While Xbox appears to be on the cutoff of more gross profits in its console sales, Microsoft is ushering its first-party lineup into new direction; releasing on other platforms. Thus far we’ve seen this with four title: Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, and Pentiment. However, Spencer did indicate that both Starfield & Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was not part of that discussion at the time.
And this goes even further. As per the FTC files submitted for the acquisition case for Activision Blizzard previously, documents indicated that the game was intended to only be on Xbox. However, it was no secret when Microsoft announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live that the MachineGames title is coming to PlayStation 5 early next year.
Amid many looking for an answer as to the decision for this move, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer responded during an interview in Cologne, Germany on the topic. You can watch the segment in the video below:
“Going to the PlayStation announcement, obviously last spring we launched four games – two of them on the Switch, two of them on PlayStation – we said we’re gonna learn. We said we’d watch- at a showcase I might have said ‘from our learning we’re gonna do more’. What I see when I look is that our franchises are getting stronger; our Xbox console players this year are as high as as they’ve ever been; so I look at it and I say, ‘ok our player numbers are going up for the console platform, our franchises are as strong as they’ve ever been, and we run a business.’
It’s definitely true inside of Microsoft the bar is high for us in terms of the delivery that we have to give back to the company, cause we get a level of support from the company that’s just amazing in what we’re able to go do. So I look at this: how can we make our games as strong as possible, our platform continues to grow, both on console, on PC, and on cloud. And I think it’s just a strategy that just works for us,” Spencer explained.
As an industry right now, there’s a lot of pressure on the industry, it’s been growing for a long time and now people are looking for way to grow, and I think- as us as fans, as players of games, we just have to anticipate that there is going to be more change in how some of the traditional ways in games were built & distributed – that’s going to change. […] But the end result is going to be better games that more people can play. If we’re not focused on that, we’re focused on the wrong things.
Ultimately, this only leads to understanding where Microsoft/Xbox draws the line exactly for this. Alongside Indiana Jones, it is also confirmed that Doom: The Dark Ages is also coming as multiplatform. From what Spencer said initially during the finalizing for the deal in 2020, he explained it is “case-by-case” depending on if it is a pre-established IP or newer.
What’s more, the leaker that correctly reported on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle did also indicate that not all games are exclusive. In a tweet, @NatetheHate2 said that high profile titles will not leave Xbox. So, for now, franchises like Halo, Gears of War, and Forza are to remain exclusive to Xbox – at least until another change of heart happens. You can read the full report by heading here.
Are you surprised with the new notion from Microsoft for Xbox title?