Microsoft has just shared a new episode of its much-watched and much-discussed official Xbox podcast, in which company leadership discusses the future of the platform. After more than a week of exaggerated rumors and heated discussions, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, Xbox President Sarah Bond, and Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty revealed some interesting news, but it might not be as earth-shattering as some expected.
Microsoft will make five previously exclusive games available on other platforms. Two of them are small games that, according to Spencer, were never developed with the intention of driving exclusive console sales, and two are community-driven games.
While these games haven't been announced yet, and Microsoft will give the relevant teams further time to work on a large-scale release, we do know that they have all been released on the original platform for at least a year, and Spencer confirmed that they are not "Starfield" or "Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Ancient Circle."
Spencer said that launching two community-driven games on other platforms will bring more players and allow Xbox to continue investing in them, while smaller games will use other platforms to bring more commercial value, allowing Xbox to invest in possible sequels or other similar titles.
He also added that making these games multi-platform will not harm the Xbox brand.
"If we can do that without compromising the Xbox brand and we can leverage other platforms to help us grow our business, we'll do that."
The executive also said that releasing games on other platforms to make users more interested in Xbox is an "interesting behavior" and has brand value.
Spencer then mentioned that players on other platforms shouldn't take this as a sign that all Xbox games will be coming to other platforms, because that's not the case. Having said that, he mentioned that Microsoft will learn from this experience. He added that there has been no fundamental change in Xbox's view of exclusivity.
At the same time, Booty promised that first-party games will continue to launch on Xbox GamePass on day one, and GamePass will continue to be exclusive on Xbox consoles.
Speaking of GamePass, Activision Blizzard's games will also be available on the service after the acquisition. Diablo 4 will be available on GamePass on March 28th.
Spencer explained that this isn't a change in Xbox strategy, as the platform has long been about letting players play the games they want wherever they want. He would also like to see the multi-platform option players have when purchasing games extended to more platforms.
He added that Xbox wants to attract the most players, as evidenced by investments in the cloud, Minecraft and now Call of Duty, and has been the company's strategy for the past decade.
"It's not that games serve the device, it's that the devices people want to play on should serve the games, making games bigger and more popular. A healthy creator community on the Xbox platform, a healthy creator community in the entire gaming industry, is what all of us gamers should vote for, because this is the key to the long-term success and growth of this industry."
Bond explained that Xbox hardware will continue to be where players get the most "flagship, groundbreaking Xbox experience." There are more developers making games for Xbox than ever before, and the executive also previewed that there will be some "exciting stuff" coming to Xbox hardware during the next holiday season.
Bond added that Microsoft is also "investing in its next-generation roadmap," hinting at the "biggest technology leap ever in a hardware generation."