There’s no denying that Microsoft have released many of the exclusives which they promise, but too many of them are cancelled, forgotten or relegated to a budget release that has little to no marketing.
A fine example of this is Recore, a game met with thunderous applause when revealed for its unique stylisation and the acclaim of Retro Studios. The final product was left forgotten… It was quietly released in September 2017, with little marketing to preserve the hype and no one knew why. When the game was finally played, we all realised why; the game felt rushed, unpolished, laggy and cheap. You could almost argue that the game came out just so it can be added to the list of exclusives available on the Xbox One.
Remember how many exclusives Microsoft boast at their E3s? Scalebound and Fable: Legends were amongst that list, and now they are cancelled. With the amount of money pumped into these projects, it is hard to imagine why. These massive exclusives are the needle that thread the suspicion towards Microsoft’s next E3. How many exclusive announcements will actually be released? How many will receive the marketing and red carpet that Microsoft give to new Halos and Gears of Wars?