[Pogmathoin]

When X1 was released, many had a huge list of the things MS should be doing and complained non stop. Now, many things have been done from that list, and people still complain non stop. Its nothing but bitterness, people have let things that are meaningless in the grand scheme of things in life get to them.....

[Insomnia_84]

Well, to be fair, let's take a look at how Microsoft handled exclusives last gen and then we could see where the author is coming from.

What he said is what I've been saying for some time now, MS is making a big mistake putting its exclusives so close to release of the bigger franchises like COD. AC, NFS, and now add to that Battlefront and even Hitman! Microsoft is going.suicidal here and the Xbox One exclusives will suffer sales wise.

Common sense.

[Gazondaily]

Then the author's head is stuck in the past. The dynamics of this gen are very different.

[poppinslops]

NFS releases after Forza, CoD and Battlefront both release after Halo and Hitman is a digital-only title until 2016... Assassin's Creed actually looks pretty great, but after last year's Unity/Watch_Dogs fiasco, I don't see it selling particularly well.

Fallout 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider both release on the same day (Nov 11), which looks bad for business... I'm getting Tomb Raider day 1 and waiting on patches for Fallout (Bethesda are notorious for launch bugs), but I doubt many others will follow suit.

I wouldn't be suprised to see RotTR's release date changed to earlier in the month... at least I hope so - I really want that game.

[gosukyomomma]

@ septic Really?

because from my experience this gen is going completely the same as last gen for MS aprat from the 180s that eventually got me to purchase the console all they have done is play catch to put themselves on ps4s level, with BC being there only major USP - that to me is weak because i dont play old games on my next gen machines. All my xbox one knows is shooters and racers - the same as last gen and the same now currently.

So as i said what is it about the dynamics that are so different this gen?

[Gazondaily]

@goku

"All my xbox one knows is shooters and racers - the same as last gen and the same now currently. "

Sunset Overdrive, Phantom Dust, Recore, Sea of Thieves, Crackdown, D4, Quantum Break, Fable Legends, Cuphead, Ori and the Blind Forest, Below etc etc. I'm literally rattling these from the top of my head and typing them.

If these titles don't do anything for you then you need to sell your Xbox mate because I don't think MS could make you happy in that regard. It certainly doesn't just have shooters and racers.

[gosukyomomma]

@septic looks like il ve selling it after forza 6 then shame really cus ive always had all consoles except the wii/u
The games u mentioned just dont do it for me susnset overdrive i can not stand how childish that game is and fable is also childish with its farting and burping every two minutes but im glad you gave me the advice because none of the games you mentioned - apart from ori i am interested in. :(

[Professor_K]

gosukyomomma

then its all your fault

You complaim about shooters but from what i getting from your comment is that your not interested in anything but shooters particularly in the xbox console despite every game septic mentioned, also ironic much?

[gosukyomomma]

@dr_k

no im not ONLY interested in shooters, i like a variety of games its just that MS exclusives seem to be based around shooters or racers - Halo shooter Gears shooter yes i like racers theyre are my favourite genre but i dont want the same cycle i had on my xbox360 where every year the main titles where halo gears forza fable. ive always said ages ago the witcher 2 was my favourite xbox360 exclusive. Its probably mainly to do with the 'dudebro' type image on xbox and that MS push games to cater for them and im not a 'dudebro' gamer.

[DARK WITNESS]

I really don't like articles like this...

he's talking like he only just got to know MS within the last year or so.

MS made it very clear a while ago (I think it was about mid 360 lifecycle) that they only show of games at events like E3 that are coming in the immediate future, like more or less within a year to maybe year and a half launch window.

They have followed this template for announcements ever since.

it's nothing new, no supprise.. and you get bet your arse, MS has problem got their lineup of exclusive games planned well into 2017 probably.

They show us what we need to know and can be hopeful we will actually get sometime soon.

it's that simple and there is nothing bad about it.

[Mr Pumblechook]

@Dark Witness "MS made it very clear a while ago (I think it was about mid 360 lifecycle) that they only show of games at events like E3 that are coming in the immediate future."

