The future of Xbox: all the news on Microsoft’s strategy shift
Image: The VergeFrom console exclusives to rumored new hardware. Continue reading…
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Read Phil Spencer’s Microsoft memo on ‘Xbox everywhere’
The Verge
Microsoft announced yesterday that four Xbox-exclusive games are coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch soon, opening up a new strategy for Xbox to be on more screens. Just two hours before Microsoft’s big announcement, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer explained the company’s new Xbox vision in an internal memo to employees.
The Verge has obtained a copy of the memo. It’s the first time Spencer has fully outlined a new strategy “where every screen is an Xbox” to employees, after an internal town hall meeting earlier this month didn’t address multi-platform games directly.
Apple’s cloud gaming changes don’t “go far enough” for Xbox.
At one point, Xbox wanted to get its cloud gaming service on the App Store — but now that Apple will actually allow it, the gaming giant isn’t biting. Here’s Xbox boss Phil Spencer:
There’s not room for us to monetize Xbox Cloud Gaming on iOS. I think the proposal that Apple put forward... doesn’t go far enough to open up. In fact, you might even say they go the opposite direction in some way, but they definitely don’t go far enough to open up competition on the world’s largest gaming platform.
Microsoft admits Windows is a weak link in handheld gaming PCs — and promises to improve.
One of the weak points in the experience on a ROG or the Lenovo [Legion Go] is Windows. How Windows works on controller input only on that kind of DPI, on a smaller eight- or seven-inch screen. That’s a real design point that our platform team is working with Windows to make sure that the experience is even better.
Does that mean handheld mode isn’t just a hackathon project anymore? There was that Xbox app compact mode...
Microsoft is slowly building to a future where ‘every screen is an Xbox’
The Verge
Taken on their own, today’s gaming announcements from Microsoft might not seem all that earth-shattering. A handful of unspecified Xbox games are coming to rival platforms, the subscriber numbers for Game Pass have grown, Diablo IV will lead the rush of Activision Blizzard titles on Game Pass, and more hardware is on the way, including a powerful next-gen console and possibly a handheld. But they all point to a future that Microsoft hasn’t exactly been shy about: making Xbox into more than just a console.
In an internal memo to employees, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer explained the strategy like this:
Watch Phil Spencer and co. talk about what’s next for Xbox.
You can read all of the news right here, but if you want to check out the podcast where Xbox leadership discussed everything from platform exclusives to the state of Game Pass to some vague talk of new hardware, the whole thing is embedded below.
Microsoft: four Xbox-exclusive games are coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch
The Verge
It’s official: Microsoft is bringing some Xbox-exclusive games to PS5 and Nintendo Switch. It’s part of a broader strategy shift inside Microsoft’s gaming business to grow games beyond just the company’s Xbox consoles.
“We’ve made the decision that we’re going to take four games to the other consoles,” reveals Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer on the official Xbox podcast. Bizarrely, Microsoft is refusing to name the four titles, but the company says that two are community-driven games and the other two are smaller titles.
Xbox marks the spot.
Later today Microsoft will be sharing “updates on the Xbox business” in an episode of the Xbox podcast that will feature Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, head of Xbox game studios Matt Booty, and Xbox president Sarah Bond. If rumors are to be believed, we’ll be hearing about multiplatform games and possibly even new hardware. It’ll be available at 3PM ET and you can check it out on the Xbox YouTube channel — and, of course, stay tuned to The Verge for all the news.
The future of Xbox will be revealed on February 15th
The Verge
After weeks of rumors of Xbox exclusives coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, Microsoft is now planning to discuss its vision for the future of Xbox at an event later this week. Microsoft’s Xbox business update event will take place on Thursday, February 15th at 12PM PT / 3PM ET.
Weeks of rumors suggest that Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and even Bethesda titles like Starfield and Indiana Jones could appear on non-Xbox platforms. Microsoft hasn’t addressed these rumors directly, but Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer didn’t dismiss them last week. “We’re listening and we hear you,” said Spencer, before announcing the Xbox business update event.
Microsoft to share details on bringing Xbox games to PlayStation next week
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Microsoft is planning to share details about its plans to bring Hi-Fi Rush and other Xbox exclusives to PS5 and Nintendo Switch consoles, according to sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans. Details of Microsoft’s multi-platform plans have been gradually leaking, with The Verge revealing over the weekend that the upcoming Indiana Jones game is being considered for PS5. Now, Microsoft is getting ready to outline the future of Xbox next week after a weekend of leaks and uncertainty for Xbox fans.
“We’re listening and we hear you,” says Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in a post on X. “We’ve been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned.”
Microsoft weighs launching Indiana Jones on the PS5
Image: Bethesda
Bethesda’s upcoming Indiana Jones game is also tentatively set to launch on Sony’s PlayStation 5 console. We got our first glimpse of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle during Microsoft’s Xbox Developer Direct event last month, where it was announced for Xbox and PC. A source familiar with Microsoft’s plans tells The Verge that Bethesda is also considering bringing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to PS5.
A new multi-platform approach for certain Xbox games is emerging inside Microsoft, we’re told, with the company weighing up which titles will remain exclusive and others that will appear on Switch or PS5 in the future. Indiana Jones appears to be part of this new wave of multi-platform games.
It looks like Hi-Fi Rush is coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
After rumors of Xbox console exclusive Hi-Fi Rush coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, data miners might have just found a smoking gun. T-shirt files included in the game’s latest update include a “I’m here baby!” in PlayStation blue, a “Rock out! Anywhere” in Nintendo Switch red, and “Shadow dropped” in Xbox green. The rock out anywhere slogan must reference the Switch’s portability, the “I’m here baby!” the sheer surprise of an Xbox game on PS5, and the shadow drop for the original surprise Xbox launch. There’s no smoke without fire.
