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Wikipedia

Xbox Game Studios

February 22, 2023

Not to be confused with Xbox Entertainment Studios.

Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, and web-based portals.

Xbox Game Studios
Formerly
  • Microsoft Games (2000–2001)
  • Microsoft Game Studios (2001–2011)
  • Microsoft Studios (2011–2019)
TypeDivision
IndustryVideo games
PredecessorMicrosoft Games Group
FoundedMarch 2000; 22 years ago (2000-03)
Headquarters
Redmond, Washington
,
US
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ProductsSee List of Xbox Game Studios video games
ParentMicrosoft
SubsidiariesSee § Subsidiaries and divisions
Websitexbox.com/xbox-game-studios

History

As Microsoft Games and Microsoft Game Studios (2000–2011)

 
Microsoft Game Studios logo (2001–2011)

In the early 1990s, Microsoft published a few video games. It published subLOGIC's Microsoft Flight Simulator and several Microsoft Entertainment Pack compilations of minigames, but was best known for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. In 1992, the company began increasing its focus on games. It announced Microsoft Golf for Windows, based on Access Software's Links, and expanded the games division from two to six people with the intention of commissioning more products from other developers.[1]

Microsoft acquired FASA Interactive in 1999 for its MechWarrior game series,[2] Access Software,[3][4] and Aces Game Studio, which worked on Flight Simulator.[5] The Games Group had also established long-term publishing deals with developers like Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires, Age of Mythology),[6] and Digital Anvil (Starlancer).[7] Under Microsoft, FASA Interactive was renamed FASA Studio,[8][9] and Access Software became Salt Lake Games Studio.[10]

Microsoft transitioned the Games Group into a wholly separate division named Microsoft Games around March 2000, along with other consolidation of games-related projects within Microsoft. This came alongside the public announcement of the first Xbox console, with Microsoft Games to serve as a developer and publisher of titles for both Xbox and Windows.[11] Robbie Bach, who held executive positions in Microsoft's entertainment divisions, was named senior vice-president while Ed Fries, a member of the former Games Group and instrumental for some of its acquisitions, was named as vice-president of the new division.[12][13] Shane Kim served as the division's general manager.[14] In 2001, the division was renamed Microsoft Game Studios (MGS).[15]

FASA Studio and Salt Lake Games Studio remained with Microsoft Game Studios.[8][9] Digital Anvil and Ensemble Studios were acquired by Microsoft in 2000 and 2001, respectively.[8][9] One of the first major studio acquisitions following the division's formation was Bungie in June 2000, in the midst of its development of Halo: Combat Evolved.[16] With the acquisition, Halo, which had been planned for release on personal computers, became a Microsoft-published title as well as a launch title for the Xbox on its release in 2001.[17] Turn 10 Studios was established in 2001 for work on the Forza series of racing games.[18] In September 2002, Microsoft Game Studios acquired Rare, who had previously extensively developed for Nintendo platforms.[19] In 2003, Microsoft recognized that the EA Sports label was in a far stronger position to develop sports games for the Xbox console, and among realignment steps, laid off about 78 employees within Microsoft Game Studios that were developing sports games in-house, and sold Salt Lake Games Studio, now named Indie Games to Take-Two Interactive in 2004, where it became Indie Built.[20][21]

Peter Moore was named in 2003 as vice-president of Microsoft's Home and Entertainment Division, which included MGS, the Xbox division, and Microsoft's home hardware market, reporting to Bach.[22] In addition to pulling big publishers like Electronic Arts to the Xbox platform, Moore tried to push the Xbox in Japan by courting Japanese developers with support from MGS publishing. Such games included Phantom Dust and Blinx: The Time Sweeper.[23] Around 2004, MGS established Carbonated Games as an internal studio for the development of casual games for Microsoft's web games portal MSN Games, on the chat client MSN Messenger, and on the Xbox Live platform.[24] Kim and Fries were instrumental for securing MGS' publishing deal with Lionhead Studios for their 2004 game Fable, which would serve as the first major role-playing game on the Xbox platform. Subsequently, in 2006, MGS acquired Lionhead Studios along with the Fable properties, as it sought to secure a Fable sequel for the upcoming Xbox 360.[25] MGS folded the staff of Digital Anvil into the larger studio in 2005, following the release of 2003's Brute Force, and closed down the studio entirely in 2006.[8][9] FASA Studio was closed three-and-a-half months after the May 2007 release of their last game, Shadowrun.[8][9]

In 2007, MGS announced the opening of a European office in Reading, England, headed by general manager Phil Spencer.[26] Moore opted to leave Microsoft in July 2007, so to move back to the San Francisco Bay area with his family and to rejoin Electronic Arts. Don Mattrick was named as his replacement as the new vice-president of the Xbox and Games Business, which included MGS.[27] Later in 2007, Bungie amenably split from MGS to become a privately held independent company, with MGS retaining the rights to the Halo property.[28] Bungie continued to develop two additional Halo games for MGS, Halo 3: ODST (2009) and Halo: Reach (2010).[29] Simultaneously, MGS founded 343 Industries as an internal studio to develop future Halo games without Bungie.[30]

