White Xbox One Sunset Overdrive Bundle Promotes New IP Instead of More Halo

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said that Microsoft might have been able to sell more units of its white Xbox One if it bundled it with Halo: The Master Chief Collection, but that he wanted to use the white console to promote a new IP, Sunset Overdrive.

"Would we have sold more white consoles if we put it with the Master Chief Collection? I think that would have been the safer route, but I'd love to add another great AAA franchise to the list of exclusives on Xbox and I think Sunset can be one of those things and I want to get behind it in a big way," Spencer said on IGN's Podcast Unlocked.

But why not have a special edition Xbox One for both games? As Spencer explained, one reason is that Microsoft doesn't want too many different versions of the console on the market. He also said that unlike the Xbox One Assassin's Creed Unity and Black Flag bundle, special editions of the consoles in different colors or hard drive size have to be planned out a year in advance.

Spencer said that Microsoft is currently talking about special editions that will release next year. He didn't say if one of them will be bundled with Halo 5: Guardians, but that the game will be a "big event" for Microsoft that year.

"Releasing new IP and making it stand out is always a challenge, especially when you got Call of Duty coming with a massive game, you've got Assassin's Creed coming with another great game, you've got Halo there, and here we are with Sunset and in the end the number of bundles and custom consoles you do is not a huge percentage of the game sales, but I wanted to put a stake out there, our first time working with Ted [Price] and the team Insomniac, that this is really a first party game for us and we're really behind it."

All that being said, Microsoft did announce a Halo: The Master Chief Collection white Xbox One bundle, but only for Brazil and "additional select markets," which at the moment does not include the United States.

The Sunset Overdrive Xbox One bundle will sell for £349.99/€399.99. It launches October 28 alongside Sunset Overdrive.