Microsoft Studios (2011-2019)

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

In 2011, Microsoft Game Studios was renamed Microsoft Studios. It was renamed once more in 2019, this time to Xbox Game Studios.

Logo (September 13, 2011-February 15, 2019)

Visuals: On a grainy white background, a black load of paint makes its way from the down left corner and to the center, where "Microsoft" (in a different typeface than the Microsoft logo at the time of this one's debut, called "Segoe UI") fades with "Studios" below. The paint moves down to the words, swirls and stops as a prolonged spot.

Variants:

  • When it debuted on The Gunstringer, the logo is still. This was later used on LocoCycle.
  • On Full House Poker Featuring Avatar FameStar, the logo is in one line and still.
  • On Kinect Sports Season 2, the logo clears away when balls bearing the Rare / Bigpark logos begin to fall.
  • The background can be black and the logo is then colored in milky silver.
  • On the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of Minecraft, the logo is in one line and is pixelated. This version is still.
  • On Kinect Sports Rivals, at the end, orange swoosh bars sweep the logo away and transitions to the menu.
  • On all Forza games between Forza Motorsport 6 and Forza Horizon 4, the text from this logo without the line appears horizontally in the Turn 10 Studios logo.
  • On Minecraft Mini Series: Challenge of the Spooky Isles, the logo is still and in-credit and is seen on the bottom with the Mojang logo on the top, thus being the first appearance of Microsoft Studios on animated television.
  • A cropped 21:9 version can be found in Halo 4.

Technique: CGI. Created in Autodesk 3DS Max and After Effects by Todd Kumpf, from a concept by Elliot Limm and Chad Ashley.

Audio: A mellow bubbling soundtrack.

Audio Variants:

  • Still variants, including from Full House Poker Featuring Avatar FameStar and Minecraft, are silent.
  • On all Forza games between Forza Motorsport 4 and Forza Horizon 2, a car vrooming sound is heard.
  • The Blu-ray releases of Halo: Nightfall and Halo: The Fall of Reach have the logo in a low tone, along with the 343 Industries logo.
  • Minecraft Mini Series: Challenge of the Spooky Isles has the closing theme of the show.

Availability:

  • Appears on newer Xbox 360 games, including Kinect series such as Sports Season Two, Kinect Rush: A Disney/Pixar Adventure, Disneyland Adventures, and Star Wars. Also appears on several Xbox Live Arcade titles, such as Bloodforge and Fable Heroes, and Xbox One games like Zoo Tycoon (2013), Forza Horizon 2, Project Spark, and Rare Replay, among other games, including Kinectimals.
  • This plasters the 2nd logo on HD releases of Age of Empires II. It also appears on Dust: An Elysian Tail for PC.
  • This is even seen on non-game releases, such as the home media releases of Halo 4: Forward onto Dawn and Halo: The Fall of Reach.
Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Studios (2011-2019)
Xbox Game Studios
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