There hasn't been a Fable game for 6 years. There hasn't been a Killer Instinct for 7 years. Cuphead isn't exclusive. Sea of Thieves is a flop. Your personal opinion is irrelevant. The fact you named 2 games that haven't had a release in 5+ years, a non-exclusive, two different Forza franchises. You're struggling. Owning studios doesn't automatically equal good games.
Uh...a new Fable is going to be announced in July. There hasn't been a new Killer Instinct for 7 years because MS was updating the one they had as opposed to making a new one. The KI that exists now is considerably different from the one that launched with the Xbox One, and it was last updated in 2016. Supposedly, a new season will be announced in July. How is Sea of Thieves a flop? MS seems happy enough with it to continue supporting and promoting it. Seems like you're the one throwing a personal opinion around in here. As for the new studios, the conversation was whether MS can make good exclusives. The new studios, especially the ones like Double Fine and Obsidian, would point to the likelihood of that increasing for this generation. Edit: Yeah... Sea of Thieves totally flopped. Sea of Thieves Surpassed Microsoft's Sales Expectations
You said Fable was highly regarded. There hasn't been a new one in years. Never mind Peter Molyneux was a snake oil salesman. That has nothing to do with a potential new Fable being announced. But if your claim for well regarded franchises is including two that are almost a decade old then you're not doing a good job. Studios are only as good as the people in them and the willingness of those in control. Microsoft bought Rare and immediately ruined them and cancelled already in production games. It's not a given that buying studios = good exclusives.
You don't think people would be excited about a new Fable game? What is the time frame for you where a game quits being capable of being highly regarded? By your logic, no one cares about Half-Life anymore, since we're over a decade away from its last (non-spinoff) entry in the series. Also, Peter Molyneux is no longer at MS. As I understand it, Fable 4 is being developed by the folks who made Forza Horizons, with support from Rare for water physics. Microsoft ruined Rare? Big fan of Playtonic are you? Love Yooka-laylee? And what, you liked Diddy Kong Racing that much? Donkey Kong Racing was the only game that got cancelled during that purchase, for obvious reasons (though MS did let Rare continue to support Nintendo's handhelds). I'll agree that Grabbed by Ghoulies was lame (Stamper brothers were still involved then), but Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero were solid. I'll agree that Don Mattrick was an idiot, and almost ruined Rare by having them focus on the ill-fated Kinect, but Don Mattrick isn't at MS anymore, and Sea of Thieves is a damn good game that continues to get better. Hell, even Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts was good, but people threw a hissy fit because it wasn't a pure 3D platformer, even though that genre's popularity had waned considerably since the previous generation (and no, don't try to bring up Mario; no game developer on the planet is remotely on Nintendo's level). In the end, MS's previous issues have all come down to leadership. Peter Moore is an incompetent moron, but he's gone. Don Mattrick is an incompetent moron, but he's gone too. Phil Spencer has been working the front lines at MS for three decades, and he seems to have a solid vision and it's generally understood that he's had a good relationship with the studios in the past, even when leadership was garbage. Xbox Series X is Phil Spencer's baby, so I have every bit of confidence that it will have a fantastic launch. And as far as I know, Obsidian, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory haven't lost any key personal since MS purchased them. And if anything, Rare is on the uptick these days. I mean, seriously, have you even played old Rare games lately? Let me assure you: They have not aged well.
Fable 1 and 2 were amazing, classics. 3 was soooo overhyped and overpromised. It was a good game and I played through it, lots to do. But that overhype really ****ed everything up, I recall them talking up lots of cool features that didn't ever make it into the game. Also the combat system was eh I am hype for a real Fable 4 though, hopefully it's done right.
I would entertain buying an XBox for a *highly* reviewed fable 4, but it would have to be better than 2, which was an average game. Frankly, that franchise only had one good entry and has been living off of that. It would take a lot to move me from PlayStation after my RRoD fiasco.
This is obviously a console crowd not a PC crowd but has anybody played the new Command n conquer remastered yet? It is an RTS game which is not for everybody these days but it is a really good game.