Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer Discusses Xbox Title Exclusivity, Open-World Fatigue, And The Future Of The Xbox Platform
In a recent interview, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer spoke about the direction the Xbox platform and its games will take in the coming year. Recently, Microsoft has been shifting the way Xbox games can be played, changing the meaning of "exclusivity" and embracing cloud gaming, the PC, and other platforms. Spencer used the interview to clarify Microsoft's position on its games and hardware.
In an interview with XboxEra, Spencer discussed how the Xbox business model is changing and what this means for fans of the platform and games. Highlights from the interview include the following points:
- Xbox titles will no longer be exclusive to the Xbox platform, because "it doesn't really benefit people to gatekeep games."
- Microsoft will continue to support the Xbox console because "obviously we make more on our own platform."
- The Xbox Pass subscription model will keep supporting shorter games from smaller dev teams, because "not every story is going to be 100 hours long."
Spencer Discusses Change In Xbox Exclusives To Reach A Wider Audience
Xbox Titles Will Be Available On More Platforms Moving Forward
The games spotlighted during the recent Xbox Direct would ordinarily have been Xbox exclusives but were announced to also be coming to PC and PlayStation consoles. According to Spencer, this was done as part of a push to be more "honest and transparent about where the games are showing." Players should know where they can get a hold of Xbox games, even if they aren't on the Xbox console.
This change reflects one of the biggest shifts Xbox is undergoing this year, by bringing its games to "every screen we can," says Spencer. "It doesn't really benefit people to gatekeep games," he adds, noting that it just doesn't make sense to keep games confined to single platforms where they're inaccessible to players who might not have an Xbox console.
Spencer claims that the industry has always been about the games, not the consoles, and about "storytellers of all sizes being able to tell their stories through the games that they create." Moving forward, Microsoft wants Xbox to be the console that enables this, even if means bringing their games to other consoles. "Restricting where the games can be played is not helping the games themselves," Spencer points out.
Microsoft Doesn't Plan To End Support For Xbox Consoles, Says Spencer
The Xbox Helps Support The Company As Well As Smaller Games
The shift away from Xbox exclusives doesn't mean that Microsoft plans to end support for its in-house console. "Obviously," says Spencer, "we make more on our own platform," so it makes sense to continue investing in the console from a business perspective. However, the company is no longer focused on trying to "move [gamers] all over to Xbox" and is instead aiming to bring its games to wherevers gamers already are. Part of this is bringing Xbox titles to the Switch, PlayStation, and other platforms, but it's also about continuing to support PC and cloud gaming.
During the interview, Spencer also spoke about using the Xbox Game Pass to help keep its game portfolio diverse. When asked about the recent open-world fatigue the industry seems to be suffering from, Spencer notes that "part of our reason to get a subscription going was to allow us to also support games that have a beginning, middle, and end." Xbox, according to Spencer, wants to continue supporting all kinds of games, whether they're large-scale projects or smaller indie titles.
"Not every story is going to be 100 hours long… and not every game is going to have some kind of mechanic that has a currency." — Phil Spencer
As the game industry continues to grow and evolve, it seems Microsoft is embracing the change and learning to move with the times. This change might be a win for gamers, since it means they'll no longer need to buy an Xbox console to play an Xbox "exclusive" title. As Spencer puts it, Microsoft wants to "just allow more people to play" and that's a win for everyone.
Source: XboxEra/YouTube
- Brand
- Xbox
- Original Release Date
- November 10, 2020
- Hardware Versions
- Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Series S
- Original MSRP (USD)
- Series X priced at US$499 and the Series S priced at US$299
- Weight
- 9.8 lb
