Around three months ago, a flurry of rumors suggested that Microsoft was preparing many Xbox exclusive games to go multiplatform, including heavyweights like Gears of War, Starfield, and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Shortly after those rumors, Microsoft broadcast a ‘business update event’ where Xbox executives revealed that a few games were indeed making the jump to PlayStation and/or Nintendo Switch consoles. These games turned out to be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Grounded, and Sea of Thieves. Phil Spencer labeled this an experiment and warned it didn’t mean other, bigger games would definitely appear on other consoles:
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. 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 everything else is coming. That’s not the plan today.
Do note that final caveat – it was not the plan at that time. However, clearly, Microsoft was open to the idea, especially if the experiment worked. We don’t know the hard sales data yet, except that Sea of Thieves topped the pre-order charts ahead of its PlayStation launch.
A few hours ago, renowned Xbox insider and Windows Central journalist Jez Corden broached the topic once again in the Xbox Two Discord channel, as reported on the ResetEra forum. Corden said that all of the Xbox first-party games will be coming to PlayStation eventually, even the flagship titles like Halo and Forza. He also discussed the future of the ecosystem as more ‘Steam-like’ in the future, with the ability to side-load PC stores like Steam itself; Microsoft had recently suggested as much. The upside is that prices will be more affordable thanks to sales, and the ecosystem will be more open to developers. Meanwhile, the Xbox hardware will be dedicated to a specific niche.
Corden then took the discourse publicly to Twitter, where he reiterated that ‘everything is going (to PlayStation and/or Switch)’. He also again talked about Xbox consoles filling a niche, a bit like the Steam Deck is doing for PC handhelds.
Do take this as a rumor for the time being, but this does appear to be the direction Microsoft is willing to take. We may learn more in the coming weeks, with the Xbox Games Showcase now officially scheduled for Sunday, June 9. Meanwhile, vote in the poll below to let us know how you would feel about such a big business shift.