The rumor mill has been spinning regarding plans for Xbox to bring some of its exclusive titles to other consoles, and Microsoft is reportedly all set to send those exclusives over to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch players.
According to a report from The Verge’s Tom Warren, Microsoft “is getting ready to launch a select number of Xbox games on PS5 and Nintendo Switch.” The first two titles reportedly set to appear on Xbox’s rival consoles are Penitent and Hi-Fi Rush. Microsoft is also “planning to launch Sea of Thieves on non-Xbox platforms later this year” while considering other first-party titles.
The launch of Xbox titles on non-Xbox consoles is expected to be confirmed and discussed in greater detail in an upcoming official Xbox podcast episode featuring Phil Spencer and other higher-up employees. That episode is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 15. In addition to the discussion about the massive shift in strategy, we could also get dates for when the above titles could make their way to PS5 and Switch.
This drastic shift for Microsoft is likely in response to the underperformance of Game Pass, as well as exclusive titles that featured as “day one releases” for the service, such as Redfall and Starfield. The gap in releases that was caused by both of these titles being delayed all led to a stall in the growth of Game Pass, according to an internal Xbox email from Spencer in May 2022 cited by Warren.
The move to a multiplatform approach for Microsoft would line up with ongoing plans to keep Call of Duty, a franchise under the recently acquired Activision Blizzard banner, on PlayStation for the foreseeable future.
An Xbox rumor that hasn’t been officially reported on yet is the idea that Xbox could back out of producing consoles altogether, although the consensus from several people in games media seems to be that Xbox will still make consoles. Still, if select Xbox titles eventually come to competing platforms, this could theoretically reduce the desire or need for owning an Xbox console.
The podcast episode goes live on Feb. 15 at 2pm CT on the official Xbox YouTube channel, as well as all podcast platforms.
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