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you. There is nothing wrong with showing games that are due in the longer term. However Microsoft have also done what you claim they don't. Look at the MS E3 from last year, Crackdown, Phantom Dust and Scalebound and they certainly are not being released this year or the first half of next year which means two years from reveal to launch at least. Some of what was shown at their E3 conference this year were just CGI trailers indicating early development and will not be released next year.

As I said I think it is okay to see show a spectrum of games, some for short term release and some for longer. But look again and you'll see that all the companies do it.

[DARK WITNESS]

@Mr Pumblechook

Your disagreeing with what I quoted MS saying a while back?

I didn't say there was anything wrong with showing stuff in the long term, I simply pointed out that is what MS said their strategy was a while back.

Showing a game even 24 months off is not that far off, when you consider Sony has announced games then haven't showed up for like 5 years plus.

Again I am not saying write or wrong to either, just pointing out it's been the MS strategy.

It's also worth pointing out that when that statement was made Don Matrick (or whatever his name is) was the one leading stuff. Now Phil is in charge, that strategy may have changed.

I am not pretending to know what their internal plans are and timeline for game releases.

I'm just pointing out what we have known of their plans in the past and they don't seem to have strayed too far from that.

[DARK WITNESS]

Sorry I meant "you're" lol I hate making that mistake.

[Spotie]

What good is it to point out what their strategy is if they're not even following it?

[DARK WITNESS]

following or not following it according to who?

read the article again, maybe my point will become clear then..

[Zenith4k]

Just throwing out there ;)
http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

[Professor_K]

irrelevant just like the country in terms of console sales

[D-riders]

sureshot, do you work for MS? if not, what are you talking about "we appreciate the concern". Fanboys actually think they belong to a company. The author is right and I noticed this at the conference as well. MS is not in a good position, even if they sell a million or 2 million consoles this xmas which is a ton. ww they wont outsell sony, and they wont dent the lead. halo5 forza etc they are great titles but many of that market already has an xbox 1

[medman]

I'm more concerned that Microsoft is continually stacking their exclusives for the holiday, and it's a pretty barren wasteland for AAA's from them the rest of the year.

And this year in particular I think it could bite them, because their exclusives are releasing in the same window as Fallout, Star Wars, Assassin's Creed, Cod, and MGS, all games that are going to do big numbers. Not great. Somewhere, somehow, some, if not all, of these games, including Halo and Tomb Raider, will see the pinch because most gamers I know either don't have the time to play them all, or don't have the money to buy them all (I know I don't have the time to play them all), even if they wanted to. Something has to give.

[Captain_TomAN94]

Yeah to be slaughtered like pigs by an onslaught of Sony's 2016 Exclusives.

[miyamoto]

The problem of Xbox One is its brand, public perception, the people handling it and its fanbase.
Not the specs, not the features, not the games, etc etc etc

[Fro_xoxo]

The future is a bright lit (green) for XO.

There's a plan in place.. 2016 will also be beastly.

There's an Xbox Team for a reason, so you don't have to do all the work. Just play.

Let them worry about sales that you don't have a share in ^_^.

--
You asked for new IPs, and you've been getting them.

Sunset
Ryse
Ori
ReCore?
Quantum Break?
Scalebound?
etc..and even more new ips will be anounced at Gamescon

I own an XO, and I don't have Halo, Gears or Forza on it.

[mcstorm]

Your spot on. This gen both Microsoft and Nintendo have taken a back step in terms of sales and what Sony did to correct things with the ps3 has helped them have a great start with the ps4. Sony now need to keep this up as both Microsoft and Nintendo are now looking at putting things right to grab a hols in the market. Microsoft seem to have the right man in charge this time round and we still need to wait for Nintendo to show us what they have with the NX as they are happy to keep its current wiiu fan base happy with its 1st party IP's. For me I love what Microsoft are doing and its a great end to the year and for me the ps4 still has nothing I'm interested in but 2016 looks to change that. Microsoft build the e3 up on the last half of 2015 and the beginning of 2016 which people have been asking them to do for years. For me gaming is getting exciting again and I have a feeling we could see a shift in COD, AC and NFS being the number 1 sellers yoy with what we are seeing from Microsoft and Sony. I just hope Nintendo can start to join them too.