In 2008, MGS disbanded Carbonated Games and announced the formation of internal studio Xbox Live Productions to develop "high-quality digital content" for Xbox Live Arcade.[31] Microsoft as a whole announced layoffs of up to 5,000 jobs across all divisions in January 2009 due to slowing sales of personal computers as a result of the late-2000s financial crisis.[32] Within MGS, the studio had already planned to disband Ensemble Studios after the completion of Halo Wars in early 2009,[33] while the new layoffs led MSG to also disband Aces Game Studio.[5] Microsoft acquired Vancouver-based BigPark in May 2009, using the studio to develop some of the first games for the upcoming Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360.[34] Later in 2009, Phil Spencer was promoted to corporate vice-president of MGS, in order to replace the retiring Shane Kim.[35] In 2010, MGS formed a mobile gaming studio, MGS Mobile Gaming, focused on developing gaming and entertainment multimedia for Windows Phone devices.[36] It also expanded Rare with a second studio in Digbeth, Birmingham.[37]

As Microsoft Studios (2011–2019)

 
Microsoft Studios logo (2011–2019)
 
The Splatters is an Xbox Live Arcade game that was developed by a third-party studio and published by Microsoft Studios in 2012.

By the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 in June 2011, Microsoft Game Studios was quietly renamed to Microsoft Studios.[38] Later in 2011, Microsoft Studios acquired Twisted Pixel Games.[39] In early December 2011, Microsoft Studios created Microsoft Casual Games, a division to revamp its past casual games for Windows (like Windows Solitaire and MSN Games) using more up-to-date software delivery platforms.

In 2012, Phil Harrison, the former Sony worldwide studios head, joined Microsoft as head of Microsoft Studios Europe and IEB.[40] Microsoft Studios acquired developer Press Play, known for developing Tentacles and Max & the Magic Marker.[41] They also announced a new development studio in London, England.[42] Later in 2012, Microsoft downsized Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver due to the cancellation of the Kinect family title Project Columbia and announced that the ongoing development of free-to-play title Microsoft Flight had been ceased due to portfolio evaluation.[43] The reduced Vancouver studios were renamed to Black Tusk Studios and tasked with making similar franchise-building title as Halo.[44][45]

In 2013, Microsoft established European studio Lift London, a studio that would create cloud-based games for tablets, mobiles and TVs.[46] Later, they created a new "Deep Tech" team inside its Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE) unit; the new team is charged with working with top developers outside the company to build next-generation applications on top of Microsoft platforms.[47]

While Mattrick had overseen much of the development of Microsoft's next console, the Xbox One, he left in July 2013, prior to its release, to take over as CEO of Zynga.[48] Mattrick was succeeded by Julie Larson-Green, who was named the president of the Devices and Studios Engineering Group, following a realignment of Microsoft's divisions, overseeing both the Xbox hardware divisions and Microsoft Studios.[49]

Shifting priorities under Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

 
Phil Spencer, corporate vice-president of Microsoft Game Studios from 2014 to 2017

Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in February 2014. At this time, Microsoft was facing strong competition in the consumer market, and within the gaming sector, the Xbox One (released in 2013) was more expensive than competitors and had too much focus on non-gaming functions. Under Nadella's direction, Phil Spencer was named the new head of Microsoft Studios to replace Jason Holtman, who had only been its lead for the prior six months.[50][51][52] Spencer began looking for ways to expand Microsoft Studios to make it a profitable division for Microsoft, and began negotiations for the acquititions of Mojang, the developers behind Minecraft, in late 2014.[53] Microsoft spent US$2.5 billion to acquire the studio, and upon the deal's completion in November, the studio's key founding personnel, Markus Persson, Jakob Porsér and Carl Manneh, departed Mojang.[53] As a result, Persson became valued around US$1.3 billion.[54] Microsoft Studios committed to keeping Minecraft available across multiple platforms, including rival PlayStation consoles.[53] Matt Booty, the studio's corporate vice-president in 2020, said the acquisition of Mojang served as the template for later acquisitions, as Mojang was left to run as an "unplugged studio" with limited integration into the Microsoft corporation, minimizing the disruption of Mojang's normal day-to-day business matters nor impeding on the studio's freedom.[55]

Additional intellectual property (IP) acquisitions by Microsoft Studios in 2014 included a publishing contract with Undead Labs for their game State of Decay,[56] the rights to the Gears of War series from Epic Games,[57] and the Rise of IP (Rise of Nations and Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends) from Big Huge Games.[58] Microsoft Studios assigned Gears of War to Black Tusk Studios, which was later rebranded in 2015 as The Coalition.[59]

In July 2014, it was announced that Xbox Entertainment Studios would be closed in the following months; the closure was completed by October 29.[60] On March 4, 2015, Microsoft announced that they were merging UK-based studios, Lift London and Soho Productions for further games development, with the amalgam continuing to operate under the Lift London name.[61] On March 7, Microsoft announced at the Game Developers Conference that HoloLens games were coming to Xbox One.[61] On March 9, Microsoft announced that Kudo Tsunoda's role was expanding and that he would be the new studio team leader for studios such as Press Play, Lift London and a new internal studio called Decisive Games. Decisive Games was previously mentioned in job postings, saying that they were hiring for work on a "beloved strategy game" for Xbox One and PC, but this is the first public acknowledgement of the team's existence as a first-party studio.[62] Twisted Pixel and Microsoft Studios agreed to split in September 2015.[63]

