E3 2018: 10 Xbox-Saving Announcements Microsoft Must Make
4. New First-Party IPs
Halo 6. Gears of War 5. Forza Motorsport 8. Whether it's this year, the next, or some indeterminate period further in the future, each of those sequels will inevitably arrive. As they should, of course, but relying on the same familiar faces, so to speak, year after year, as a means of pushing sales will only work for so long before even the most dedicated fans grow tired. Stagnation will set in.
Pinning trailers and launch windows to such games would be a welcome move by Microsoft, but they need to be accompanied by new worlds, characters and ideas. Scalebound, which was going to be exactly that, found itself in an early grave for reasons already disclosed by the parties involved, but even then, just one example isn't enough on its own when comparisons to the competition are taken into account.
Horizon Zero Dawn, Detroit: Become Human, Spider-Man, Days Gone: it remains to be seen how some of those upcoming exclusives will be received, but the important takeaway is that Sony and its partners are trying and have so far only met with success in doing so.
It's time to pick up the pace, Microsoft.