Xbox appears to be preparing to release its few quality exclusive titles on other platforms in the next few months, possibly announcing the move before the current fiscal year ends.
This is what an anonymous ZeniMax employee is claiming, as shared by @IdleSloth84_ on X.
The claims are backed by recent evidence about Hi-Fi Rush coming to competing platforms and Microsoft’s statement from last year about exploring partnerships with Nintendo and PlayStation.
https://twitter.com/IdleSloth84_/status/1753855912442253550
According to the leak, Sarah Bond, the current president of Xbox, will address the rumors of Xbox’s plans to release their games on multiple platforms in the near future this Spring. It’s presumed that this announcement is scheduled for March, right before the current fiscal year ends.
An even older leak suggests that Microsoft’s plans extend beyond just Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush. Instead, Xbox is reportedly reconsidering its entire release lineup, with ID Software’s next game no longer exclusive to the Xbox, among others.
Although it remains to be seen if the rumors are true, the strategy aligns with the statements by Microsoft, much to the dismay of gamers.
Exclusive titles are crucial to a platform’s success. Nintendo and Sony put a ton of effort into securing deals for exclusive games to help increase console sales. Xbox, despite spending a boatload of money on Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax Media, appear to be hellbent on shortchanging their own userbase.
Many are expressing their disappointment with the news. After all, if Xbox was always going to release a game on other platforms anyway, they could’ve just bought them instead and enjoy the exclusives on competing platforms.
It’s ironic that Xbox is forgetting what established the brand in the first place. The original Xbox went toe-to-toe with PlayStation 2 because it had exclusives. At the time, Microsoft signed exclusivity deals with third party studios and pushed their partner to support the platform. Halo, Gears of War, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Fable, and Shenmue 2 all defined the 2000s and they were exclusive to Xbox.
The biggest fear before Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard was that it could make Call of Duty exclusive. After signing that it wouldn’t do it, many believed that there’s no stopping Microsoft from hiding other lucrative titles behind a big green paywall, which is fine and all – more competition is always better for consumers. But it appears that Microsoft is its worst enemy. Its big exclusives haven’t been particularly impressive and the Game Pass is starting to lose its luster. Finally, the few exclusives worth getting an Xbox for are now possibly being released on other platforms.
At this point, it’s only fair to question what Xbox’s strategy is going forward if gamers are starting to run out of reasons to buy an Xbox Series S/X.
