{"id":1126461,"date":"2026-02-02T07:17:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T07:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=524634"},"modified":"2026-02-02T07:17:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T07:17:43","slug":"microsoft-will-let-rare-and-double-fine-cook-says-phil-spencer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/microsoft-will-let-rare-and-double-fine-cook-says-phil-spencer\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft will let Rare and Double Fine cook, says Phil Spencer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Now that it owns Activision Blizzard and Bethesda as well as the Xbox Game Studios portfolio of developers, Microsoft is a game-publishing behemoth with a lot<\/em> of projects in development. Some of those games were announced years ago and have now been in development for a very long time with little to show for it \u2014 for instance, Rare\u2019s Everwild<\/em> and Undead Labs\u2019 State of Decay 3<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Xbox Era<\/a>, Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer brushed off development-hell concerns. He essentially said that Microsoft\u2019s huge scale as a game publisher<\/a> means it can give these studios time to get their games right.<\/p>\n

Asked which unreleased first-party games he was most excited about, Spencer cited State of Decay 3<\/em>, Everwild<\/em>, and the next game from Tim Schafer\u2019s Double Fine Productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cState of Decay is just one of the franchises I love back from the original one,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cI do think the work that Double Fine\u2019s doing and how Tim kind of solicits feedback from the team. And the other one, I\u2019ll say because I was recently out at Rare. It\u2019s nice to see the team with Everwild<\/em> and the progress that they\u2019re making.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everwild<\/em> was revealed in 2019<\/a> and reportedly rebooted in 2021<\/a>; State of Decay 3<\/em> was revealed in 2020 but reportedly lingered in pre-production<\/a> before a re-reveal last year<\/a>. Double Fine has been very quiet since the release of Psychonauts 2<\/em> in 2021. Questions about Microsoft\u2019s ability to manage its publishing schedule<\/a> have persisted for some time, but Spencer now feels the company\u2019s portfolio is so big that it\u2019s essentially a non-issue.<\/p>\n

Spencer acknowledged the long silences on the three games he mentioned. \u201cIt has been [a while],\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve been able to give those teams time in what they\u2019re doing, which is good, and still have a portfolio like we have. It\u2019s like a dream that Matt [Booty] and I have had for a long time, so it\u2019s finally good to be there. We can give those teams time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Microsoft is under no immediate pressure to rush the release of any games. Its 2025 schedule is full to bursting with Obsidian\u2019s Avowed<\/a><\/em> and The Outer Worlds 2<\/em>, id Software\u2019s Doom: The Dark Ages<\/em>, Compulsion Games\u2019 South of Midnight<\/em>, Playground Games\u2019 Fable<\/em>, Team Ninja and PlatinumGames\u2019 Ninja Gaiden 4<\/em>, and more \u2014 not to mention, presumably, a new Call of Duty release.<\/p>\n

Spencer also mentioned an upcoming visit to Gears of War developed The Coalition to see another long-in-development title, Gears of War: E-Day<\/a><\/em>. The last Gears game was released in 2019. \u201cI\u2019ll be up there next week,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m like a pig in mud when they let me in the doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that it owns Activision Blizzard and Bethesda as well as the Xbox Game Studios portfolio of developers, Microsoft is a game-publishing behemoth with a lot of projects in development. Some of those games were announced years ago and have now been in development for a very long time with little to show for it \u2014 for instance, Rare\u2019s Everwild and Undead Labs\u2019 State of Decay 3. In an interview with Xbox Era, Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer brushed off development-hell concerns. He essentially said that Microsoft\u2019s huge scale as a game publisher means it can give these studios time to get their games right. Asked which unreleased first-party games he was most excited about, Spencer cited State of Decay 3, Everwild, and the next…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1126462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1126461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nMicrosoft will let Rare and Double Fine cook, says Phil Spencer | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Now that it owns Activision Blizzard and Bethesda as well as the Xbox Game Studios portfolio of developers, Microsoft is a game-publishing behemoth with a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/microsoft-will-let-rare-and-double-fine-cook-says-phil-spencer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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