2024 has been a rough year for Xbox, with controversies surrounding studio closures and a lack of heavy-hitting titles on the platform. It’s been a real struggle for Microsoft’s gaming division to hit its stride this year and pose a real challenge to its direct competitor.
However, as the leadership now shifts and the gaming division enters a new era, we may be reaching a turning point for the platform, with Xbox Game Studios finally getting a much-needed refresh to get back in the game with renewed strength.
Craig Duncan Will Replace Alan Hartman at the Helm of Xbox Game Studios
So, right now, Matt Booty’s main team is undergoing a rather significant change, with Alan Hartman, the ex-head of Xbox Game Studios, retiring after supporting the brand for nearly all its life.
Hartman, known for his role in bringing the Forza franchise and working on older juggernauts like Age of Empires and Fable, bid farewell to Microsoft’s internal games group in a heartfelt LinkedIn post yesterday. He stated that he “will continue to be one of Xbox’s biggest fans… now from the other side of the screen.”
The baton to lead the team has passed onto Duncan, who, after bringing monumental success to Rare with Sea of Thieves, will now be responsible for managing some of the Xbox’s most important IPs, overseeing developers like Halo Studios, The Coalition, Ninja Theory, Turn 10, and Obsidian, among others.
As Matt Booty puts it in a staff email, who Duncan will be reporting to, under the latter’s leadership, Xbox would “continue investing in new IPs and focus on delivering high-quality, differentiated game experiences.”
What that translates to is essentially steering first-party titles like Avowed, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, Gears of War E-Day, and South of Midnight to a successful release. Now, this bit comes packaged with every leadership position out there—steering the in-development projects to a release.
But what we’re more interested in seeing is whether the platform’s content strategy might undergo a much-needed revitalization, especially as Xbox struggles to keep pace with PlayStation’s output.
Can Xbox Game Studios Now Level the Playing Field With PlayStation in Output?
We all know the story – Sony has dominated much of 2024 with a series of high-profile exclusives, including some that simply happened to become one due to Xbox’s alleged hardware limitations.
From blockbuster titles like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Stellar Blade to surprise hits like Astro Bot and Helldivers 2, even with the absence of some major AAA first-party titles, PlayStation still managed to pull an insane lineup of aware-worthy titles this year.
Sure, there have been a few fumbles here and there, like Concord’s absolute failure and the divisive announcement of PS5 Pro. But even so, there’s a difference in night and day between Sony and Microsoft’s performances when put side by side.
Just contrast the titles we talked about with Xbox’s offerings—Hellblade 2 is the platform’s only major release so far. While highly anticipated games like STALKER 2, Black Ops 6, and Indiana Jones still remain on the horizon, two of those three titles will also be coming to PlayStation, making even their arrival rather underwhelming.
That is to say, with Duncan now in charge, the only thing we hope for is that Xbox’s strategy will finally make a few much-needed changes, leading to a future where its exclusives can finally compete with PlayStation’s offerings.
With all that said, what are your thoughts on Craig Duncan becoming the new head of Xbox Game Studios? Do you feel hopeful for the publisher’s future? Let us know in the comments below!
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