[chrisx]

What mistake? As far as I'm concerned MS are are on the road back to redemption,there's lots games coming out

[Angeljuice]

I agree that MS is in a good place right now. I don't think the article is an opinion piece, just playing devils advocate and stimulating conversation/debate.

As he points out, it is obvious that Microsoft sees Christmas sales as its main focus this year, whether it is the right move to release all 4 or 5 of this years big releases within a few weeks of each other at the end of the year is very debatable and worthy of discussion.

Does this mark a future trend for Microsoft? Dribs and drabs throughout the year followed by all the big hitters being released later to maximise the holiday season sales.

[rawrock]

Nope...MS is doing a great job.

[Rimeskeem]

If i were MS i wouldn't be worried about the games coming next year because we know there are plenty. What I would be worried about is the games this year going against games such as Fallout 4. Not saying the games won't do badly but I do feel that Tomb Raiders impact will be lessened if it is released on the same day as Fallout 4. I could be wrong of course.

[URtheWalrus]

Agree. Tomb Raider isn't a game I would go out and buy any system for, but I do love Halo. The only problem here is that I love Fallout more and I have been waiting for Fallout 4 for a long time its gonna be a day 1 buy for me. Looks like I will end up getting Halo 5 after the new year.

[Khajiit86]

The only thing I dont like about the X1 in 2015 is that its almost the 7th month of the year and still not 1 X1 exclusive since Sunset Overdrive? Long Long time.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

That's always their strategy. Don't release anything till Fall so that come the Fall (best sales season) you can fool people into believing your console has the most games during the best sales season instead of providing great content year round.

[Captain_TomAN94]

Shhhhh! Xbox has tons more games than PS4 remember?

Can't stop perpetuating that BS!

[slasaru01]

OMG, we are all doooomed!
Another "concerned" article

[green]

"Nevertheless the point is that 2016 is looking rather thin for Microsoft right now"

LOl what a very stupid statement. It really makes me scratch my head when so called journalists can't even spend five minutes to do some research.

So far, these are the AAA exclusives games confirmed for spring 2016 on the X1

- Recore
- Quantum Break

Fall confirmed game are

- Sea of Thieves
- Gears 4
- Forza Horizon 3 (not confirmed but we all know it is coming next year)

At Gamescom, Phill Spencer has already assured us that we will see gameplay footage of Crackdown 3 and Scalebound. Now, if those games are also announced to have 2016 release dates, then 2016 is looking to leave 2015 in the dust because we will get exclusives all year round.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

Forza gets less exciting each year. Imagine if Sony fans made a huge deal about MLB the Show every year.

[green]

"Forza gets less exciting each year"

Maybe for you it does but as a huge car enthusiast, it does not and Forza 6 is one of my most anticipated games of the year. The Forza series is the main reason i stick with the X1 because i need a constant stream of racing games.

"Imagine if Sony fans made a huge deal about MLB the Show every year"

I am British so Major League Baseball for the majority of us is as interesting as watching paint dry.

[christocolus]

@Jaqen_Hghar

"Forza gets less exciting each year"

speak for yourself bro.

[thelwebb100]

I agree Microsoft is starting to milk the Forza series now.

[avengers1978]

Are you certain those are all confirmed... Even when release dates are announced they some times get moved. Sony said TLG will come out in 2016, but seeing is believing... Anymore I don't believe a release date is real until the game actually comes out... And that's across the board and applied to all consoles and developers.

I do expect to see Scalebound, CrackDown 3, Gears 4, and Quantum Break in 2016 for XB1 but only time will tell.

[green]

Recore and Quantum Break are spring 2016 titles. Recore was announced with a release window at E3 and Quantum Break schedule was revealed a while back http://uk.ign.com/articles/...