Kudo Tsunoda left the Xbox division in November 2015 for the development of HoloLens and Microsoft Edge, and other projects that could improve means of human interaction, including voice and gesture. Tsunoda's role was filled by Hanno Lemke and Shannon Loftis.[64] In 2016, Microsoft was perceived as "unifying PC and Xbox One" platforms.[65] In March 2016, Microsoft canceled development of two major projects: Lionhead's Fable Legends and Press Play's Project Knoxville, shuttering both studios in the following months.[66][67] Around the same time, changes to Microsoft Studios' website indicated that further studios—BigPark, Good Science Studio, Leap Experience Pioneers (LXP), Function Studios and State of the Art (SOTA)—had been closed; Microsoft Studios clarified that all of them had been consolidated into other Microsoft Studios teams over the past several years.[68][69]

In September 2017, Spencer was promoted to the senior leadership team, gaining the title of "executive vice-president of gaming".[70] At this point, Microsoft Studios directly reported to Nadella.[50] In January 2018, Matt Booty was promoted from leader in the Minecraft games business to corporate vice-president of Microsoft Studios.[71] On June 10, 2018, during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018, Microsoft announced the acquisitions of Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Undead Labs and Compulsion Games,[72] as well as the opening of a new studio in Santa Monica, California, entitled The Initiative, which would be led by the former Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher.[73] In November, Microsoft Studios announced further acquisitions with Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment.[74]

As Xbox Game Studios (2019–present)

The studio rebranded itself on February 5, 2019 as Xbox Game Studios, as to reflect Microsoft's intent to use the Xbox brand to support gaming across all the devices it supports.[75][76] At E3 2019, Xbox Game Studios announced it had acquired Double Fine,[77] and established a new internal studio dedicated to Age of Empires headed by Shannon Loftis, bringing their total studio count to fifteen.[78] This studio, later named World's Edge,[79] does not directly develop any games, but oversees efforts from external studios, such as Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires and Tantalus Media, to assure the series is being developed in the right direction, according to creative director Adam Isgreen.[80]

Booty has stated that with studios like Obsidian, Ninja Theory, and Double Fine, which have traditionally supported multiplatform games, they will determine if it makes sense for their future products to be treated as Microsoft-exclusive content for Xbox and Windows computers, or to allow these to be published across multiple platforms. That decision will be based on a "network effect", whether having these games on other platforms will better support the franchise and thus worthwhile for Microsoft to help dedicate resources towards it, such as they had with Minecraft.[81] Xbox Game Studios has allowed some of the content developed by its studios or that was previously published exclusively for the Xbox and Windows systems to be released on Nintendo systems, notably the Nintendo Switch versions of Cuphead from Studio MDHR and Ori and the Blind Forest from Moon Studios, and allowing for the titular characters from Rare's Banjo-Kazooie into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, the division stated that these releases were generally "existing commitments to other platforms" that they allowed studios to honor, but they otherwise have "no plans to further expand our exclusive first party games to other consoles."[82]

Near the end of 2019, with the combined fifteen studios now under Xbox Game Studios, Booty stated that they now had more games than ever to handle, and were likely not going to acquire any additional studios in the near future, stating "we've been shifting our focus inside Xbox Game Studios from acquisition and growth, to a phase of execution and delivery".[83] Additionally, as Microsoft started promotion of its fourth-generation of Xbox, including the Xbox Series X, Booty stated that titles developed by Xbox Game Studios in year or two following its release will not be exclusively for the new generation of consoles, but instead will support both Xbox One and the new console, with some games receiving enhanced performance when played on the new console lineup.[84] Booty said that with the large number of studios they had recently acquired, as well as ongoing external partnerships and their Xbox Game Pass service, the Studios are able to support a "breadth of offerings in the portfolio" designed to attract a large number of players.[85] Further, in an interview in November 2020, Phil Spencer said during an interview regarding the future of the Xbox brand that he intends to put more focus on outputting RPGs, which had to that point been underserved.[86]

Microsoft and ZeniMax Media announced on September 21, 2020 that Microsoft planned to acquire ZeniMax and its family of studios, which include Bethesda Game Studios, Arkane Studios, id Software, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, and ZeniMax Online Studios, for over US$7.5 billion in cash.[87][88] According to Spencer, the ZeniMax acquisition was intended to give Microsoft a large library of games known around the world, and to expand the library of Xbox Game Pass and XCloud.[89] Both U.S. and European Union regulatory agencies approved the acquisition by early March 2021,[90] and the acquisition was formally completed by March 9, 2021.[91] The total price of the deal was $8.1 billion[92] Bethesda Softworks, the primarily publisher for all of ZeniMax's games, remained as an operational unit under Microsoft with the acquisition and retained all its current leadership.[93] With the acquisition, future games from the studios will be exclusive to Xbox consoles, but existing commitments to other platforms (such as Arkane Studios' Deathloop and Tango Gameworks' Ghostwire: Tokyo, which are contractually exclusive to PlayStation 5) will still be honored.[94] Spencer stated that Game Pass was also fundamental driver for the acquisition.[95] A preliminary injunction to block the acquisition had been sought in an ongoing class-action lawsuit that ZeniMax faced over Fallout 4, with the plaintiffs in the case arguing that Microsoft could shield ZeniMax's assets from damages should they be found liable after the acquisition.[96] The ZeniMax Board of Directors was dissolved following the Microsoft purchase.[97]

