Microsoft on Thursday shook up the video game world with assurances that it is making some exclusive Xbox video games available to play on rival consoles.
Xbox head Phil Spencer didn’t specify which titles are expanding beyond Xbox, but The Verge, citing unnamed sources, said they would be “Hi-Fi Rush,” “Pentiment,” “Sea of Thieves” and “Grounded”.
“I have a fundamental belief that in the next five or 10 years, games that are exclusive to one piece of hardware will be a smaller and smaller part of the gaming industry,” Xbox chief Phil Spencer said in a podcast.
By deciding to port four games to other consoles, Xbox didn’t decide to change its “fundamental exclusive strategy,” Spencer said.
“Four games, no promises beyond that. So if you’re on these other platforms and you see these four games coming, don’t take that as a sign that everything is coming. It’s not,” he added.
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The move comes as Microsoft tries to boost Xbox sales that are lagging behind those of Sony’s PlayStation consoles and boost revenue from subscriptions to its cloud gaming service.
By putting its weight behind software and subscriptions, Xbox could try to match the success of streaming giant Netflix, which has disrupted the film and TV industry.
Microsoft makes Xbox consoles along with game software, with titles like the hit “Halo” exclusively for its hardware.
Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo have long competed to be the console of choice with exclusive blockbuster titles from their own studios or in deals with other game makers.
Outside studios, on the other hand, usually seek to reach the largest number of players with big-name titles that can be played on all consoles and PCs running Windows.
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Video games have become a cultural phenomenon on par with blockbuster movies, garnering fortunes from legions of devoted fans whose rage can be ferocious if the game disappoints.
Xbox fans may be concerned with the end of exclusivity for some of the console’s biggest games, pointing to Sega, which quit making consoles in the early 2000s, now unable to compete with Sony and Nintendo.
Spending on video game content, hardware and accessories in the United States will reach $57.2 billion in 2023, up just one percent from the previous year, according to market tracker Circana.
Money spent on video game hardware was $6.6 billion, essentially the same as in 2022, with PlayStation 5 sales offsetting declines in Xbox and Nintendo Switch purchases, Circana reported.
“Hogwarts Legacy,” which is available on multiple platforms to play, was last year’s best-selling game in the United States, Circana reported.
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Since the launch of the first PlayStation in 1994, Sony has grown into a console gaming titan with Microsoft’s Xbox emerging as its main competitor.
Subscription revenue has increased with the growing trend of video games played online with regularly updated content and features.
Sales from Xbox content and services rose 61 percent in the final three months of last year, driven largely by Microsoft’s acquisition of “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard, according to quarterly earnings data.
Microsoft launched its acquisition in January 2022, an acquisition that made it the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue.
Microsoft is laying off 1,900 people, or eight percent of staff, from its gaming division as it consolidates its acquisition of blockbusters, the tech giant announced in January.
Spencer said in a memo to employees that the company was committed to finding a “sustainable cost structure” to grow its gaming business.
Source: AFP