Xbox Is ‘Evolving’ Rather Than ‘Losing’ Its Identity, Says Phil Spencer – Pure Xbox
GuestGuestLogin | Sign UpPure XboxGuestLogin or Sign Up”I believe it’s an identity that this industry needs”With Team Xbox embarking on a major multiplatform push these days, there’s been some concern in the community that without focusing on first-party exclusives, Xbox may essentially lose part of its identity and appeal in the process.This was brought up in Phil Spencer’s couple of interview appearances last week, with both Gamertag Radio and Destin Legarie taking slightly different angles on pretty much the same question. As you can see below, the former questioned why Xbox hardware will remain important if exclusives become less of a priority in 2025 and beyond.In response, Spencer explained that it’s the work going into hardware that will drive the appeal, with the team working across everything from consoles to handhelds and Xbox Cloud Gaming to provide the best possible experience.Gamertag Radio: “There is concern in the community about – well, you’re putting all these games on other platforms, why would I still want an Xbox? What is going to be the reason for me to want Xbox hardware when I can get that experience on another platform?”Phil Spencer: “I want people to pick hardware based on the capabilities of that hardware and how that fits into the choices that they want to make about how they want to play. And we want our hardware to win based on the hardware capabilities that we have.I think the difference that we’ve seen in the last 20 years – and I think this is good because I’ve come from building games – is it’s really game-first, not platform-first. Most of the games you and I will talk about run across so many different platforms. And those are the games that are having success, those are the games that are top of the charts when you look at the most played, most successful games. And I want to build a platform that services those creators.[As for] our own hardware, I think it’s fundamental to what Xbox is. In the position I’m in, I look at hardware as a critical part of what we do, but not trying to gatekeep the games off of other places for the benefit of [us]. Let’s go build innovative hardware that people want to use to play, whether that’s in their hands, whether that’s on their television, or even other places.”In Destin’s interview, he directly asked about concerns surrounding Xbox “losing its identity”, with Spencer suggesting that it’s actually an “evolution of our identity” by trying to make games as accessible as possible in the future. He also advised that the industry as a whole needs to adopt this mentality in order to keep delivering great games.Destin: Some fans are a little concerned about Xbox losing its identity maybe, what would you say to address those concerns for long-time fans?Phil Spencer: “I think our identity will continue to evolve, which it frankly always has, but when I hear concerns, I hear concerns about ‘is my library of games safe, am I still going to be able to play the games?’ and I think over the years, I’m proud of the commitment we’ve shown to respecting purchases on our platform through back compat, through Xbox Play Anywhere, through crossplay – things that we’ve done to enable people to continue to play, so I hear that.””I see the investments we’re making in platform and how we want Xbox to show up in multiple places and your library to be available there… this is all about making sure that your library of games that you own on Xbox are playable in multiple places, so I’d say it’s an evolution of our identity, but I believe it’s an identity that this industry needs.When you think about where this industry is now, and you see the business challenges for many companies – for us to keep making games more accessible to more people has just got to be front and center for us as an industry, so we continue to see great games that we’ve seen over the years.”As we’ve already covered here at Pure Xbox, Spencer spoke more in these interviews about how hardware remains a “critical” part of Xbox and how his team will continue to ship more games on PlayStation and beyond in the future.There’s obviously controversy that surrounds all this, particularly when it comes to exclusives (which Spencer didn’t actually mention in the quotes above), but clearly Microsoft feels that the multiplatform approach makes best sense not only from a monetary perspective, but also from an industry one. We’ll see how it shakes out.”I think it’s fundamental to what Xbox is”Phil Spencer: “We’re not going to put walls up”What are your thoughts on Phil Spencer’s comments here? Let us know down below.[source x.com, via youtube.com]About Fraser GilbertFraser is the News Editor at Pure Xbox, where he spends his time reporting on the biggest stories in the world of Xbox and beyond.Comments 102These trigger news all the time..With evolving, he means destroying.The Xbox brand is evolving, moving away from dedicated hardware as a priority in the process.
I do not believe that the next Xbox is being developed with gaining a strong foothold in the hardware market in mind, it’s there to accommodate those who have already embraced the Xbox eco-system and have a lot of games etc tied up in it.
They might gain a few more Xbox adopters along the way, but Xbox as a serious competitor in the hardware market is all but over and it’s clear that MS have acknowledged this and are acting upon that.Removed – unconstructive@Ricky-SpanishDid you actually read the article? It’s not doom and gloom, it’s a fair assessment.It’s only doom and gloom if you’re unwilling to accept that Microsoft are moving the Xbox brand in a direction you don’t happen to like.”I want people to pick hardware based on the capabilities of that hardware”The only capability 99 percent of people care about it what games it can play. PlayStation plays all games and Xbox doesn’t? Everyone will pick PlayStation, period.@Isolte I don’t care what Xbox do to be honest and I’m sure most of the comments will be doom and gloom like they have been on every other story about Microsoft going multiplatform I’ll be with Xbox this gen and most likely next gen it’s my preferred platform weather it has exclusives or not!!
Hopefully that explains more what I mean by another doom and gloom Xbox story to ignore 😎✌️Not sure why pure Xbox tries so hard, to keep a certain, small town, small mind perspective alive, where playing a game on any console, anywhere, is a bad thing…But yeah, keep catering to the fear of the children that can only afford to buy one console…@PROPS This article is literally trying to do the opposite. It’s trying to present Phil Spencer’s perspective about why multiplatform is a good thing and Xbox is “evolving” its identity 🤷♂️It references controversy of course, but that’s because there is controversy – we can’t shy away from that and pretend it doesn’t exist.@FraserGAgreed. It’s about time that we stop looking at the evolution of the Xbox brand, or indeed gaming as a whole, as a negative. I’ve been gaming some 40 years and yes there are elements about the modern industry I don’t like, but it moving toward a more open, multi-format environment isn’t one of them.@Ricky-Spanish can I ask why you will stick with Xbox?If other consoles have most/all xbox games on them and all other games besides, i’m interested what is so compelling about Xbox to you?@Medic_alertI imagine it’s somewhere between being heavily invested in the eco-system and brand loyalty.
