Look, we already know that a Gears 5 and a Halo 6 are in the works- even if they’re not revealed this year, we know they are coming. But when they do come, will Microsoft use them to cap off the Xbox One era, and maybe to give one final push to its exclusives lineup? Or will they be saved for the next generation Xbox system?
According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, Halo 6 and Gears of War 5 should both be out on the Xbox One, well before the next Xbox is out. “I think Xbox Two, or whatever they call it, will be a 2020 event, so I will be very surprised if we don’t get Halo and Gears before that,” Pachter said in an exclusive interview with GamingBolt. “If I had to bet, Halo this year, Gears next year. I think Microsoft has been very quiet, but we’re getting them in the next two years. If I’m wrong about what year the next Xbox launches in, then I think one of them will be a launch title. It won’t be exclusive, I think it will be old gen and new gen, like Nintendo did with Breath of the Wild on Wii U and Switch.”
I think it might be a smart idea for Microsoft to hold at least one of those two, if not both, back for the next Xbox launch- they will need to overcome the negative momentum and perception coming from years of the Xbox One at that point, and having the next games in their two biggest series as launch games for their next system makes a statement- just like, how Pachter pointed out, it did for Nintendo.