On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in an all-cash deal valued at $68.7 billion. Microsoft stated that this acquisition would make it the third-largest gaming company by revenue, following Tencent and Sony. With the announcement, Microsoft also announced a major change to its corporate structure, with Phil Spencer becoming CEO of the new division Microsoft Gaming, with Matt Booty leading Xbox Game Studios under it. Once approved, Activision Blizzard will then become a subdivision of Microsoft Gaming.[98][99][100]

In February the United Kingdoms Competition and Markets Authority released a press statement that said "Activision deal could harm UK gamers"[101]

Subsidiaries and divisions

Parent company Name Location Founded Acquired Notes
Xbox Game Studios 343 Industries Redmond, Washington 2007 — Established by Microsoft to oversee the development of Halo following the departure of Bungie Studios.
The Coalition Vancouver 2010 — Formerly named Microsoft Studios Vancouver and Black Tusk Studios. Oversees development of the Gears of War series.
Compulsion Games Montreal 2009 2018 Founded by ex-Arkane Studios developer Guillaume Provost. Developers of Contrast and We Happy Few.
Double Fine Productions San Francisco 2000 2019 Founded by Tim Schafer after his departure from LucasArts. Developers of Psychonauts and Brütal Legend.
The Initiative Santa Monica, California 2018 — Established to act as a first-party developer similar in role to Santa Monica Studio. Led by Crystal Dynamics veteran Darrell Gallagher.[102][103]
inXile Entertainment Tustin, California 2002 2018 Founded by Brian Fargo and specializing in role-playing games. Developers of The Bard's Tale series and the Wasteland series.
Mojang Studios Stockholm 2009 2014 Developers of Minecraft and Crown and Council.
Ninja Theory Cambridge 2000 2018 Developers of several projects including Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.
Obsidian Entertainment Irvine, California 2003 2018 Development team that specializes in open-world role-playing games. Developers of Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds.
Playground Games Leamington Spa 2010 2018 Developers that work with Turn 10 Studios on the Forza Horizon series.[104]
Rare Twycross 1985 2002 Developers of numerous popular games since the Nintendo 64 era. Modern releases include Sea of Thieves and Everwild.
Turn 10 Studios Redmond, Washington 2001 — Established by Microsoft to develop the Forza Motorsport series and associated Forza Tech engine.
Undead Labs Seattle 2009 2018 Developers of the State of Decay series.
World's Edge Redmond, Washington 2019 — Created internally to oversee the Age of Empires franchise.[105]
Xbox Game Studios Publishing Redmond, Washington 2000 — Xbox Game Studios' publishing arm.
ZeniMax Media Bethesda Softworks Rockville, Maryland 1986 2021 ZeniMax Media's publishing arm and developers of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, and maintains the Creation Engine.
Alpha Dog Games Halifax, Nova Scotia 2012 Mobile games developer.
Arkane Studios Lyon/Austin, Texas 1999 Developers of several immersive sim games. Including Prey and the Dishonored series.
id Software Richardson, Texas 1991 Developers of the Doom, and Quake series, and maintains the id Tech engine.
MachineGames Uppsala 2009 Current developers of the Wolfenstein series.
Roundhouse Studios Madison, Wisconsin 2019 Formed by former developers from Human Head Studios.
Tango Gameworks Tokyo 2010 Founded by Shinji Mikami, developers of Ghostwire: Tokyo and The Evil Within series.
ZeniMax Online Studios Hunt Valley, Maryland 2007 Developers of The Elder Scrolls Online.