Like a football team, some feel that they can’t suddenly switch sides even if their chosen team is languishing in the relegation zone.(I should add that I don’t follow football, but imagine the mentality is much the same)@FraserG Sorry, you’re right. I guess I just half expect to see the comment section filled with hundreds of short sighted reactions again. That’s usually what I’ve seen in the past, with headlines similar to this one.Well Phil old boy, you’ve really thrown down the gauntlet now, claiming you’ll be competing on hardware capabilities alone. Bold words. Very bold. I’ll take you for your word on this and now I expect Nextbox to be notably superior to PS6 in a number of ways. The hardware needs to be capable of things PS6 can only dream of. I have no idea how they plan to achieve this seeing as both companies draw from AMD but Phil is promising big on hardware here. They need to avoid a repeat of XSX though. Theoretical raw performance superiority isn’t good enough when developers don’t take advantage of it. The hardware advantages need to be tangible and widespread amongst next generation games.@PROPS No worries! I get where you’re coming from 👍@Isolte it is a genuine question, I’m not trying to be difficult or stir up anything, I just don’t get the reason.I’m someone who really liked Xbox and have never been a big fan of Sony but I’m not going to cut my nose off to spite my face if another option appears to be in my interests.So I’m keen to hear another point of view on it.@PROPS interesting that you call the comments short sighted when personally I feel that MS’s plan for Xbox feels short sighted.It sacrifices the platform for easy gains in my view, and I don’t see how with such little growth in subscription services this gets better for them.Fortunately for MS they are now a huge publishing company and will make a tonne of cash whatever happens.@Medic_alert I’ve loads of games bought over the years I’ve had my profile well over a decade aswell I use and love gamepass so it’s handy to play the new games that drop on it without having to buy them full price and try games I’d never buy or play otherwise and then I do buy games I know I’ll be into it’s just personal preference I’m not bothered missing out on playstation games or playstation gamers getting access to more games than me I’d probably only leave Xbox if from software games weren’t coming to the console!@Ricky-Spanish fair enough. My library is quite split and having both PS plus and the old Xbox live gold means I have quite a lot of duplicates on both platforms.I’m actually trying to do a bit of spring cleaning of my backlog because while I might be wrong I don’t think Xbox will give me what I want in the years to come and if I can play enough of this stuff I have no need to worry if it goes away from what suits me.@JorutoHayabusa I’d sell it so if it basically just a paper weight and the ps pro is the one your playing on someone else I’m sure will enjoy playing on it🤷@Medic_alert It’s all personal preference if the next Xbox will be dead on arrival or have no third party support it would be pointless in buying one but as it stands now I’d still choose to stay with Xbox over going to playstation or Nintendo next genIt’s happening now and I have given up on it. The only frustrating thing is the current policy which grates. What games?Day one?When?Why they can’t just have a straight forward policy like other publishers.Xbox and PlayStation console all new games day one.Or, Xbox consoles 6 months exclusive then on PlayStation.It’s the uncertainty of what new games and when that gets me and makes me want to dis own Xbox.They are deliberately leaving Xbox console owners hanging on a thread because of the high Xbox console to game pass attach rate as they don’t want to loose they game pass members. Scum business as usual.Xbox went from has no games to the biggest publisher in gaming. Their identity has never been stronger. I look forward to seeing the bright future of xbox.Personally as someone who also owns a ps5, I am much more worried about that platform. Cancelations have been outpacing their releases for like 3 years now. I’m not sure what I have to look forward to on that platform besides 3rd party games. I have no confidence in their leadership team.I don’t think some people realise how much it costs to Develope a console from the drawing board to Retail outlets, your talking Hundreds of Millions times 2 here.
Microsoft are not releasing a next gen console an handheld for fun, if the new consoles sells well Microsoft will keep most of it’s next gen AAA games exclusive.@Ricky-Spanish My thoughts exactly!Really hope this is the last story on this for a while. It’s really, really getting old.Well I certainly hope that Xbox can show their value to me based on hardware alone or the next console may be the first Xbox I don’t own. I already prefer the pad and OS of its main rival and that system already gets a ton of games Xbox doesn’t (I play PS5 and PS4 titles there)Series X is still a good way into GP so I get 1st party titles a week after launch, but the next box will be pricey and clearly won’t have any exclusives, so is GPU enough to get me to buy in? I don’t use cloud, and am still staggered by how bad Microsoft’s cloud play is compared to others, and I choose to not play games on PC, so cross play means little. I also game at home and dont need/want a handheld for that.I can only hope they build a PC/console with a stripped down OS – if it has windows I’m out.I’ve genuinely loved owning all the Xboxes till now, but I’m concerned that I may not find a reason to own one in the future.Microsoft Software’s future is obviously assured, but I have no love for Microsoft, its Xbox I’ve always had time for and they look dead in the water to me… here’s hoping I’m very wrong.@Rog-X”If the new consoles sells well Microsoft will keep most of it’s next gen AAA games exclusive.”Unlikely. Any new Xbox consoles will only represent a small part of their evolving business in the games market. Microsoft are no longer in this to become a dominant hardware manufacturer, they lost that fight a long time ago. As the article clearly states they’re evolving the Xbox brand, not continuing to push forward in a sector they continue to trail behind in.
