Xbox boss Phil Spencer says a PlayStation Game Pass competitor is "an inevitability"

Phil Spencer
(Image credit: Xbox)

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has responded to the recent rumours that PlayStation is working on a Game Pass competitor, describing it as "an inevitability."

In an interview with IGN, Spencer gave his thoughts on the rumours, calling it "the right answer" in terms of how to get games to players. The new PlayStation service in question is reportedly named Spartacus and is set to replace PS Now as well as PS Plus. 

The Xbox boss also said in the interview: "I think the right answer is allowing your customers to play the games they wanna play, where they wanna play them and giving them choice about how they build their library." He also added, "so when I hear others doing things like Game Pass or coming to PC, it makes sense to me because I think that's the right answer."

Rumours surrounding the PlayStation Game Pass competitor began in December 2021 when it was reported that a new service would be launching in the Spring of 2022. The rumours were reignited as recently as last week when it was reported that a new PS5 patent - which is related to backwards compatibility - had been filed by the console’s lead system architect Mark Cerny. It was also recently revealed that PS Now cards are being pulled from retailers as Sony prepared for some kind of service revamp. 

If rumours are to be believed, it is said that PlayStation’s new service will offer three tiers of membership. The first contains all the standard benefits of PS Plus, the second with PS4 and PS5 games, and the third will feature an extended streaming library including the likes of PS1, PS2, PS3, and potentially even PSP games. Unfortunately, nothing has been confirmed yet so we will have to wait and see what Sony eventually ends up bringing to the table. 

In the meantime, find out what you should be playing on Xbox with our list of the best games on Xbox Game Pass.

PRODUCTS
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

Read more
Xbox Game Pass showing Avowed, Indiana Jones, Black Ops 6 and more
With Indiana Jones and Forza Horizon 5 ports, Phil Spencer isn't "trying to move" Nintendo Switch and PS5 players "over to Xbox anymore"
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle - Indiana peers out from the shadows in stealth
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
Starfield weapons
Phil Spencer isn't ruling out Xbox exclusives like Starfield making the jump to other platforms: "There is no reason for me to put a ring fence around any game"
a halo screenshot put on a nintendo switch 2 screen
Nintendo Switch 2 may be getting more Xbox titles as Phil Spencer is "really looking forward to supporting them with the games that we have"
PS5
PlayStation boss says good old-fashioned consoles like PS5 are their priority, but as PC gaming grows Sony also wants to reach players elsewhere
Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S
Despite "a rocky couple of years," analyst reckons Xbox's console war is "actually looking pretty bright" - "If you look at the PlayStation sales chart, you see a lot of Microsoft on there"
Latest in Games
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dark Souls 2 fans remind Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima that he won’t be taking the DS2 acronym that easily
Minecraft Diamond Armor
Minecraft Pocket Edition got its name because one of its devs was a big "Nintendo nerd" who wanted to pay homage to the Game Boy Pocket
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says Death Stranding's themes of connection came about because "I thought I lost everything when I became alone nine years ago"
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Monster Hunter Wilds' infamously confusing menus spare no player, not even Gemma's voice actor herself: "This is honestly what I’m struggling with the most"
Fortnite Outlaw Keycard
Fortnite Outlaw Keycard: How to unlock it and what does it do
Death Stranding 2 kiss
Hideo Kojima says "it was very difficult to direct" Death Stranding 2's big kiss scene, but Norman Reedus thinks "it was niiice" locking lips with Léa Seydoux
Latest in News
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dark Souls 2 fans remind Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima that he won’t be taking the DS2 acronym that easily
Minecraft Diamond Armor
Minecraft Pocket Edition got its name because one of its devs was a big "Nintendo nerd" who wanted to pay homage to the Game Boy Pocket
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says Death Stranding's themes of connection came about because "I thought I lost everything when I became alone nine years ago"
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Monster Hunter Wilds' infamously confusing menus spare no player, not even Gemma's voice actor herself: "This is honestly what I’m struggling with the most"
Death Stranding 2 kiss
Hideo Kojima says "it was very difficult to direct" Death Stranding 2's big kiss scene, but Norman Reedus thinks "it was niiice" locking lips with Léa Seydoux
Ms. Marvel alongside the mutants of Age of Apocalypse
30 years after the original Age of Apocalypse, Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan will travel to the alt-reality to save X-Men history