Former

Sold or spun off
Closed or consolidated

Games published

Main article: List of Xbox Game Studios video games

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External links

  • Official website
  • Xbox Game Studios at Curlie

February 22, 2023
xbox, game, studios, confused, with, xbox, entertainment, studios, previously, known, microsoft, studios, microsoft, game, studios, microsoft, games, american, video, game, publisher, part, microsoft, gaming, division, based, redmond, washington, established, . Not to be confused with Xbox Entertainment Studios Xbox Game Studios previously known as Microsoft Studios Microsoft Game Studios and Microsoft Games is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond Washington It was established in March 2000 spun out from an internal Games Group for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms and web based portals Xbox Game StudiosFormerlyMicrosoft Games 2000 2001 Microsoft Game Studios 2001 2011 Microsoft Studios 2011 2019 TypeDivisionIndustryVideo gamesPredecessorMicrosoft Games GroupFoundedMarch 2000 22 years ago 2000 03 HeadquartersRedmond Washington USArea servedWorldwideKey peoplePhil Spencer CEO Matt Booty corporate vice president ProductsSee List of Xbox Game Studios video gamesParentMicrosoftSubsidiariesSee Subsidiaries and divisionsWebsitexbox com xbox game studios Contents 1 History 1 1 As Microsoft Games and Microsoft Game Studios 2000 2011 1 2 As Microsoft Studios 2011 2019 1 2 1 Shifting priorities under Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella 1 3 As Xbox Game Studios 2019 present 2 Subsidiaries and divisions 2 1 Former 3 Games published 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditAs Microsoft Games and Microsoft Game Studios 2000 2011 Edit Microsoft Game Studios logo 2001 2011 In the early 1990s Microsoft published a few video games It published subLOGIC s Microsoft Flight Simulator and several Microsoft Entertainment Pack compilations of minigames but was best known for MS DOS and Microsoft Windows In 1992 the company began increasing its focus on games It announced Microsoft Golf for Windows based on Access Software s Links and expanded the games division from two to six people with the intention of commissioning more products from other developers 1 Microsoft acquired FASA Interactive in 1999 for its MechWarrior game series 2 Access Software 3 4 and Aces Game Studio which worked on Flight Simulator 5 The Games Group had also established long term publishing deals with developers like Ensemble Studios Age of Empires Age of Mythology 6 and Digital Anvil Starlancer 7 Under Microsoft FASA Interactive was renamed FASA Studio 8 9 and Access Software became Salt Lake Games Studio 10 Microsoft transitioned the Games Group into a wholly separate division named Microsoft Games around March 2000 along with other consolidation of games related projects within Microsoft This came alongside the public announcement of the first Xbox console with Microsoft Games to serve as a developer and publisher of titles for both Xbox and Windows 11 Robbie Bach who held executive positions in Microsoft s entertainment divisions was named senior vice president while Ed Fries a member of the former Games Group and instrumental for some of its acquisitions was named as vice president of the new division 12 13 Shane Kim served as the division s general manager 14 In 2001 the division was renamed Microsoft Game Studios MGS 15 FASA Studio and Salt Lake Games Studio remained with Microsoft Game Studios 8 9 Digital Anvil and Ensemble Studios were acquired by Microsoft in 2000 and 2001 respectively 8 9 One of the first major studio acquisitions following the division s formation was Bungie in June 2000 in the midst of its development of Halo Combat Evolved 16 With the acquisition Halo which had been planned for release on personal computers became a Microsoft published title as well as a launch title for the Xbox on its release in 2001 17 Turn 10 Studios was established in 2001 for work on the Forza series of racing games 18 In September 2002 Microsoft Game Studios acquired Rare who had previously extensively developed for Nintendo platforms 19 In 2003 Microsoft recognized that the EA Sports label was in a far stronger position to develop sports games for the Xbox console and among realignment steps laid off about 78 employees within Microsoft Game Studios that were developing sports games in house and sold Salt Lake Games Studio now named Indie Games to Take Two Interactive in 2004 where it became Indie Built 20 21 Peter Moore was named in 2003 as vice president of Microsoft s Home and Entertainment Division which included MGS the Xbox division and Microsoft s home hardware market reporting to Bach 22 In addition to pulling big publishers like Electronic Arts to the Xbox platform Moore tried to push the Xbox in Japan by courting Japanese developers with support from MGS publishing Such games included Phantom Dust and Blinx The Time Sweeper 23 Around 2004 MGS established Carbonated Games as an internal studio for the development of casual games for Microsoft s web games portal MSN Games on the chat client MSN Messenger and on the Xbox Live platform 24 Kim and Fries were instrumental for securing MGS publishing deal with Lionhead Studios for their 2004 game Fable which would serve as the first major role playing game on the Xbox platform Subsequently in 2006 MGS acquired Lionhead Studios along with the Fable properties as it sought to secure a Fable sequel for the upcoming Xbox 360 25 MGS folded the staff of Digital Anvil into the larger studio in 2005 following the release of 2003 s Brute Force and closed down the studio entirely in 2006 8 9 FASA Studio was closed three and a half months after the May 2007 release of their last game Shadowrun 8 9 In 2007 MGS announced the opening of a European office in Reading England headed by general manager Phil Spencer 26 Moore opted to leave Microsoft in July 2007 so to move back to the San Francisco Bay area with his family and to rejoin Electronic Arts Don Mattrick was named as his replacement as the new