Its very surprising how MS couldn't muster 1-2 launch window title games which they can show of HW with. Reviews are good for HW itself, but games are nowhere.
On one hand, it really is. But on the other hand, considering where the Xbox division was even in late 2017...not
really? I think they even cancelled Phantom Dust remake (and of course Scalebound) sometime in late 2017 or somewhere in 2018.
I think it's underestimated to what extent Phil had to convince Satya to reinvest majorly back into the Xbox division; if they were in planning stages for the Series X and Series S, it probably started in late 2016. Then they went on studio acquisitions starting in 2018 but it shouldn't be surprising those studios wouldn't of had time for new games on Series systems at launch.
In retrospect I think MS would've been better off just having studios like Ninja Theory withhold games like Bleeding Edge for the Series platforms, even as cross-gen. Would've been a new release in that case, had time to polish up for Series S and Series X, and ride the next-gen launch hype wave. I can understand why they didn't do this, though: since they already cancelled a few planned XBO titles, they needed to try rebuilding goodwill among the base sooner rather than later so better in that sense to release games like Bleeding Edge when they did. At the same time, Bleeding Edge could've
really benefited from a bit more time in the oven and even moreso from being held back as a launch day game for Series platforms and cross-gen with XBO/One X, especially if it was on Gamepass day-and-date (similar to what Sony are doing now with Destruction All-Stars, a game literally saved by being moved to PS Plus for February).
All in all though, I think the whole thing regarding lack of any bombastic 1P next-gen games at launch for MS is a wash; they're gonna sell out regardless, same thing with Sony. Sony just happened to make some smart moves and has a really good 1P launch lineup this time around, but they're still constrained by supply regardless of if they could sell more systems in the launch period on strength of the 1P launch games. At least in overall offerings for 2021 though MS's lineup should be a lot stronger even if we're still guessing on some 1P stuff outside of Halo Infinite and FS2020 (2021?).
Well they didn't want to artificially hold back games from releasing earlier this year, though I don't think any of them would be showcase next-gen levels. Their two biggest first-party showcase titles will be Gears Tactics and Gears 5, and Tactics was already released on PC. It's a shame they couldn't get MS FlightSim 2020 ready for console launch. That would have been a real looker for them.
Guessing that they were waiting for the Gamecore stuff to mature further, that way features planned for updates on PC like RT could be on the console version Day 1. That, and they might be (hopefully) looking for ways to add some content that could "gameify" FS2020 on a console.
The engine is incredibly deep and top-of-class in that regard, but there's been a decent amount of expression from people otherwise really impressed with the graphics and physics, about it not seeming like a "killer app" for a console because it's a simulator. I get it; as a simulator it even makes stuff like Gran Turismo and Forza look "gamey". So I figure MS could be looking into adding some type of structure for a Career/Simulation mode, with flight races, maybe some Pilotwings-style events and challenges in there.
Heck, maybe even a Story campaign of some kind, sort of like what the Madden/UFC/NBA 2K etc. games do. Hopefully something that's more of a better story than those, tho.
I think that some of this is because when people get a new entertainment device, they go through a heightened new-toy euphoria bubble that shrinks after a few weeks. Not because it's a bad device but because much of the novelty has worn off. Media have had new firmware pre-release firmware breaking games that worked the day before so had a poorer experience than consumers will have and these little dings erode some of that experience. Loading is faster everywhere, but it's nuts how quickly you just get used to expecting that, like when you first move to an SSD-only computer or get a faster phone. People rarely notice when a product or service is working well/efficiently, its when things go wrong that stick out.
