Xbox in 2016: the year in review

The situation has improved with subsequent updates, but since Microsoft has thankfully given users the ability to switch back to the legacy Xbox voice commands, I’m not sure whether Cortana’s failure to make a positive first impression will hinder her future on the console in general.

Clubs, Looking For Group, Arena

Microsoft added a wealth of new social features to the Xbox One this year too, including user-created Clubs, Looking for Group ads, and the ability to create Arena tournaments based around competitive Xbox games.

Clubs, for the first time, allow users on Xbox Live to create their own communities. Players can create Clubs based around any topic, styling them as they see fit. The tools and customization features available to Clubs are a bit limited so far, however. If Microsoft wants Xbox Live to become truly social, they need to open up Clubs to the same sorts of features seen in products like Discord, including image support, and custom avatars.

Beyond Clubs, we also have Looking For Group. With this feature, Microsoft is offering a solution for the multiplayer games out there that do not have robust in-game group finding features, such as Elite Dangerous and Destiny. Hopefully, Microsoft will provide developers with the tools to embed LFG ads directly into games to make the experience even more seamless.

Arena is Xbox Live’s first foray into eSports systems, providing professional organizations like MGL the opportunity to create tournaments directly on the network. Arena is still in preview (and US-only at that), but the feature has lots of potential. It’s easy to imagine a future where spectator and commentator tools are baked directly into the console, leveraging one of Microsoft’s most intriguing purchases of 2016 — Beam.

Beam.pro

One of Microsoft’s most exciting acquisitions in 2016 was Beam.pro, a fledgling live streaming service developed by an incredibly passionate team with a penchant for innovation.

What sets Beam.pro apart from it’s most obvious competition, Twitch.tv, is its unprecedented lack of latency between streamer and viewer. This makes streams more entertaining, as the dialogue between the streamer and viewer can take place in near-real time, and the speed is improving with every update.

Additionally, Beam.pro features an SDK that allows developers to bake web controls directly into their games. This allows viewers to spend “Sparks” — currency accrued for watching streams — on interactivity buttons streamers place on their web pages. Some of the current implementations include sound boards, and even the ability to spawn monsters in games like Minecraft.

Microsoft is wasting no time in capitalizing on Beam’s features, baking the service directly into Windows 10 in the near future to allow gamers to forego complex streaming tools and begin broadcasting with something as simple as a Win Key combination press. Beam will also pick up integration with Xbox One early in 2017, giving creators an alternative to the viciously competitive Twitch.

A platform for the future

There are dozens of other major updates that hit Xbox One this year, and it would take all day to list them out. And that’s a good thing. Microsoft has been incredibly responsive to user feedback across the board, not just for Xbox One, but for Windows 10 and other apps and services too. The pivot to a customer-driven company has benefited Xbox immeasurably in 2016, and we know it’s only going to get better in 2017.

Microsoft has spent the past few years creating the basis for the gaming network of the future. Whether it’s new social features, tools to connect games with gamers, Beam streaming, and Arena eSports tools, it’s plain to see Microsoft has created an incredible amount of additional value for Xbox Live users on the service, both on Windows 10 and Xbox One.

Moving into 2017, we know that the Xbox One will share an OS with Project Scorpio, and perhaps even a user interface. In 2017, Microsoft should focus their attention on making refinements to the dashboard itself, which is still far slower than it ought be. Navigating elements developed for the multiple endpoints of UWP could also use a lot of refinement, as many apps on Xbox One either use a mouse-like joystick cursor or force you to thumb around snappable objects in directions that aren’t always clear.

We know that Microsoft is developing a new design language, and it seems likely we could see it appear in some form on Xbox One and Project Scorpio. If so, Microsoft should focus its efforts on creating a modern dashboard UI that is equal parts beautiful, functional and, above all fast, putting content at the forefront.

Platform features are only one pillar of the Xbox effort, and while the bells and whistles are important, a video games console is only ever as good as its games, and I’d say it was a mixed bag for Microsoft in 2016.

RISK VS. REWARD

Games, games, games

2016 in games was a year of unexpected triumphs and extreme disappointments. Blizzard salvaged the remains of their failed MMO — Project Titan — and created Overwatch, which will define hero-based shooters for years to come. After a disappointing multiplayer tech test, Bethesda launched DOOM to almost unanimous praise, delivering a shooter that was aggressively old-school in its pursuit of glorious (and gory) gameplay purity.

Despite reservations about the setting, DICE delivered one of the most sobering, immersive, and beautiful shooters ever made in the form of Battlefield 1, that just so happens to be Windows Central’s official pick for Game of the Year.

Of course, 2016 wasn’t all plain sailing, particularly in camp Microsoft.

It wasn’t all about shooters, though. INSIDE broke ground and blew minds with its meticulously crafted puzzle platforming masterpiece, while the RPG Final Fantasy XV finally emerged after over a decade in incubation — and thankfully it’s pretty great. We also saw solid efforts from Far Cry Primal, Mafia III, Dishonored 2, Titanfall 2, Watch Dogs 2, XCOM 2, and Deus Ex Mankind Divided. While games from the indie scene, including Firewatch, Virginia, Astroneer, The Flame in the Flood, and The Witness, generated some serious budget buzz. Of course, 2016 wasn’t all plain sailing, particularly in camp Microsoft.

Before we get to Microsoft Studios’ efforts, 2016 might be remembered as the year marketing hype finally jumped the shark. No Man’s Sky launched without piles of promised features, and “Destiny Killer” The Division failed to live up to the massive hype it generated all the way back to the start of the generation. After their initial sales bursts, both games saw their player bases diminish rapidly.