vice president of the Xbox and Games Business which included MGS 27 Later in 2007 Bungie amenably split from MGS to become a privately held independent company with MGS retaining the rights to the Halo property 28 Bungie continued to develop two additional Halo games for MGS Halo 3 ODST 2009 and Halo Reach 2010 29 Simultaneously MGS founded 343 Industries as an internal studio to develop future Halo games without Bungie 30 In 2008 MGS disbanded Carbonated Games and announced the formation of internal studio Xbox Live Productions to develop high quality digital content for Xbox Live Arcade 31 Microsoft as a whole announced layoffs of up to 5 000 jobs across all divisions in January 2009 due to slowing sales of personal computers as a result of the late 2000s financial crisis 32 Within MGS the studio had already planned to disband Ensemble Studios after the completion of Halo Wars in early 2009 33 while the new layoffs led MSG to also disband Aces Game Studio 5 Microsoft acquired Vancouver based BigPark in May 2009 using the studio to develop some of the first games for the upcoming Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360 34 Later in 2009 Phil Spencer was promoted to corporate vice president of MGS in order to replace the retiring Shane Kim 35 In 2010 MGS formed a mobile gaming studio MGS Mobile Gaming focused on developing gaming and entertainment multimedia for Windows Phone devices 36 It also expanded Rare with a second studio in Digbeth Birmingham 37 As Microsoft Studios 2011 2019 Edit Microsoft Studios logo 2011 2019 The Splatters is an Xbox Live Arcade game that was developed by a third party studio and published by Microsoft Studios in 2012 By the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 in June 2011 Microsoft Game Studios was quietly renamed to Microsoft Studios 38 Later in 2011 Microsoft Studios acquired Twisted Pixel Games 39 In early December 2011 Microsoft Studios created Microsoft Casual Games a division to revamp its past casual games for Windows like Windows Solitaire and MSN Games using more up to date software delivery platforms In 2012 Phil Harrison the former Sony worldwide studios head joined Microsoft as head of Microsoft Studios Europe and IEB 40 Microsoft Studios acquired developer Press Play known for developing Tentacles and Max amp the Magic Marker 41 They also announced a new development studio in London England 42 Later in 2012 Microsoft downsized Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver due to the cancellation of the Kinect family title Project Columbia and announced that the ongoing development of free to play title Microsoft Flight had been ceased due to portfolio evaluation 43 The reduced Vancouver studios were renamed to Black Tusk Studios and tasked with making similar franchise building title as Halo 44 45 In 2013 Microsoft established European studio Lift London a studio that would create cloud based games for tablets mobiles and TVs 46 Later they created a new Deep Tech team inside its Developer and Platform Evangelism DPE unit the new team is charged with working with top developers outside the company to build next generation applications on top of Microsoft platforms 47 While Mattrick had overseen much of the development of Microsoft s next console the Xbox One he left in July 2013 prior to its release to take over as CEO of Zynga 48 Mattrick was succeeded by Julie Larson Green who was named the president of the Devices and Studios Engineering Group following a realignment of Microsoft s divisions overseeing both the Xbox hardware divisions and Microsoft Studios 49 Shifting priorities under Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Edit Phil Spencer corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios from 2014 to 2017 Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in February 2014 At this time Microsoft was facing strong competition in the consumer market and within the gaming sector the Xbox One released in 2013 was more expensive than competitors and had too much focus on non gaming functions Under Nadella s direction Phil Spencer was named the new head of Microsoft Studios to replace Jason Holtman who had only been its lead for the prior six months 50 51 52 Spencer began looking for ways to expand Microsoft Studios to make it a profitable division for Microsoft and began negotiations for the acquititions of Mojang the developers behind Minecraft in late 2014 53 Microsoft spent US 2 5 billion to acquire the studio and upon the deal s completion in November the studio s key founding personnel Markus Persson Jakob Porser and Carl Manneh departed Mojang 53 As a result Persson became valued around US 1 3 billion 54 Microsoft Studios committed to keeping Minecraft available across multiple platforms including rival PlayStation consoles 53 Matt Booty the studio s corporate vice president in 2020 said the acquisition of Mojang served as the template for later acquisitions as Mojang was left to run as an unplugged studio with limited integration into the Microsoft corporation minimizing the disruption of Mojang s normal day to day business matters nor impeding on the studio s freedom 55 Additional intellectual property IP acquisitions by Microsoft Studios in 2014 included a publishing contract with Undead Labs for their game State of Decay 56 the rights to the Gears of War series from Epic Games 57 and the Rise of IP Rise of Nations and Rise of Nations Rise of Legends from Big Huge Games 58 Microsoft Studios assigned Gears of War to Black Tusk Studios which was later rebranded in 2015 as The Coalition 59 In July 2014 it was announced that Xbox Entertainment Studios would be closed in the following months the closure was completed by October 29 60 On March 4 2015 Microsoft announced that they were merging UK based studios Lift London and Soho Productions for further games development with the amalgam continuing to operate under the Lift London name 61 On March 7 Microsoft announced at the Game Developers Conference that HoloLens games were coming to Xbox One 61 On March 9 Microsoft announced that Kudo Tsunoda s role was expanding