Four Xbox games are officially making their way to other video game consoles. News comes via the highly anticipated Xbox Business Update Podcast starring Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty, viewable on the official Xbox YouTube channel. In a move that won’t send as many ripples through the gaming industry as initially thought, you can expect to see a few games from Xbox Game Studios start to make their way to Nintendo and PlayStation consoles, though this could be seen as just a test period with no determination if more will come in the future.
What Xbox games are coming to PS5 and Switch?
Phil Spencer said that he cannot specifically talk about the four games coming to other platforms, but that Starfield and Indiana Jones are not included. All of the games are over a year old, described as smaller titles, and community-driven games that have hit their limit on the Xbox platform. Sea of Thieves definitely fits that community aspect while Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment fit the “smaller” initiatives. As to what the fourth could be, Grounded makes a lot of sense in this space. Reminder that none of these games have been confirmed for other consoles yet.
Other podcast tidbits
Game Pass is a huge component of what drives people to Xbox. Sarah Bond did share that Diablo 4 is the first Activision Blizzard game coming to Game Pass on March 28. She also confirmed that Xbox hardware is still a focus the company is going to invest on in the future, calling the next console the “the largest technical leap in a hardware generation.” These investments to bring games and Game Pass to more screens and platforms is a way to grow their reach, not leave behind the Xbox console.
Xbox has found itself in a difficult position for the past two generations as it lags behind its competition in both hardware and software sales. There is a growing need for change due to the current business model being unsustainable in the long term, which has led to initiatives such as Game Pass. We think the Xbox Business Update news to move away from more exclusive games will be a positive one for everyone involved in the long run. Giving more people a chance to play amazing games like Hi-Fi Rush is only a good thing. Hopefully, Sony and Nintendo could consider this change as well, though it is unlikely at this moment.