Sorry, but you’re going to have to accept that the Xbox brand you once knew and fervently champion is moving to a much wider perspective, one where their software can be enjoyed by everyone irrespective of platform. You can either get onboard, or get left behind.A long way of saying they want to transition to be a publisher & developer first, hardware maker second. It’s a good strategy for overall growth of the business and a big move away from what we’re used to as niche console players. Won’t buy another Xbox but will continue to buy their games.@BacklogBrad I agree to an extent. But when people used to say “Xbox has no games” it was never what they really meant. What they meant was “Xbox has no exclusive games” because when weighing up which console to buy you would of course look at what games are available on a system, and crucially what games aren’t, this was mostly first party exclusives.If Xbox are going to publish their games everywhere than I think they will continue to lose that round even if they are one of the largest publishers in gaming (Tencent still dwarf’s them in most metrics I believe)That said I agree with you that “Xbox’s” future is bright, but I would be a bit more specific and say as a publisher Xbox / Microsoft Gaming’s future is bright, but as a console Xbox’s future is a bit more hazy.Lastly totally agree that Sony need to sort some things out, but with their entrenched playerbase and market share I doing think they are in as much trouble (from a console perspective) as Xbox. Though I hope they all find their own niche and thrive, only time will tell.Really strange to watch diehard Xbox fans shift the line, I mean…If you all are happy with it…I mean I guess I’ve got a great b/c Series X out of the deal, for joining team green this genI’m bummed out and pissed Xbox is going this route@Rog-X totally backwards that logic.How is a console going to sell really well if no one has a reason to buy it?The exclusives are the differentiator when it comes to consoles – the main reason you choose one over the other in the first instance, then friends of those people pick up the same one.And those hundreds of millions it costs in R&D is the exact reason many of us expect the console line to be dropped all together.@gollumb82 About what buddy? sorry I’ve posted a lot on this story haIt’s a risky strategy. We’ve seen how they weren’t able to differentiate XSX from PS5, the theoretical advantages the former has didn’t translate to tangible results except in a very small handful of cases (e.g. Alan Wake 2). You need to comprehensively outclass the competition in every single metric in the way XBO X did vs PS4 Pro to see an undeniable competitive advantage. That gets harder with every passing generation though. Microsoft can hype up AI and all that, but Sony is already investing in that area with PSSR. They really will have to deliver something truly mind blowing to meaningfully differentiate Nextbox from PS6. Interesting times ahead.@CallMeDuraSouka”Really strange to watch diehard Xbox fans shift the line”That was always going to happen to some degree, but at the same time many more, including myself, are accepting of the evolution of the Xbox brand and where Microsoft are taking their gaming sector. In fact as PC is once again my primary platform I welcome it with open arms.It’s those Xbox fans who genuinely believe that things will return to exactly as they were once a new console drops that are really in for disappointment.@LX_FENIX well, tbh, there are almost no games on PS only currently that I’m missing on other platforms.Just FFVII rebirth (which actually just got a Pc release) and Astrobot.”Evolving” is his “Build Back Better” It means and does nothing.@Ricky-Spanish
About you staying level-headed on this issue. Not giving in to this mass hysteria about Xbox dying etc. Some people just can’t comprehend that Xbox is doing its own thing and it happens to fall outside of the model that has existed until today. They make great consoles and there is at least one more gen in it for us (maybe more? Who can tell at this rate). That means we have roughly 7-8 years before Xbox consoles will be no more. Even if that happens I predict MS will let you play the games you own in some way (cloud?) or other. I don’t know many people who have not dabbled in other systems enough to have a backup library somewhere. I have about 100 games on Playstation, about 200 games on Steam and GoG, about 80 games on Xbox and 60 on Switch. Whichever way it goes I’ll be covered. I suppose it is a shocking change to diehard Xbox fans, but this is the new reality and in my view MS is doing what’s right. Trying not to let Xbox become totally obsolete as a brand and looking forward to the future. Also, I don’t get why people support Sony so much. I have had all Sony consoles since PS2 and I have never felt that one of them was a disappointment as much as the PS5 has. Just my 3…errr… 5 cents.Doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I don’t enjoy my gaming more or less – based on what others can and can’t play. Will Gears 6 (or any other first party game) be less fun just because it might be elsewhere? No. Xbox are in a very strong position. They’re not going anywhere any time soon.Like I said elsewhere – game dev is excruciatingly expensive – we’ve seen studio closures, layoffs, and third party devs that are usually exclusive, go multiplat – this is smart of Xbox, not stupid, and they won’t be alone in doing this in the years to come.Phil is spot on the mark imo. But for real, who cares about a company’s income? Just enjoy the gaming 😅@FraserG would be very interested to make a poll and ask questions like
“Are you buying next xbox if it does not have exclusives but still have GP with day 1 games”
Or
“What features do you like on xbox hardware” and make list. As spencer made a statement that people buy hardware based on capabilities (somewhat true) but for consoles its likely the games for a casual player.Maybe was done before and I missed it.
