Xbox will expand its catalog with established franchises and new releases, thanks in large part to its recent acquisitions of video game studios.
This Sunday the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase 2022 was held where the video games that will be released this year and in 2023 were presented, some belonging to large franchises that report profits of millions of dollars each year for Microsoft since joining the company, like Minecraft, as well as widely anticipated new universes like Starfield; all of which will be available on your Xbox Game Pass from day 1 of its launch.
Microsoft is constantly looking to nurture its Xbox catalog, which has made it one of its most popular and successful lines of business. It does this by buying studios and franchises to market their proven successful video game concepts and stories in their cloud service.
The releases in order of appearance during the conference are as follows: Redfallfrom the Arkane studio; Hollow Night: Silksongde Team Cherry; High On Lifethe Squanch Games; A plague tale: Requiemde Asobo; Wo Long: Fallen Dinastythe Team Ninja; Forza Motorsportfrom Turn 10 studios, Playground Games and Sumo Digital; Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversaryde Microsoft y Asobo.
The list continues with: Overwatch 2 y Forza Horizon 5 – Hot Wheelsboth from Activision Blizzard Studios; Fallout 76 The Pittof Bethesda; Scornfrom Ebb Software; Minecraft Legendsfrom Mojang Studios; Lightyear: Frontierde Frame Break y Amplifier Game Invest; The Last Case of Benedict Foxde Plot Twist; Diablo IVthe Blizzard; Person 3,4 and 5from Atlus; Groundedde Obsidian Entertainment; As Dusk Fallsfrom INTERIOR/NIGHT and finally, the long-awaited Starfield, also from Bethesda. Likewise, a partnership with Kojima Productions, the studio behind the Metal Gear franchise, was revealed for the creation of a new title. According to the video game studio, the partnership will give it access to Microsoft’s cloud technology.
All these games will be available with the subscription of Xbox Game Pass on the announced release date and are part of Microsoft’s investment in having a long history of success.
Xbox begins to squeeze its new acquisitions
Its ever expanding content feeds on video games from developers that Microsoft has been buying over the last few years. With these purchases he not only acquired an impressive video game wallet and adept players, but also the Rights of successful franchises.
For example, in 2020, Microsoft signed an agreement to acquire ZeniMax Mediaparent company of the second developer that gives the event its name, for 7.5 billion dollars (MDD), and with said purchase, Microsoft grew from 15 to 23 video game developers, such as the aforementioned Bethesda, así como id Sofware, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog y Roundhouse Studios. So Xbox takes over Fallout, Doom, Dishoroned, Wolfensteinamong others.
Bethesda, which will soon bring the expansion The Pitt of the game Fallout 76 to Game Pass, grossed on its first release in 2018 50.3 million dollars and sold 2.1 million units (mu), adding more than 12 million players to date, which is why Microsoft hopes to import this success to the cloud, according to statistics from VG Insights.
Another of the most striking cases is that of Minecraft, which was acquired by Microsoft just over seven years ago. Mojang, its creative house, revealed that it currently has 141 million monthly players and maintains some profit figures for its creators of 350 million dollars per year. So when Minecraft Legends arrives at Xbox Game Pass for PC, it is estimated that it will continue to generate income for both them and their distributor, that is, Xbox.
In January this year, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard Studios by 68 mil 700 MDDwith which he took over important franchises such as Diablo, Call of Duty, Warcraft, Overwatch y Candy Crush, among other. As for new franchises, such as Starfieldthe CEO de Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencersaid that the company has “the goal of achieving more players for this game than any other”.
The division of Xbox It is one of the most popular of the technological giant and also one of the most successful thanks to its wide range of services and content. During the last quarter alone, it reported a 4% growth, according to your report. The service Xbox Live I had approximately 100 million monthly active users by 2020, according to figures from Statista. Meanwhile, Xbox Game Pass, which allows access to cloud services for video games and where releases can be found, currently has more than 25 million subscribersMicrosoft revealed this year.
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