Microsoft seems to be shifting from Xbox exclusivity to bring future first-party games to PlayStation but at most, sticking to time-exclusive.
According to the Window Central executive editor, Jez Corden has discussed the Microsoft first-party strategy on Twitter during the weekend. Corden has mentioned, “Xbox won’t have exclusives going forward. Everything is timed exclusively at most”.
When Corden was asked whether it was confirmed or speculation, he responded, “If some games are exclusive, it’s gonna be incidental at best. The ‘case by case’ argument is by and large going to be multiplat, timed, and with maybe a few (very few) outliers.” He also addressed another comment from someone who didn’t believe the upcoming Fable game would come to PlayStation, saying, “That game was monstrously expensive. It might not be day one, but it’ll come with the current plan in place imo.”
If this plan is true, it doesn’t seem far-fetched. Recently, Xbox announced in February that it would bring a wave of games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, starting with Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded. Microsoft also announced DOOM: The Dark Ages will arrive on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PS5, and confirmed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will release on PS5 next year.
Last month, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer mentioned the company wouldn’t rule out any first-party Xbox games potentially coming to rival platforms like PlayStation and Nintendo in the future. More recently, Microsoft has doubled down on this stance as its CEO, Satya Nadella, addressed the company’s gaming plans during an annual shareholder meeting, reinforcing its “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign.
During the meeting, Brett Iverson, Microsoft’s vice-president of investor relations, asked, “Shareholders are also interested in our gaming business. Our acquisition of Activision Blizzard King—Satya, how are you feeling about the early return on that investment and the progress on our overall gaming strategy over the last year?” Nadella responded, “I’m feeling very, very good about where we are in gaming. In fact, right now, this is, like, the peak season in gaming, obviously with Black Ops and the new Call of Duty. It’s just been fantastic to see the launch and the marketing around it, the buzz around it, and the love for gaming.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the first in the series to launch directly into Game Pass and succeed. Nadella expanded on this thought: “If I think about it right, we chose the secular growth category in entertainment, which we think is gaming, and said, ‘Let’s double down on it,’ and so we did. ‘Let’s take that joy of gaming everywhere.’ And that’s why, even these ads with Xbox now, where we are redefining what it means to be an Xbox fan, it’s about being able to enjoy Xbox on all your devices.”
It’s an interesting strategy from Microsoft as they plan for the future of Xbox. For now, it’s best to wait for more details from Microsoft to fully understand their approach to shifting from exclusivity to bringing future first-party titles to PlayStation and Nintendo.
