Microsoft Will Launch At Least One New First-Party Game Every 3 Months

Thanks in part to its acquisition of ZeniMax/Bethesda and the efforts it's made to ramp up other internal development through buyouts of other studios, Microsoft now has 23 internal game developers across the world.

With so many teams now working on Xbox games, Microsoft said today that its new goal is to launch at least one new first-party game on Xbox Game Pass every three months.

These will span a variety of genres, including role-playing games, shooters, strategy titles, and adventure games. Microsoft said its goal is to make sure there is a "steady stream of compelling exclusive content to explore."

Microsoft was at one point in time criticized for not having enough first-party content as it competed against PlayStation, but that doesn't seem like it will be the case for much longer.

Now, not all of the games that Microsoft gives the green light to will come to market; that's the nature of a creative business like games. But Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty said he's happy with the output coming from the various Xbox studios going ahead.

"Games take up to four or five years to make, and the reality is that not every project we start will make it to launch," he said. "But if you add all that up, that's how we've gotten to our state today, with two dozen studios making games across a variety of genres. And we know a thriving entertainment service needs a consistent and exciting flow of new content. So our portfolio will continue to grow as our service grows."

For its part, Sony recently announced that it has a whopping 25 new games in development, half of which are new IP.

As for when we might hear about the next Xbox games, Microsoft's E3 2021 jointing briefing with Bethesda is coming up this Sunday, June 13; keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

In other news, Xbox just recently announced how it's growing Xbox Game Pass in the future by creating Xbox-branded streaming devices, working with TV manufacturers to built Xbox directly into TVs, and more.