Microsoft 2018- A Year's Retrospective

By: Ryan Ramakrishnan

While Sony pushed story-driven single player experiences and Nintendo shed light on the greatest indie games around, Microsoft decided to instead lay the groundwork for what may be the brightest foreseeable future in all of gaming.

With a robust Game Pass catalog, extensive backwards compatibility and a clear game plan on the horizon, Microsoft may have failed to ship the hottest first party exclusives in 2018 but certainly established a name for themselves as the consumer-friendly, forward-thinking face of the industry, a face some of us don’t know how much we need.

Looking back at Microsoft’s 2018 in gaming, many would, on the surface, call the publisher out for a lack of truly great games. And on one end, you can’t blame them. “Sea of Thieves” and “State of Decay 2” weren’t as amazing as one could have hoped. “Forza: Horizon 4” may be a technical marvel but didn’t do much for innovation upon the other ten games under the “Forza” franchise title. And of course, “Crackdown 3” failed to release this year altogether, despite being in our faces for what seems like forever.

However with all of these issues, or at the very least, points of concern, Microsoft’s year regarding Xbox hasn’t been all that bad either, with much of their finest successes in plain sight.

First and foremost, the introduction and continuous growth of Game Pass is easily the biggest selling point for both buying an Xbox One and backing an argument for why Microsoft succeeded its competition in 2018. For a mere $10.00 a month, frequently dropping to prices like a single dollar a month when on sale, Game Pass is all about giving gamers the best bang for their buck. Game Pass currently offers over 100 titles, instantly downloadable with no extra fees for Game Pass subscribers. When you talk about making moves in the gaming industry for the gamers, you can’t for one step of the way look past Game Pass. This is a clear example of what being consumer friendly is all about.

Likewise, 2018 showed the publisher’s desire to give its fans, new and old, accessibility like no other console could. With backwards compatibility, Microsoft already gained an edge on its competition; however, this year, they added many more wonderful Xbox 360 games, as well as that of the Original Xbox. Today, your Xbox One has simple access to a wide array of titles from all Xbox consoles so far.

Thanks to Microsoft’s massive push to market their Xbox On X as the most powerful console around, many have gotten their hands on the system. And besides the technical specs being proof, Microsoft went ahead and improved the visual fidelity of many of its older games just to show how much they care. Currently, they have an ever-growing list of Xbox One-enhanced games, ranging from small and old to massive and brand new.

Of course, the Xbox One X being the powerhouse that it is may be the best place to play third party games. The console's performance on a 4K TV is nothing short of a spectacle with titles like “Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey,” “Battlefield V” and “Red Dead Redemption 2” looking absolutely stunning. When Microsoft says that the Xbox One X is the world’s most powerful console, they aren’t exaggerating.

Arguably the most blatant forward-thinking action of Microsoft’s this year was none other than a stellar E3 press conference and event. This past June saw what was arguably the best of the entirety of E3 2018 happen in the world of Xbox. Phil Spencer proved to be a man of the people as he went up on stage, charmed Xbox gamers and announced both amazing games and partnerships but also some notable power moves for the future.


Microsoft seems to have the future of its software in mind more than we may have thought, gien their substantial collection of first parties in this year alone. The company’s E3 was home to the announcement of not one, not two but five studio acquisitions. Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, Playground Games and Undead Labs all joined Microsoft in 2018, as did a brand new studio allegedly pushing quadruple A experiences under the Xbox name known as “The Initiative.” Microsoft would later announce InXile and Obsidian were joining the team at an equally fan-friendly event in the form of XO18.

What E3 had in store for the fans otherwise was game after game, surprise after surprise. Housing announcements for third party titles like “Just Cause 4,” “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice” and “Devil May Cry 5,” as well as a surprising “Kingdom Hearts 3” presence, Microsoft showed they have the support of developers everywhere. Ironically, Microsoft’s press conference looked better and better with time thanks to other publishers showing similar or nearly identical trailers to their games that Microsoft unveiled first.

While not necessarily re-inventing the wheel as far as we know, Xbox exclusive franchises still got their love with new trailers and gameplay demos alike at E3. October saw the release of the E3 2018-announced “Forza: Horizon 4,” which was ultimately a beautiful and wildly fun driving game for the ages. They also gave us a stunning tease of “Halo: Infinite,” news of “Battletoads” and “Cuphead” returning and three different “Gears” games including the now hotly anticipated “Gears 5.”

When it’s all said and done, 2018 wasn’t the year of exclusives and killer apps for the Xbox One. Its competition admittedly swept in that field. Nevertheless, Microsoft proved its worth in this console generation latter years as it equally teased at what is to come. With blatant mentions of the next generation of Xbox, consumer-friendly programs and accessibility, and a whole assortment of first parties under their wing, Microsoft proved they are ready to come out swinging in the near future. The company showed clear signs of planning ahead with solid groundwork already laid for the future, proving Microsoft is preparing to fire on all cylinders when the time is right.

Are you impressed with the power moves Microsoft has made this year for its future? Were you disappointing by the Xbox One exclusives we did get in 2018? Let me know all your thoughts on Microsoft's 2018 in the comments below.