I understand its still going to be biased because mostly enthusiasts check such websites but it definitely more than same 20 people argung on the chat (I am one of them and not denying it lol).What do you think?@Rog-X They have just said the exact opposite in that it doesn’t suit them going forward. So even with the new consoles its more and more likely that we will see everything day 1 being on the competition.Xbox will be Day 1 (3-5) on GamepassPS / Switch will be Day 1 with early access fee bolt on.@gollumb82 At least I’m levelheaded on this bud everything else I’m very not haha but thanks mate 👍
Bigger things to worry about in life at the end of the day!@JorutoHayabusa Ah well can’t please everyone enjoy your expensive paper weight I suppose!✌️In fact, it’s not the exclusive games that sell, it’s the perception of a brand thanks to the marketing done! PlayStation has spent millions on marketing, casual gamers who know nothing about video games buy a PS5 because in their minds a console is necessarily a PS, that’s all, it doesn’t go further than that. Today, Xbox factually has more exclusive games than PS, but that’s not the message conveyed by most media, and it’s also due to a lack of communication from Xbox.What is missing is more marketing; nothing else. Xbox has the essentials, it makes quality and quantity games, it has the best subscription service, which is Game Pass, undoubtedly its best exclusivity, it has Play Anywhere, it has the best backward compatibility, so many exclusive parameters to the Xbox ecosystem. All that’s left is to let the general public know!The strategy of Xbox, which consists of making as many multiplatform games as exclusive games, is the right one. Just look at Xbox’s profit margin of 12% compared to only 5% for PlayStation. Besides, PlayStation, as usual, is taking the same path as Xbox.The difference is that PlayStation doesn’t have the same game production capacity as Xbox, so the future of Xbox is bright and it already is. It already makes more revenue than PS and has more MAUs. Console sales mean absolutely nothing if no one plays on them, or if it’s just to play one game a year.@Isolte Really well said, there was always underlying hope that Xbox could become THAT rival to Sony again, it’s what it is@Millionski Yeah, we’ve done these kinds of polls before but we’ll look to refresh them again at some point 👍@LX_FENIX I think if it would be like ps3 days when we were showered with exclusives by sony, then sure. But this gen if you remove remakes and games available on ps4 (lets say you have/had ps4) sony’s pipeline is not strong enough. Pretty much astro and spider man, the rest are timed partner exclusives. Many games were cancelled, others like wolverine or intergalactic do not have dates.For some reason its assumed that people automatically interested in sony games and have FOMO if they cant play it.Said it many times, if you are not into the spiderman/horizon/gow and such then you are not missing out.
I personally only interested in wolverine at this point and only if its not a spider man re-skin@CallMeDuraSoukaThanks, but for my part I’m just stating the obvious facts.People are concerned that Sony will have a monopoly in the gaming sector, but that is mostly down to not understanding what a monopoly actually is. As long as Nintendo, Microsoft and the PC gaming market exists then Sony will always have competition that draws gamers away from their respective platform.
Point in case, on deciding to build a new rig for both gaming and work I missed out PS5 and opted for a Series S under the tele in the living room next to my 360, PS4 and PS3. Got a Switch sat by my bed. That’s all I need and long term I’m out of the console business.Personally I feel, and if it’s within one’s price range, PC gaming is absolutely the way forward and not just because the sky is the limit in terms of raw power, but mainly because it’s the most versatile of platforms when it comes to utilising every aspect of gaming.Upset Xbox didn’t truly invest and compete this gen with console exclusives, especially after talking about wanting to compete in the ftc court case over ABK. But that’s in the past and the reality is that Xbox in terms of console hardware is dead as it was in the traditional sense. Now might as well put games everywhere to maximize game sales, also would appreciate more physical releases on ps5 and switch 2. Focus on making games and making sure the teams can be sustainable in development and that they make good games.I have an answer why xbox:1. If you are interested in xbox games first of all and if you play enough games during a year (active games/enthusiast/semi-harcore or just like different games and variety) then GP value is unbeatable. You will naturally spend way more time with xbox and save a lot of money. These can be allocated to buying other platforms for exclusives. I have a PS and switch and thise are secondary consoles. I even got PS5 PRO and so far only played 2 games on it while returning mainly back to xbox. 2. Ecosystem factor. If you have PC, portable PC or play in cloud it makes more sense to go with xbox to utilize play anywhere, GP and same account, cloud saves and cross-play. 3. Personal preference on design, controller, OS and such. 4. Legacy factor. Game collection, account and friends that make harder to make a full switch. 5. Underrated features that people dont talk about: quick resume, full built-in browser, free cloud-saves, backward compat library, controller with way superior battery life and so on.In the end of the day it must suit YOUR preferences. Make a list of what is important or not for you and compare devices based on that. I did it and xbox series won by far for me. I dont remember buying a car based on how many cars were sold in my region and which brand is more popular. Maybe a cliche analogy but I think it makes sense.Agai, it seems that people are assuming that releasing games on Playstation means Xbox has ‘NOTHING’ to offer.Its clear that Xbox will offer ‘advantages’ to playing ‘Xbox’ games on Xbox Consoles over ‘other’ console like PS or Switch. For a start ALL Xbox games will release on Xbox hardware, built for DirectX enabled devices and offered in a Sub service Day/date. How much would it cost to play the games on PS5 versus Xbox over a year – maybe if you only play 2 or 3 games, it maybe the SAME cost to ‘buy’ the games you want, but with more games releasing each year, not just ‘1st Party’ but all the Indies, AA and 3rd Party games too, it becomes by far the ‘best’ value way to play Xbox.That’s assuming EVERY Xbox game also releases Day 1 on Switch/PS5. However many Xbox games haven’t released on rival platforms and most that have/will release on Playstation certainly weren’t released Day 1. Sea of Thieves, Hifi Rush, Indiana Jones, South of