The Halo, Gears and Forza franchises have proved a recipe for quality experiences. Every gamer not acting as a console warrior knows that. Xbox is connected to them. These three franchises are the primary reason many people are (and will stay) in the Xbox ecosystem to begin with.

Broadly speaking, having these three pillars pretty much as a guarantor for high budget & quality games is crucial for Xbox. The problem begins when these three are pretty much the only pillars you have, which - at least to a limited extent - was the case for the last few years.

Luckily enough, their pillar franchises are now surrounded by a whole 15 first-party studios creating many other games, which will give these worlds a lot more room to breathe while continuing to deliver quality experiences. "Halo, Forza, Gears" is a privilege, not a problem.

There are quite a lot of additional Xbox franchises which have the potential to become fundamental pillars for the whole platform. Be it Sea of Thieves, Fable, Perfect Dark, The Outer Worlds or Hellblade, I hope that I can revisit that illustration in a few years to add more.