According to Phil Spencer ofXbox, “it’s been too long” since the company had last put out a first-party blockbuster video game. While the console giant certainly has a multitude of huge projects underway, such as its attempt at acquiring Activision Blizzard, its first-party video game releases haven’t been all that noteworthy as of late, which has been a major source of disappointment for the fans.
WhileXboxhas been successfully trading blows with PlayStation over the course of the current console generation in most areas that matter, Sony’s first-party studios have been more productive in general, with releases such asGran Turismo 7,Demon’s Souls, and the upcomingGod of War Ragnaroktaking most of the limelight. Spencer claims that this is bound to change in relatively short order.
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In his recent interview on the Same Brain podcast hosted by Justine and Jenna Ezarik, Phil Spencer went on record saying that “there’s a great line-up of games coming” in 2023, promising that it would be a far stronger year for Xbox than 2022 has ended up being. ThoughSpencer is keepingCall of Dutyon PlayStationif the Activision Blizzard acquisition passes through, many other Xbox first-party productions won’t get the same treatment, such as Bethesda’s long-awaitedStarfieldand Arkane Studios’Redfall.
Spencer also had words of praise to share about Sony’s newGod of Wargame, as well as Nintendo’s own series of successes over the past couple of years. In context, he said, Xbox’s own output had been “a little light.” This sort of positive commentary sits in stark contrast to some of Spencer’s other recent comments. As a prime example, theXbox CEO recently criticized Metaverse, saying that it’s a shoddily-built video game that he wouldn’t want to spend much time in.
Content isn’t the only thing that’s being boosted in the near (and far) future with Xbox.Xbox Insiders are testing a new Dashboard UIright now, and it’s supposed to provide a substantially improved core user experience both while playing games and while browsing the store or the user’s own local content library.
