Xbox fans are dying to see more exclusive games for Xbox One in 2018, but rumors from ResetEra Administrator Daniel Ahmad suggest that won’t happen, to a substantial degree, in the months ahead. In fact. Ahmad says Microsoft's attention has already started to shift towards Xbox One’s successor.
“A lot of the investment going on now is something that will be fully reflected in the 'next generation,'” Ahmad wrote in a recent post. “What this means, in the case of something like the recently rumored Fable 4 game for example, is that I wouldn't expect projects like that to release for quite some time… Whilst there will be a couple of surprise games this generation, the majority of projects in the works or planned are going to be a while out. There will still be a live service focus across all of their big games of course.”
As all that software gets ramped for eventual release, Ahmad has been told a large part of Microsoft’s plans for 2018 involve improving Xbox One and future Xbox platforms from a service perspective. That means doubling down on platform initiatives like Game Pass, Mixer and the Play Anywhere program across Windows 10. Upcoming games like Crackdown 3, Sea Of Thieves and State Of Decay 2 will be the primary vehicle to expand the reach of these concepts throughout the year.
One final tidbit that’s got fans excited involves talk of an upcoming announcement focused on “how Microsoft intends to treat digital games in the future.” While the post originally said we could expect more developments next week, it’s since been edited to say “sooner rather than later.”
For any diehard Xbox fan, discussion of digital game treatment immediately calls back to the Family Share program that existed as part of the original vision for Xbox One. While the feature was scrapped alongside always-online DRM prior to release, the ability to share or trade digital purchases with friends and family has been a top request from fans. Far more likely to happen, however, would be a formal rollout of the digital-game refund process that was tested by Insiders this past April. By giving consumers more control over digital goods, Microsoft is essentially investing deeper in that sales model for the coming generation.
With so many questions still left to answer about Xbox One’s 2018 lineup, the Microsoft rumor squad has been out in full force. Qualified sources not only mentioned Fable, but there’s also been chatter about Forza Horizon 4 , a Perfect Dark revival and a brand-new achievement system. As an equally qualified source, Ahmad believes it may be awhile before we see the full fruits of that labor. If Microsoft is already looking forward to the next generation, however, new hardware might be a tough sell for those who just spent $499 on an Xbox One X based on the promise of something more.
What games would you like to see on Xbox One in 2018? Will this year be more quiet than some fans expect? Tell us in the comments section!