Midnight, Avowed, MSFS, Starfield, Redfall, Forza, Gears, Halo etc were/are all ‘Exclusive’ to Xbox Consoles for ‘months’ before they release elsewhere – so even if you buy a Playstation thinking Xbox games will come, you could be waiting years for the chance.How much would it cost to play the games coming just this year on Xbox on Game Pass versus on PS5, not only that, if you buy Indiana Jones on Xbox, you can play it on PC as well, but buy it on Playstation, its locked to Playstation.I keep hearing the argument that people will buy Playstation despite having their Back Catalogue on Xbox or the fact they have Game Pass – just because MS is releasing some games on that platform. Why not buy a PC instead then as PC gets Playstation games and ALL Xbox games Day 1. You also have Emulation enabling you to play Nintendo, Sega, Xbox, Playstation etc games from the past – far more Games than Playstation, Xbox and Switch will offer ‘combined’ and hardware is ‘less’ than buying ALL consoles and also paying to play ‘online’ every month. Own an Xbox/Playstation for 5yrs paying for ‘just’ online access, that’s paying out another ‘Console’ in fees – own both Xbox and a PS5 with Game Pass Core and PS+ essential, you could have bought a ‘high end’ PC that beats the console in terms of Game Library, in terms of graphics/performance etc. Games too are cheaper to buy/own on PC so you’d save money each year if you bought the same games you’d buy on Console…People will still want to buy Xbox hardware because it ‘suits’ them better than the alternatives. That maybe just because they prefer the Controller or even aesthetics of the box itself – its not just about ‘games’ when the majority of the biggest IP’s in terms of Player counts are ‘Multi-platform’. CoD, Fifa, GTA etc release everywhere. As for ‘Xbox’ in particular, many are ‘exclusive’ or at least released Exclusively on Xbox before they are ‘ported’ and eventually release on Playstation. Those games also tend to be cheaper on Xbox by the time they do release on PS, often been on sale too. Not only that, you also have the option to sub to Game Pass to play all these games for ‘free’ The ‘cost’ to play Indiana Jones, Doom and Ninja Gaiden on PS5 costs more than a year of Game Pass and that will also let you play Avowed, Starfield, Halo, Gears, Fable, Perfect Dark, South of Midnight etc etc. There is ‘perks’ for being in the Xbox ecosystem over the ‘competition’ that ‘SOME’ gamers will want/appreciate so will want an Xbox console!The positive spin this guy can give is enough to power New York.He can say evolution, but the fact is that when I read this, it gives me pause when I think about buying a game for my series X, especially titles that are not play anywhere.Is there going to be a new console down the line? if there is, am I willing to buy one if all its games are available on PS? I don’t know man, but probably not.”Available on gamepass” or “day one on gamepass” doesn’t have as big of an impact as “only available on Xbox & PC” does and i hope Microsoft realizes that sooner rather than later.We have purchased our games for 20+ years, I go where the games are available and if Xbox games are available elsewhere, and the competitor’s games are not available on Xbox, I fail to see why I should stick with Xbox.@oopsiezz With the increase in game prices, I really don’t think you’re right. On the contrary, I believe it has more impact and will have even more impact in the future, especially with the decrease in exclusive games. PlayStation has fewer and fewer exclusive games, and fewer third-party developers want to make exclusive games. It doesn’t make sense given the current situation of the video game industry, with ever-increasing production costs (and therefore the cost of games increasing).In fact, Xbox factually has more exclusive games than PS. Just look at the 2025 lineup and even the 2024 lineup. But they don’t communicate about it.The key is marketing, nothing else. Xbox has all the cards in hand, they need to communicate about their games, their Game Pass, their Play Anywhere, their console, etcFor me personally if I can play halo on a playstation I will probably buy a playstation, more of my friends are there. I think the idea of gamepass is incredible but I’m a casual gamer so it’s a luxury rather than a need I don’t buy a wide range of games.@McL92 But let’s stop dreaming, you’ll never see a Halo game on PlayStation on day one. If it happens, it will be older titles and with a significant delay. Making more multiplatform games doesn’t mean sending everything day one to all platforms. The best place to play Xbox games will always be on Xbox.@fatpunkslim”The best place to play Xbox games will always be on Xbox.”No, that’ll be on a decent PC where Xbox titles are also day one.Of course, if you say “Xbox is the most affordable way to play Xbox games day one” then yes, I agree.@fatpunkslim lol that halo announcement is going to break gaming websites.”is my library of games safe, am I still going to be able to play the games?’ and I think over the years, I’m proud of the commitment we’ve shown to respecting purchases on our platform through back compat, through Xbox Play Anywhere, through crossplay “It’s nice to know that has reached him. Except neither of those addresses the concerns people have about this direction and their existing libraries.-Backward compat means nothing if there isn’t a new console and the concern is if Xbox sales are in the floor “with exclusives” how much further they go without them, and just how far will it go before Microsoft doesn’t want to make hardware. They didn’t even want to pay to keep their sole Japanese studio, something they have spent their entire existence trying to get, so whilst it’s good that he’s confirming more hardware doesn’t mean daddy MS doesn’t pull the rug from under him (I’m sure Sega was working on new hardware too).Play Anywhere is a perfect solution to that issue, of cause the problem there is that it only applies to a fraction of Xbox console games.I hope they can do an official version of that fan app that lets you play X1 games natively in Windows, after all, they don’t have to worry about protecting console sales anymore.My concern is they are going to “protect” our libaries via the cloud.@McL92 “We’re getting used to false rumors. For a year now, we’ve heard rumors about Forza Horizon 5, Starfield, Halo, etc., on PS. And what happened in the end? Nothing! Even if some of them arrive on other platforms, it will be after a long period, which doesn’t change anything in the end and doesn’t change the notion of exclusivity.A 2-year exclusivity has the same effect as a permanent exclusivity. But does ‘permanent exclusivity’ even exist? I don’t think so, neither for Xbox nor for anyone else.