On Thursday, management of Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division shared a to update their plans regarding the platform it goes forward. And surprise! It wasn’t so much a paradigm shift internet catastrophists predicted. Yes, some Xbox games will go multiplatform – we don’t know which ones yet. Likes big ticket tents Starfield and Indiana Jones it definitely won’t happen. But the biggest surprise of the 22-minute conversation between Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, Matt Booty and Tina Amini was that the conversation turned into a device.
Despite persistent rumors that Microsoft is pulling out of the console game, executives say that’s definitely not the case. One blog posted on Xbox Wire At the time of the podcast’s drop, Xbox’s Jeff Rubenstein wrote, “Xbox consoles will continue to deliver a cutting-edge experience for gamers; where you get the best value and convenience, Game Pass provides unprecedented access to an ever-growing library of games. To be clear: Game Pass will continue to be available only on Xbox platforms.”
So, no, Xbox isn’t leaving console gaming. In fact, the team is planning some major hardware announcements for the upcoming holiday season. Like their rivals at Sony, they are focusing on the next generation of hardware.
“We have some exciting stuff in gear to share this holiday,” said Sarah Bond. “We have also invested in the next generation roadmap. What we’re really focused on there is delivering the biggest technical leap you’ve ever seen in a generation of hardware.”
You can check out the updates on the Xbox business podcast episode in full below. The hardware discussion, albeit briefly, begins at the 17:41 timestamp.
Towards the bottom Xbox Wire post, says being part of the community means a “robust and innovative multi-year hardware roadmap.” That might explain why Phil Spencer is the way he is I liked all the fan tweets about handheld devices lately. The wording on this particular line of the post is a bit more interesting: “Xbox gamers should be confident in building your own games. digital library in the Xbox ecosystem.” (Italics mine.) This lends some credence to recent reports about some retailers Xbox is phasing out physical copies of gamesand future iterations of Series X console will be digital only.