Seemingly speaking to Xbox devotees worried by rumors that the core platform is getting thinner, Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer has committed to future hardware generations that "respect the investments that people have made in Xbox."
"When we look at future hardware generations and what we're gonna support, making sure that we respect – which is the word I use, respect – the investments that people have made in Xbox going forward is fundamental," he said.
In the same big Xbox podcast, Spencer affirmed that "hardware is a critical component" of the company's vision, dispelling the theory that Xbox is retreating from the console business and that longtime Xbox players may see the value of their profiles and histories indirectly deprecated. We've also gotten a big tease for the Xbox Series X's successor, with Microsoft promising "the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation."
Spencer touched on the interoperability of Xbox as an ecosystem beyond a single dedicated device as well. He says that ensuring cross-gen compatibility, preserving saves, and keeping servers online "as long as we can" are all "a tenet of what we are as Xbox."
"The fact that you get entitlements when you buy a game from us on both Windows and Xbox also means you have the ability to play that game across a multitude of devices, which I think furthers the compatibility," he adds.
All of this follows the news that 4 Xbox games are coming to other consoles, though these notably don't include Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Here again, Spencer says this decision does not represent a fundamental change to how Xbox views exclusives.
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