@Medic_alert I don’t have time to leave a thoughtful, well constructed point, so I’ll just say this. Sony manufactures all sorts of electronics, not just video games. Nintendo makes toys, playing card and collectibles, so if the argument against Microsoft’s decision is that they’re spread too thin…If it’s exclusives, well for me, I don’t care about a the handful of games on Nintendo and Sony’s platforms…I’d much rather have a console with the largest library AND the ability to play anywhere. It’s for this very reason that I own Switch and an Xbox.As long as they don’t ditch backwards compatibility and FPS Boost, Xbox hardware will have a use-case for me. Consolidating systems is tempting, but playing all 7th-gen games on PS3 isn’t as great as my subconscious tries to tell me.@abe_hikura Lack of Play Anywhere support is indeed a big issue. Just 7% of games released on Xbox last year supported Play Anywhere. Averaged out over the past 5 years that number is just 10%. And I wholeheartedly agree that cloud doesn’t count as preserving digital libraries.Source: https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt740a130ae3c5d529/blta52a9484e1621e4c/67587e69afc3f70c5f01eacc/Figure_2_Xbox.png?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale@abe_hikura”Play Anywhere is a perfect solution to that issue, of cause the problem there is that it only applies to a fraction of Xbox console games.”Yes this is an issue that needs addressing.@PROPS Microsoft could never be spread too thin and i never suggested they could.My point is about maintaining a platform that brings in a hell of a lot of revenue for next to nothing because you get 30% of everything sold on it.If you let your hardware business shrink the cut gets smaller and smaller.For context just the microtransactions in EA football are worth over 1bn a year to EA the cut Xbox could get for that is huge – but not if you don’t have a platform to sell from.The fact you don’t care about exclusives is relevant only to you. To build a sustainable platform it is vital and hence why I believe Xbox will not exist and Microsoft studios as a third party publisher with a subscription service is their future.Its also the media that likes to poke xbox for no reason (get the clicks i mean). There was an article last week on eurogamer : “xbox developer direct – 4 promising games coming to playstation”. Thats the article NAME.Now guess with 1 attempt if there was any mention of “games coming to xbox” on latest PS state of play last year on the same website? Of course not. And funnily enough aside VR, ghost of yotei and 3 dlc levels for astro ALL other games shown (10+) were also coming to xbox. Palworld was on xbox for 9 months before the state of play.Double standards at its finest@Isolte @Cakefish Obivously they can’t force publishers to go back and give us PC versions of games we already have, but Microsoft could do it with the games they own. Like I don’t think Halo MCC is on there, Bethesda/Obsidian/Inexile back catalogue don’t seem to be (despite being on both console and PC gamepass) and well Acitvision games don’t even seem to be in a hurry to be on gamepass, so them not having play anywhere integration isn’t a shock.So when games skip and the console owners lose community support staff and perks it’s because Xbox is evolving? And what reason does he give to buy a console, performance over content? .. Most people buy consoles because of libraries not performanceIn interview with Destin, Phil Spencer guarantees: not all Xbox games will be released on other platforms: https://x.com/Xcension/status/1883944660298784816Yep, “evolving” into being a publisher instead of a console.@Fishticon I see and love what you did there lol@Isolte
Completely agree with you.If gamers want to talk about something and the gaming news wants to pick up on a cause relentlessly how about any of the following:1) Microtransactions ruining what would’ve been a great game.
2) Why games ship day one as flawed messes seemingly void of any level of testing.
3) Why isn’t Sony and Nintendo shipping games on XB?
4) Have you bought a new game on day one lately? Have you seen the price? cough cough.
5) Why is online required for almost every game now?I could go on and on… MS shipping their games on other platforms is not the biggest issue in the gaming or XB world.Makes zero sense at all, he thinks people will buy Xbox because of the “capabilities” of the system but right now the series x and PS5 basically do the same thing and so will the next consoles, even if Xbox did something different with their next console, people still won’t buy it because it won’t have games, people can play all games on playstation or a pc, Xbox won’t sell at all going forward unless maybe an 80 year old never played a game before accidentally buys one 😂I mean seriously Phil why would anyone buy an Xbox over a playstation at this point? The consoles will never have capabilities that are so drastically different that it’ll be a hard choice on what to buy, people will just look at Xbox and think “missing games” then they’ll look at a playstation and think “wow i can play every console game” then they’ll look at a pc and think “i can play everything”, Xbox has no place at this point.@mousieone he’s just damage control at this point, the people running Xbox must have got their jobs via nepotism because it’s fail after fail with no sense or reason, how out of touch are these people that they think tiny hardware differences will sell systems as if it’s worked so well for the series x/sPerfectly fine as long as you DON’T loose next generation console buyers, lower than expected current generation console buyers and GamePass subs dewindling.All are pointing towards all are happening on top of that no real exclusives moving forward, also the outlook for disc game releases almost non-existent for Xbox, and they continue to be the worst at being a platform for streaming locally and via cloud vs their competition.The only positives going for Xbox are good/great games happening and most newer 1st party and some 3rd party with PlayAnywhere. They still have so much to fix.What is Xbox console getting in return PhilI am enjoying playing Doom games these days and already purchased Doom Dark Ages for my Xbox Series X (and Windows especially my gaming laptop and Lenovo Legion Go).Doom is a Xbox franchise and I will continue to support the Xbox going forward.@JustinTimberlake To me the difference between PS and XB is not hardware but the cost and experience of the system.First, on cost. I feel like XB costs me less than PS would with GamePass, the general price of games, and I can buy the hardware cheaper.Second, on the experience. I like XB online experience better, I think the profiles/gamerscore model is better, and I like the dashboard better than PS.I don’t like all those on PS, therefore I choose XB. To me game selection is only one aspect of owning a console.