With the Xbox Series X launching in November, Microsoft has a number of assets invested in the gaming industry, and it looks like the company might be expanding those investments in the future. According to new documents, Microsoft may be looking at expanding Xbox Games Studios, the branch that manages first-party developers that make content exclusive to Xbox consoles.
This news was first shared on Twitter by @Klobrille, an industry insider who closely follows the work of Xbox Games Studios, and previously broke news like the changes coming to Halo Infinite multiplayer. Having combed through a recent document through the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, @Klobrille has found that Microsoft is looking to find more first-party developers.
In the Annual Report for Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2020, Microsoft outlines, "We continue to invest in new gaming studios and content to expand our our IP roadmap and leverage new content creators." This means that Xbox Games Studios is looking to expand on the first-party developers that currently make exclusive content, like 343 Industries or the currently growing Obsidian Entertainment. From the exact wording in the document, it's more likely that this expansion is looking to add more developers to the Xbox Games Studios roster, as opposed to necessarily growing the developers currently working under the company umbrella.
The document also calls out Xbox Game Pass as one of Microsoft's focuses, with the continued investment in new developers coming in part to fill the game streaming service with new exclusive content. Considering that Xbox Game Pass is available both on Xbox One and PC, with the service expected to continue onto Xbox Series X, continuing to invest in this way could help push Microsoft's gaming platforms forward. So, in the case of expanding on these services, as well as Project xCloud, it's clear that the company's intention is to provide more first-party support through both the Xbox console series and PC gaming as a way of maintaining a strong foothold in gaming.
It's clear, through the success of Xbox Game Pass, that focusing on the subscription service, and combining it with the Project xCloud streaming service, is how Microsoft plans on staying ahead as console players move on to next-gen systems. While Sony's PS5 looks to be leading with console exclusives, Xbox Series X will have to make up with it's slightly more powerful hardware and an expanded Game Pass with backwards compatibility to give players more to play at launch. Of course, as analysts go back and forth about what will "win" the Next-Gen launch coming this Holiday season, it's really up to the players to decide how well Microsoft will do in the future.
Source: sec.gov