Xbox has reportedly weighed up the idea of releasing Microsoft Flight Simulator and the next Doom game for rival consoles.
10.02.2024 - 03:51 / thegamer.com / Phil Spencer / Shannon Liao
It's been an absolute rollercoaster of a week for Xbox fans, as rumors are flying regarding potential plans that will take several of the platform's exclusive titles to other systems such as PlayStation. Originally, Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves were the only two titles supposedly considered for release on other systems, but further rumors of titles like Starfield and Indiana Jones heading to PlayStation have thrown the future of Xbox into question.
Xbox head Phil Spencer was then forced to issue a statement on the whole situation, who said that Xbox is "listening" to fans and that a business event scheduled for next week should clear up the platform's future. That's the best explanation that Xbox is offering for now, but a recent newsletter from journalist Shannon Liao has claimed that Spencer held an internal townhall meeting the day after his announcement to ease the worries of employees.
In this meeting, Spencer reportedly told employees that the company has "no plans" to stop making Xbox consoles, and that they'll still be a big part of its strategy of bringing games to other platforms going forward. However, it doesn't seem as though Spencer addressed the rumors surrounding titles such as Starfield and Indiana Jones heading to PlayStation, which we'll probably hear more about during this "business event" next week.
Even Xbox's developers have reportedly been left in the dark as to what exactly Spencer is going to discuss at next week's event.
This will more than likely come as welcome news for Xbox owners, especially as people have begun speculating that the company may be going third-party, similar to Sega back in 2001. It's understandable, simply because just the idea of Xbox releasing titles on PlayStation would bring about a massive in the industry, but things have definitely been overblown a little with Xbox's silence regarding the matter.
If we're being sensible regarding all these rumors, it's possible that Xbox could be going all in on timed-exclusives. It would make a lot of sense for Xbox to launch its own exclusives on its consoles and PC, and then send them to PlayStation six months or a year down the line. It's something that even PlayStation has been doing, steadily bringing its exclusives to Steam years after the fact. It's sensible, especially for a company trailing as badly as Xbox is, and doesn't really devalue the platform.
Xbox still has Game Pass, letting you access first-party title at launch for free, and those that already have their Xbox consoles aren't going to give them up to get a PlayStation which will force them to pay $70 a pop for them. We'll get the rundown of Xbox's official plans next week, and it's best to take everything you see on social media about the
Xbox has reportedly weighed up the idea of releasing Microsoft Flight Simulator and the next Doom game for rival consoles.
A reliable Xbox insider has claimed that Gears of War, Flight Simulator, and the next Doom game to other platforms, although it seemingly hasn't made a decision about them just yet.
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.
If it weren’t enough that Microsoft detailed its plans for bringing first-party titles to other platforms (which doesn’t include Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle), it also discussed its next-gen hardware. Xbox president Sarah Bond promised the “largest technical leap” in a hardware generation.
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!
Loosely in line with recent rumors, Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer says Xbox is bringing four exclusive games to other consoles.
Well, Xbox most definitely isn't exiting the console business any time soon, with today's business update absolutely squashing any speculation that Xbox Series X would be Microsoft's final gaming console.
There was quite a bit of uncertainty for the Xbox brand last week. I’m sure you saw the nonstop flood of rumors suggesting that Xbox would see many exclusives leave the brand for other platforms. That also left concerns that we might see Microsoft’s gaming division imploding. We even had rumors that Activision Blizzard games might not even be coming to Xbox Game Pass. But that is not the case as Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty clears the air.
Microsoft will release four games for rival platforms, two of which are service-based and the other two “smaller games that were never really meant to be built as kind of platform exclusives,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a business updated-focused edition of the Official Xbox Podcast.
Now that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is fully over the line, and its games now fall underneath the Xbox umbrella, questions have been raised as to when we can expect the publisher's titles to be added to Game Pass. Xbox made it clear that all of its first-party titles will be available to play on Game Pass from the day of launch, and Activision Blizzard and its studios are now considered first-party developers.
Microsoft reportedly told employees that it views “every screen [as] an Xbox” ahead of a much-anticipated business update.