Battle Royale games have been the recent trend in multiplayer gaming as of late with several developers big and small, trying to grab a piece of the action. However, we can now cross Microsoft off the list as Xbox boss Phil Spencer said on Twitter that while battle royale is extremely popular, none of Microsoft’s studios will make a game of their own. Well of course, unless they find a unique way to make it. 

“Millions are playing BR [Battle Royale] games right now. I don’t want to just build one because others have built them. FNBR [Fortnite: Battle Royale] is massive, PUBG is huge, new BR variants being built by some very quality dev, I’d rather support unless we find something special in [first-party] that’s a different take.”

Spencer’s comments suggest that Microsoft, or any of the studios under it, will make a brand new, standalone battle royale game. However, this may mean that existing Microsoft games, like Halo 6, may receive a battle royale mode instead. However, nothing has been set official as of now, so better not to keep our hopes up. 

It’s not that surprising that Microsoft is not enthusiastic about creating their own battle royale game given that the company is in an exclusive partnership with PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. This would mean that if Microsoft created their own battle royale game, it would become a direct competitor of PUBG, which might strain the relationship of both developers. 

What do you think of Microsoft’s stance on the battle royale genre? Do you think we need more battle royale games? Share your thoughts in the comments below.