Xbox head Phil Spencer says they were 'light on games' in 2022

Microsoft began 2023 with a digital event called "Developer_Direct" where they showed gameplay from major upcoming games like Redfall, Minecraft Legends and Forza Motorsport. (Representative Image Courtesy: Microsoft)

Xbox head Phil Spencer admitted the console was "light on games" in 2022. For reference, Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios pushed out only five new games through the year, among which only one was developed as a first-party title.

"Our commitment to our fans is that we need to have a steady release of great games that people can play on our platform. And we didn't do enough of that in 2022, there's no doubt," Spencer admitted in an interview with IGN.

Admittedly a slow year, Spencer said the team would do better in 2023.

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Microsoft began 2023 with a digital event called "Developer_Direct" where they showed gameplay from major upcoming games like Redfall, Minecraft Legends and Forza Motorsport. The biggest reveal of the show, however, was the surprise launch of Tango Gamework's Hi-Fi Rush that was announced and released simultaneously.

"Yeah, the shadow drop, it seems like it worked really well this time," said Spencer. "This was an idea from the team. They'd been playing the game, felt good about their launch date and some of the early signals on quality, and said, 'Hey, it would just be fun. It would just be fun to be able to launch this during the Developer Direct and say, 'Play it now.'' So we rolled with that."

Spencer also admitted that "Redfall and Starfield are really important games." Redfall, developed by Arkane Austin, and Starfield, developed by Bethesda Game Studios, are major titles that were pushed out of the 2022 release window. They will finally be launching this year.

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Spencer also shed some light on the ongoing Activision/Blizzard acquisition saga. Microsoft announced the acquisition back in January last year, but has since then fought increasingly tough legal battles to get the deal to go through.

"My confidence remains high," said Spencer on the deal. "We're actively working with the regulatory boards around the world that need to approve for this, and it's been a learning experience for me. A lot of time spent, a lot of travel, a lot of conversations, but they're conversations where I get to talk about our industry and the work that we do and why we do it."