Remember in June when we mentioned that Microsoft is hoping to release a first party Xbox game every three months in the future? It turns out that there are other surprises in store when it comes to first party Xbox games going forward as well. In fact, they may not even all end up being exclusives. Some of them may end up being released on PlayStation and Nintendo consoles.
Here’s Why First Party Xbox Games Could Head to Other Platforms
Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty was in an interview with Game Informer when he talked about Microsoft’s plans for future first party games for Xbox. You can watch the video below:
You know how we reported the other day that The Outer Worlds sequel might only come to Xbox since Obsidian Entertainment is now working directly under Microsoft? What Booty said addresses concerns like these directly.
“I think that the question is less binary about, ‘should it be on Switch, should it be on PlayStation?’ and more, ‘does it make sense for the franchise,'” Booty explained. “”In other words, is it a kind of game where it would benefit from the network effect of being on a bunch of different platforms, or is it a game where we can best support it by putting resources and making sure that our platforms, things like xCloud and Game Pass and Xbox Live, are really leaning in to support the game?”
He provided further insight as well, saying, “With something like Minecraft, I think it was a no-brainer that we were never going to try and take anything from players that existed on those platforms, and certainly we’ve added platforms since that acquisition. But then obviously we’re going to have our big franchises like Forza, Halo and Sea of Thieves, where those games are designed from the outset to really exist on Xbox, I think that will continue.”
So that sheds some light on Microsoft’s logic where first party games and cross-platform distribution are concerned. Series which have been Xbox exclusives by tradition will probably remain such, and hopefully, series which previously released on other platforms will remain cross-platform series in the future.