![]() ![]() We’re working with a talented developer, but we are investing significant funds to make sure we can create something new and special - not just in the game but the TV narrative that intertwines with it. Games are almost ubiquitous and that allows us to make big bold ambitious bets on the future of entertainment. Some analysts are talking about $70-80bn in annual sales over the next two years. “The reality is, everyone’s a gamer now, the worldwide industry is growing, not just driven by consoles but by mobile devices. “Can the industry support this incredible increase in development costs? I remember when development budgets were in the hundreds of thousands, and when the average became more than a million there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth that this was an unsustainable trend. “This is a conversation I’ve been having for 25 years,” he says. Destiny is exciting but it has set a scary precedent: a team of many hundreds, a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars. So we talk about the need for original titles in the new console era. “Well as I’ve always said, one of the greatest things about our industry is the passion of our fans - that’s what makes us get out of bed every morning, trying to build the best games we can – that doesn’t change.” I ask Harrison if chasing third-party exclusives is a dangerous venture – it obviously secures attractive content, but it also creates frustration and even anger in the wider games community. But if Spencer or Harrison show their cards too early and put a shelf-life on the deal, fans are able to factor that in they can be rational. For Tomb Raider fans wavering over what console to buy, the suggestion that the series will only continue on Xbox One – or that Xbox will be the place to get the games, say, a good year before other machines – may be enough to encourage their commitment toward Microsoft’s platform. They don’t want to because the whole point of the deal is doubt and ambiguity. They don’t want to give us this information. ![]() Meanwhile, next door, Eurogamer’s Wesley Yin Poole pushes Spencer into saying, “Yes, the deal has a duration. The emphasis on the “holiday 2015” makes it obvious this is a timed deal, but he won’t say anymore. The Tomb Raider relationship is part of that.” It’s all part of making the console more attractive. Obviously our job is to make sure our console has the biggest games available on it - we want to make sure we bring value to our players whether they’re Xbox One owners today or if they become owners in the future - that’s why we’re also doing bundle offers this year with Sunset Overdrive, Call of Duty and Fifa. “We’re very pleased with the partnership we have with Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics to bring that title to Xbox. “We have said very clearly that Tomb Raider will be coming holiday 2015 exclusively to Xbox,” says Harrison with a wry, deliberate smile. We both want the same thing – confirmation on Tomb Raider. As it happens, my appointment to speak to Microsoft’s corporate vice president coincides exactly with Eurogamer speaking to the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, in the room next door. ![]()
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