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[GigaBowser]

I like a couple MS first party franchises. Forza and Flight Simulator are great but okay, I'll be honest, I admit it, it's been a long, long time since Microsoft's first party was thrilling me and I think I speak for many of us. I'm sorry my friends.

Bethesda is a good purchase for them because quite frankly Bethesda franchises are better than their own in this bears opinion, and 2023 will be the year we finally see the fruits of their labour.

Will this be the year MS is finally back on the map in the first party gaming space, or will it be too little and possibly too late?

 

[German Hops]

 

[legacy24]

can't get worse than 2022

 

[anthony2690]

I'm just going to say yes.

After an abysmal 2022 first party output wise (even if grounded & as dusk fall are excellent games, they are not console sellers) game pass & third parties did some mega heavy lifting.

2023 is looking absurd for game pass, third parties and first parties.

2023 could potentially be one of the best gaming years ever imo.

And we don't even know what is coming in the second half of 2023.

 

[Topher]

I think a lot depends on Starfield. That is the game most people are looking to be a massive hit. There is also a lot of pressure for Microsoft to deliver the games slated for 2023. I don't think they can afford any delays especially not after such a lackluster 2022. At a minimum, Microsoft must release Forza, Redfall and most importantly, Starfield.

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

Any year now

 

[remember_spinal]

Thread needs a

 

[zzill3]

People gonna hate on them regardless, but 2023 looks set to be amazing

 

[Punished Miku]

Nope.

If Starfield is good it won't count for MS 1st party. If it sucks it will count for MS 1st party.

Redfall will be fun but have minimal impact outside existing Xbox owners.

Forza will be good but sim racers are more niche than arcade racers. It also won't count because Forza, Gears, Halo meme.

Ghostwire won't count since its been on PS. If Tango comes out with a smaller AA game it will be low budget trash for poor people.

Indies won't count because its Oscar bait for losers.

Hellblade won't count since Xbox players hate all cinematic games and don't have PS.

The sad truth is Xbox has no games. The curse remains in effect until Phil commits sudoku.

 

[Jim Ryan other Clone]

Yes, the exbox players will have an awesome 2023 the question though: is it going to be something happening year after year or at 2024 we will have repeat of 2022?

 

[Hobbygaming]

I'm holding a grudge against MS for the way they handled this launch

It's gonna take some really good exclusives to get me on board again, at least 7 or 8

 

[Wandering Leopard]

 

[bentanchorbolt]

can't get worse than 2022

 

[Beer Baelly]

Greatest line-up in Xbox history.

 

[feynoob]

2023 is the year their new acquision should start firing games. Hopefuly we should start seeing those games.

 

[Moses85]

 

[Pelta88]

 

[ungalo]

It looks like Starfield is the only game that can fill those expectations. Besides the 3 titles we know of we can't reasonably expect another major release to come out of nowhere in the second half (if we were talking about Nintendo or Sony we could have but not here).

Starfield's presentation wasn't incredible but i don't share the pessisism surrounding it lately. It's definitely going to be way better than all of what Xbox released these last years.

 

[SaucyJack]

It’s not a curse, it’s the consequence of a set of management decisions.

That said ….

…. I really hope so. Xbox Studios do have a number of interesting projects and it would be great if they start coming to fruition in a bigger way from '23 onwards.

 

[jhjfss]

 

[AmuroChan]

I mean, it's not really possible to be worse than 2022. So 2023 should be a better year for XBox fans.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Starfield should be awesome. Everything else is gravy.

Looking forward to seeing what the Doom team is working on.

 

[feynoob]

 

[Stooky]

hmmm..... let’s see, they have to release games and they have to be good…..

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

First party under direct Xbox's management?

No.

Forza will deliver tho.

 

[analog_future]

2021 was really good for MS, and 2023 will be too.

With that said, I think the best years are still to come. 2023 is the beginning of year after year after year of bangers.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Microsoft was already there in 2021 as far as I'm concerned, pulling off a year no other games publisher had ever achieved in terms of critical acclaim, using the same Metacritic score card some people seem to place so much weight on. I personally don't think very much of it, but when you see Xbox do so well on this thing everybody always uses to attack Xbox, it's only natural you're going to throw a little shade here or there. The reality is some will always push the year back for Xbox to suggest they still haven't met some bizarre threshold, that it still hasn't proven itself yet capable of releasing games people have fun with... despite all the games Xbox has that people have fun with.

