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How Much Did Those 15 Xbox One Exclusives Cost? $1 Billion Says Microsoft

At the Xbox One unveiling event, Microsoft said that it had 15 exclusives, with eight being new IPs, planned in the first year of the console’s life. Now the company has come forward to discuss ...
How Much Did Those 15 Xbox One Exclusives Cost? $1 Billion Says Microsoft
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  • At the Xbox One unveiling event, Microsoft said that it had 15 exclusives, with eight being new IPs, planned in the first year of the console’s life. Now the company has come forward to discuss those games and the associated costs.

    In an interview with Official Xbox Magazine, Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer said that the company has been preparing its Xbox One launch lineup for the past two years. Part of its plan saw Microsoft opening three new studios in Washington, London and British Columbia. That’s on top of the projects being worked on internally at Microsoft, Lionhead Studios and Rare. Speaking of Rare, the once great developer is revisiting one of its classic franchises for the Xbox One. What that franchise is will presumably be unveiled at E3.

    Outside of its own studios working on exclusives, Microsoft has secured some exclusive games and content from its third party partners. Remedy, the development team behind Alan Wake, is creating Quantum Break for the console. Activision will continue to provide timed exclusive DLC for Call of Duty on Xbox platforms. EA is also partnering with Microsoft to deliver exclusive content in its various sports titles.

    You could argue that the Xbox 360 had a lackluster launch. Games like Perfect Dark Zero and Project Gotham Racing 3 were good enough to hold off the stagnation that the Wii U is currently experiencing, but it sounds like Microsoft is hoping to avoid the drought that usually comes after a console’s launch. At least it better avoid such a pitfall if it’s willing to invest $1 billion into games.

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