Reaction: Halo Infinite Caps Off An Incredible Year For Xbox Game Studios

I went a solid B for 2021, due to the long wait and also they are cross generation games.
Next year we should get some new generation only, Starfield for example.

B Because we didn't have anything for the first half of the year but the quality of games has been great. It all began with Flight Simulator which is amazing then Psychonauts 2 extremely fun Game. Forza Horizon 5 which Is insanely addictive and Halo Infinite which I can't wait to play. There's also Age of Empires which was well received by critics.

Overall it was a fantastic year for Xbox. I cannot wait for next year, can only imagine what Redfall, Starfield and Forza Motorsport are going to be like. We will also see a lot more XGS Published 3rd Party Exclusives like Contraband and As Dusk Falls. Great time to own an Xbox

Most exclusive games have come out just recently. However, there were several timed exclusives that scored well such as the Medium, the Ascent, Yakuza, and Death's Door. These almost made up for not having the big AAA games from Xbox Studios.

Microsoft Flight Simulator (probably the first new-gen game), Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite have made the first year of Series X/S a very good one considering that generations start slowly. The future is brighter with so many Xbox Game Studios but please make Banjo-Kazooie.

@themightyant
IMO, if this year is an "A", what will next year be? I think the flow of quality games needs to be more consistent. This year has been good, but it makes me VERY excited for 2022.

I went with a 'B' because no Hellblade 2. That's my most anticipated Xbox console exclusive 😁
Still, a great year for MS and Xbox 👍

@Medic_Alert
Agreed. I keep coming back to that creepy Hellblade 2 trailer every once in a while (the one with Senua chanting) and it sure will be spectacular when it launches.
Also, there's still The Gunk that I'm anxiously awaiting in a week or so.
As for MS's next console- with covid causing so much havok I doubt we will see it soon.

In terms of new exclusives which is the reason I joined xbox for gamepass I'd have to say a C from me, took them until the last three months of the year to put out some games (one not even out yet)

Definitely looking forward to next year more with starfield and hopefully some surprises (hoping for State of decay 3)

@Medic_Alert I believe next year will be one of my best years of gaming and seriously can't wait.

For xbox we have starfield, redfall and stalker and fingers crossed state of decay 3

For playstation we have God of War, Horizon forbidden West, GT7, Forspoken and maybe the KOTR remake

For Nintendo we have BOTW2, pokemon legends, splatoon 3, Bayonetta 3, new Kirby game, rune factory 5 and hopefully Metroid 4

Third party we have Tiny Tina, Dying Light 2, Harry Potter game, Gollum, suicide squad game, overwatch 2 etc...

Wow, what a year 2022 will be

Definitely an A for me. Loved the whole year. Had some fantastic experiences with strangers and friends/family online. Game pass keeps giving and Microsoft rewards is paying for my sub and more. Glad I made the switch.

I think it's fair if not overly obvious that anyone giving it a C is bias to a favourite system and anyone giving it lower is here in vapid hope to negate all the success of Xbox. it's become painfully sad to witness some of the most pathetic and poorly covert gamers scurry on here to try downplay everything Xbox is doing right. They know who they are. Is it insecure issues or is it just the need for attention? To constantly look and nitpick problems so that they can feel better about whatever it is they need feeling better about is kind of, well, tragic. Either they're trolling or they are genuinely of a negative dispositions which in turn leads to a propensity for whining and baiting and indulging in a disputatious desire to climb some metaphorical superiority high ground. It's strange, and God imagine knowing them in real life, energy vampires the lot of em. Furthermore tho it must be hard for them seeing Xbox games overall score surpassing PlayStation 😂😂😂

I just think, every time I see their comment, "wow, they made time to write that, they come here to actually complain and argue"

Tragic

@UltimateOtaku91 tedious

@FriendlyOctopus what was tedious? I gave a genuine score of a C from me, Halo isn't out yet so I can't say if I like it, Im not interested in Flight simulator and the only other game I've played from xbox studios is Forza which was really good.
If I happen to like halo infinites campaign and Gunk then I suppose that C would turn to a B

B it is! amazing year but there's always room for improvement. I still have to wait to see how good Halo is though.
I played all the mentioned games and i gotta say they are all very good, but none of them were as memorable as some of Sony's first party games.
Obviously this year was much better for xbox nonetheless.
Glad i joined gamepass this year

I was happy playing Nioh Collection on ps5 until forza and halo came out and have not turned on the ps5 since. Great end to the year for xbox and starfield and elden ring are my most anticipated games for next year.

I read the title wrong and thought it was about Gamepass 🤣 so I voted A but for MS studios I’d give them a B. They’ve ended the year very strongly but the rest of the year has been pretty quiet, I expect things to pick up next year.

