Psychonauts 2
Image: Xbox

Following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft and Team Xbox now have more studios (and games) than ever. If there was any concern about how all this is going to be managed or if certain franchises will be overshadowed by others, there's apparently no need to worry.

Speaking on the 'The Fourth Curtain' podcast recently, the President of Game Content and Studios at Xbox, Matt Booty, revealed how Microsoft was quick to clarify with its new teams at Activision, Blizzard, and King how "all of them matter" and all of their games matter.

And this is generally the approach Microsoft has been taking for some time now. Here's how Matt explains it:

"The first thing is how important it is that all of the games matter. On one hand, you've got these huge franchises like Skyrim, like Halo, you've got these things that have been around for 20 years... on the other side you've got Tim Schafer making games like Psychonauts and then you've got teams like at Obsidian which made Pentiment.

"Those two extremes and everything in between matter. Our job is to create a studio system where those things all co-exist and we create a place where creative people feel that they are safe and supported and that they can be their authentic selves, they can do their best work, and that creativity isn't just sort of a possibility that it becomes an inevitability...Whether it's Psychonauts and Pentiment, whether it's State of Decay, whether it's Gears of War, it's Flight Simulator we just have such a variety and it all matters because I think that all of those games help contribute to a healthy portfolio...There isn't this sense of a hierarchy, where the ultimate destiny is for everyone to work on Halo."

As noted, by Booty, Microsoft and its Xbox division won't be necessarily pushing smaller teams into other projects like Halo, either. It's more about letting these other teams do their own thing with full creative freedom.

Many teams owned by Microsoft have discussed the benefits of working under the Xbox banner. Just yesterday, for example, inXile Entertainment's lead spoke about how the studio could now focus more on the creative aspects of the business. Newly acquired studio Blizzard has also mentioned how it's looking forward to more independence.

How do you feel about Microsoft and Xbox managing so many game studios? How do you think it will go leading the teams at Activision, Blizzard and King after its recent leadership restructure? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

[source youtu.be]