Starfield and Indiana Jones are not coming to PS5, but four other Xbox games will
Microsoft has said that its strategy isn't changing but said four Xbox games will come to rival platforms soon
Microsoft has revealed that four Xbox-exclusive games are coming to PS5 and potentially Nintendo Switch. However, Microsoft CEO of Gaming Phil Spencer said that Starfield and Indiana Jones aren’t coming to rival platforms.
However, Spencer didn’t rule it out forever. In an interview with The Verge, Spencer says “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.
“We don’t have work going on, on other franchises. But for anybody to stand up and say something’s never going to happen, I think it feels like creating more certainty in a world of gaming where you really want to respond to what customers want and what our players and creators are looking for.”
Spencer explained the reasons why the four selected Xbox games, which he refused to name, are coming to PS5 and Switch. Two are community-driven titles like Sea of Thieves and Grounded, while the other two are classed as smaller titles, which will likely be Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment.
Speaking on the Official Xbox podcast, Spencer explained Microsoft’s stance on exclusivity. “I do have a fundamental belief that over the next five or ten years exclusive games, games that are exclusive to one piece of hardware, are going to be a smaller and smaller part of the game industry.”
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Microsoft’s Xbox strategy
🗣️ Microsoft has broken its silence on the future of Xbox
🔜 It confirmed that four games will come to other platforms
🤝 However, it reiterated its commitment to hardware and Xbox
🙏 Microsoft said it’s developing a next-gen console
Microsoft also confirmed that Xbox Game Pass will only be available on Xbox consoles and PCs and that first-party games will continue to launch on day one into the service.
The first Activision Blizzard game coming to Xbox Game Pass was also revealed by Xbox president Sarah Bond. Diablo 4 will come to Game Pass on March 28, which should hopefully lead to a wave of more Activision Blizzard coming to the service, though when will Call of Duty come to Xbox Game Pass remains uncertain.
Even though Microsoft’s announcements today don’t spell as dark as the future of Xbox as some expected, it also provided few guarantees. Microsoft is saying that all Xbox games are coming to PlayStation, but it wouldn’t categorically rule them out, either.
However, Xbox’s Sarah Bond said it is making a next-generation Xbox, one that will deliver “the largest technological leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation”. We should hear about new Xbox hardware, possibly an Xbox Series X Slim, during the holidays.
Microsoft’s ultimate goal is to grow and expand the gaming industry by letting players access games across more devices. Microsoft is well-positioned to achieve this, and it could reshape the way we view console hardware and generations to come.