On the evening of February 15, the heads of Microsoft's gaming division talked about the future of Xbox. They answered questions about the exclusivity of games, the development of the Game Pass subscription and plans for next-generation consoles.
Hi-Fi Rush
We have selected the main thing from the official Xbox podcast and a number of interviews:
- Microsoft will indeed release its games on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, but so far only four titles;
- what kind of games these will be is not officially reported. The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, stressed that Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are definitely not among them. He also clarified that the games are more than a year old. Two of them are small games that were never planned for exclusives, and the other two are games that develop at the expense of the community;
- According to The Verge, we are talking about Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves and Grounded;
- The release of games on competitors' platforms is probing the ground. Microsoft wants to test how effective this approach is. When making a decision, Microsoft always assesses how useful it is for Xbox in the long run, whether it will help to increase the audience and develop the business;
- The "fundamental strategy for exclusives" will remain unchanged. All games from Microsoft's internal studios will continue to be released first on Xbox consoles, Game Pass subscription and in the cloud;
- Matt Booty, head of studio and content management, added that the Game Pass sublist will not appear on other platforms.;
- Spencer said that games like Helldivers 2 are a great example of why it can be beneficial to release projects on multiple platforms. "When I look at a game like Helldivers 2—and it's a great game, thanks to the team for the PC and PlayStation release—I don't really understand how the industry is helped by its absence on Xbox." But Spencer acknowledged that console gaming has a "tradition" of blocking games on certain platforms, and Xbox is doing the same.;
- according to Spencer, in the next 5-10 years, gaming companies will release exclusives less often;
- The number of Game Pass subscribers has reached 34 million people. In January 2022, there were 25 million of them;
- Microsoft will start gradually adding new Activision Blizzard games to the Game Pass. The first will be Diablo IV, which will be released on March 28;
- Game Pass accounts for 10-15% of Xbox's revenue from content and services;
- Contrary to rumors, Microsoft will continue to make Xbox consoles. She is already working on the next-generation console, which should be the "biggest technical breakthrough";
- Microsoft is also thinking about creating a device with unique features. Perhaps we are talking about a portable console. Spencer really likes these consoles, but he's not going to announce anything.