and that he would be the new studio team leader for studios such as Press Play Lift London and a new internal studio called Decisive Games Decisive Games was previously mentioned in job postings saying that they were hiring for work on a beloved strategy game for Xbox One and PC but this is the first public acknowledgement of the team s existence as a first party studio 62 Twisted Pixel and Microsoft Studios agreed to split in September 2015 63 Kudo Tsunoda left the Xbox division in November 2015 for the development of HoloLens and Microsoft Edge and other projects that could improve means of human interaction including voice and gesture Tsunoda s role was filled by Hanno Lemke and Shannon Loftis 64 In 2016 Microsoft was perceived as unifying PC and Xbox One platforms 65 In March 2016 Microsoft canceled development of two major projects Lionhead s Fable Legends and Press Play s Project Knoxville shuttering both studios in the following months 66 67 Around the same time changes to Microsoft Studios website indicated that further studios BigPark Good Science Studio Leap Experience Pioneers LXP Function Studios and State of the Art SOTA had been closed Microsoft Studios clarified that all of them had been consolidated into other Microsoft Studios teams over the past several years 68 69 In September 2017 Spencer was promoted to the senior leadership team gaining the title of executive vice president of gaming 70 At this point Microsoft Studios directly reported to Nadella 50 In January 2018 Matt Booty was promoted from leader in the Minecraft games business to corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios 71 On June 10 2018 during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018 Microsoft announced the acquisitions of Ninja Theory Playground Games Undead Labs and Compulsion Games 72 as well as the opening of a new studio in Santa Monica California entitled The Initiative which would be led by the former Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher 73 In November Microsoft Studios announced further acquisitions with Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment 74 As Xbox Game Studios 2019 present Edit The studio rebranded itself on February 5 2019 as Xbox Game Studios as to reflect Microsoft s intent to use the Xbox brand to support gaming across all the devices it supports 75 76 At E3 2019 Xbox Game Studios announced it had acquired Double Fine 77 and established a new internal studio dedicated to Age of Empires headed by Shannon Loftis bringing their total studio count to fifteen 78 This studio later named World s Edge 79 does not directly develop any games but oversees efforts from external studios such as Relic Entertainment Forgotten Empires and Tantalus Media to assure the series is being developed in the right direction according to creative director Adam Isgreen 80 Booty has stated that with studios like Obsidian Ninja Theory and Double Fine which have traditionally supported multiplatform games they will determine if it makes sense for their future products to be treated as Microsoft exclusive content for Xbox and Windows computers or to allow these to be published across multiple platforms That decision will be based on a network effect whether having these games on other platforms will better support the franchise and thus worthwhile for Microsoft to help dedicate resources towards it such as they had with Minecraft 81 Xbox Game Studios has allowed some of the content developed by its studios or that was previously published exclusively for the Xbox and Windows systems to be released on Nintendo systems notably the Nintendo Switch versions of Cuphead from Studio MDHR and Ori and the Blind Forest from Moon Studios and allowing for the titular characters from Rare s Banjo Kazooie into Super Smash Bros Ultimate However the division stated that these releases were generally existing commitments to other platforms that they allowed studios to honor but they otherwise have no plans to further expand our exclusive first party games to other consoles 82 Near the end of 2019 with the combined fifteen studios now under Xbox Game Studios Booty stated that they now had more games than ever to handle and were likely not going to acquire any additional studios in the near future stating we ve been shifting our focus inside Xbox Game Studios from acquisition and growth to a phase of execution and delivery 83 Additionally as Microsoft started promotion of its fourth generation of Xbox including the Xbox Series X Booty stated that titles developed by Xbox Game Studios in year or two following its release will not be exclusively for the new generation of consoles but instead will support both Xbox One and the new console with some games receiving enhanced performance when played on the new console lineup 84 Booty said that with the large number of studios they had recently acquired as well as ongoing external partnerships and their Xbox Game Pass service the Studios are able to support a breadth of offerings in the portfolio designed to attract a large number of players 85 Further in an interview in November 2020 Phil Spencer said during an interview regarding the future of the Xbox brand that he intends to put more focus on outputting RPGs which had to that point been underserved 86 Microsoft and ZeniMax Media announced on September 21 2020 that Microsoft planned to acquire ZeniMax and its family of studios which include Bethesda Game Studios Arkane Studios id Software MachineGames Tango Gameworks and ZeniMax Online Studios for over US 7 5 billion in cash 87 88 According to Spencer the ZeniMax acquisition was intended to give Microsoft a large library of games known around the world and to expand the library of Xbox Game Pass and XCloud 89 Both U S and European Union regulatory agencies approved the acquisition by early March 2021 90 and the acquisition was formally completed by March 9 2021 91 The total price of the deal was 8 1 billion 92 Bethesda Softworks the primarily publisher for all of ZeniMax s games remained as an operational unit under Microsoft with the acquisition and retained all