During today’s Inside Xbox, Microsoft announced that they were changing the name of their game studio umbrella. As it was previously known as Microsoft Studios, this new change goes on to reflect their alignment with the Xbox branding. As such the name of the studio has been changed to Xbox Game Studios.
Why the name change up? According to Microsoft, their commitment to gaming lies with the Xbox brand. Not entirely with the Xbox console, but also on the PC and even mobile devices. Their focus has evolved and to that effect, the name also had to reflect that evolution.
Thanks to the recent acquisitions by Microsoft, the Xbox Game Studios has grown in size. Adding development studios such as Compulsion Games, Undead Labs (State of Decay), Obsidian Entertainment, Ninja Theory, Playground Games and several others. All of these studios are committed to bringing out current and next-generation games to future Xbox consoles, as well as Microsoft’s expanding reach across other platforms.
As a fan of the Xbox brand, it’s definitely an exciting time. Sure, there’s still an issue with the amount of Xbox exclusive titles, however, thanks to the recent push this won’t be an issue for much longer. Not just with the studios under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella, but also with Microsoft working with multiple 3rd party developers to bring more titles to the brand. Not to mention the release of Crackdown 3 is getting close. I’ve been reading the previews and impressions of the game and while I’m a bit saddened by those, I’m still looking forward to the game.
Couple that with Xbox Game Pass, which can be called the Netflix of gaming and the upcoming Xbox streaming service. It definitely looks like Microsoft has doubled up on their commitment to the Xbox brand – which is something that many couldn’t say a couple of years ago.
Source: Xbox News Blog
