Bye bye Xbox or is it just all hot air? In over 20 minutes long Xbox Business Update the management team has all around Phil Spencer met to get over the Future of the Xbox Division to talk about Microsoft – and about the $69 billion Activision Blizzard purchase.
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One thing was made clear by Phil Spencer right at the beginning: it will only be four games, which is currently only available for the PC and Xbox consoles, will also be ported to other platforms. However, this should not be taken as a signal that Microsoft is now moving away from the exclusivity of its own games. We will briefly and concisely summarize what this means for you.
Xbox: Which games are coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch?
“We have made the decision that we will bring four games to other consoles,” says Phil Spencer at the beginning of the Xbox Business Update. Which ones are they? He didn't want to reveal that, but rather leave the announcement to the respective development teams who have already drawn up plans. However, this is definitely not the case Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle act, as the Xbox boss makes clear.
The four titles should instead two smaller games and two “community driven” games be. At this point, based on previous rumors, one can speculate that this is probably the case Pentiment, HiFi Rush, Sea of Thieves and Grounded are meant. However, the titles have not yet been confirmed.
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According to Spencer, it will only be these four games for the time being. The decision would also not change the fact that Microsoft continues to stick to Xbox-exclusive games. Nevertheless, Spencer assumes that it will happen in the future fewer console exclusive productions will exist, across the entire industry. “I am firmly convinced that in the next five to ten years exclusive games, i.e. games that are only available for a specific device, will make up an increasingly smaller part of the gaming industry.”
What does that mean for the future?
It appears that the four games are initially a small test for Microsoft: How is this received by customers? Will PS5 and Switch owners take up the offer? How are Xbox fans reacting to the decision? Even if Spencer doesn't want to say it directly, if the content strategy brings the desired success, then more Xbox games could follow this path in the future.
In an interview with the English-speaking colleagues of The Verge Spencer therefore closes such possibilities not explicit out of. “I don't think we as an industry should ever rule out a game coming out for another platform.” However, no further ports are currently being worked on, apart from the four Xbox games mentioned in the podcast.
At the Hardware topic Meanwhile, Sarah Bond, President of the Xbox Division, reassures: They won't be getting out of the console business. “There are some exciting hardware innovations that we will be presenting later this year, and we are also committed to the next generation roadmap. What we are really focused on is biggest technical leap“that you've ever seen in a hardware generation,” she says in the podcast.
What about Activision Blizzard?
In addition to the software and hardware plans, another topic was discussed in the podcast: The purchase of Activision-Blizzard. After all, Microsoft shelled out a huge amount of money for this and that will have an impact on Game Pass – don't worry, no further price increase has been announced.
Instead, off 28th March Diablo 4 in the Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass appear and be the first game from the Activision Blizzard catalog. Sarah Bond didn't want to reveal which games would follow afterwards and at what interval. There was only one thing that was important to her and Booty to emphasize again: Xbox Game Studios games will continue to be released in the future still on release day also available as a paid subscription.
Last but not least, the Xbox trio had one more thing to announce: things will be traditional again in June a big Xbox showcase where one or two new titles will probably be announced. Included? Perhaps this year's Call of Duty, which is supposed to be released in October.