So Xbox will never do anything right in the eyes of some, and that's perfectly fine because it doesn't really matter at the end of the day what everybody else thinks. It's about what you personally as an individual thinks.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Microsoft was already there in 2021 as far as I'm concerned, pulling off a year no other games publisher had ever achieved in terms of critical acclaim

That is disingenuous/misleading.

using the same Metacritic score card some people

And companies/publishers

seem to place so much weight on. I personally don't think very much of it, but when you see Xbox do so well on this thing everybody always uses to attack Xbox, it's only natural you're going to throw a little shade here or there. The reality is some will always push the year back for Xbox to suggest they still haven't met some bizarre threshold, that it still hasn't proven itself yet capable of releasing games people have fun with... despite all the games Xbox has that people have fun with.

Well, you can't ignore when even Xbox's cheerleaders point that lackluster release schedule.

So Xbox will never do anything right in the eyes of some, and that's perfectly fine because it doesn't really matter at the end of the day what everybody else thinks. It's about what you personally as an individual thinks.

At the end of the day you personally just play games and that is. End of the story, no debate, no conversation, no going on a videogame forum where sales, reviews, analysis, performance discussion takes place.

 

[lh032]

lets be real here.
If Microsoft still unable to release bangers in 2023, they should quit the business.
Its embarrassing tbh.

 

[Verchod]

Well at some point they have to release something..

 

[BusierDonkey]

2020 was great and 2021 was alright. 2022 is a one year curse if it was cursed. In 2021 released Forza Horizon 5 which I've gone on to put nearly 650 hours into since launch and still play. Despite Infinite being less than expected post-launch I really enjoyed the game and put almost 70 hours in. Psychonauts 2 was a fantastic game I enjoyed the entire way through, delaying the game was absolutely beneficial to the final product comparing the first game which had some pretty glaring issues. They still update Flight Sim regularly and I play it fairly often though I don't categorize it as a game. In 2022 I enjoyed Deathloop more than I anticipated and am still working on finishing it, I didn't expect to like it much but ended up being a huge fan (turn off waypoints in you play this). Grounded, though it was in early access, officially released this year and it's a really good game.

If Starfield is only as good as Fallout 4 and Forza Motorsport is only as good as FM7 and both release this coming year I will likely put more hours into each than I have put into some entire consoles. I'm expecting both to be great since both have had a bunch of extra time for polish. Redfall hasn't hooked my attention yet but neither did Deathloop until I played it so I'll give it a chance.

Beyond those two, I'm very interested in what all the other studios have in the pipeline, id especially, as I've been seeing Quake rumors for a few years now.

 

[Hobbygaming]

2023 is the year their new acquision should start firing games. Hopefuly we should start seeing those games.

 

[RoboFu]

Idk but they have really hurt themselves this past year. I have barely turned on my XsX and the times I did I didn’t need to. It was for games that came out on every other systems.. like I got shredders revenge on XsX just because .
It’s really pushed me more to ps5 and switch.

 

[DaGwaphics]

2021 says hello. Something about publisher of the year comes to mind.

 

[drganon]

It will all come down to starfield.

 

[baphomet]

I mean, it'll break the curse by releasing at least 1 AAA, game unlike 2022.

Expect 2024 or 2025 to be completely devoid of content though because that's just how shitty MS are at getting their studios to produce games.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Referring to it as a curse is completely missing the point of MS first-party publishing's own agency in their failure. You're handwaving away the blame and pretending this was something that just sorta happened to them.

A curse is something externally applied that the individual in question cannot control. Microsoft Game Studios has failed to build up a platform for consistent delivery of high-quality games, not because of any curse... but because of plain old incompetence, which they achieved all by themselves.

 

[MarkMe2525]

In theory, MS should have at least 32 first party releases in 2023.

 

[Arsic]

Forza will do all the heavy lifting for first party output.

Maybe we get a new gears or Fable, but those won’t do jack,

Really at this point Msoft is Forza and Bethesda. They killed Halo and Gears while great was never the definitive reason to own a Xbox. It just helped amplify the other offerings.

