Xbox doesn’t have a big 2022 game, but with Game Pass, it might not matter

By almost any measure, Microsoft put on a very strong showing at yesterday’s Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase.

There was a huge variety and quantity of games on display, with the majority coming to Game Pass from day one and many others boasting Xbox exclusives. It was easy to see why the Xbox Game Studios first-party titles were so popular. Redfall, Forza MotorsportAbove all else, Starfield — the jewel in the crown of Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda, and a super-production with the kind of immense scope traditionally reserved for a multiplatform release.

From the headline-grabbing news about a Hideo-Kojima project to cred-boosting signings like Indie Darling, all of these partnerships were broad and canny. Silksong: Hollow Knightand the beloved Persona series to form a new strategic alliance with Riot Games. This will provide in-game benefits League of LegendsSubscribe to Game Pass for more titles.

Meanwhile, the inclusion of Blizzard’s Overwatch 2And Diablo 4 — despite these games boasting no form of Xbox exclusivity or Game Pass benefit — served as a sneak preview of the sheer production and franchise might that Microsoft will possess if its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through.

The show’s promise felt tangible and real due to its stated emphasis on the games released within the next twelve months and the large volume of gameplay footage. No vaporware. All of these games were ones we would actually play, soon.

Only one problem. The largest will not be available in 2022.

Image: Xbox/Twitch

A recent delay in Starfield RedfallThe Forza Reboot was the last hope of a 2022 Xbox Exclusive in the future. It wasn’t to be; Forza Motorsport The next issue will be out in spring. As I wrote when the delays were announced, they raise questions about the Xbox organization’s ability to manage its production pipeline across its vastly expanded suite of game studios. The showcase’s focus on the coming year worked well, but it also conveniently excused Microsoft from having to address the state of several previously announced games that are reportedly suffering troubled productions: Rare’s Everwild, Playground Games’ Fable, Undead Labs’ 3. State of Decay, and The Initiative’s The Perfect Dark. (Obsidian’s Allowed also seems a long way off, but as yet there’s been no suggestion that it’s in trouble.)

Microsoft announced last week that five first-party games had been launched in the past 12 months. It is on course to surpass that total in the next year. The showcase bears that prediction out: Mojang’s Minecraft Legends and Obsidian’s historical adventure PentimentThey were also announced alongside the high-profile trio of Starfield, RedfallPlease see the following: Forza Motorsport. However, it is not the only way. PentimentA small, but interesting, release called ‘The Little Things’ will be available before the holidays. It isn’t the exclusive, big-budget game we have come to expect of platform-holders in the holiday season.

Is it important? The games industry’s habitual annual rhythm, peaking in the last months of the year, is hard-wired into anyone who’s been playing console games for more than a few years. This has been driven for many decades by the retail market, which Microsoft barely participates in. The company is expanding the Xbox brand to cloud gaming and PC gaming. Holiday console sales will no longer be critical. Microsoft (and its rivals) are almost certain to sell as many consoles as possible in these tight supply times.

Image: Obsidian Entertainment/Microsoft

Xbox no longer sells boxes. It’s a combatant in the great 21st-century content wars, and where its peers Apple, Amazon, and Netflix have chosen to invest in streamed film and TV as a way to colonize people’s leisure time, Microsoft has gone all-in on games. Cloud Gaming and Game Pass, the two mainstays of this strategy, promise to deliver games to any screen, including smartphones, and very soon smart TVs, and to convert players into paying customers by providing a wide range of content at a low monthly cost.

Although this is a risky business model, Microsoft like Apple is so rich that it is able to afford the game. The numbers don’t need to make sense in the short or even medium term. Microsoft can just hook up the firehose and get spraying. This game is all about user acquisition. And it can’t possibly hope to make enough games on its own, so relying on licensing to take up the slack is key.

Schedules are secondary concerns in today’s world. (Netflix, for its part, doesn’t seem to pay too much attention to the film and TV industries’ ritual calendars, unless it’s trying to play to the awards season.) It’s enough to entertain people and keep them interested, with the promise of more exciting content. You are now ready to go! StarfieldMicrosoft isn’t as concerned about missing Christmas as it was for Apple. Horizon Forbidden West Sony was the one to blame for Sony’s late 2021 and early 2022 slippage. That delay put Guerrilla’s open-word game directly in the path of Elden RingThis forced it into a rut and made it miss its sales goals. Microsoft wants you to play StarfieldGame Pass was cheaper than it cost, so don’t worry.

Image: Frame Break/Amplifier

Nevertheless, momentum still matters. The worry for Xbox is that, post-pandemic, its third-party partners are having the same production issues that it’s experiencing internally. There are very few game studios that meet their deadlines. Even this late into June, it looks like the 2022 schedule is a dead end. Overwatch 2 aside. A graphic showing 2022 releases vs 2023 Xbox was shared by the company during its showcase was quite telling and made for some interesting comparisons. Naraka: Bladepoint is a good get, but it’s hardly Diablo 4. If there aren’t enough exciting new games to play, Game Pass subscribers might consider canceling their subscriptions, even with such a bounty coming their way next year.

These are extraordinary times. Microsoft, like Xbox gamers would not want to wait over a year before releasing major exclusives. However, in the event of a prolonged dry spell, Microsoft might consider browsing Game Pass or landing on mech farming. Lightyear FrontierYou decide to let go of your past. GroundedYou can fill your tank with a spin.

Microsoft’s transformation into the singular titan of gaming content is not yet complete, and the teething troubles it’s facing raise some important questions. However, it’s changing so many rules that the game of publishing games is no longer the only answer.