@Medic_alert I know the question wasn’t for me but I’ll try to answer but I’m also a person that went from PS5 to series X.For me the value proposition of gamepass is too great to ignore, especially with the prices of new releases and the fact that the games they are putting on there are not just old games or indie games, they are putting triple A, big budget games on there on day one. Another thing I really like as well that nobody really talks about is backwards compatibly, that’s quite a big deal for me and is something that the PlayStation doesn’t really offer past PS4 games.Secondly, not all games are going to PlayStation day and date, games like South of midnight, avowed and hellblade 2 still have no release date in sight for PlayStation so who knows how long it could be until Microsoft decides to port them over? Look how long it’s taken them to port starfield, even I’m surprised by that one.Thirdly, the PlayStation brand of today is not the same as it was in the PS1/PS2 days and I personally don’t really like the direction they have taken some of their IP’s like God of war and also they don’t really seem to be up to much these days if we’re being honest.And lastly, I like the Xbox controller more@DKG-85 all fair points. I think if you are deep in the gamepass thing as well as wanting to play most of their 1st party lineup then that makes sense.I’m not sure waiting for an exclusivity period to finish is enough of a draw for me especially as I expect that window to narrow or be non-existent. We know they have to for COD, but Doom the dark ages is day one, Outerworlds 2 appears to be too and I think once the strategy is firmly in place there is a good chance most if not all games will be released same day.Personally I don’t like Sony much at all. They are way less consumer friendly at the moment and I feel their ‘sad dad simulators’ and other third person offerings are growing a bit tired.But ultimately the breadth of choice of games on a console is what matters to me and if Xbox ports everything they have going forward I don’t see the reason to narrow my options for the sake of a gamepass sub.@Medic_alert He said the opposite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KK8xil5Uy0&t=606s1. Yes There will be more Xbox games on Nintendo and PlayStation2. No. It won’t be all Xbox games3. Many games will launch on Xbox first, and then MS will decide if they port them to other consoles OR NOT@fatpunkslim I got the impression he meant historic titles (so the first one that springs to mind is something like Sunset Overdrive) that wouldn’t get a good commercial response.Fully expect the flagship franchises to jump ship soon, but that’s sort of ok because the 3 big ones have a multiplayer focus. But maybe something like Fable (which will probably be fantastic) just won’t be worth it unless it gets some crazy high metacritic score@fatpunkslim he basically says they won’t be going through their back catalogue and putting everything on there.He says that they will ‘see how they do’ before making a decision but doesn’t specify whether that means Sony only gets the ones that underperformed or whether they get the successes and even if he had, Xbox are playing with numbers when they talk about success they rarely if ever mention sales or revenue.Xbox won’t decide a thing. MS will decide and that means more releases on PS.Lastly, I don’t think you can take Phil at his word any more. I’ll be charitable and say things keep changing at Xbox and so his comments are quickly out of date compared to what Xbox is actually doing.But a good example of the double speak from that leadership team is right there in that section of the video when he talks about growth in the Asian market. Growth means nothing if you don’t have a starting figure. 10,000% percent growth could literally be 10000 new players if the starting point was one.Don’t trust the business double speak!@NeoRatt3) Why isn’t Sony and Nintendo shipping games on XB?All your questions are sound and worthy of discussion, however I can answer the one above quite easily. They don’t need to.
Sony might change that position in time, but Nintendo? I think they’d rather go under than see Mario or Zelda on Xbox or, in particular, PlayStation.@Medic_alert What I understand is that you decide to believe what you want to believe, and what doesn’t fit your narrative, you decide not to believe. What I see, in any case, is that the 2025 lineup is full of exclusive games and that Xbox has never had so many exclusive games, and those are facts! The rest is just speculation on your part. I don’t understand what you don’t understand when Phil Spencer says NO to a very simple question from Destin, which is ‘Are all Xbox games going to PlayStation?’ He answers NO! That’s it, why are you making assumptions?@fatpunkslim the guy said there’s Xbox games that have already shipped that we won’t put on other platforms. Nothing about future titles, If you want to stay on Xbox then that works for you. My Xbox days are sadly over@McL92 To the question ‘Are all Xbox games going to PlayStation?’ he answered no, and then he elaborated by giving examples:But the overall answer to this very simple question is no! Whether it’s old games or future games!The problem is that this kind of communication is addressed both to players but especially to other publishers, investors, etc. Xbox needs to send this message of openness, which is why there is always this apparent double discourse. But what he says here is clear, No! It only confirms what he has always said: ‘case by case.’ After that, if some people don’t want to understand it and continue to believe what they want to believe, too bad for you, but if you want to play Xbox games first and be sure to play them, you better have a PC or an Xbox console, that’s all!This issue with articles like this is at some stage someone said the point of consoles are exclusives. Which seems like a dumb stance to take considering switch is vastly popular as a indie machine and the rog ally / legion go have no exclusives.People just read something one day and that’s it their a journalist and it’s all that get written about. For example the quoted interview talks about identity but the writer at purexbox is like exclusive, erm exclusive oh and by the way no exclusives.Get over it Fraser & Liam for peat sake.Removed – flaming/arguingWith all this flip-flopping, lack of clear direction & terrible PR, I honestly can’t see Xbox properly competing in the console market post SX & S, specifically in the hardware sales. Ultimately, I think they’re going to steer back to software focus and rake in the money on multi-platform releases and subscription models. Profits will be good, but we will potentially lose out on having the iconic box and logo under our TVs.I feel like Xbox were on the cusp of regaining the glory days of old, like with the 360, but they seem to be in a constant state of flux to settle in to something proper and defined. Hopefully they can spend some time laying the groundwork, fixing their trully awful store and apps on PC & releasing some quality entries from their vast IP.A lot of people are pretending that Microsoft is alone here, but Sony is doing pretty much the same thing, sending many of their own games to PC. if Microsoft makes a lot of money this way (hint: Microsoft is going to make a LOT of money this way), Sony will follow suit. No? Why did the most recent Horizon game also launch on Switch? That was Sony’s toe in the water. This is the way forward.