Four Xbox-exclusive games will be released for PS5 and Nintendo Switch as Microsoft shifts focus to software
Microsoft has announced that four previously exclusive Xbox games will be available on PlayStation and Nintendo consoles. The company also hinted at revealing details about the next version of the Xbox console by the end of 2024.
During a video podcast featuring other Xbox executives, Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft’s gaming division, mentioned that the four games are each over a year old. While he did not disclose the titles, it is likely that two of them are live-service games and two are smaller titles. Games like the multiplayer pirate adventure Sea of Thieves and the musical action game Hi-Fi Rush are potential candidates. However, it was confirmed that neither last year’s space epic Starfield nor the upcoming Indiana Jones game will be available on multiple platforms.
This move signifies a significant change in strategy, shifting focus away from hardware sales like the Xbox and towards boosting first-party game sales. Since the original Xbox launch in 2001, Microsoft consoles have struggled against PlayStation. The PlayStation 2, still the best-selling game console of all time, outsold the Xbox by 155 million units to 25 million. Although the Xbox 360 initially outsold the PlayStation 3 after its release in 2005, it later fell behind. The launch of the Xbox One in 2013 saw Microsoft change strategy, marketing the machine as a digital-first multimedia device. However, this move alienated core gaming fans and gave the PlayStation 4 a significant advantage. By the end of that generation, PS4 consoles had sold over 117 million units, while the Xbox One managed 58.6 million.
In 2017, Microsoft changed strategies again by introducing its Game Pass subscription service. This service offers Xbox owners access to hundreds of games for a fixed monthly fee, a model inspired by streaming TV platforms. The service has since grown to 34 million subscribers. Most first-party Xbox games now launch on the service, which was expanded to PC two years later.
To strengthen its gaming business, Microsoft has been acquiring several companies. It purchased Minecraft creator Mojang in 2014 for $2.5 billion, the studio behind Elder Scrolls and Fallout, Bethesda, as part of Zenimax Media for $7.5 billion in 2020, and the publisher of Call of Duty and Candy Crush, Activision Blizzard King, for $68.7 billion in 2023, among others. The Activision Blizzard purchase was the largest deal in the history of the games industry. Sarah Bond, the president of Xbox, announced on Friday that some of Activision Blizzard’s games will soon be available on Game Pass, starting with Diablo IV on March 28th. Throughout the acquisition process, which involved extensive legal and regulatory hurdles, Microsoft committed to keeping Activision Blizzard’s most popular games, such as Call of Duty, available on other consoles.
Bond restated Microsoft’s commitment to the console business, dispelling rumors that had circulated for the past month. She mentioned, “There’s some exciting hardware coming out that we’re going to share this holiday.”