E3 2018: 10 Ups & 5 Downs From Microsoft's Conference

6. Microsoft Acquires Four Studios & Creates A New One

Phil Spencer Microsoft E3 2018
Microsoft

Business announcements at E3 are usually boring and frustrating, but Phil Spencer did make one legitimately neat announcement about Microsoft Studios' latest series of acquisitions.

Microsoft announced five studios that would now be first-party Xbox outfits: a brand new studio called The Initiative (headed by Crystal Dynamics' Darrell Gallagher), Undead Labs (State of Decay), Playground Games (Forza Horizon), Ninja Theory (Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice) and Compulsion Games (We Happy Few).

Though it'll clearly be a few years before these studios have new titles ready to roll, it's nevertheless reassuring to see Microsoft planning aggressively for a brighter first-party future. Given the timing, these games could very well be ready for the launch of the new Xbox, expected in either 2020 or 2021.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.