Remember that Halo TV show Microsoft promised? Also… also… well, we know there was a Halo TV show promised. And apparently, it will be coming before spring defrosts the branches.
If we sound a little unsure of what other content Microsoft’s TV service will have, well, that’s because Microsoft itself is just a bit unsure. Here’s what the problem is, according to CVG:
“We aren’t Netflix, we aren’t Amazon, we’re a different animal,” [Microsoft’s president of entertainment and digital, Nancy Tellem] explained. “We’re neither or we’re a little like them. It all depends. The lack of black and white and this is the template and this is what we’re following is very difficult. As we continue to do deals everyone’s going to get more comfortable.
“We’re talking about exclusives, exclusive first windows, exclusive second windows. We play a lot with windows and co-production arrangements and whether we feel these are ideas are franchise building or we can own completely.”
Ah, so, the Microsoft strategy of “say we’ll do something, and figure out how that actually works when we get there.” We’re not sure what the exact problem is, we’re sure studios love committing to a concept that isn’t clear and precise at all.
Mostly what we’re taking away from this is that Microsoft wants, very much, to lock up content to just your Xbox for as long as possible. One assumes that an “exclusive second window” means that something comes to another service, then to the Xbox One, and then is actually released to all services so people can actually consume it at their convenience instead of the convenience of a large corporation.
But, hey, Halo TV show! That’s got to count for something, right?