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Microsoft’s Plans For Xbox Includes Four Unnamed Titles Going Multiplatform, New Podcast Shares

Over the course of this past week, reports & claims went live online disclosing new ambitions on behalf of Xbox leadership to distribute its collective first-party titles outside of Xbox. And no, we’re not talking about PC. Any of the major releases on Xbox would extend its reach to both Nintendo & PlayStation consoles. These rumors emerged with statements regarding both Hi-Fi Rush & Sea of Thieves then.

However, these reports began to overlap with baseless claims to the whole sum of Xbox titles would be going multiplatform. Talks regarding Starfield & Indiana Jones and the Great Circle were told to be included in this now. Even other claims told Halo and even Gears of War were on that list. Some reputable insiders went ahead to denounce this floodgate of claims premature to the proper announcement.

At the Thursday Xbox Podcast addressing this head-on, Microsoft clarifies that only four titles are being prepared for this fate. Howbeit, the announcement of said titles will be made accordingly by the respected developer, Phil Spencer explains. You can watch the segment in the video below:

Timestamp [00:50]

“We’ve made the decision that we’re gonna take four games to the other consoles- just four games. [It’s] not a change to our fundamental exclusive strategy- we’re making this decision for some specific reasons. We make every decision really with the long-term health of Xbox in mind,” Spencer elaborates during the discussion in the podcast.

“I’m not gonna name those games: the teams that are building those games have announce plans that are not too far away. As we know, game teams put a lot of energy into their announcements […] so I don’t want to take anything away from those teams. So I won’t be talking about the titles specifically, but I think when they come out it will make sense.”

He adds regarding the choosing of these titles: “We look at games that are over a year old […] a couple of the games are community-driven games; new games that kind of first iterations of a franchise that have reached their full potential – let’s say on Xbox and PC – there’s always growth. Franchises that we obviously want to continue to invest in […] Two of them kinda community-driven games that we can continue to invest in.”

Two of the other games are smaller games that were never really meant to be built for as “platform exclusives” and all the fanfare that goes all around that. But games that our teams really wanted to go build that we love supporting creative endeavors across our studios regardless of size. And as they realize their full potential on Xbox & PC, we see an opportunity to utilize other platforms as a place to just drive more business value out of those games.

Spencer goes on to say that the intent is to fuel creatives and the ambitions at the tied studios is at the forefront with the move to fuel new iterations or “new projects in our portfolio.” Determining what games he is likely referring to is the aforementioned Hi-Fi Rush & Sea of Thieves. Other possibilities include Grounded as well as possibly even Pentiment from its small scale approach at Obsidian Entertainment.

What is your response to the statement from Microsoft Gaming?

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