In an interesting statement, MS Games Vice President Phil Spencer has claimed that he feels that the console’s major FPS title will not be as critical for launch as people think. Instead he feels that any lack of a unique game to push the console ahead can easily be made up for by other means and that the console’s “killer app” is being released at the right time. Spencer has been quoted claiming this when he spoke in length about the subject on IGN’s Podcast Unlocked.

After Titanfall was pushed back to March 2014, and with the delays of Watch Dogs, the launch line-up for both PS4 and Xbox One have been fluctuating. Major titles have been lost and while Xbox One still has a stronger line-up of titles, apparently even this loss will not affect them. Instead, according to Spencer, Titanfall will come out at the right time.

While praising developer Respawn’s pedigree and abilities, he spoke of the surprises which might happen at launch and unexpected successes which might follow. “There’s always something that comes out and is the Minecraft, the thing that people wouldn’t predict.” he claimed, proceeding to cite the number of titles the console will be offering up at launch. Claiming that the date was advantageous to them as “there’s a lot of content at launch. There’s obviously only a certain number of consoles early on in the life cycle, and then it will continue to sell. Having a great beat in early ’14 for core fans is going to be fantastic.”

This is an interesting statement given how crucial new successful IPs for first person shooters have been for Microsoft in the past. Halo definitely played a role in ensuring that the Xbox had a place during its generation, and the later successes of Gears of War on the Xbox 360 made it a major contender against the Playstation 3.

The good news here is Titanfall is not being rushed out to meet a deadline. While it might arrive later than expected, Spencer made it clear that forcing the developer to release the game early would have been a mistake, and would have caused more problems than it was worth. Especially in terms of a creative relationship.

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