SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft made headlines on Feb 15 when it announced that some once-exclusive Xbox games will now be available for play on rival consoles.
While Xbox head Phil Spencer didn’t specify which titles were expanding beyond the Xbox, the Verge, citing unnamed sources, said they will include Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea Of Thieves and Grounded.
Spencer mentioned, “I do have a fundamental belief that over the next five or 10 years, games that are exclusive to one piece of hardware are going to be a smaller and smaller part of the game industry.”
Despite bringing four games to other consoles, Spencer clarified that Xbox has no plans to change its “fundamental exclusive strategy”.
“Four games, no promise beyond that. So if you’re on those other platforms, and you see these four games coming, please don’t take it as some signal that everything’s coming. It’s not,” he added.
Microsoft is looking to boost Xbox sales and increase revenue from subscriptions to its cloud gaming service.
By focusing on software and subscriptions, Xbox could be aiming to mirror the success of streaming giant Netflix which disrupted the film and TV industry.
Microsoft is known for making Xbox consoles and game software, with popular titles such as hit Halo being exclusive to its hardware.
For years, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo have competed for exclusive blockbuster titles and deals with other game makers, while outside studios sought to reach the broadest number of gamers with big-name titles playable on all consoles and Windows-powered computers.
Everlasting online games
Video games have become a cultural phenomenon, amassing legions of devoted fans and making fortunes. Xbox diehards may be alarmed by the end of exclusivity for some of the console’s biggest games, reminiscent of Sega’s departure from console making in the early 2000s.
In 2023, spending on video game content, hardware, and accessories in the United States reached US$57.2bil (RM273.44bil), up just 1% from the previous year, according to market tracker Circana.
Revenue from subscriptions has grown with the growing trend of video games being played online with content and features routinely updated.
Sales from Xbox content and services was up 61% in the final three months of last year, driven mostly by Microsoft’s acquisition of Call Of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, according to quarterly earnings figures.
Microsoft’s blockbuster takeover in January 2022 made it the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue.
In January, Microsoft announced that it would be laying off 1,900 employees, or 8% of staff, from its gaming division as part of the consolidation of the blockbuster buyout. Spencer, said in a memo to employees that the company was committed to finding a “sustainable cost structure” to grow the gaming business. – AFP
