Phil Spencer says Xbox plans to increase investment in first-party games

It’s no secret that Xbox has had a rough time with their first-party line-up this generation, with cancelled games like Scalebound and Fable Legends to the delay of Crackdown 3. People constantly criticize the brand for this and ask for Xbox to create better first-party exclusives, and it looks like Phil Spencer is aiming to do just that.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer said that the company plans to increase investment in first-party games, whether that’s by starting new studios or acquiring existing ones. In addition, they will also invest more in developing in-house games from studios that Xbox already owns.

“We need to grow, and I look forward to doing that,” Spencer said. “Our ability to go create content has to be one of our strengths. We haven’t always invested at the same level. We’ve gone through ups and downs in the investment.”

This news comes after Shannon Loftis defended Microsoft’s first-party line-up. The company has already put a renewed focus on digital services like Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Game Pass, delivering more games to more players. Time will tell whether Xbox can make good on this investment, but the future certainly looks bright, especially with the Xbox One X launching tomorrow.