Xbox knows Gears of War and Halo can't carry its future, but what next?

I know it probably sounds obvious at this point, but Xbox can't ask hello and Gears of War Those franchises were never created in the first place to solve problems. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, almost equally, and I understand how important they are to Xbox. I'm not even remotely arguing that Microsoft should put them in a museum and that Master Chief and Marcus Fenix ​​are old artifacts that don't matter anymore. Xbox owns those franchises and it would be foolish not to use them even today. The problem is that using them and building the future around them is not the same thing.

Here's where Xbox seems to understand internally, even if its public strategy keeps circling back to the same familiar names. According to The Game Business, one Xbox Studio boss described the company as “chasing a shrinking market” with franchises “past their prime,” while another executive said Xbox is “stretched across too many projects, platforms and business models.” Of course, both ideas can be true at the same time. Xbox probably needs more focus, but if focus means pouring more money hello and Gears of War Because those are brands that everyone recognizes, then Xbox is mistaking memory for forward motion.

Halo and Gears of War were the right games at the right time

Before getting into the meat of this argument, let me be clear that I understand why I look at Xbox Hello: Campaign Evolved and Gears of War: E-Day As of now its two safe options. hello Real course correction has been needed for some time, and going back The fight evolved That course is about as clean as it could get. Gears of War: E-Day It's appealing for the same reason, as it takes the franchise back to the most terrifying days of its history and simultaneously brings it back. Gears of War’s iconic horror feel, it had decades of baggage attached to it.

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So yes, I get it. If Hello: Campaign Evolved In the end the best — and I'm sure it will somehow — is to remind players why hello Once upon a time people bought Xbox to play games. If Gears of War: E-Day Is great — and I'll play it and love it whether it is or not — it can remind players why Gears of War Once upon a time Xbox made the console feel everyone wanted, don't miss out on one of the biggest, scariest, most action-packed games they've ever made.

The problem, though, is that both games are falling behind, even if they're doing it for understandable reasons. Hello: Campaign Evolved is a complete remake of the first one hello Game, and Gears of War: E-DayEven though it's not a remake, it still hangs around Gears of WarIts past rather than its future, both tonally and narratively. Both projects are aiming for accurate versions of franchises that people miss the most, and honestly, that might be the smartest thing Xbox could do with them right now.

However, there is a limit to how far a company can take itself. The main reason hello So special that it made the Xbox feel necessary at a time when the Xbox still had to prove it deserved to exist. Microsoft was an outsider at the time, and hello Gave players a reason to take it seriously almost overnight. of course, Gears of War Did a very similar thing for the Xbox 360. Ultimately, it made that console feel like the meatiest box on the market and almost effortlessly convinced many gamers that it was the box they needed to have in their entertainment centers at home. in a way, Gears of War It felt like the Xbox 360 was on display, and it was perfect for it at the time.

But that's also the part Xbox has to be careful about now. Hello: Campaign Evolved Can make people nostalgic and potentially introduce players to a brand-new audience hello The first franchise because of that nostalgia. Gears of War: E-Day What can make people indifferent Gears of War Due to its prequel status it used to feel the same while doing its own bit of on-boarding. However, nostalgia isn't the same thing as discovery, as discovery looks forward to nostalgia — and Xbox needs players to discover something new again.

I hope both games will be great. I really do. There is no version of this where the Xbox is good with bad hello A remake or a disappointment Gears of War prequel. Strong welcome to Hello: Campaign Evolved And a strong reception Gears of War: E-Day Definitely helps a lot, especially after years of Xbox struggling to give players a reason to feel confident about where it's going. Still, those games might just remind people of what Xbox used to do well. By themselves, Xbox cannot become something else.

Xbox needs something new that seems impossible to ignore

what made hello and Gears of War Not only were they so important to Xbox that they eventually became huge video game franchises. hello Almost single-handedly gave the original Xbox a reason to exist, while Gears of War The Xbox 360 was seen as a primo example of next-generation hardware. Now, Xbox needs to figure out what kind of game can make players look at it that way again, and I don't think the answer is another attempt to build another Halo by committee. text from hello and Gears Not “let's make another great shooter.” It's the lesson “let's get players out of their heads if they try,” even if the company started out smaller than it liked.

The Sports Business Report includes a line from a development expert that gets to the heart of the issue. If Xbox thinks it can move money hello And turn it into a “95 Metacritic smash hit,” the man called the idea “an illusion.” As harsh as that sounds, the point is valid. Money can help a game, sure, but it can't make an old franchise feel young again, and that's why the reported studio situation feels so depressing.

Game Business has noted that Compulsion, Ninja Theory, Double Fine, Undead Labs, and others are in talks to avoid closure, and those are the types of studios that Xbox should be wary of. No, they're not all going to build the next billion dollar franchise. But they should not be judged only by whether they can. Hello: Campaign Evolved and Gears of War: E-Day There could still be major wins for Xbox, and I hope they are because, honestly, Xbox needs those wins. After that, though, it needs something that players don't already have fond memories of. hello and Gears Already carried the Xbox once, and building the future around them will only prove that the Xbox needs something new.