After years of being rather lean on exclusives, Microsoft came out swinging last year with not just the success of Game Pass but the one-two punch of major first-party titles “Forza Horizon 5” and “Halo: Infinite” last Fall.
Both launched to very good reviews, though “Halo” has seen a notable drop-off in players and rise in complaints in subsequent months. Still, 2021 was a big success story for them and they hoped to continue that momentum into this year.
Those hopes have now been dashed somewhat as Bethesda has officially delayed their highly-anticipated “Starfield” and Arkane’s “Redfall” by at least several months – each to an unspecified date in 2023.
The company announced the delays on Twitter, saying more time will be required to pull off their ambitious scope and scale.
With the delays, it leaves Microsoft without any major exclusive to launch in 2022 whilst its competition at Sony PlayStation has already released “Horizon: Forbidden West” to great reviews, “Gran Turismo 7” to mixed reaction (and controversy), and for now still has “God of War: Ragnarok” on the way for this year.
Short of a major surprise reveal at the Microsoft + Bethesda Showcase next month, the company is going to be reliant on a few smaller titles (eg. Scorn) and more primarily its Game Pass service which they will likely have to stock up a bit on some big third-party and indie titles for this Fall.
Source: Digital Trends
