The days of Xbox and PlayStation being at each other's throats seem long gone as Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is done with trying to force Nintendo Switch and PS5 owners over to Xbox Series X|S.
Microsoft (which owns developers under the Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard umbrellas) has been porting more and more games to rival consoles over the last few years. Sleeper hits, like Grounded, and blockbusters, like Sea of Thieves, have made their way to other platforms with Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle up next - and the division's boss has shed some light on the strategy.
Spencer acknowledged that "one of the reasons that investing in our own platform is important" is that when Microsoft sells a copy of a game on another platform, it only gets 70% of the revenue, compared to 100% of the money when selling the same game on Xbox, via an interview with Xbox Era. But he also said he wants to "find fans of our franchises" that won't move to Xbox, no matter what.
- Xbox bringing its exclusives to PS5 has a precedent set by Sega, but "it makes the conversation harder to create the FOMO," says former PlayStation boss
- Microsoft veteran and former Blizzard president knows "loyal Xbox gamers are mad" about exclusives launching on PS5 and Nintendo Switch but "that isn't going to change anything"
"I’m not trying to move them all over to Xbox anymore," Spencer said. "People were all so invested in where our games are. Let’s just allow more people to play and yes, the 70% that we make on games on other platforms is helpful to us being able to build great portfolios... And I know it’s not what everybody else is doing, but I just believe games should be the thing that’s at the forefront. Maybe it’s because of how I’ve grown up in this industry. I came from building games. But I think the games are the things that I see growing in their strength in what we’re doing and it’s because more people can play."
Moving forward, as we saw in the latest Xbox Developer Direct, the publisher won't be hiding PS5 and Nintendo Switch logos in its game showcases as it had done in the past. "I think it’s just being honest and transparent about where the games are showing up... people should know the storefronts where they can get our games."
Of course, the executive still said he was committed to supporting the company's native hardware and systems. In the past, he's even confirmed that a next Xbox console will come, perhaps dissuading rumors that Xbox would take the Sega route and completely opt out of the race. There's even been rumblings about a next-gen Xbox handheld for a while.
