Reports suggest that Microsoft and Xbox are in talks to offer major first-party titles like Starfield and Indiana Jones on the PlayStation 5 or Switch.
Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo exclusives have gone toe-to-toe for decades in the video game industry. Now, it seems that Microsoft and Xbox may not be as exclusive anymore in a momentous shift to bring major titles like Bethesda’s Starfield to other consoles like Sony’s PlayStation 5. Reports also suggested the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle game might launch on the PS5, too.
After the discovery of recently data-mined assets, older rumours pointed out that Xbox would offer smaller titles like Hi-Fi Rush to PS5 at the beginning of this year. The Verge and XboxEra sources cited how the rumours were made by an anonymous source who discussed Microsoft’s plans to shift their strategies to a more multiplatform initiative. The claims predicted that this strategy may be unveiled publicly sometime in this month.
XboxEra also reported that Microsoft is planning to release Starfield for PlayStation 5 following the release of its already announced downloadable expansion “Shattered Space,” which is set to launch sometime in 2024. They also noted how Microsoft has made additional investments in PlayStation 5 development kits to support ongoing production efforts.
The concept of non-exclusivity from the green camp might be one of the biggest policy changes to date in the video game industry. Indiana Jones is said to be Xbox’s biggest release for 2024, so this could shake things up for the console’s future sales. It is possible that they could release exclusives for a limited time before releasing the game on other consoles.
This whole new strategy is most likely linked to Microsoft’s decision to lay off 1900 people across many Xbox and Activision Blizzard departments, which followed Microsoft’s whopping $16.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year. So, this idea of opening up their exclusivity to other consoles could be one way to recoup the money spent on the acquisition.
XboxEra’s report claims that “Microsoft senior leadership have reportedly debated the various pros and cons of releasing more of their exclusive software elsewhere, and internally, not everyone is necessarily happy with the decision, but recouping the potential money ‘left on the table’ by not releasing elsewhere has arguably won out.”
