Xbox boss Phil Spencer says hardline exclusives are a thing of the past

Xbox boss Phil Spencer says there are no more guarantees where the company’s first-party exclusives are concerned.

In an interview with Save State Plus, Spencer was asked to confirm whether Xbox Game Studios title Starfield will be “staying put” on Xbox for the time being. He offered a succinct “no” in response.

Expanding on his answer, Spencer said there’s no reason for him to put a “ring fence” around any Xbox Game Studios title.

“[I won’t] say this game will not go to a place where it will find players and have business success for us,” he added. “What we find is we’re able to drive a better business that allows us to invest in great game lineup like you saw–and that’s our strategy.”

Spencer said the company intends to make its games available across a variety of platforms to meet players on their terms. He noted Xbox Game Pass remains a key part of that plan, but emphasized that keeping titles off rival hardware isn’t an approach the company is pursuing.

“The world’s biggest games are available in multiple places, and more and more creators are asking us ‘how do we stay connected when our game might be playable on all of these different places?’ We want Xbox to be absolutely the platform that enables that,” continued Spencer.

“We think that makes us unique. Most of the other platforms out there are single platform on single device-whether that’s PC, whether that’s mobile, whether that’s a console–and we want Xbox to be a platform that enables creators across any screen that people want to play on.”

Microsoft isn’t sold on the benefits of platform exclusivity

Microsoft has already brought first-party titles such as Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and Sea of Thieves to rival platforms including Switch and PlayStation. Last year, the company also confirmed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is heading to PlayStation 5.

The decision to bypass the once impenetrable console exclusivity barrier comes after Microsoft spent billions acquiring major studios including Activision Blizzard and Bethesda, both of which have a history of releasing multiplatform titles. The latest Call of Duty title-the first to release under Microsoft–also launched on PlayStation 5.

The pivot also comes with Xbox hardware revenue in decline. Microsoft, however, says its Xbox business isn’t reliant on console sales and feels initiatives such as Xbox Game Pass can “attract gamers across a variety of different end-points.”

“We’ve seen new devices from third-party manufacturers along with key PC and mobile end points that help us empower gamers to play in a way that is most convenient to them,” read a snippet from the company’s full-year report.

“We are focused on growing the platform and expanding to new ecosystems to engage as many gamers as possible.”

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