How HoloLens and backward compatibility fit into Xbox’s grand strategy

GamesBeat: How do you approach studios like Rare and figure out what they should be delivering? They’re taking their time. Do you want them to take their time?

Loftis: Rare’s been a great studio for us. They’ve delivered when we’ve needed them to. They created the Kinect Sports franchise. They helped us realize the vision for Kinect. The titles they announced this year with Rare Replay and Sea of Thieves, these were titles born out of the passion at the core of Rare’s design team. It’s both a celebration of their long history as game creators and a dive into something entirely new for them, but also very true to what Rare delivers – super charming, very fun, unexpected games that bring people together in a new way.

Gregg Mayles was one of the primary creators of the idea of Sea of Thieves. He’s worked with the team at Rare. I love seeing him continue to create more and more.

Above: Minecraft on HoloLens is real!

Image Credit: Microsoft

GamesBeat: How do you make something like HoloLens fit into all of this Xbox business?

Loftis: HoloLens, Oculus, Windows PC, Xbox, all being fueled by Windows 10—The idea is to give experienced creators as many venues to deliver their experiences to consumers as possible, and to make that easy. You’ve had the HoloLens experience, and you understand. There are some very unique experiences you can have with HoloLens. Hopefully with the announcement of Minecraft coming to HoloLens, and some of the demonstrations we’ve been able to do here and in January, we’re inspiring a new generation of game creators.

GamesBeat: Valve got a 30-second mention as well.

Loftis: They did, yeah.

GamesBeat: It seems like that could use a little more explanation.

Loftis: And more explanation will be coming. Valve is an amazing company with amazing game creators. They have a vibrant service that’s much beloved. They’re important to Windows. It’s great that we’re able to partner with them.

GamesBeat: Specifically on the VR things?

Loftis: That’s right, specifically on VR.

GamesBeat: That adds up to not going with any one particular candidate. You have some choice there as well.

Loftis: That’s right. Many different companies are approaching a lot of different ways to experience games. Creating a pipeline and ecosystem based on Windows 10 makes it easy for game developers to decide what’s best.

GamesBeat: Kinect is not really part of the bigger strategy at this point?

Loftis: Kinect is still part of the strategy. It’s another way for people to deliver experiences. It’s still available for gamers who choose it on Xbox One. It’s a great experience to use Kinect and Cortana in the new Xbox UI. People are still innovating with Kinect, the way they always have. Games are being developed for it. It’s there if people want it.

Above: Xbox Elite Controller

Image Credit: Microsoft

GamesBeat: Where did the new controller come from? Is that a long-term project that just got finished?

Loftis: We’ve been pushing more and more into eSports, into professional gaming. The Halo World Championship, Killer Instinct at Evo. When we talked to professional gamers, they told us that this is what they wanted. It’s not exclusively for pro gamers, but it came at the request of pro gamers. It has a nice, high-quality feel to it, but the key is the customizability, the ability to swap out parts.

GamesBeat: Why do they need this from you? How are they hoping to get a leg up on the competition?

Loftis: It’s the way that it feels in your hand. What’s the most natural way for you, the elite gamer or the aspiring elite gamer, to interact with the content on the screen?

GamesBeat: How do you feel about how Xbox is fitting in to the changing parts of gaming? We have mobile gaming, the MOBA phenomenon. Things are changing all around the core of console gaming. The edges are getting interesting. When you think about where Xbox and Microsoft need to go—how do you decide to fit in?

Loftis: It’s an amazing time to be a game developer. There are so many options, so much change. It all feels like it’s for the better. Our investments in the Xbox platform, bringing Windows 10 to Xbox, bringing Xbox Live to Windows 10 as part of the kernel of the operating system, our continued development of the Xbox Live community and our commerce capabilities, these are all designed to make Xbox a flexible place to create games.

We have free-to-play games on the console. We have Happy Wars, World of Tanks. We’ve done quite a bit of experimentation with different kinds of gaming models. They’re all very well-received by consumers. As long as gamers keep asking us for it, we’ll keep delivering it.

GamesBeat: How do you feel going head to head against Sony this year? Do you have the exclusives? Do you have the competitive advantage?

Loftis: I’m super excited about the holiday lineup we have — headlined by Halo 5, supported by Rise of the Tomb Raider, including Forza Motorsport 6, Gears of War Ultimate Edition, Rare Replay, our indie games. We have an incredible lineup this year. I’m excited about what we’ll deliver this holiday and beyond for gamers.

GamesBeat: Did you draw any lessons out of Halo Anniversary? What might you do differently in Halo 5?

Loftis: We did. Halo 5 is the first Halo built from the ground up for Xbox One. We ran a beta last December and learned a lot, between Master Chief Collection and the beta we ran, about the right way to set up a robust multiplayer service that lets people get on and enjoy gaming for as long as they can. I feel great about the launch for Halo 5.

GamesBeat: Halo Anniversary seemed like a very big engineering challenge. In some ways it wasn’t surprising that it didn’t go as well as it could have. It was very ambitious.

Loftis: It was ambitious. We wanted to basically thank the Halo community for years of support. It was four different engines, not made to work on this console. The team has delivered, I think, a good experience now. We paid close attention to what people told us about what was happening. We incorporated all of our learnings into Halo 5.

Above: ReCore is another game with a female hero that Microsoft showed off at its press conference.

Image Credit: Microsoft

GamesBeat: Nintendo didn’t have a ton to brag about today, but what they can point to is that their games get rated highly. Is that something you guys think about as well? Is that part of your ambition, to get to that same kind of critical acclaim?

Loftis: Absolutely. We take all forms of input. Anywhere somebody tells us we’re not doing well enough, we’re going to try to do better. Nintendo has some great games. Xbox has great games. Sony has great games. The key, really, is to deliver to gamers what they’re asking for when they’re asking for it, and do it with high quality.

GamesBeat: It seems like it’s still giving them what they want, but also surprising them at the same time.

Loftis: They do want surprises. That makes it fun to roll out something like ReCore. It feels like we’re at a real peak this year. This conference feels like the most positive that we’ve had in a long time. All over the floor, you see things celebrating the past of gaming, the present of gaming, and the future of gaming. There’s never been a better time to be an Xbox gamer.

GamesBeat: I thought we’d see a Joe Montana football game.

Loftis: Personally, I’d like a Terry Bradshaw football game.

GamesBeat: I don’t know how you view the switch Activision did, taking Call of Duty’s 30-day DLC exclusive to PlayStation 4.

Loftis: Xbox is a great place to play Call of Duty. We still have more people playing Call of Duty on Xbox than anywhere else. This fall, Xbox is the only place you can play Call of Duty and Halo, Call of Duty and Forza. It’s a great box to have those social, intense PvP experiences.

GamesBeat: Any personal favorites?

Loftis: I can’t wait to play campaign mode in Halo. I love the indie games. Fable is a franchise I’ve long been associated with. I played every single Fable until it fell over. I’m part of the Fable beta right now and I can’t wait to get online with friends.

Above: Mark Lamia appears at Sony’s press briefing at E3 2015.

Image Credit: Dean Takahashi