Speaking to Eurogamer, Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed that he is a big fan of Uncharted and also explained the deal they have with Square Enix for Rise of the Tomb Raider that would allow them to compete against Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End next year’s holiday season. Though it was recently announced that the upcoming Tomb Raider video game was a timed exclusive but it’s unsure of when the release will happen for the PS4 platform.
“Do I wish I had an owned IP [intellectual property] first-party action adventure game?” said Spencer. “Absolutely. But I don’t right now. This is one that fits well.”
Phil later revealed that he is a huge fan of the Uncharted series and Microsoft would need something to compete against PS4 with.
“I’m a big fan of Uncharted, and I wish we had an action adventure game of that ilk. We’ve started some, and we’ve looked at them. But we don’t have one today of that quality. This [partnership with publisher Square Enix] is an opportunity.”
Keep in mind Microsoft does not own the Tomb Raider IP, and Rise of the Tomb Raider is only exclusive to Xbox for a limited period.
“I know a lot of people won’t like this, but I’ll say it — I think it can be good for the franchise and good for gaming all up because it’s a franchise that’s meant something, and we’re going to be able to work with them and invest and try to put the marketing and everything else at a level, and we’re active in working with them on the development of the game as well, to try to make it one of those franchises that stands out.”
“I want to get this story out there. This whole thing that, like, we just somehow found something that Sony fans love and said, ‘Hey, if we just drop millions of dollars then they can’t go play the game.’ That’s not how it played out.”