I think the most important thing is Phil and co have fixed their game pipeline, the future is bright. Feels like this thing is finally back on the rails with the upward trajectory of the 360 days. Xbone launch fiasco and dearth of games officially in the rearview.

This is an A grade from me for sure. Microsoft has consistently delivered the kind of games that appeal to me and my interests. Flight Simulator is probably one of the best things I have ever experienced on a game console, and it goes beyond merely being a video game, it's a tool for getting you into the world of flight, and a great means to explore the world from your couch. Forza Horizon 5 is one of the best things a car enthusiast like myself could ask for, with endless fun and a massive list of cars to upgrade and customize, it's something I can never get tired of. Halo Infinite is turning out to be the best FPS I have played in a long time, and it's already become a definitive multiplayer experience.

Right now, I am very satisfied. This has been an amazing year for gaming... so long as you have an Xbox.

A purely for Psychonauts 2, which is also the best game released this year imo.

Gonna go for a solid B here, since the Series X really had a slow start, but finally got rolling (for me with Psychonauts and Flight Simulator, than Halo Infinite). The game patches upgrading them to Series X and the bonus backwards compatible games were icing on the cake.

Microsoft Studios get a B from me.

But Game Pass gets an A+

Strange poll as we can’t play the flagship game. Guess we have to take the critics at their word.

I gave them a B. Solid year, but not what I’d expect from an A year. I feel Sony had a better first half, Microsoft a better second half. I wouldn’t grade either an A.

As the title suggests- we’ve been spoiled. This has been an amazing year for Microsoft games and even more amazing for GamePass members. The only downside is knowing how many years of effort it took to produce all these games also means we will probably not see another cornucopia of awesomeness like this for a while.

B, i mean look Infinite is clearly a GOTY contender and so is Forza 5 but other then MS Flight Sim it hasn't exactly been a diverse year for Xbox games and is overall just another Xbox year with the same games what hopefully changes in the coming years. I mean that top image i can't help but smirk at with Deathloop not on Xbox yet and PN2 being multiplatform.

Its a great year for sure don't get me wrong but if you're not a Gamepass convert and don't care for Halo or Forza then its pretty lackluster for 1st party games what thankfully doesn't apply to me but for those what does well yeah.

It’s about time we had an xbox series x/s game only and not an engine used for back pat.

I know this is specific to XBGS games but I am also still looking forward to The Gunk, hopefully it won’t disappoint. As far as we understand, it’s as first party as Ori. Might be done by an indie studio but seems to be owned by Xbox.

Went for a C but it was borderline B. Very empty first half of the year is the main reason for a drop.

I went for B. Halo was meant to release last year and Flight Sim was released last year too. Gears Tactics 'didn't' seem to count when it 'launched' on consoles with the Series S/X launch because it too came out on PC earlier when talking about 'launch day exclusives' - according to 'everyone', Xbox had NO exclusives at launch yet we got Series S/X versions of FH4, Gears 5 and also Gears Tactics came to console.

That first half of 2021 was supplemented by 3rd Party Game Pass releases - like MLB21, Outriders, the Medium etc.

Deathloop was part funded by Sony (and of course MS money to finish and polish) and still not available to 'Xbox' hardware, Psychonauts 2 maybe doesn't feel like an Xbox Studio game as its multi-platform. Flight Sim came out last year and AoE4 is PC only. Only 2 of the 6 games, 1 of which was meant to release last year 'feels' like a brand new Xbox Studio game, exclusive to Xbox (and that means on Console too). I respect that MS had to honour agreements when acquiring Zenimax & Double Fine and both Psychonauts 2 & Deathloop are part of those 'legacy' agreements. Of course, MS's money in the latter stages may well have helped their 'metacritic' scores but as an 'Xbox' gamer, these don't 'feel' like Xbox Studio games to me as a result.

After thinking it through maybe a B is a bit high but at the end of the day, 4 games released to Xbox Consoles and the momentum is positive - even if the year started slowly. Ending strongly with a LOT of games to look forward to deserves a B

Only Forza and Halo for me this year as games I really wanted to play. I haven’t played Halo yet.
I need to check out Psychonauts 2, personally I can’t say grade because honestly I don’t believe it is. But they’ve had a better year than Sony for sure. Some of the comments here I find bizarre mind you. You’d believe Xbox smashed it and couldn’t have done anymore.

I've only played Forza 5 out of those which I'm enjoying (though more of an evolution that revolution compared to FH4), but looking forward to Flight Simulator if/when I get a Series X.

Not sure what to grade it as though as there's been lots of good games out lately. I'd say that Xbox's greatest work this year has been with Game Pass adding more games and rolling out the Cloud.

Can't wait until they're hitting a release every 6-8 weeks