Gears 4 and Sea of Thieves were also announced at the conference to be fall 2016 title and we all know FH3 will be released next year becauuse Horizon and Motorsport trade places each year.

As for Crackdown 3 and Scalebound, Phill Spencer has said we will see full gameplay reveal of both titles at Gamescom in August with a few surprises, so it is safe to say that at least one of them will be a 2016 title.

[avengers1978]

Not saying your wrong, and really if they do all release within there windows it should be a pretty great year for XB1 gamers.

[mokkeyrg2]

why approve a hating article like x1 aint got no games in 2016 gamescom will have titles for 2016 and stuff we dont know about..

[Nightmar3Demom]

So a few days ago Sony was wrong because everything that they showed at E3 was 2016 (or so that's what was being said, in all honesty I didn't check the dates). And now Microsoft is wrong because they are showing games for 2015.

It's getting to the point where it isn't worth reading the articles anymore.

[pompombrum]

Was thinking the same myself, I've had an Xbox fanboy friend criticize Sony ever since the Uncharted delay announcement saying how they are only looking to the future and have nothing major Western wise to look forward to in 2015 yet here we are seeing an article criticizing Microsoft for having a decent lineup in 2015 but not showcasing enough for 2016. The hypocrisy these days is absolutely hilarious.

[pompombrum]

Poor Microsoft, I'm still bitter after all the crap they pulled but sometimes you just have to feel sorry for them. They are genuinely listening to feedback and you can see it being implemented yet are still getting hated on. I'm mostly a PS gamer now but as a former almost exclusive Xbox gamer, I imagine most Xbox fans are just happy to see Microsoft finally listen and spread out their games a bit more to give fans something exclusive to look forward to in the first half of the year.

[pyroxxx]

No they will do fine with Forza,Halo,Gears,Forza,Halo,Fa ble,
Forza,Halo,Gears,Fable... Like last gen,.. because people are retarded

[WelkinCole]

Ms had to go gunz blazing. There is no question about that.

I do see though the issue with scheduling many near the end of the year.

Things have changed. You don't have to release games only in the final half of the year.

Sony releasing bloodborne and U4 in the first half of the year is a testament to that.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

Sony is great this year with a spread of content that keeps a man entertained.

Feb.=The Order (loved it despite the negative reviews)

March=Bloodborne

July=GoW3 Remastered

August=Until Dawn

September=Tearaway

Oh and they of course had a yearly sports game like MS (MLB and Forza cancel out for a man every year now)

[Immorals]

You can't cancel out a series like Forza with MLB.

MLB barely changes at all year on year (like most sports games.)

Look at forza horizon 2, now look at forza 6. Two hugely different games .

I expected better from a faceless man.

[roland82]

You had to include 2 remastered games in order to make sonys lineup look better

[thelwebb100]

A man should realize that Microsoft is making up for it with Gears Ultimate Edition, Forza 6, Halo 5, and Tomb Raider. I'm not getting a PS4 until Uncharted 4 and Ratchet and Clank come out.

[Rookie_Monster]

What a joke of an article.Quantum Break, Scalebound, Crackdown, Sea of thrives, Recore, Forza Horizon 3, and Gears of War 4 are all currently scheduled to be released in 2016. The difference between MS conference and thw Son y one is MS announcing stuff that are coming out in the immediate to near future while Sony announcement if new stuff are far far into the future.

Phil already mentioned there will also be new exclusives announcement in Gamescom as well. MS is doing a great job in giving gamers what they want and delivering.

BC ans external HDD are great examples as those 2 features were at the top of the most requested list from Xbox gamers.

[LordMaim]

The difference is that Microsoft doesn't have anything coming out this year that they didn't show in their E3 conference, while Sony does. It's just a different strategy. Microsoft is concentrating on immediate gains.

