Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, has said on Twitter that this year will hold “new experiences” and new IPs for Xbox One, and that it will be a “fun year.”
His statement was in reply to a question on Twitter in which he was asked if we will see any brand new properties on Xbox this year, or even next year, that have not been announced yet. Noting that there will be no mainline Halo game launching this year and no Gears of War game either, Spencer said that the Xbox One games they will be shipping this year will be “different IP.” This likely means that Microsoft will be announcing some new games this year at E3 (or perhaps even earlier).
@Analcletoo XB1 games shipping this year are different for us. not Halo FPS/Gears led, new experiences with different IP, will be fun year
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 17, 2017
Earlier this year, Microsoft canceled Scalebound, a brand new property that was being developed exclusively for Xbox One by acclaimed studio Platinum Games, and last year they released the Xbox One exclusive ReCore to middling reviews. These events haven’t exactly instilled Xbox fans with a lot of confidence in Microsoft’s ability to produce exclusive games that aren’t either Halo, Gears of War, or Forza games. However, after the cancellation of Scalebound, Phil Spencer did acknowledge that they must still take risks on different types of games.