Microsoft “Future of Xbox” Event Announced Amid Starfield PS5 Rumours

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has announced that the company will hold a “business update event” next week, to address its “vision for the future of Xbox”. This comes as rumours swirl that Microsoft, which now owns multiple high-profile gaming studios, will begin releasing some formerly exclusive Xbox and PC titles for rival Sony’s PlayStation 5 console. Starfield, one of Microsoft-owned Bethesda’s biggest releases in recent times, was the first subject of these rumours, and more recently, reports have suggested that the upcoming first-person adventure title Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will get the same treatment.  

There has been no indication yet of why Microsoft might be planning such moves, but console exclusivity and anticompetitive practices were points that Microsoft had to address as its acquisition of Activitision Blizzard made its way through various stages of regulatory approval before being finalised last year. In mid-2023, Microsoft and Sony signed a binding agreement to keep Activision’s blockbuster Call of Duty franchise available on the PlayStation platform for 10 years. Microsoft has a similar agreement in place with Nintendo.

Other games that are reportedly being considered for release for multiple competing platforms include the Gears of War series, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves. Reports in the gaming press suggest that not everyone at Microsoft is on board with this purported new strategy, and that multiple debates have taken place internally. 

Xbox product managers might also use the “business update event” next week to talk about Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service and when exclusive games will be available. It’s unlikely that new hardware will be discussed, despite other purported leaks in the recent past about a digital-only Xbox Series X console refresh and discontinuing physical media game sales altogether in the near future. The company is thought to have recently laid off workers responsible for physical media, as part of its estimated 1,900 job cuts aimed at eliminating redundancies across the Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard divisions.  

The changes could be part of a larger shift at Microsoft towards platform agnosticism. The software giant now offers its bread-and-butter Office suite for Android and iOS devices as well as a browser-based version that can run on any platform. More recently, the company embraced open-source software and even allows a Linux subsystem to run on Windows PCs.