• News

E3 2018: Microsoft Studios Creates Initiative Games, Acquires Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, and More

Microsoft has just announced a brand new studio, along with the aquisation of several others during their E3 press conference.

Donovan Erskine

June 10, 2018 2:02 PM

1

Phil Spencer just took to stage during the Xbox briefing at E3 to give an update on some new aquired studios. First, Microsoft has created a brand new studio, "Initiative Games", set in Santa Monica. In addition they've acquired Undead Labs (State of Decay 2), Playground Games (Forza Horizon series), Ninja Theory (Hellblade and DmC), and Compulsion Games (We Happy Few).

In particular, Ninja Theory is a big acquisition for the company, as it was previously responsible for the excellent title Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, which was self-described as an "independent AAA game," created by a small team of just 20 developers. It went on to receive a high amount of praise for its depiction of an individual suffering from mental illness as well as Ninja Theory's care taken to avoid cliches and incorrect information relating to such debilitating mental problems. 

Xbox often gets a bad wrap for a lack of first party exlusives, especially when compared to PlayStation. The announcements of these acquisitions shows that Microsoft is committed to turning things around.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_