Microsoft Studios, créé en 2002 sous la dénomination Microsoft Game Studios (aussi appelé Microsoft Game Division), est une société détenue par Microsoft qui développe et édite des jeux vidéo pour les plates-formes estampillées Microsoft Windows ou les consoles Xbox, Xbox 360 et Xbox One. La société publie notamment les jeux des studios de développement internes comme 343 Industries ou Rare Ltd., mais aussi des studios de développement tiers comme BioWare ou Bizarre Creations.

Studio:343 Industries
Game History: Halo
Studio Head(s): Frank O'Connor (franchise director), Bonnie Ross (general manager)
Employees: 500
Location: Redmond, WA



Studio: The Coalition
Game History: Gears of War
Studio Head: Rod Fergusson
Employees: 250
Location: Vancouver, Canada



Studio: Rare Ltd.
Game History: Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct, Goldeneye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Conker, Viva Piñata, and a ton more.
Studio Head: Craig Duncan
Director(s): Gregg Mayles
Employees: 200
Location: Twycross, UK



Studio: Mojang
Game History: Minecraft, Cobalt, Scrolls
Studio Head(s): Jens Bergensten (lead creative designer), Lydia Winters (brand director)
Employees: 70
Location: Stockholm, Sweden



Studio: Turn 10 Studios
Game History: Forza
[B]Studio Head(s): Alan Hartman (studio lead), Dan Greenawalt (Creative Director)
Employees: 100
Location: Redmond, WA



ID@ Xbox - Indie Game publishing support
Microsoft Studios Global Publishing - Handle Microsoft Studio publishing between first party and partner studios
Beam - Streaming service
Backwards Compatibility Team - Handle Xbox One BC
Microsoft Foundry - Intern program, made free game Voice Commander in 2013



Studio: Playground Games
Game History: Forza...
[B]Studio Head(s): ...
Employees: ...
Location: London, WA



Studio: Ninja Theory
Employees : 100



Studio: THE INITIATIVE
Noteworthy Persons: Darrell Gallagher (Studio Head)



Studio: Undead Labs
Noteworthy Persons: Jeff Strain (Studio Head)
Studio Size: 75 employees



Studio: Compulsion Games
Noteworthy Persons: Guillaume Provost (Studio Head)
Studio Size: 40 employees



Other Studios/Teams:


ID@Xbox, publishing support and pilot program for independent game developers
Microsoft Studios Global Publishing, handles Microsoft Studio publishing between first party and partner studios
Mixer, streaming service
Backwards Compatibility Team, handles Xbox One BackCompat
Microsoft Foundry, intern program
Mixed Reality Team, works on AR/VR content for Xbox and Windows 10
Microsoft Casual Games, works on the casual games collection for Microsoft, including MS Solitaire, Wordament, and MS Mahjong
Xbox Growth Team

Studios/Teams Shut Down or Spun Off


Twisted Pixel (The Maw, Splosion Man), left in 2015
Press Play (Max and the Curse of Brotherhood, Kalimba), closed in 2016
Lionhead Studios (The Fable Franchise), closed in 2016
Team Dakota (Project Spark), disbanded in 2016
Xbox Fitness Team, disbanded in 2016
Decisive Games, disbanded before public outing in 2016

Microsoft Studios Global Publishing
& Other Information

Below we have information regarding upcoming titles created by partner studios, as well as any other relevant material not mentioned previously. Don't fret. This section will get a MAJOR rework in the days and weeks to come.

We begin with the Upcoming Partner Titles:

Crackdown 3



Battletoads



Current Partner Studios:


4J Studios, original console versions of Minecraft
Armature, ReCore DLC/updates
Beep Industries, VooDoo Vince Remastered
Capcom Vancouver, Dead Rising 4 DLC/updates
Certain Affinity, assistance on Halo projects
Cloudgine, Crackdown 3
Creative Assembly, Halo Wars 2
Flaming Foul Studios, Fable Fortune
Forgotten Empires, Age of Empires 1: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires 2 & 3: Definitive Editions
Iron Galaxy Studios, Killer Instinct new characters/updates
Moon Studios, Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps
ReAgent Games, Crackdown 3
Relic Entertainment, Age of Empire 4
Saber Interactive, assistance on Halo projects
Skybox Labs, Age of Empires DLC, Halo 5: Forge updates
Smoking Gun Interactive, Age of Empires: Castle Siege
Splash Damage, assistance on Gears of War 4 DLC
StudioMDHR, Cuphead
Electric Square, Miame Street
Sumo Digital, Crackdown 3

Darrell Gallagher Head of Microsoft's new studio 'The Initiative" formerly welcomed some new hires to the team according to a Linkedin post which was later taken down but he also made the same post on twitter were our very own CrimsonEclipse was able to get a snapshot.

Darrell is already pulling in some serious talent.

Lead Producer/Senior Producer on ROTR and Senior Managing Producer on God of War

Leader Writer and Designer on Red Dead Redemption



Brian Westergaard worked on GoW 2018 as the lead producer.

Annie Lohr is the recruiter and worked at Respawn.

Christian Cantamessa - the writer from rdr is at the company.

Blake Fischer - Senior Director of Portfolio Planning for MS, but now working with The Initiative.

Daniel Neuburger & Lindsey McQueeney are from Crystal Dynamics.


[g][i]Brian Westergaard était le producteur principal de ROTR et God of War 2018

Christian Cantamessa était l'écrivain et le lead designer de Red Dead Redemption.

Annie Lohr est une recrue principale de l'industrie et Daniel Neuburger a travaillé comme co-réalisateur sur le Tomb Raider Reboot et Rise of the Tomb Raider aux côtés de Brian Horton.

Blake Fischer - Directeur principal de la planification du portefeuille pour MS, Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Ninja Gaiden, Rise of le Tomb Raider, le Blinx, le Tao Feng, le Fall Out 3, le Killer Instinct, le Cuphead, les Elder Scrolls IV ... etc.

"Jez Corden said that right after Microsoft announced their five new teams, he got a DM from an Xbox exec telling him it was only the beginning of the acquisitions.

This is in combination with GiantBomb and Waypoint both saying after the briefing that they’ve heard rumors of other acquisitions that they aren’t going to talk about in case they’re still happening." https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/95j29p/rumour_obsidian_entertainment_letterofintent_for/

C'est grâce à un tweet de Martin O'Donnel, posté il y a à peine deux jours, que la rumeur a débuté. On voit en effet une photo, sur laquelle l'artiste se tient aux côtés de Jen Taylor (l'actrice de Cortana, l'IA du Major) et Joe Staten (l'un des auteurs principaux dans les premiers volets de Halo).



Martin O'Donnel est le compositeur responsable de la bande originale de Halo, depuis le tout premier volet jusqu'à Halo Reach : c'est lui qui est à l'origine du thème iconique du jeu. Les retrouvailles ont semblé l'amuser, puisqu'il a continué à tweeté en précisant "Tu m'as manqué @SteveDownes117" qui n'est ni plus ni moins que l'homme qui donne sa voix au Master Chief.

La communauté Halo a pris feu dans les réseaux sociaux face à de telles nouvelles, pourquoi est-ce qu'autant de personne d'importance dans l'univers Halo se sont t-ils retrouvés à Seattle, là où se trouve les locaux de 343 Industries ? Martin O'Donnell a remis un peu d'huile sur le feu à ce moment-là dans un ultime tweet : "Il n'y a rien "de hasardeux" dans notre rencontre."