Rise of the Tomb Raider - Xbox One/360 2015 timed exclusive Out Nov 10th

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by MerrickG

Halo would like a word with you.

No, I agree with ReverendSlim here.

Let's look at Microsoft's track record with first party:

Bungie
Acquired in 2000, departed 2007.

Produced Halo 1/2/3/Reach/ODST. Left to become independent, leaving 343 industries to try and pick up the pieces with Halo 4. Remains to be seen if 343 can recapture the magic, as H4 got a very mixed bag reaction.

Ensemble
Acquired in 2001, disbanded 2009.
Made Age of Empires, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, Age of Mythology, Halo Wars.

Microsoft never knew what to do with the RTS genre and never pushed Ensemble's work.

Rare
Acquired 2002, still in operations.

Rare went from creating classic titles like Battletoads, GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Donkey Kong Country to... Viva Pinata, B-K: Nuts and Bolts, and Kinect Sports.

Lionhead
Acquired 2006, still in operations.

Lionhead have made some mixed-bag Fables titles, and not much else, and studio head Peter Molyneux is no longer with the studio.

Turn 10
One of the few bright spots for Microsoft, Turn 10 has stayed laser focused on the racing genre, iterating faster and (arguably better) than Sony's Gran Turismo team. Though the Forza brand isn't nearly as powerful as GT, I think that has more to do with the Xbox being less popular outside of North America than any actual difference in quality between the games.

FASA
Acquired 1999, disbanded 2007.

Microsoft wanted the studio and the IP behind Mechwarrior and Shadowrun, but the games themselves, while capable enough, never really caught much public favor.

Aces
Founded ~1988, disbanded 2009.

Makers of the Microsoft Flight Simulator games. The series was always profitable, yet Microsoft decided that closing the studio was a good idea in the midst of the financial crisis.

343 industries
Founded 2008, still in operations.

New studio behind Halo 4 and the upcoming Halo 5. They've got a lot to prove.

Black Tusk
Founded 2010, still in operations.

Originally rumored to be working on a new IP of some sort, they've now been saddled with the Gears of War franchise, which Microsoft purchased from Epic Games last year. Otherwise absolutely nothing to show for 4 years in operation.

Twisted Pixel
Acquired 2011, still in operations.

They made Splosion Man and The Gunstringer before being acquired, and are responsible *cough* for LocoCycle.

Press Play
Acquired 2012, still in operations.

Recently released Max: The Curse of Brotherhood.

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With a track history like this, is it any wonder that Microsoft is a little gun-shy about going full steam with first party production?