Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond on Xbox's Commitment to Europe
– 2 min read
Microsoft's presence at gamescom in Cologne was not just to showcase new games and products. Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond also praised working with the many partners in Europe - as well as the fans.
Microsoft had a huge presence at gamescom. Its booth took up almost half of Hall 7 and featured more than 50 games from Xbox Game Studios, Blizzard, Bethesda and third-party partners, with more than 240 gaming stations. There was also a huge Xbox Fan Fest at a central location in Cologne.
Commenting on Xbox's commitment to European developers, Sarah Bond, President of Xbox, said: "The partnership we have here in Europe is fantastic. We now have over 2,000 partners in EMEA actively developing games for Xbox, PC and Cloud. Over 20 of them are here with us at the booth. It's great to see the fans. It reminds you of what makes this industry so special - celebrating games, the joy they bring and the people who make them."
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, also said: "This is our first gamescom with Activision Blizzard, Bethesda and Xbox all here together - it's definitely something special... to see gamescom stronger than ever, with the fans and developers that are here, the strength across Europe, we need more of that in the industry, and I'm glad we're here to support it."
Microsoft has announced three new Xbox Series X|S console options at gamescom, which will be available on 15 October and in selected countries on 29 October: Xbox Series S - 1TB Robot White, Xbox Series X - 1TB Digital Edition Robot White and Xbox Series X - 2TB Galaxy Black Special Edition.
Three new accessibility devices and 3D printable files for adaptive thumbstick toppers were also introduced. These new options - created in partnership with the gaming and disability community and non-profit organisations - include the Xbox Adaptive Joystick, 3D printable files for adaptive thumbstick toppers available through Xbox Design Lab, and two Designed for Xbox controllers: ByoWave's Proteus controller and 8BitDo's Lite SE 2.4G wireless controller. "We are also continuing to expand accessibility features for players to make both our accessory and console product packaging more accessible," the company wrote. According to Microsoft, there are 425 million gamers with disabilities worldwide.
Microsoft has a well-filled release line-up in the coming months, for example, Age of Mythology: Retold, Towerborne and Ara: History Untold in September, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred in October and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl later this year. HoYoverse has also confirmed that Genshin Impact will be released on Xbox on 20 November 2024. The fantasy action RPG is currently available for PC, Android, iOS, PS4 and PS5.
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