The past several weeks have been some apparently nervous ones for those whose online personas are devoted to Microsoft in general and Xbox in specific, as rumors about games spreading to platforms other than Xbox have sprung forth and statements from Phil Spencer keep console fans on edge.
Most of the kerfuffle can be drawn to late November, when Xbox CFO Tim Stuart mentioned in a Wells Fargo business summit that the platform wants to “bring [its] first-party experiences [and its] subscription services to every screen that can play games.” This was shortly followed up by Spencer clarifying that Xbox Game Pass wasn’t going multi-platform, but he didn’t address the “first-party experiences” portion of Stuart’s statement.
After that, rumors began to spring up about many exclusive titles heading toward different platforms, including Sea of Thieves making a move to both PS5 and Nintendo Switch, along with the upcoming Indiana Jones game, the single-player rhythm action title Hi-Fi Rush, and Bethesda’s sci-fi RPG Starfield for PS5.
With rumors – and gamer vitriol – beginning to bubble up, Spencer went to Twitter last week in an attempt to soothe the Xbox faithful, stating that the company hears the outcry and promising that there would be more details sometime next week. A week later, the official Xbox Twitter account confirmed when and where that news would be presented: during the Official Xbox Podcast on Thursday, February 15th, at 3:00 p.m. EST, when Spencer, Xbox president Sarah Bond, and Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty will “share updates on the Xbox business.”
What this podcast will showcase – and how it will showcase it – are still up in the air, but it looks as if we can be sure that making consoles will be part of the wider Xbox business. That’s according to reports from a Microsoft internal town hall, where Spencer told employees that the company is not going to give up on making consoles and that “Xboxes would continue to be part of a strategy that involves multiple kinds of devices.”
Please join us for a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast.
Hear from Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty as they share updates on the Xbox business. pic.twitter.com/TxwWJVUbgx
— Xbox (@Xbox) February 12, 2024
