Xbox's Matt Booty Talks Delayed Games, Assures Microsoft's Brand Has 'Turned The Corner'

Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios, acknowledged Xbox's past struggles and its slow video game release schedule despite acquiring numerous studios.

In an interview with IGN, Booty explained that the delay was due to unfinished projects and DLC obligations the acquired studios (like Compulsion Games, inXile, and Obsidian) had before they could focus on Xbox games.

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Moreover, Booty also addressed concerns about missing games such as "Everwild," "Perfect Dark," and "Elder Scrolls 6" and the extended development time for AAA titles.

"I think there is a little bit of a reset going on in terms of what are the expectations for a big AAA game and how long or how many people it can take to make," the head of Xbox Game Studios told IGN.

Booty added: "Gen 9 hardware is awesome - ray tracing, all the stuff we can do. But that trickles down through everything through how the assets are built. Like in Forza Motorsport, how the cars have to be built, how the lighting’s got to be done, how the track’s got to be set up, all the detail. The expectation is very high. Games are just getting more complex in terms of the interactions that are expected."

Other contributing factors are the challenges of onboarding players and factors like localization and accessibility in markets outside America and Western Europe.

Nevertheless, Booty expressed optimism about Xbox's future after the Xbox Game Showcase, where highly anticipated games like "Starfield" and "Forza Motorsport" were featured, he assured that the video game brand created by Microsoft Corporation MSFT had at last "turned the corner" after a few challenging years.

"I feel like we’ve got that rhythm and that cadence going across our studios," he emphasized. "Everything, as I look forward from here, today, going to the end of 2024, I have seen builds of the games. I’ve got some hands-on confidence that everything for the next 18 months, I know what shape it’s in, there’s not a lot of fliers there."

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Photo by Billy Freeman on Unsplash