Gamers also took to social media in droves to slam Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, granting its trailer the title of one of the most disliked YouTube videos ever. Sales of major titles like Titanfall 2 failed to live up to publisher’s expectations. Commentators blamed everything from gamer fatigue, an over-saturation of AAA titles in Q3 and Q4, and the rise of Games as a Service, which sees titles like Overwatch perpetually updated on the back of cosmetic micro-payments, giving them an abnormally long life span. I expect in 2017 we’ll see even more titles go down this route, for better or worse.

Mixed success at Microsoft Studios

Microsoft itself saw some mixed commercial and critical successes in 2016. While Microsoft praised Quantum Break as its best-selling new IP ever, reviews were mixed as critics reacted negatively to the way the shooter’s 20-30 minute-long live action cutscenes impacted the game’s pacing. Quantum Break’s developer Remedy Entertainment is no longer working with Microsoft, and you have to wonder if Quantum Break’s mixed reception and large budget is at least partially to blame. This is particularly upsetting as Alan Wake, another big Xbox exclusive title developed by Remedy back for the Xbox 360, may never get the sequel it deserves.

Microsoft itself saw some mixed commercial and critical successes in 2016.

Another game with big names attached to it was ReCore, which was co-developed between the studio behind Metroid Prime, and the legendary creator of Megaman, Keiji Inafune. Despite the intrigue generated by its enrapturing reveal trailer last year, the full game disappointed many. Not only did it launch at an almost apologetically lower-than-usual price point, ReCore was also brief and lacking ambition, standing in the shadow of far more impressive open world titles of recent years. ReCore, while conceptually enticing, was hammered even harder by critics, granting it a score below 7/10 on Metacritic.

Nothing in Microsoft Studios’ 2016 was as catastrophic as the closure of Lionhead Studios, leading to the death of Fable Legends, and most likely, the entire Fable franchise along with it. Reports suggested that the 4 vs. 1 free-to-play RPG ate up $75 million dollars before getting canceled, and was developed more to showcase Microsoft’s cross-platform efforts and simply wasn’t the game Lionhead (or fans) wanted for the franchise.

Forza, Gears, and backward compatibility hold the fort

It wasn’t all bad news, of course. Forza Horizon 3 launched to near-unanimous praise, earning itself a place as one of the greatest titles of the year. Its gorgeous visuals, high-octane gameplay, and wealth of content put it head and shoulders above the competition, exemplifying the potential Microsoft Studios’ titles have to deliver the goods.

Speaking of delivering the goods, Gears of War 4 also made a splash when it launched earlier this past fall. While Gears 4 didn’t build on its formula or “betray” fans expectations as teased by The Coalition; it refined and elevated what the franchise is known for.

I wrote in my review that Gears 4 felt like the return of an old friend, but The Coalition should probably consider taking more risks with the next installment to prevent the franchise from getting stale.

2016 was also the year that Xbox Backwards Compatibility really began to shine. Classic blockbusters like Mass Effect 2 and 3, Oblivion, XCOM: Enemy Within and Red Dead Redemption graced Xbox One consoles for the first time, with fan favorites like Catherine, Lost Odyssey, and Blue Dragon also breaking cover.

2016 was also the year that Xbox Backwards Compatibility really began to shine.

Backward compatibility provides key differentiation for the Xbox One family, and it remains an incredibly compelling reason to pick up the console. Phil Spencer recently tweeted that 50% of Xbox One users currently use backward compatibility, making it a feature enjoyed by millions.

No room for complacency

Even before 2016 with games like Sunset Overdrive and RYSE, Microsoft Studios has begun to earn itself a reputation for fire-and-forget second-party efforts that fail to live up to expectation of the wider audience. State of Decay 2, Crackdown 3 and Scalebound have every opportunity to repair the damage, but they will undoubtedly be held to some seriously intense scrutiny. Halo Wars 2 is certainly shaping up nicely, and Sea of Thieves should also provide quality exclusive content to Xbox One gamers everywhere. And of course, there’s the inevitable Forza Motorsport 7.

I personally loved Quantum Break’s slick TV show portions and time-warping gameplay, and I adored ReCore’s characters, systems, and combat system. I even enjoyed what I saw of Fable Legends. All three titles had solid foundations that simply failed to resonate in execution, and I feel that it casts a shadow of doubt over future titles.

Sony is offering glimpses of far-field AAA PlayStation 4 titles such as God of War, The Last of Us 2, and Hideo Kojima’s intriguing Death Stranding, leaving Xbox One fans in the dark regarding what their ecosystem will look like beyond 2017 — for now.

I feel as though there’s a real danger of Forza, Gears, and Halo becoming stale, which would only compound the sense that the new IP Microsoft Studios have been putting out seem to lack the scale and scope required to resonate with the expectations of the wider core gaming audience. Hopefully, Microsoft is simply playing its cards close to its chest, preparing to launch an all-out assault for the full reveal of Project Scorpio.

IT’S A MONSTER

Scorpio Rising

Perhaps Microsoft’s biggest Xbox announcements this year revolved around hardware. At E3 2016, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One S. The S is a slimmed down Xbox One, with largely the same internals. A more efficient processor meant that Microsoft could shrink the Xbox One S by a large amount without affecting airflow, while also baking the power brick directly into the console. To top it off, the Xbox One S became the first console capable of outputting 4K resolution media for apps like Netflix, in addition to supporting High Dynamic Range for games.