“I always go to Gamescom. I care a lot about our fans and our partners in Europe so that’s a big show for us. So we’ll definitely be there. We are planning on making more announcements at Gamescom.” – these were the exact words that Aaron said in the interview. But now, Microsoft’s press conference at Gamescom 2017 has concluded, where the hell are the announcements? Considering that Aaron believes Gamescom is a big show for them, it didn’t feel like it aside from the massive Xbox wall covers just to showcase the brand.
After E3 2017, Microsoft’s Xbox Marketing Head Aaron Greenberg said that games for Xbox will be revealed during at Gamescom 2017. When he made the statement in the GameReactor interview, I have been very hopeful since their E3 press conference was all nothing but Xbox One X and “console launch” exclusives. Now, Gamescom 2017 has finally come but it left me in a spot where I can’t take Microsoft’s words seriously anymore.
We only got to see Age of Empires Definitive Edition, ReCore Definitive Edition, State of Decay 2, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Cuphead, Middle-earth Shadow of War, World of Tanks, some ID @ Xbox games, but the best of them all was Jurassic World Evolution. All of these games aside from Jurassic World have been revealed and announced at E3 this year. It’s disappointing to say that once again Microsoft has never delivered its promises aside from the “powerful” console the Xbox One X.
While it’s not surprising that Microsoft had a lot of empty promises this year, I had my hopes up at Gamescom 2017 for the console. Adding to this massive letdown is the announcement of Crackdown 3’s delay which was probably the only game I was looking forward to this year on November. Microsoft may have Forza Motorsport 7 coming out in just a couple of months, but it’s not exactly what the majority wants to have. We need something new, something fresh.
Sony’s ramping the road with their exclusives this 2nd half of 2017 with the recently launched Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Gran Turismo Sport, Knack II, and Horizon: Zero Dawn – The Frozen Wilds. It shows how lacking Xbox One’s lineup this 2nd half which also makes Crackdown 3 look minuscule in the pool of Sony’s exclusives in 2018. I’m not implying that Crackdown 3 will be disaster, it’s easily overshadowed by titles like Spider-Man, God of War, and Detroit: Become Human.
You Xbox fans who are reading this article have to admit that the conference was utterly disappointing. I expected a lot and Microsoft didn’t deliver but to show us what they already announced at E3. But even if Microsoft’s Xbox conference didn’t have any big reveals, what blew me away from my chair in watching the conference was the announcement of Jurassic World Evolution. And it’s probably the only best announcement in Microsoft’s press conference at this year’s Gamescom.
