Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
Phil Spencer just took to stage during the Xbox briefing at E3 to give an update on some new aquired studios. First, Microsoft has created a brand new studio, "Initiative Games", set in Santa Monica. In addition they've acquired Undead Labs (State of Decay 2), Playground Games (Forza Horizon series), Ninja Theory (Hellblade and DmC), and Compulsion Games (We Happy Few).
In particular, Ninja Theory is a big acquisition for the company, as it was previously responsible for the excellent title Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, which was self-described as an "independent AAA game," created by a small team of just 20 developers. It went on to receive a high amount of praise for its depiction of an individual suffering from mental illness as well as Ninja Theory's care taken to avoid cliches and incorrect information relating to such debilitating mental problems.
Xbox often gets a bad wrap for a lack of first party exlusives, especially when compared to PlayStation. The announcements of these acquisitions shows that Microsoft is committed to turning things around.