its current leadership 93 With the acquisition future games from the studios will be exclusive to Xbox consoles but existing commitments to other platforms such as Arkane Studios Deathloop and Tango Gameworks Ghostwire Tokyo which are contractually exclusive to PlayStation 5 will still be honored 94 Spencer stated that Game Pass was also fundamental driver for the acquisition 95 A preliminary injunction to block the acquisition had been sought in an ongoing class action lawsuit that ZeniMax faced over Fallout 4 with the plaintiffs in the case arguing that Microsoft could shield ZeniMax s assets from damages should they be found liable after the acquisition 96 The ZeniMax Board of Directors was dissolved following the Microsoft purchase 97 On January 18 2022 Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in an all cash deal valued at 68 7 billion Microsoft stated that this acquisition would make it the third largest gaming company by revenue following Tencent and Sony With the announcement Microsoft also announced a major change to its corporate structure with Phil Spencer becoming CEO of the new division Microsoft Gaming with Matt Booty leading Xbox Game Studios under it Once approved Activision Blizzard will then become a subdivision of Microsoft Gaming 98 99 100 In February the United Kingdoms Competition and Markets Authority released a press statement that said Activision deal could harm UK gamers 101 Subsidiaries and divisions EditParent company Name Location Founded Acquired NotesXbox Game Studios 343 Industries Redmond Washington 2007 Established by Microsoft to oversee the development of Halo following the departure of Bungie Studios The Coalition Vancouver 2010 Formerly named Microsoft Studios Vancouver and Black Tusk Studios Oversees development of the Gears of War series Compulsion Games Montreal 2009 2018 Founded by ex Arkane Studios developer Guillaume Provost Developers of Contrast and We Happy Few Double Fine Productions San Francisco 2000 2019 Founded by Tim Schafer after his departure from LucasArts Developers of Psychonauts and Brutal Legend The Initiative Santa Monica California 2018 Established to act as a first party developer similar in role to Santa Monica Studio Led by Crystal Dynamics veteran Darrell Gallagher 102 103 inXile Entertainment Tustin California 2002 2018 Founded by Brian Fargo and specializing in role playing games Developers of The Bard s Tale series and the Wasteland series Mojang Studios Stockholm 2009 2014 Developers of Minecraft and Crown and Council Ninja Theory Cambridge 2000 2018 Developers of several projects including Hellblade Senua s Sacrifice Obsidian Entertainment Irvine California 2003 2018 Development team that specializes in open world role playing games Developers of Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds Playground Games Leamington Spa 2010 2018 Developers that work with Turn 10 Studios on the Forza Horizon series 104 Rare Twycross 1985 2002 Developers of numerous popular games since the Nintendo 64 era Modern releases include Sea of Thieves and Everwild Turn 10 Studios Redmond Washington 2001 Established by Microsoft to develop the Forza Motorsport series and associated Forza Tech engine Undead Labs Seattle 2009 2018 Developers of the State of Decay series World s Edge Redmond Washington 2019 Created internally to oversee the Age of Empires franchise 105 Xbox Game Studios Publishing Redmond Washington 2000 Xbox Game Studios publishing arm ZeniMax Media Bethesda Softworks Rockville Maryland 1986 2021 ZeniMax Media s publishing arm and developers of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series and maintains the Creation Engine Alpha Dog Games Halifax Nova Scotia 2012 Mobile games developer Arkane Studios Lyon Austin Texas 1999 Developers of several immersive sim games Including Prey and the Dishonored series id Software Richardson Texas 1991 Developers of the Doom and Quake series and maintains the id Tech engine MachineGames Uppsala 2009 Current developers of the Wolfenstein series Roundhouse Studios Madison Wisconsin 2019 Formed by former developers from Human Head Studios Tango Gameworks Tokyo 2010 Founded by Shinji Mikami developers of Ghostwire Tokyo and The Evil Within series ZeniMax Online Studios Hunt Valley Maryland 2007 Developers of The Elder Scrolls Online Former Edit Sold or spun offAccess Software Salt Lake Games Studio Indie Games Links series Sold to Take Two Interactive Bungie Halo series Became independent Lift London Removed from Microsoft s games business 106 Twisted Pixel Games The Gunstringer LocoCycle The Maw Splosion Man series Became independent Wingnut Interactive Peter Jackson s joint venture game studio Sold to WingNut Films 107 108 Closed or consolidatedAces Game Studio Microsoft Flight Simulator series Closed BigPark Kinect Joy Ride Joy Ride Turbo Consolidated Carbonated Games Closed Digital Anvil Brute Force Freelancer Consolidated 109 Ensemble Studios Age of Empires series Age of Mythology series Halo Wars Closed FASA Studio MechWarrior series Shadowrun Crimson Skies series Closed Good Science Studio Kinect Adventures Kinect Fun Labs Kinect Star Wars Consolidated Hired Gun Halo 2 PC port Consolidated 110 Lionhead Studios Fable series Black amp White series Closed Microsoft Studios Japan Phantom Dust Closed Microsoft Studios Victoria Closed Press Play Max The Curse of Brotherhood Kalimba Closed Team Dakota Project Spark Consolidated Xbox Entertainment Studios Closed TV and movie studio Xbox Live Productions Consolidated Publishing arm Games published EditMain article List of Xbox Game Studios video gamesReferences Edit Minson John November 9 1992 Microsoft moves into sports simulation with Golf Calgary Herald The Guardian pp C5 Retrieved October 16 2022 Morris Chris January 7 1999 Microsoft MechWarriors CNN Archived from the original on March 20 2019 Retrieved February 6 2019 JB April 19 1999 Microsoft Buys Access IGN Archived from the original on February 4 2018 Retrieved February 4 2018 Rogers Dan Lee March 3 2004 The End Game How Top Developers Sold 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