Microsoft Xbox One will have 23 launch day titles

Microsoft has announced the twenty three different Xbox One titles that will hopefully be on the console for launch day. Normally a console takes about two years to become a content ecosystem, but the 23 games are a good start to making sure the Xbox One has lots of content before the end of 2014.

The bulk of the content is being published by Microsoft Studios, Ubisoft, EA and Activision, as we would expect. Microsoft did just announce the Xbox One would have indie developing capabilities and essentially any Xbox One is a developer console and there is no cost for developing a game, this could lead to a mammoth amount of indie titles, similar to the situation on iOS.

The twenty three launch titles are:

• Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft)
• Battlefield 4 (EA DICE, Electronic Arts)
• Call of Duty: Ghosts (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Crimson Dragon (Grounding/Land Ho!, Microsoft Studios)
• Dead Rising 3 (Capcom Vancouver, Microsoft Studios)
• FIFA 14 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts)
• Fighter Within (AMA Ltd., Ubisoft)
• Forza Motorsport 5 (Turn 10 Studios, Microsoft Studios)
• Just Dance 2014 (Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft)
• Killer Instinct (Double Helix, Microsoft Studios)
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes (TT Games, Warner Bros. Interactive)
• Lococycle (Twisted Pixel, Microsoft Studios)
• Madden NFL 25 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts)
• NBA 2K14 (Visual Concepts, 2K Sports)
• NBA Live 14 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts)
• Need for Speed Rivals (Ghost Games, Electronic Arts)
• Peggle 2 (PopCap Games, Electronic Arts)
• Powerstar Golf (Zoe Mode, Microsoft Studios)
• Ryse: Son of Rome (Crytek, Microsoft Studios)
• Skylanders: Swap Force (Vicarious Visions, Activision)
• Watch Dogs (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft)
• Zoo Tycoon (Frontier Developments, Microsoft Studios)
• Zumba Fitness: World Party (Zoë Mode, Majesco)

There are some top titles, like Destiny and Tom Clancy: The Blacklist, that are not on the launch list. This is because both games will be marketed a year later, in 2014. Titles like GTA and Saints Row may come to the new consoles, but they will already have been released on previous generation consoles.

This is a strong lineup, much better than what we had with the Wii U. With the PlayStation 4 embracing indie developing from the get-go, we are likely to see Sony trump Microsoft in the launch lineup with some indie games.