The Xbox One had the “greatest games lineup in Xbox history,” according to Microsoft’s marketing executive Yusuf Mehdi, but 2016 will be even better. At yesterday’s Credit Suisse Technology Conference, Mehdi said that gaming has been a “pretty big success case” for the company overall, and 2015 has seen that success sky-rocket to new heights.
On gaming, gaming has been a pretty big success case. Gaming you think about in two pieces. There’s a traditional Xbox console business, where we compete with Sony. And there we’ve had probably the best year we’ve ever had for Xbox. And it’s on the back of the greatest games lineup in Xbox history. So if you like to game, this is the year to get an Xbox. We have Halo 5 launching. We have Minecraft on Xbox. We have Gears of War, Tomb Raider. The best lineup; next year will also be the best lineup. That’s led to really a great success on it.
Gears Of War 4, Halo Wars 2, Quantum Break, Scalebound and Crackdown 3 are all currently scheduled for a 2016 release window, so Microsoft certainly already have a long list of upcoming titles to bolster the console’s growing library of exclusives, but then again, so does its biggest competitor.
The PlayStation 4 has Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Street Fighter V and The Last Guardian – among others – releasing over the next year, so the title for best console of 2016 is sure to be hotly contested.
Either way, 2016 is shaping up to be a great year for gamers, regardless of your platform choice.