Next week’s free Epic Games Store titles have been revealed.
27.03.2024 - 15:57 / gamingbolt.com
Microsoft is embarking on an interesting multiplatform strategy these days, with its previously exclusive first-party titles like Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment available on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has said that the industry shouldn’t rule out any title on other platforms, but he’s also interested in extending that philosophy to other storefronts.
Speaking to Polygon during GDC 2024, Spencer believes there’s a future where the Epic Games Store and Itch.io could be available on Xbox. “[Consider] our history as the Windows company. Nobody would blink twice if I said, ‘Hey when you’re using a PC, you get to decide the type of experience you have [by picking where to buy games]. There’s real value in that.” That freedom could be beneficial to console manufacturers, Microsoft included.
Talking about the current generation, Spencer noted, “Moore’s Law has slowed down. The price of the components of a console aren’t coming down as fast as they have in previous generations.” The console market also seemingly hasn’t seen radical growth compared to PC and handheld.
“[Subsidizing hardware] becomes more challenging in today’s world. And I will say, and this may seem too altruistic, I don’t know that it’s growing the industry. So I think, what are the barriers? What are the things that create friction in today’s world for creators and players? And how can we be part of opening up that model?”
Less exclusivity for Xbox titles is one step, but it also extends to the storefronts where titles are sold. “If I want to play on a gaming PC, then I feel like I’m more a continuous part of a gaming ecosystem as a whole. As opposed to [on console], my gaming is kind of sharded — to use a gaming term — based on these different closed ecosystems that I have to play across.”
Of course, whether other storefronts want to be available on Xbox, PlayStation, or even Nintendo platforms remains to be seen. With Steam crossing 36 million concurrent players and showing no signs of slowing down, it may be content to maintain its stranglehold on PC gaming.
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Next week’s free Epic Games Store titles have been revealed.
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Next week’s free Epic Games Store title has been announced.
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The Epic Games Store recently saw the addition of several older games from EA, including multiple entries from the Need for Speed and Battlefield franchises. Standing as one of the most popular online marketplaces for games, Epic Games has often looked for ways to help its storefront stand out from major competitors like Steam. Epic Games regularly features free games for users to claim through the storefront, often giving away popular games like The Outer Worlds and Fallout: New Vegas. Now, the storefront has added multiple EA games to its lineup.
Next week’s free Epic Games Store titles have been confirmed.
Next week’s free Epic Games Store title has seemingly leaked ahead of an official announcement on Thursday.
Microsoft's gaming head Phil Spencer has said he wants to feature more digital storefronts on Xbox consoles.