Xbox has been developing itself rapidly as a platform, after often being compared to Sony’s massive range of critically-acclaimed exclusive titles last generation. While this new console generation is still in its infancy, it seems as if Xbox is determined to address the complaint of fans with one big studio acquisition and partnership after the other.
Fans may be forgiven to think that the acquisition of Bethesda’s parent company, ZeniMax Media, in addition to the already 15 Xbox Game Studios has filled the company’s pool for exclusives enough for the foreseeable future. However, it has been reported that Xbox will be pursuing partnership deals with third-party studios for producing exclusive titles. The duration of such partnerships is reported to be as long as a decade, which has sparked much speculation among fans. No such deals are known yet, but there are some studios that’d be great for such partnerships.
Despite a few missteps with Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Ubisoft has quickly made a comeback with several great releases. Immortals Fenyx Rising has been an absolute treat, and the highly anticipated Skull and Bones is also showing a similar potential. Ubisoft’s shifting in development schedule, as evident by the delayed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, would also prove monumental in developing polished titles with an Xbox partnership. The publisher’s interest in pursuing such projects, with Rayman: Legends and Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle being exclusive to Nintendo consoles, also makes such Xbox-exclusive speculation certainly viable.
Crystal Dynamics is another great studio that would make for the perfect partnership. Crystal Dynamics is the developer behind the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, as well as the more recent Marvel‘s Avengers, and has worked with Microsoft in the past. The second game in the series, Rise of the Tomb Raider was a timed-exclusive for the Xbox platform, which bolsters the possibility for more. The developer has also shared its vision for the next chapter in Tomb Raider, which would be focused on connecting and unifying timelines with the previous games. With no new Uncharted game known to be in development, the time seems ripe for such an exclusive partnership.
The developers behind the excellent Hitman games, IO Interactive has proven its mettle time and time again by continually polishing its formula to an immaculate degree. The studio is currently hard at work on its upcoming Project oo7. This may rule out the possibility of an entirely new exclusive franchise dropping soon, but a partnership can definitely take place. The studio’s dedication to continuing to develop its franchises seems a perfect match for such an exclusive partnership. Arkane Studios’ Deathloop is a timed PS5 exclusive, so a brand new IP from IO Interactive focused on social stealth would be a great addition to the Xbox library.
Certainly not the last and not the least, From Software is a great candidate for developing genre-defining games. Most famously known for its work on Dark Souls, the studio has shown a knack for developing richly realized fantasy worlds. In addition to this, the studio has also continually evolved its formula when needed as evident by games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Bloodborne. The icing on the cake seems to be the studio’s willingness to develop titles like Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne which have been exclusive to PlayStation consoles in the past.
Currently hard at work on the heavily anticipated Elden Ring, there’s already some evidence available that hints to this being the first partnership in line. As reported by Comicbook Gaming, Microsoft has already secured a deal with From Software for developing a sci-fi RPG. The game is reportedly in the very early stages of pre-production and thus, fans shouldn’t expect anything soon. Perhaps that is the start of a long-running relationship with Microsoft and Xbox.
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