Xbox Isn’t Trying to “Move” Everyone to Their Consoles Anymore

It’s been about a year since Xbox announced plans to bring more of the company’s games to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. That decision has allowed much larger audiences to play Xbox produced games like Sea of Thieves and Grounded, but it’s also been a double edged sword. Fans continue to question whether the decision is good for the Xbox brand, and if it will inevitably lead to Microsoft’s departure from console gaming. In a new interview with the XboxEra podcast, Xbox boss Phil Spencer reiterated that the company’s priorities have shifted away from the console wars of the past.

“I’m not trying to move them all over to Xbox anymore. We’re all so invested in where our games are, let’s just allow more people to play,” said Spencer. “And yes, the 70% that we make on games on other platforms is helpful to us being able to build great portfolios, like we showed at Developer Direct, and I hope this will continue to show through the rest of the year.”

The 70% figure Spencer is referring to is Microsoft’s profit percentage after Sony takes 30% for the game being on PS5. Basically, Microsoft makes significantly less money when it sells a game on a competitor’s system than it would if that same game was sold on an Xbox One or Xbox Series X. There’s a debate to be had about whether or not that loss is worth it; games like Grounded and Sea of Thieves are selling very well on PS5, and those sales are unlikely to cut into profits on Xbox since the games were already available on the latter for a long time. Things get a bit more complicated when it comes to more recent games, such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

There are already rumors about a new Xbox console in development, so it doesn’t look like Microsoft will be getting out of the console space anytime soon. However, the question on everyone’s mind is whether Microsoft is taking away a consumer’s incentive to buy an Xbox. Right now, Spencer is focused on making the most money possible for Microsoft, so they can take that money and invest it back into game development. As Spencer indicated, Xbox had a well-regarded Developer Direct in January, and the company has a very strong 2025 lineup; games like Avowed and Doom: The Dark Ages should sell well regardless of platform.

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While a lack of exclusives could convince gamers to buy a PS5 or Nintendo Switch 2 instead, Spencer still hopes that there are incentives to play Xbox games on Xbox platforms. He told XboxEra that there are still things that the company can’t take advantage of on a competitor’s platform. Spencer specifically mentions cloud gaming, and hints about Xbox Game Pass, as well. While passionate Xbox fans might not like it, the company is using its game sales on Nintendo and PlayStation to further invest in development.

“There’s certain things we can’t do on the other closed platforms that we can do on open platforms, clouds, but games should be the thing that we’re focused on. This strategy that we have allows us to do big games, while also supporting our native platform from the hardware to the platform and services that we have, and that’s going to be our approach.”

How do you feel about Xbox’s multiplatform strategy? Have you bought Xbox developed games on PS5 or Switch? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

[H/T: Video Games Chronicle]