Xbox Mobile Game Store is launching July 2024
President of Xbox, Sarah Bond was present at Bloomberg Tech in San Francisco and announced the Xbox Mobile Game Store will be releasing this July. It will have first-party games like Candy Crush and Minecraft followed by partners. Bond also states this new store will start on the web. Sarah Bond, @Microsoft’s Xbox president, announced at #BloombergTech that the company will launch its own mobile game store in July, creating an alternative to Apple and Google’s app stores pic.twitter.com/hj6eLtsGfl — Bloomberg Live (@BloombergLive) May 9, 2024 This will be an alternative to the Google Play Store and the App Store. It will compete with Google and Apple as it will exclusively provide games from Xbox and its unknown partners. In late 2023, Phil Spencer did tell Bloomberg they were working on a new Xbox mobile store and said “It’s not multiple years away.” It has been a dark time at Microsoft as of late with the closing of multiple studios the company acquired a few years ago. The Xbox leadership team has yet to address these decisions publicly. There’s also a lot of uncertainty when it comes to new Call of Duty games coming to Game Pass as it will hurt revenue since players wouldn’t have to pay $69.99.
Little Kitty, Big City is now available on Switch, Xbox, and PC via Steam
A new adventure awaits from Double Dagger Studio. Little Kitty, Big City has officially launched today and it’s available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Game Pass, PC via Steam, and Nintendo Switch. In this new indie game, you’ll explore the city as a small cat in a big world making friends and causing chaos. Little Kitty, Big City costs $24.99 on all platforms unless you are a Game Pass subscriber then you’ll already have access to the game. The exciting new game is not available on PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5. Will you make your way home or will you explore what the big city has to offer first? I mean, getting home is obviously your main priority. Obviously. Well, it’s one of your priorities. Maybe more of a guideline… It’s definitely on your To-Do list somewhere! But first? Exploration! Features: Explore the city at your own pace in an open-world playground filled with surprises! Make friends with a colorful cast of chatty animals. Complete quests, help your animal friends, or cause a total ruckus. It’s up to you. Customize your Kitty with a plethora of very adorable hats! Take a nap in the sunshine. Find a way home…? Are you ready to play Little Kitty, Big City?
Microsoft Makes Less Sense In New Statement Following Mass Bethesda Studio Closures
It is no secret that Microsoft might have executed one of the biggest misfires in its career as a console platform. This week, it was reported that the firm went ahead and closed four developers attached to the Bethesda division – Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, Tango Gameworks, and Roundhouse Studios. Since the decision, the firm has been faced with waves of scrutiny from all sides of the industry. In the past, we’ve witnessed Microsoft put itself in the crosshairs of similar degree with the previous decision to charge more for Xbox Live Gold. The decision was instantly undone after users became vocal on the announcement. And while the weight of this new decision seems to be even heavier this time around, there has been little activity from Xbox or greater Microsoft on the decision directly. Instead, there has been reports from sources familiar with the firm that gave better understanding. According to The Verge, internal remarks from Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty said “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards.” Gathered from how Hi-fi Rush performed, one project from the four teams in this decision, has been exactly that Booty stated. Previously in 2023, there were concerns that Hi-Fi Rush was underperforming commercially despite the glowing response for the game’s shadow drop at launch. However, Xbox general manager Aaron Greenberg told the game was a “break out hit” and that the Xbox firm “couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release.” All things considered, there’s only more questions why Tango Gameworks was included in the announcement. According to a separate report, it was revealed that Tango Gameworks was already prepared to pitch a sequel to the 2023 surprise release. It is understood that the decision to reduce the number of studios was due to Booty’s understanding that studios were ‘spread too thin’. But, it was never clearly elaborated on the direct reasoning for Xbox to axe the developer. What’s more, Phil Spencer even gave a statement on the opportunity to work with Tango Gameworks in 2021. “I’ve talked for a long time about our desire to have more of a first-party presence in Japan. This is a great step there.” You can read the full report by heading here. What are your thoughts on the statement from Microsoft? Source: The Verge
Tango Gameworks was ready to pitch Hi-Fi Rush 2 before getting shutdown
Microsoft shut down multiple studios that were part of their Bethesda acquisition a few years ago. Tango Gameworks were among the closures and they were most recently known for their work on Hi-Fi Rush. Before its closure, Tango had planned to pitch a sequel to Microsoft. That is according to Jason Schreier from Bloomberg. On Wednesday, Xbox president Matt Booty held a town hall with ZeniMax staff and said positive things about Hi-Fi Rush, but Schreier reports he didn’t explain why they closed the studio. One of the reasons for these closures is that Xbox’s studios were spread too thin. It wasn’t just Tango Gameworks that were getting ready to pitch a new game. Arkane Austin, one of the other studios shut down was pitching a single-player immersive sim game and a new entry in the Dishonored series. Could A Hi-Fi Rush 2 Ever Happen? Hi-Fi Rush is a rhythm-based action game that was critically acclaimed to the point it probably deserves a sequel. Since the developer of the game has been shut down, it seems unlikely a Hi-Fi Rush 2 would happen. Microsoft owns a lot of game studios now that could take on the project, but they also own a lot of IP and have to decide what’s priority. Hi-Fi Rush does not seem like a priority to Xbox.
