Xbox Scarlett won’t sacrifice power, studio acquisitions aren’t over

Recently, Xbox head Phil Spencer sat down with Eurogamer to discuss everything from studio acquisitions to Project Scarlett. The interview is quite lengthy, but there are a few tidbits that are important to mention from the conversation.

The interview started off with some interesting news about Gears 5. Despite the fact that it’s been available on Xbox Game Pass, it sold more than Gears of War 4. This can be attributed to the fact that it’s available on Steam, but it’s still surprising. Maybe gamers view Xbox Game Pass as a great way to try games and then buy the ones they really like.

It’s not really some kind of PR battle about how many new acquisitions we can put on stage. Because if we’re not building great games, the acquisitions don’t matter.

But are we done [acquiring studios]? I don’t think so. — Xbox head, Phil Spencer

At X019, everyone was expecting new studio acquisitions to be announced, but it turns out that none were. Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty said that the company was focusing on games at the moment on stage, but Spencer revealed that he’s interested in adding Asian studios to the mix. One thing’s for sure, Microsoft isn’t done with the studio acquisitions, but it’s looking for more diverse teams going forward. Hopefully, Spencer will snag some Japanese developers like FromSoftware or PlatinumGames.

Lastly, Project Scarlett news made an appearance. Spencer said that devkits have gone out. If you remember from E3 2019, Xbox’s Aaron Greenberg said that they were working to get kits to studios, but now it looks like that’s happened. Keep in mind that devkits go through a number of changes before launch, so the hardware in them may not be final. Spencer reiterated the fact that Project Scarlett won’t sacrifice performance for price.

A big shoutout to @klobrille and @Nibellion for posting this interview on Twitter.