Xbox is currently implementing the "ThisisanXbox" plan to transform from a hardware platform to a service platform. More first-party games will be launched on Nintendo Switch and Sony's PS5 hardware, which has caused dissatisfaction among many old platform users. However, Xbox Game Studios head Craig Duncan said this multi-platform release strategy is good for people who like games and helps Microsoft's own studios expand the reach of any given game.
During the Official Xbox Podcast, Duncan said: "I think it's good for gamers and it's good for our studio. Our studio makes great games and we want to give those games a chance to reach the widest possible audience."
In fact, Microsoft game executives seem to share this view. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer expressed the same view when recently asked about the thinking behind Microsoft launching its own new game on the "Counter Home" platform. He said at the time: "Keeping the game locked up on one platform doesn't really benefit anyone. Restricting play in a way that doesn't make sense is very pointless."
Duncan was previously the studio head of Rare, the developer of "Sea of Thieves". He said that the game's launch on PS5 is a great benefit for both the game itself and the developer, because it removes barriers and allows more people to experience the game through cross-platform.
When discussing that two first-party Xbox games, "Forza Horizon 5" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Ancient Circle," will be available on PS5 this spring, Duncan said: "I think this is a good thing for players, and it also allows our games to reach more circles."
He said that all game developers will hope that their games can find a wider audience, and bringing Xbox first-party games to the "counter-home" system is the way to achieve this goal, and Xbox is "happy to provide such an opportunity."
After Xbox games are launched on the PlayStation system, Sony will still take a 30% commission, but Spencer once bluntly said that although Microsoft can only get 70%, the money may "not be earned at all before", and Microsoft will use the extra funds to produce more Xbox games.