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this story Originally appeared on Kotaku.
After weeks of reports, rumors, and speculation about an Xbox first-party game Coming to competitive platforms and possibly making one Exit the console market completelyXbox publicly addressed the elephant in the room in an episode Official Xbox Podcast, The show featured Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, Xbox president Sarah Bond, and Xbox Studios head Matt Booty. If you haven’t listened to the special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast, you can do so via Xbox’s YouTube channel (link below). Or, if you just want bullet points, here’s everything to note:
Four Xbox games are coming to other platforms
As previously rumored and reported, four Xbox Studios games are coming to other platforms… and they won’t say which games they are. Spencer says he doesn’t want to “take anything away from those teams”, meaning the announcements will come from the developers themselves. he said this are not Starfield Or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Which seems like a response to reports specifically naming those games.
While the team chose not to reveal which games would be coming to other platforms (never mind which console they would launch on), Spencer did say that these games would be ported outside of the Xbox and Windows ecosystems. The goal is long-term health. Xbox brand. He also said that he expects exclusivity in the video game industry to further decrease over the next five to 10 years.
When asked why the four unnamed games make sense as multiplatform titles, Spencer says that these games have been exclusive to Xbox and PC for over a year. Two of them are “community-driven” games, as well as the first iterations of franchises in which Microsoft wants to invest further. The other two are described by Spencer as “small” games that “were never really meant to be produced as platform exclusives”. [with] All the fanfare” typically associated with marquee titles, but these were passion projects for the teams behind them.
Phil concludes the segment by saying that he believes bringing those games to other platforms will help bring more players to the Xbox brand, but also says that these four games will be included in other games in the future. No promises of more games coming to the systems.
Diablo IV The first Activision Blizzard game to come to Game Pass
Now that the acquisition is done and Xbox has Many teams of the company were fired from their jobsActivision Blizzard’s games are coming to Game Pass. the first of these will be Diablo IVWhich will come on subscription service on March 28.
Influx of layoffs in 2023 played role in decision to go multiplatform
Spencer says that despite several big games in 2023, the industry has not “evolved”, resulting in layoffs, including at Microsoft. According to him, the company needs to expand beyond Xbox’s player base to keep it healthy enough to retain jobs. He said:
When you think about a healthy industry, I want players who believe they’ll get the best games on the platforms they love. I want people who invest their careers in working here to feel like this is a place where they can succeed. And it’s really great to be a part of an industry that is growing. If you listen to AMD CEO, Lisa Su, she’ll say that AMD-powered consoles will likely debut in fall 2024. I think there’s an amazing set of games coming in 2024, but if we don’t grow as an industry, the industry will struggle. And today, there are really two options on how you grow the industry. Do you say, I have a certain number of players, the players that we have today, and do I find new ways to monetize those players so that I can get more money from the players that I have? Or do you think about how do I expand my business by finding new players and adding players who are already playing? Our focus on Xbox over the last decade has really been on that latter point, how do we make sure Xbox is growing? Growing for our players, growing for our creators, so those people are having success on our platform, that will grow the Xbox business and put Xbox in a very strong position for years and decades to come.
Xbox is still investing in hardware, with news coming on that front this holidays
Following the news that Xbox games were coming to other platforms, some speculation arose that Microsoft wanted to exit the console business and go Sega’s way by turning to third parties. At present it does not seem so. Bond mentions that the company still sees the Xbox console as “the most core, fundamental experience” for the brand. The company also plans to announce something new on the hardware front “this holiday.” Furthermore, it is also working on the next generation xboxAccording to Bond, that would be “the biggest technological leap ever seen in a hardware generation”.
Xbox wants to “respect” the library created by players
With the spread of news and speculation about the future of Xbox devices over the past few weeks, concerns have arisen that whoever is building the backward-compatible game library across many of the brand’s devices may become obsolete in the future. Could. Spencer said that Xbox will “respect” this in “future hardware generations” and will “try to keep the services running as long as possible”. [it] Can.” He compared it to the longevity of Windows’ library, saying:
It is at our foundation. And as we look at future hardware generations and what we’re going to support, making sure that we respect – that’s how I use the word “respect” – the investment that people have made in Xbox. Moving forward is fundamental. And the fact that you get eligibility when you buy a game from us on both Windows and Xbox also means that you have the ability to play that game on multiple devices, which I assume you have. Increases game compatibility.
Xbox will release 10 games this year
While we know some games like hellblade 2 And Indiana Jones Coming from Xbox Studios, Booty mentioned that the company will release 10 games in 2024. We don’t know yet what all of these will be, but can expect something to be revealed during Xbox’s June showcase.
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