Microsoft has confirmed multiplatform release plans for four first-party titles.
15.02.2024 - 23:39 / digitaltrends.com / Phil Spencer / Sarah Bond / Tomas Franzese
Microsoft finally gave its fans an update on the future of its gaming business during the Official Xbox Podcast today. It clarified some of the speculation around its first-party games going multiplatform, explaining that this move only applies to four titles.
“We made the decision that we’re going to take four games to the other consoles. Just four games, not a change to our kind of fundamental exclusive strategy.” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said. “We’re making these decisions for some specific reasons. We make every decision with the long-term health of Xbox in mind, and long-term health of Xbox means a growing platform, our games performing, building the best platform for creators, reaching as many players as we can.”
Phil Spencer refused to name the four games going multiplatform, though, because “the teams that are building those games have announced plans that are not too far away.” Still, he confirmed that Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle aren’t part of that lineup, which will contain a mix of live-service titles and “smaller games that were never really meant to be built as platform exclusives.” Ultimately, his point was that Xbox fans should not take this move “as some signal that everything is coming” to other platforms.
To reinforce the idea it wants to make its games as widely available as possible, even if it’s just on Microsoft-made platforms, Xbox President Sarah Bond confirmed that Microsoft will start bringing Activision Blizzard games to Xbox Game Pass. The first title will be Diablo IV on March 28.
RelatedMicrosoft has not confirmed the names or release dates of the four first-party titles going multiplatform at this time.
Microsoft has confirmed multiplatform release plans for four first-party titles.
During Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase, we learned about two of the Xbox Game Studios titles that are going multiplatform. The games in question are Obsidian Entertainment’s Grounded and Pentiment, and the latter will launch tomorrow on Nintendo Switch.
The first two Xbox games coming to Nintendo Switch have now been confirmed, courtesy of today's Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase.
Pentiment and Grounded have both been confirmed for a Nintendo Switch launch.
Microsoft will bring four first-party titles to PS5, but it’s refusing to name which. Said titles will not include Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which will remain exclusive to Xbox and PC, until circumstances change. Xbox bigwig Phil Spencer, however, has seen the success of Helldivers 2 – and is struggling to see the advantage of the PlayStation-published shooter not being available on Xbox.
Four Microsoft first-party games will launch on Sony's PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch, the company confirmed late Thursday after weeks of speculation over its exclusive titles releasing on rival platforms. The announcement came on the Official Xbox Podcast from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who also shed further light on the reasons behind Xbox's business decision and confirmed that the next generation of Xbox consoles were in development. Microsoft has not yet revealed the four Xbox exclusives coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, but The Verge reported that said games would be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves and Grounded.
Starfield on PS5 is still a possibility, according to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer.
The last 10-days-or-so have been quite the roller coaster for Xbox fans. Team Green was thrown into turmoil earlier this month by rumors that everything from Starfield, to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, to even Gears of War may be going multiplatform. Granted, some of those rumors were later walked back, but still, the spectre of a third-party future for Xbox was raised.
Xbox's Phil Spencer has confirmed that two major Bethesda titles, Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, will not be going multiplatform. The announcement comes after recent rumors that the Xbox titles would be released on competing consoles.
Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty have hosted the latest official Xbox Podcast which was trailered to announce an “Xbox Business Update”. This follows days of speculation that many Xbox exclusive games might be going multi platform, such as Sea of Thieves, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Starfield. There were even suggestions that Xbox legends such as Halo could be heading to PlayStation!
It's official: Microsoft is bringing Xbox-exclusive games to other consoles. As revealed by Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, on the Official Xbox Podcast, players can expect to see a slate of four games expand beyond Xbox and PC. While this presumably means the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, Spencer did not share specifics.
During tonight's Future of Xbox event, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced that four Xbox games would be launching on new consoles, and while he wouldn't be drawn on which four Xbox exclusives will be making the jump to other platforms, we can take a pretty good guess based on what Spencer said.