That’s all fine by me. At this point Xbox GamePass PC is all I need them for. Every month they get their cut and I usually have 1-2 new games to try that gets added. Very sweet deal.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

2021 says hello. Something about publisher of the year comes to mind.

Hey, hey.. that's known as the forgotten year around these parts.

 

[Topher]

Hey, hey.. that's known as the forgotten year around these parts.

To some it seems it is the only year that has ever mattered.

Granted, calling Microsoft's first party a "curse" is a bit much, but it hasn't exactly been good either.

 

[geary]

What curse? Still with the MS has no games narative?

 

[Represent.]

No. Its one game.

What would they be releasing next year if they didn't spend 8 Billion on Bethesda? Pathetic.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Forza will do all the heavy lifting for first party output.

Maybe we get a new gears or Fable, but those won’t do jack,

Really at this point Msoft is Forza and Bethesda. They killed Halo and Gears while great was never the definitive reason to own a Xbox. It just helped amplify the other offerings.

That’s all fine by me. At this point Xbox GamePass PC is all I need them for. Every month they get their cut and I usually have 1-2 new games to try that gets added. Very sweet deal.

I've been hearing Halo is dead now for years. Why is it the #10 most played game on Xbox series consoles worldwide? It's #4 on Game Pass in the US. #20 on Xbox consoles Something just doesn't compute. Halo has consistently remained one of the most played and popular games on Xbox consoles since release. Just because you may not play it doesn't mean it's dead lol.

I keep telling people this. There were people thinking State of Decay 2 was dead. Fallout 76 was dead. Because you don't play something does not make it a dead game. For years people were saying nobody wants Forza either, or had grown tired of it. People like to neglect the fact Halo Infinite was the largest ever launch in franchise history. The next major Halo release is going to prove to be the same.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

2021 says hello. Something about publisher of the year comes to mind.

You guys love to hold on to this but be honest, the only reason they "won" this is because it was the year GamePass become popular. What else did they have? Halo Infinite, flight simulator, and psychonauts 2. Halo Infinite was a massive disappointment and flight Sim is very niche (very cool but how often do most xbox gamers actually play this?) Psychonauts 2 was a great game.

THIS is what you're trumpeting as something to combat the idea that MS's first party output sucks so much? Come on man. Stop hiding behind this phony award and be honest already. It's always this award or its "people are gonna act like MS is doing a bad job even if they're actually doing great" from you guys.

No, MS really has sucked when it comes to big AAA exclusives. 2021 just happened to be the one year they didn't totally suck at it + GamePass. In the same year Sony had Returnal, Ratchet, Deathloop off the top which was as good as what MS had that year. 2020 Sony destroyed them and 2022 Sony wiped them off the map.

MS needed Starfield this year to save them. Now they deserve every bit of criticism. They had several AA's this year. Turning on my SX is depressing because it's this big unfulfilled promise of a great console. Gamepass shouldn't even pertain to these conversations.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

It will be great year if they can repeat AA game's success they had in 2022.

Else it will be a decent year for them I guess.

 

[feynoob]

To some it seems it is the only year that has ever mattered.

Granted, calling Microsoft's first party a "curse" is a bit much, but it hasn't exactly been good either.

What do you expect from a company who couldn't expand their first party before Xbox one.

All these no games could have been avoided, have they invested early instead of late 2018.

All these draught is the result of not investing early.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

What curse? Still with the MS has no games narative?

What AAA games do they have? Sea of Thieves, Halo Infinite, Psychonauts 2, Flight Sim, Forza Horizon 5, Gears 5 (optomized)

Vs Sony- Astros Playroom, demon's Souls, miles morales/Spiderman Remastered, Returnal, Ratchet and Clank, GT7, Forbidden West, God of War Ragnarok, Last of Us 1 Remake, FF7 Integrade, Uncharted 4 remaster, death stranding (ps5 version), ghost of tsushima (ps5)

I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Not counting FH4 "optimized" because they downgraded it. Also- Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo were exclusive to ps5 for a year.

It's not even close Sony has been kicking their ass with exclusive AAA games.

 

[anothertech]

They just need a new first party ip to define the generation. Their next Halo, Gears and Forza.

Xbone gen missed it. Can't miss another gen.

No pressure.

 

[damidu]

there is always 2024