Microsoft Plans to Release Five or More Games Next Year

In the run-up to the upcoming Xbox & Bethesda Showcase that will take place on Sunday, Microsoft spoke with the press, among others, discussing its release schedule for the next fiscal year.

The company shared that from July 2022 to July 2023 it plans to release five or more games across consoles, PC, and cloud. During the fiscal year 2022, the company launched five new games including Age of Empires IV, Flight Simulator, Psychonauts 2, Halo Infinite, and Forza Horizon 5. And next year, Microsoft said it is set to "meet or exceed that amount."

The company didn't mention the titles it is going to launch, however, Starfield and Redfall might be on that list. Earlier, Bethesda announced the decision to postpone the launches of both games, and they are currently scheduled for release in the first half of 2023. Recently, Bethesda's game director and executive producer Todd Howard confirmed that the studio is "putting the finishing touches on Starfield", so we probably won't see one more delay.

During the conversation, Xbox Game Studios also commented on the upcoming merger with Activision Blizzard, recalling their policy regarding existing games and franchises from the company and their exclusivity.

"If we acquire a game that comes with a big community across a number of platforms, the last thing we want to do is take something away," said Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty, "If anything, we feel that it's our job to be caretakers, to be shepherds, to continue to build and nurture that community, not to cut it up into pieces and try to take some of it away."

However, according to Xbox's GM for Programming and Events Tina Summerford, some titles will still be exclusives, although, apparently, this primarily applies to new titles that Activision Blizzard will release.

Speaking of Activision's games on Game Pass, Xbox noted that it wants "to put as many titles as possible" once the deal is closed and Activision joins Microsoft.