Microsoft at Gamescom 2018: Where's the Heart of Gaming After All?

We stopped by Microsoft's booth at Gamescom 2018 in Koln, Germany, to see what the behemoth company was pushing for its Xbox family of products - and, of course, Windows 10. However, the company's presence lacked most of its heavy-hitters - Halo was absent, Gears of War was as well. In fact, Microsoft's presence at this years' Gamescom was limited to Forza Horizon 4 and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, when it comes to in-house exclusives. Though that McLaren does look great over there, doesn't it? Oh my.PUBG made its way into the space as well, being a Microsoft console exclusive for the time being. Spyro served as padding, apparently, to occupy floor space (not being an exclusive in any way), as did Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, and there was a whole section dedicated to Mixer, Microsoft's gaming and streaming app. And let's not forget where Microsoft makes most of its Xbox hardware money - not on consoles, but on the myriad of options available for its controllers via the Xbox Design Lab.All in all, it seems that Microsoft was only guaranteeing that it wasn't completely left out of Gamescom, but with most of its heavy-hitting franchises still in active development - such as Halo infinite and Gears of War 5 - it really was hard to justify their presence. But Crackdown 3's absence was again felt - it seems there's no end to that games' plight.