Since E3 a few months ago, Microsoft has been calling its software lineup for 2015 the best in Xbox history. Whether or not fans agree, there's no doubt that the Xbox One is releasing a lot of games this year from first-party titles like Halo 5: Guardians and Forza Motorsport 6 to strong third-party titles like Rise of the Tomb Raider.

With such a robust lineup hitting the Xbox One later this year, many fans have been wondering what else is coming down the road from Microsoft in order to keep the momentum. With Sony really embracing exclusive third-party content, how is Microsoft planning to counter?

In an interview with Gamecore during the ChinaJoy event, Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer went on record detailing what fans can expect for the Xbox One going forward in regards to exclusive content. Surprisingly, Spencer admitted that the company is planning to maintain fewer third-party deals for exclusive content going forward, instead focusing on first party IPs.

"My strategy is more around our own first-party franchises, and investing in franchises that we own, and probably fewer exclusive deals for third-party content. I want to have strong third-party relations, but paying for many third-party exclusives isn't our long-term strategy."

To help highlight the company's drive to invest in first-party IPs, the upcoming event at Gamescom will feature a number of exclusive first-party titles which had to be bumped from Microsoft's E3 2015 lineup due to the already packed schedule. Titles like Crackdown, Scalebound, and Quantum Break, all promise to be featured heavily at the show and may have a few surprises for fans – such as a possible Quantum Break release date announcement.

Spencer's comments could be interpreted as taking a shot at Sony's policy as earlier this year, PlayStation Executive Andrew House confirmed that the third-party content deals currently in place with Destiny, Street Fighter V, and Call of Duty Black Ops III, remain integral to Sony's business plans going forward. These deals are very important this year especially considering the PlayStation 4 first party lineup is a bit sparse.

Currently, Rise of the Tomb Raider remains Microsoft's biggest third-party exclusive this year for the Xbox One. After a muddied and overly complicated PR message around its exclusivity deal when the game was first announced, it's only just been revealed that PC gamers can expect Lara Croft to arrive sometime early in 2016 while PlayStation 4 gamers are going to have to wait a bit longer as the title will arrive sometime at the end of next year.

With Gamescom taking place later this week, what are you looking forward to seeing from Microsoft? Let us know below in the comments.

Source: Gamecore (via Dualshockers)