It was announced in today's Official Xbox Podcast episode that Xbox is bringing four games to other consoles in the not too distant future, but apart from that, there's not a change to the brand's "fundamental exclusive strategy".
That said, in an interview with The Verge after the event, Xbox's Phil Spencer refused to rule out any Xbox first-party game going to another console in the future, choosing instead to highlight how excited the team is about these titles:
"I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform. We’re focused on these four games and learning from the experience."
"But I don’t want to create a false expectation on those other platforms that this is somehow the first four to get over the dam and then the dam’s going to open and that everything else is coming, that’s not the plan today. I also don’t want to mislead customers on those other platforms. We’re launching these four games, and we’re excited about it. We’re excited about the announce and everything else, but we’ll see what happens for our business."
There are obviously a lot of unknowns for Team Xbox right now about how these four titles will perform on PlayStation and/or Nintendo Switch, so it makes sense to start with four older games and see how they translate to other consoles.
If they're successful, will that result in more Xbox exclusives making the jump in the future? It sounds very possible, although Microsoft has reiterated on numerous occasions already that it's just the four games that are planned for now.
"We think there's a good brand value for Xbox there. So four games, no promise beyond that. So if you're on those other platforms and you see these four games coming, please don't take it as some signal that everything's coming. It's not. And we're going to learn."
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know down in the comments section below.
[source theverge.com]
Comments 18
MS really really need better PR.
Phil is very vague with the wording in that interview. Saying things like ‘not today’s plan’. It’s ambiguous.
Everyone knows these are the first 4. Maybe there were originally bigger games planned but they have stepped back for now.
If I had to guess, I would suggest a mixture of full exclusives, timed exclusives for a year and some multiplatform day and date releases will be their future plans, if the initial 4 games are somewhat sucessful.
This ambiguity is going to haunt Xbox going forwards. I wish Phil would be a little more confident in ruling things out because he’s left the door wide open here. I can see Push Square is fully latching onto the ambiguity and running with it.
Damn, we’re never going to hear the end of this are we?
Phil, just please port some older stuff to Switch - Fable 1-3 and Fallout 3/NV. Having those portable would be absolutely amazing! And would likely print you money….. like an obscene amount.
@Kaloudz you must have listened to a different podcast than the rest of us and read different interviews because all of the answers were scripted and very very carefully worded. With slit of ifs/buts/maybes and no clarity apart from there’s more hardware.
Everything regarding the rumours weren’t shut down.
It’s great they are going to learn from the first four games. I was genuinely glad to hear also that Xbox hardware isn’t going anywhere. But that presentation was at odds with itself. A podcast with three of the biggest names associated with Xbox to state and restate more than to enlighten, change, disrupt, or introduce something new? Makes me think the negative reaction leading up to it caused a rewrite. Some of those talking points were softball questions to get answers that were about assuaging fears and reaffirming the status quo.
I guess I was in the minority when I wanted to see a bigger shake up. But 4 games is a great start to it!
@Kaloudz I just hope all this ambiguity doesn’t dampen sales for Xbox. We need a healthy market share to maintain healthy third party developer support.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner 100%. They are dipping their toes in for now. The whole 20+ minute podcast was basically giving reasons why games might go multi-platform. For now it's just 4 games. If they sell well, or get good engagement for the F2P titles, (edit: and Xbox engagement doesn't shrink) it will be more.
It's an interesting position, because if PlayStation gamers want more Xbox games they only have to buy and play these games.
@themightyant especially as the games going over are likely to be what £30-40 max? Indie sort of price range, more PS owners will risk trying them, therefore sell well and MS can then say ‘see it’s worth us doing more’.
Let’s face it Phil etc get paid a lot of money and know exactly what to say and how to phrase it.
For me I own all 3 consoles so I can play whatever, but for those who may only be able to afford/want one it’s a bonus for them.
@Kaloudz They only said Starfield and Indy aren't one of these first 4 games. In the follow up article at The Verge they didn't deny these might come, only that it's not the plan right now. To be honest I think Starfield is unlikely but Indy could come later, probably not day 1 though.
I agree it won't be a major strategy change, as you know I always said this, but I do think they are going to try and thread the needle of maximising income from games on other platforms without destroying the Xbox brand by pushing people to those platforms. Exactly the same as Sony with PC.
I also don’t want to mislead customers on those other platforms. We’re launching these four games, and we’re excited about it. We’re excited about the announce and everything else, but we’ll see what happens for our business.
Clear and concise. Will this satisfy certain quarters and those that love to speculate? Nope, not in the slightest, the show must go on...
@themightyant call me crazy but I don’t think starfield is that far fetched although I do think it will be a long time away - kinda a special edition version release.
I say this because Stafiels was due to release on ps5 so perhaps (and I’m totally guessing) some of the original groundwork has been laid?
Its got to be the games that benefit from a social aspect and the 'growth' of those communities is 'limited' if only available o certain platforms - So Sea of Thieves is almost certain, Maybe Towerbourne too as that is coming out soon...
But 'single-player' games that bring people to you 'ecosystem' to play, well I'm not so sure - unless it 'suits' their business to give games that maybe didn't 'sell' well an added income 'boost' - especially some that could easily find an audience if available on more devices.
@Sol4ris Also...
And a dozen other wooly open ended quotes from the podcast and interview.
Not so clear and - considering this was a 15,000+ word article and a 20+ minute podcast - certainly not concise.
Look if you want to believe it's just these 4 games, and that will be it, go ahead, but many of us don't think that was what they said. He did the typical Phil Spencer thing of leaving everything open.
@Kaloudz I’m glad you believe it was clear and concise. But I clearly have a different interpretation of clear and concise. And that doesn’t include ambiguity for me.
We will just have to agree to disagree there.
Either way nothing changes as Xbox owners.
@themightyant
Look if you want to believe it's just these 4 games, and that will be it, go ahead, but many of us don't think that was what they said
It's really not about what I believe and more about not make believe.
And preferably to wait until confirmed, novel idea I know....
I bet Sony will be monitoring sales with great interest also.
Kaloudz wrote:
I CAN understand that sentiment. But I think what they didn't say was FAR more than what they did. Why did they spend so long saying all that, trying to justify WHY it was good for Xbox for games to go multiplatform if it was only 4 games? There was much more being said.
In total it was a 20+ minute interview and at least 2 very long follow-up articles. That is a LOT of words to say for very little solid information. There are only about 4-5 solid headlines in the rest. It could have been a tweet or two, like when Minecraft Legends & dungeons came to PlayStation and Switch, it didn't need a whole event to explain if it wasn't a larger thing.
Honestly I don't think Microsoft have decided yet. Like Sony chucking Horizon FW on PS+ after a year to test if it would bring in new subscribers at the cost of an estimated $85million in sales, Microsoft are just testing the waters.
IF sales and engagement are good AND most importantly Xbox doesn't diminish we will see many more timed exclusives in future. But I agree I don't think the big tentpole titles are in danger of going multiplatform, and I think Microsoft with over 40 studios now can afford to give some of these away and still have PLENTY of exclusives. That seems sensible business to me. It's been one of my frustrations in all of this that so many could only see one extreme or the other and not some middle road.
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