Following a quiet 2022, Microsoft is preparing for a more dense release schedule for the next few years after Starfield.

According to an Xbox executive, the release of Starfield is like a “starting gun” for a steady stream of first-party titles. With Redfall and Starfield slipping to 2023, last year was pretty quiet regarding Xbox releases. The release of Arkane’s vampire shooter in May ended up being “disappointing”, according to Microsoft’s head of games, Phil Spencer.

However, Xbox marketing chief Jerret West told GamesIndustry.biz that he was “super excited” about the regular releases the company has planned for Starfield following its arrival on September 6.

“This is, in my mind, the doorway, almost like a starting gun, to what I think is going to be a multi-year relay race of first-party titles,” he said. “I was sitting there watching the same [Starfield presentation] you were this morning and I was like… this is really the start of something that’s going to then lead to Forza, then in 2024 as we go to Hellblade, and we think about Towerborne which is on the show floor, we think about Avowed, and we’ve got stories we haven’t told yet as well, that are going to unfurl in 2024 and 2025.”

West added: “And then if you layer in also, Game Pass and the third-party relationships that we have… I think we are entering a period where this is the beginning of something that will be really special over the next several years.”

West’s comments echo those of Xbox Games Studio boss Matt Booty. He said in June that the publisher had “turned a corner” in its ambition to ship at least four first-party games a year.

Xbox has aggressively grown its portfolio of first-party studios over the past five years. It started with the launch of The Initiative (Perfect Dark) and the new Age of Empires studio. Xbox then acquired companies like Ninja Theory (Hellblade), Playground Games (Forza Horizon), Obsidian (Fallout: New Vegas), InXile (Wasteland 3), Double Fine (Psychonauts), Undead Labs (State of Decay), Compulsion Games (We Happy Few) and Bethesda.

June’s Xbox Games Showcase featured InXile’s Clockwork Revolution and Compulsion’s South of Midnight, as well as a fresh look at Obsidian’s Avowed.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz