Ain’t no party like an Xbox party – Aaron Greenberg clarifies exclusivity stance and explains why the upcoming X019 is coming to London - MCV/DEVELOP
With Gears 5 released on Steam, plus Ori and the Blind Forest coming to Switch, Aaron Greenberg, GM of games marketing, clarifies Xbox’s first-party strategy and fills us in on the thinking behind its upcoming London celebration, X019 - MCV/DEVELOP
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In the run-up to this year’s Gamescom, two publishing announcements from Microsoft caught the eye: Gears 5 made a surprisingly late move onto Steam, just a few weeks before its release, while Microsoft also stated it was bringing 2015’s Ori and the Blind Forest to Nintendo Switch. First-party titles such as these rarely stray from their creator’s platforms and stores, so just what do these announcements mean for Xbox’s publishing strategy as a whole?
Microsoft’s GM of games marketing Aaron Greenberg makes it clear that these are exceptions to the rule, not a change of direction: “Going forward, all of our internal studios, and the new studios we’ve added, will be focused on making games for our platforms and we have no plans to expand our exclusive first-party games to any other consoles,” he says.
“People should recognise how excited we are with our internal development studios more than doubling. Those teams, going forward, will be focused on making games for our platforms. So while we know there’s existing commitments in place, take The Outer Worlds as an example, there was already a commitment to make that game available as a multiplatform title and we’ll continue to honour that.”
Such commitments are an inevitable outcome of the spending spree of acquisitions that Microsoft has gone on lately, but Greenberg is clear that they will end once those commitments are spent.
“Thinking about the next game from Obsidian, InXile or Ninja Theory, all those studios, just like our existing internal studios, whether it’s 343 or Turn 10, they’re going to be focused on making those games for our platforms. So we have no plans to expand any of those exclusive first-party titles to any other consoles,” Greenberg states categorically to us.
That said, we’re even more curious as to why an older title, Ori and the Blind Forest, is coming to Switch next week.
“Ori is built by Moon Studios, which is an independent, external studio. They came to us with a desire to bring the original Ori to the Switch. We thought that made sense, and we’re happy to work with them to enable them to bring that to Switch,” Greenberg answers.
We can only agree that the game is a perfect match for the hardware. However, going forward, Greenberg is keen to clarify this doesn’t set a precedent for the sequel: “Our plans with Ori and the Will of the Wisps is to launch it exclusively on Xbox One and PC.”
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“We’ve been able to work with Steam so that we’re enabling that community to also be able to play across Windows 10 and console. It’s been exciting and we’re bringing Halo: Reach and The Master Chief Collection to Steam as well,” he reminds us.
But while Microsoft is happy to expand its reach using other retail platforms, it still believes its own offering is the best: “We’re creating a lot of choice; gamers can get [Gears 5] on Steam, buy it on Xbox, or subscribe and get it on Xbox Game Pass. Though, whether you are a PC or console player, we think that the best value comes from Game Pass.”
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Greenberg explains where its own event sits in terms of importance: “We think of both E3 and X019 as the big beats of the year. We unveiled a lot of big news at E3, and X019 will be another key event for us. We’re going to have a lot of surprises.
“We have a huge spring planned, so between this holiday and E3 next year we have a record number of games coming out, so that event will be the perfect opportunity to showcase all those,” Greenberg reveals.
The Copper Box Arena, in London, where X019 will be taking place
The choice of London this year is directly linked with Microsoft’s expanding development stable, Greenberg explains: “London has always been one of the top global markets for us, and it’s the home of some of our best creative studio teams. We thought: ‘What a great place to invite friends from around the world to the Copper Box Arena!’ We’ve got the Rare team, the Ninja Theory team, the Playground team, all of the top British creative teams will be there with their staff.”
But despite doing its own event, Microsoft will continue its presence elsewhere: “We want to support industry events, we plan to be at the Game Awards in December as well, the big beats where gamers are watching and showing up, we want to be there. That said, it’s always fun to be able to create your own show, and our fans love that.
“It’s been in the works for many months, we’re already deep into content reviews, we’re planning out the show, we’re working with our internal and external content teams,” he replies when we ask about the timeline behind the event.
“It is going to be the biggest Inside Xbox show of the year and it hits during that peak holiday period. We’re excited to come back to London and celebrate with our fans there. We have a three-day experience, we want to welcome fans, families, people to come and experience all the great games we have on our platforms. Tickets will be £19 and all proceeds go to charity.”