@fatpunkslim I mean i just listened to the clip you sent me that gave precisely zero assurances of whether games were coming to other platforms or not except to say they wouldn’t be going through the whole back catalogue.Yeah there is some speculation, extrapolating out from current trends and the general refusal to out and out deny it just like Phil did in that interview.But it is no more speculation than your interpretation.@Medic_alert I’ll believe it when I see itIf they start putting EVERYTHING on PlayStation day and date then I probably would start asking myself why I have an Xbox. But we’ve been hearing that halo is going to PlayStation for years now and it still isn’t but I’m not saying it won’t happen but it won’t be halo infinite, it’ll the master chief collection or maybe even just halo anniversary which I think makes sense, why not make a bit of revenue from old games.Sony isn’t in a great place right now, otherwise they wouldn’t be cancelling games left, right and center and if they were smart they’d put the old God of war games or old killzone games on Xbox gamepass……….ah but then how are they gonna do their remasters?@Medic_alert I am not speculating at all. To a simple question, he simply answered No! Why didn’t he say yes, we are going to release all our future games on PlayStation? If that were the case, he would have said it, but no, he said the opposite!@JustinTimberlake well there is a great video on YouTube by Welfare. Basically MS is just selling hardware as a luxury item. Essentially they are a Sega now at this point. Next hardware will be insanely expensive, but that doesn’t matter to them at this point. They’ll be pushing software, subs, and cloud.That said they can’t say that to current console owners without upsetting them more so you are right about damage control. Just MS isn’t expecting hardware sales in fact they’d rather you didn’t buy the XSX. It’s less money for them.@fatpunkslim he didn’t say no at all. He said not all Xbox games going all the way back would come out on PlayStation.Then he gave the usual case by case basis waffle.@DKG-85 as per the video posted to me above, Phil Spencer appears to be saying they won’t go through the back catalogue for PS games – if I’m honest my guess would be it would be too much effort.But the series X and PS5 are so similar in so many ways that it is easy enough to do for new titles.But the reason I think this game is different for Xbox than for PS is simply the sales of hardware. As much as they like to scoot around it being a platform holder is massive if you are selling 100m+ consoles. 30% of every game, dlc and microtransaction sold going into the bank for basically maintaining servers – it is a huge money spinner and why Sony were so worried about COD.And while Sony have dug themselves a live service pit in the last few years, they have made significant cuts to devs and staffing and will no doubt have a road map back to better days, we will see if it works but with PS5 tracking above PS4 they should be fine without any more mistakes.And this is why I don’t see any games going from PS to Xbox for the foreseeable future, it makes no sense to degrade one of their biggest income streams by giving up their competitive advantage – their first party library to Xbox.We will see. Until Xbox clarifies their position we won’t know for sure until then we just watch for the next Xbox tent-pole. If Gears e day or Fable come to PS then all bets are off!Removed – trolling/baitingThe business model makes sense, I’ve no problem with the console for those that want it and games on any platform and cloud as an option.I do pick on capabilities of hardware it’s called Nintendo because the gimmicks are appealing even if Switch 2’s seem eh. Controller features to excite. Games using them or games in general being more then 8th gen repetitive experiences so boring/dumbed down of basic fantasy/sci-fi worlds, eh recreations of reality I don’t care about. Dynamics pushed of fiction. Characters not controlling like a boring human beings (with boring abilities or basic weapon melee, ranged, pushes, whatever, boring jumping, sprinting, climbing, flying, etc. they all are boring done to death mechanics) and not character weight to jump or move being so awkwardly heavy. A car sure, a human, insect, animal, alien, whatever no.When 3D platformers by Indies are as boring as they are that’s why I hate it, games based around movement mechanics yet are so unimaginatively boring. Always pushing boring worlds and boring characters and the movement mechanics suck why because I’m apparently not playing a platformer but an action adventure game labelled a platformer with eh structure. Or just bad platformers with other priorities. Or racing games with eh event types/modes and ok physics. Give me a fictional but earth looking car/vehicle on a space station/alien planet like the ‘who knows status’ of the Behaviour Entertainment game (Dead by Daylight). The concept art looks good. Anything happen with it I doubt it.The thing is the games don’t impress, the gameplay of level design in eh creative worlds, linear or open world, missions and movesets of characters just aren’t there for me and the consoles features are ‘fine’ but not exciting so I’m not fussed either way.Games for money is fine, creativity slipping and being more repetitive, not improving more than graphics with ‘ok’ art assets and whatever lighting, boring or weak competition is not exciting.AAA, AAs with bad marketing and hit or miss ideas, Indies that stand out and really try vs Indies that are nostalgia, safe, undertalented and not willing to prototype longer or care.strong disagree with this and when he said making great games wouldn’t turn the brand around.@Medic_alert I remember around 5 years ago some guy in a YouTube comment section telling me PlayStation would never put their games on PC@DKG-85 I remember when people were saying Xbox hardware sales would catch up this gen.Who cares? People make incorrect predictions all the time. 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