If you have been following the news around Xbox Gaming over the past few weeks, you would likely have heard the rumour and leak mills churning about a new direction for Microsoft’s Xbox division – namely rumours that they would be bringing at least select Xbox Games to other consoles such as the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch. In a recorded podcast featuring Phil Spencer (Microsoft Gaming CEO), Sarah Bond (Xbox President) and Matt Booty (President, Gaming Content and Studios), we finally receive word on what that strategy looks like.
Citing the need to ‘ensure long-term success for both Xbox and the industry as a whole’, they have confirmed that they are in the process of bringing four Xbox games to other platforms. While these four games have not yet been announced, or in some cases may be safe assumptions, it is confirmed that these titles “have been available to Xbox players for at least a year, including hidden gems that deserve to be experienced more widely, and live service games whose communities will benefit from welcoming even more players”.
By bringing these games to more players, we not only expand the reach and impact of those titles, but this will allow us to invest in either future versions of these games, or elsewhere in our first-party portfolio. There is no fundamental change to our approach on exclusivity.
My take on this? It is a complex one, as there are many factors that likely go into determining platforms a game is released on. At the base level, I am a firm believer that games should be accessible to the widest audience possible, ensuring that where there is adequate parity in system specs, that games should be enjoyable by as many as possible. Of course, there are caveats, based on audience demographics development budgets, and other factors, but for the big publishers and developers, this should be a minimal problem. Gaming is an expensive hobby, especially amidst a cost of living crisis, and it sucks to think that someone choosing between Xbox or PlayStation may need to miss out games which, a generation or two ago, would have been available on all platforms. While the big talking point about the Activision acquisition was Call of Duty, which was fair, the major concern would be those Crash Bandicoots, those Spyros, those Tony Hawk’s Pro Skaters, those Skylanders – those games which could risk being locked behind a multiple-hundred dollar paywall for those who may not afford it.
BUT, it is also understandable that the big first-party and third-party players want to keep console exclusivity to sell consoles, and ensure that their in-house team’s hard labour is enjoyable first and foremost on their infrastructure. I think the timed exclusive approach is a good balance between the two, and is a model I would like to see adopted more broadly by the industry at the very least. As is also raised, the reliance on live-service games requires an active player base, and with how many live service games have been shutting down months or mere years after launch, this strategy makes sense in keeping a healthy player base.
