Microsoft spending $1 billion on Xbox One exclusives

When compared to Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft has had a problem with exclusives. Granted, all Nintendo has nowadays are exclusives because no one will develop their third-party games for the Wii U, but Microsoft offers Halo and Gears of War as worthy exclusives. The rest are just… blah.

Like New York sports teams, when you have a problem, throw money at it. That's exactly what Microsoft is going to do to bring quality exclusives to the Xbox One.

In an interview with Official Xbox Magazine, Microsoft's Don Mattrick and Phil Spencer responded to accusations that Microsoft's reveal of the Xbox One as an entertainment console has turned its back on its core audience of gamers. Mattrick and Spencer argued that isn't the case, commenting: "I think, candidly, people are way, way under-indexing how hard we're punching."

That punch is worth $1 billion. Microsoft will be spending roughly $1 billion for the development of Xbox One exclusive titles.

"We just ran through our [release slate] and counted the number of exclusives, and looked at the amount of money that we're spending and the deals that we have, exclusive windows and [things to create differentiation]," said Mattrick.

At the Xbox One reveal, Microsoft said that the Xbox One had 15 exclusives planned to release for the first year of the console; that includes eight new IP.

Odds are we'll learn more about these titles at Microsoft's E3 press conference, which takes place on June 10.

You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com

[OXM]