Microsoft's Phil Harrison has said he believes that the Xbox One's 23-game launch line-up is the best "in the history of consoles".

On Tuesday the platform holder confirmed that first-part titles Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza Motorsport 5 and Killer Instinct will all be available on Xbox One launch day, alongside highly anticipated third-party releases such as Battlefield 4 and Watch Dogs.

Perhaps crucially, every Xbox One console pre-ordered in Europe will come bundled with a copy of FIFA 14 at no extra cost, while Microsoft has secured an exclusive FIFA Ultimate Team mode for the title.

Speaking to CVG at Gamescom, the corporate VP said the reason Microsoft has invested so heavily in software exclusives is because it's determined to "make sure the best games are on Xbox".

He said: "... ultimately it's the games that make Xbox One stand out, and we have the best line-up of games - we think - in the history of consoles.

"We clearly have strong exclusive games, and we have partnered with EA to bring FIFA to Europe in a very meaningful way. Football in Europe is the sport, and in some countries it's the religion. I think FIFA Ultimate Team is going to be huge."

Microsoft has reportedly said it will invest no less than $1 billion on next-gen games. Already it has major partnerships lined up, such as Microsoft console exclusive game Titanfall (PC, 360 and Xbox One) as well as timed-exclusive Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4 DLC.

"The reason we do our own studio investments and investments with third-party publishers is very simple - we want to make sure the best games are on Xbox," Harrison told CVG.

"We want to make sure the best developers bring their creativity to our platform."

Microsoft expects to release its new console in November, though its initial target of 21 launch countries was recently narrowed to 13.

Posted: Aug 21, 2013 5:11 pm
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/425893/harrison-xbox-one-has-best-launch-line-up-in-console-history/