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Microsoft plans to drop a cool billion on creating first party games

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Microsoft plans to invest at least $1 billion into next-gen Xbox One games, Microsoft Game Studios vice president Phil Spencer and president of interactive entertainment Don Mattrick confirmed in a chat with Official Xbox Magazine. The Xbox One’s debut was light on games, focusing instead on mainstream features like live TV and voice controls, but the Microsoft execs insist that the next-gen console is every bit a gaming machine.

“I think [games are] always important,” Mattrick said. “We just ran through our script and counted the number of exclusives, and looked at the amount of money that we’re spending and the deals that we have, exclusive windows and [things to create differentiation]. I think, candidly, people are way, way under-indexing how hard we’re punching.”

“We’re going to come out with detail on things and people are going to go, ‘oh my god’. Like, ‘they were focused, they made this a core goal, core activity’. There are great hits, there’s innovation, and there are world class creators plugged in. You know, I keep track of it all, and I hope everyone here does—we kind of look back at all the different years and at what we shipped, how many units have sold. There’s a lot of hyperbole about things, but I think we’re going to deliver.”

Microsoft previously revealed that it has 15 Xbox One exclusives in the works, eight of which are new franchises. Some of those are expected to be unveiled at the company’s E3 press conference on June 10.

OXM’s full article has plenty more details on the Xbox One’s game lineup and strategy, so be sure to check it out.

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Michael Rougeau
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Mike Rougeau is a journalist and writer who lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend and two dogs. He specializes in video…
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