Xbox Game Pass has become central to Microsoft’s strategy in the games industry and has informed most of the major decisions they’ve made as a company. With their primary focus now being to drive up subscriber numbers for the service, it makes sense that ensuring a steady stream of compelling content for the Game Pass catalog has become their main goal, which, after all, is why they have been focusing so much on their lineup of first party studios.
The frequency with which they intend to release new games is looking quite impressive. In an update posted on Xbox Wire, Microsoft says that it plans to release “at least one, new first party game” for Xbox Game Pass every quarter (which is every three months). “Role playing games, shooters, strategy titles, adventure games, and more are all being built by our first party teams to ensure that there is a steady stream of compelling exclusive content to explore,” the update reads.
Interestingly enough, in the same message, they also mention having “more than 23 studios”. That’s interesting because currently, they have exactly 23 studios. Microsoft has said in the past that it intends to keep acquiring more developers, while a recent rumour also suggested that a new acquisition might be announced at the E3 2021 Xbox presser on June 13- so perhaps there might be an announcement indeed.
Either way, with the likes of Halo Infinite, Starfield, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, and many more coming up, things certainly looked pack for the Xbox first party pipeline.
