October is just a few days away, and you know what that means: the three-month-long holiday season is about to start. For gamers, that typically means one thing in particular: triple-A releases once a week for the entire season. For publishers, however, it means something else entirely.
When it comes to selling consoles, the holiday season is unlike any other time of year. Back in 2014, Microsoft's holiday season single-handedly took the Xbox One from a distant second to a serious contender against Sony's PlayStation 4. Since then, things have only gotten better for Xbox One — and, with the strongest holiday lineup of any publisher, Microsoft is looking at another great holiday season.
And it doesn't appear that Microsoft is wasting any time on getting the season started: earlier on Friday, the publisher stated that a number of new Xbox One console bundles would be announced on the upcoming Monday, September 28. It's not just one big exclusive console, either: Microsoft will be revealing a new Xbox One bundle once a day all throughout next week.
One big question remains: which games are getting bundles? Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and Forza 6 already have bundles, so... what's left?
Considering how hard Microsoft is pushing Crystal Dynamics' next game, it's easy to assume that one of the bundles will be for Rise of the Tomb Raider. There's also a chance that – because of Microsoft's close ties with Bethesda – a Fallout 4 bundle is also on the way (which, let's be honest, would be awesome).
The other candidates are a bit harder to pin down. Ubisoft has a long history of releasing Assassin's Creed bundles, and a Rainbow Six Siege bundle certainly isn't out of the question. Otherwise, Microsoft could be planning something along the lines of a sports bundle (FIFA 16 and NBA 2K16 are prime candidates), or a party bundle (Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero: Live are both planned for October releases).
It'll be interesting to see what Microsoft plans on doing with all these bundles. It's definitely a sound strategy: Microsoft is basically trying to cover all the bases and make sure that, no matter which triple-A title gamers are looking for, a bundle will be included.
If the publisher's plans pay off, it could make for yet another banner holiday season — something that Microsoft's competition should definitely be wary of.
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.
