Phil Spencer’s multiplatform promises take the shine off the Xbox showcase
Ambitions were high heading into June 9's Xbox showcase, and despite some uncertainty about what's going on behind the scenes of the Green Team, Phil Spencer wasted no time in rolling up his sleeves and proving the gaming giant still has plenty of tricks up there.
After Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest didn't give us too much in the way of announcements, it seems that all the big gaming news was being saved for the Xbox showcase. Revealing DOOM: The Dark Ages and Gears of War: E-Day, there was also a peek at Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and a brand-new Xbox.
Phil Spencer lays out multiplatform plans
Speaking to IGN, Spencer confirmed that more Xbox exclusives are heading to other platforms. This comes after Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded were all confirmed for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. The showcase confirmed that despite Bethesda now sitting under Microsoft, DOOM: The Dark Ages will also come to PS5.
As reported by The Verge's Tom Warren, the question of Xbox's multiplatform roadmap was an "elephant in the room" when it came to the interview. Laying out what comes next, Spencer told gamers, "Our commitment to our Xbox customers is you're going to get the opportunity to buy or subscribe to the game, and we're going to support the game on other screens.
"You are going to see more of our games on more platforms, and we just see that as a benefit to the franchises that we’re building, and we see that from players, and the players love to be able to play." It's something of a U-turn on what Spencer recently said about there being "no fundamental change" to the company's exclusivity plans.
Gamers are worried about the future of Xbox
While there's no denying that Sony could learn a thing or two about how to do a showcase following Xbox's all-star reveal, it's not quite what it seems. As memes flood the internet about Xbox being 'back' and Sony being 'cooked,' a massive number of the games announced at the showcase are also coming to PS5.
Responding to Spencer's interview, fans on X (formerly Twitter) were rightly sceptical. "In February he said just 4 games," said one. "Now he's hinting at more At this rate the whole slate could be ported eventually. If only Xbox would’ve waited a bit longer before starting this multiplatform strategy they would be unstoppable It's like after every W there has to be an L."
Another added, "Xbox’s goal is to expand beyond hardware and offer great games in as many places as possible. Sony is doing basically the opposite. They aren’t really playing the same game anymore," while a third joked, "Can't wait to play Halo on Android!"
Summing up the 'new' elephant in the room, someone else concluded, "It’s such an odd situation, they had their best showing in years and yet they are letting this huge shadow take away the limelight. They just need to tell people what to expect and the negativity goes away."
It's true that the likes of Gears of War: E-Day and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will remain tethered to the Xbox alongside plans for The Elder Scrolls 6, but we wonder for how long. Starfield is still locked onto Xbox, but with Spencer already shaking things up, we wouldn't be surprised to soon see it take flight on PS5.