[Dark-Funeral]

Phantom dust

Recore

Quantum break

And gears 4

Maybe sea of theivs, crackdown or scalebound

Is a good lineup for 2016

And maybe there are other games

2015 and 2016 lineup is excellent so far

For me at least

[strickers]

Phantom Dust is confirmed as not being worked on.
Xbox fans sure make a fuss about the nothing games. Crackdown 2 didn't go/sell well, yet crackdown is suddenly a banner franchise (and don't get me wrong, I really like the first one).
How many Forza games can you buy before fatigue sets in?
Gears will likely be good.
Scalebound us unknown quantity.
Plus, there are not a lot of MS devs left to announce anything.

[Dewitt]

Except Rare having more surprises, Twisted Pixel, LXP, Lionhead, Press Play, and two unknown studios. Yes, they have alot more to announce.

[strickers]

Twisted Pixels last game went well :-). Lionhead are overrated these days. Last good game? You are even adding unknown studios to boost the list.
If that is the studios left, I'd be concerned. Poor list indeed

[Spudinator217]

Phil did say at the end of their e3 show that Scalebound and Crackdown will be at Gamescom.

[Spudinator217]

Yes he did at 1:35:30 in

https://youtu.be/zXYA2kc52G...

[blomman79]

Xbone will have more aaa games this year. Ps4 will have 3 old games sometimes betveen 2016-2018. Xbone clear winner of 2015

[WitWolfy]

All the Xbone needs now is a new console case design. God damn that thing is hideous to look at.

[elarcadia]

Nothing is ever confirmed until it is on the shelves. If I've learned anything about gaming in the last 5 years, it is that games can get delayed at a moments notice.

I really have no problem with a game getting delayed, as long as it is awesome when it is released. I know that Xbone will have a plethora of games next year. Microsoft chose to show off exclusives that are coming out in 2015 for their showcase, and I think it was a smart idea.

I am excited to see more footage of future MS games though, particularly Scalebound. Hopefully at Gamescom!

[battlegrog]

more importantly games con is going to announce more games coming to Windows 10 Xbox and more information about that. Which is exciting because maybe I can invest in Xbox products do not need to buy the console and invest in it through my PC

[LAWSON72]

Last week I went to the store and got a great 360 game for 5$ I have not played for years and put it in my Xbox One and played it, something I thought would never happen.

[DDOS-DelDaemonicOSes]

This article is another example of how those that are anti-Ms are BACKWARDS from SPIN.

As I've repeatedly mentioned in multiple posts, Sony fans SPIN Sony negatives into positives and Microsoft positives into negatives... the article even directly mentions "reversing" Microsoft's positive 2015 lineup to TRY turning that into a negative (and I think failing).

The author must not have read my posts about that phenomena, though his "DEVIL'S ADVOCATE reverse logic" is a perfect example of how it really is true.

Using the author's definition of "Blockbuster Exclusive" (keep that in mind before replying about Sony's lesser exclusives, such as Until Dawn and Tearaway), Sony doesn't have another blockbuster AAA game after Bloodborne, for the rest of 2015 and until AROUND A YEAR later... that's what is making a mistake, both for Sony and for Sony fans who now appear even more ABSURD with their claims of Sony being more "consistent" year-round with their exclusives.

[Edito]

He's not saying MS don't have games for 2016 he is saying that MS maybe won't have relevant or strong games to fight against Horizon, The Last Guardian, Uncharted 4 and No Man Sky for example, they have Gears 4 but will it be enough for MS?

[hiawa23]

Short an sweet, Microsoft has corrected the ship, and will be fine, so as an owner of both the PS4 and X1, I think both camps are doing what they are supposed to be doing. MS is not Sony nor do they have the studios that Sony does so I don't think they can match them game for game, but this is no issue since I buy all multiplats on the X1 anyways, plus I prefer more of its exclusives anyways, but I am covered no matter what games come out for either console. The X1 gets most gaming/multimedia use from me so I am happy with MS. More games will be announced, it is still 2015, and at the moment 2015 is what I am concerned with.

[thecowsaysmoo]

Gears 4
Quantum Break
Forza Horizon 3
ReCore
ScaleBound
and more

These games are good enough for me for 2016.