UPDATE: Updates on the Xbox Business | Official Xbox Podcast - YouTube
The short answer is a definitive "no."
What Might Be The Reasons Behind Xbox's Supposed Decision To Go Third-Party Instead of Doubling Down on Exclusives? - The SportsRush
Xbox going third-party and stepping away from hardware, says insider (gamingbible.com)
If Microsoft Gives ‘Starfield’ To PlayStation, What Does Xbox Become? (forbes.com)
Is Xbox Game Studios going to become a third-party publisher? Let’s predict the future | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)
The last few weeks have had insiders dishing information out to news outlets what they've heard as an initiative towards Microsoft making their Xbox brand a third party focused endeavor. Given the state of exclusive games and experiences since the Xbox Series family of systems have released, as well as how poorly the Xbox One family of systems did in the last generation, it wouldn't surprise me if they decide to ditch everything and focus on things like XCloud and Game Pass. This is all hearsay with assumptions from insiders based on what they've been hearing and absorbing, however today the head of Xbox Phil Spencer sent out a tweet saying they plan on addressing everything next week:
(1) Phil Spencer on X: "We're listening and we hear you. We've been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned." / X (twitter.com)
What do you think this could mean? Going third party is one thing, but do you think they're going to drop their platform completely? No more achievements for your Xbox account? Will the Microsoft Store games be rendered useless as they turn to focus on Steam and other PC platforms? We'll potentially find out next week, but I love to speculate.
If they dip out and only publish games to other platforms, things will really have come full circle. Nintendo will be vetted once again against a four-letter S-named company and the two will vie for titles from third party publishers. But the landscape is way different these days, and PC gaming isn't as different of a landscape from console gaming as it was a decade or more ago. With something like the Steam Deck, PC gaming is almost on parity as a gaming device you can just take out of the box and play like consoles do. Xbox already felt like they were just becoming a PC platform with a box for those that wanted the console-like simplicity, but with the lines blurred between PC and console gaming as they are these days, perhaps Microsoft just doesn't see the need for a dedicated box - and would instead leverage the other existing boxes for the brands and IPs they've acquired in the last 5+ years.
The short answer is a definitive "no."
What Might Be The Reasons Behind Xbox's Supposed Decision To Go Third-Party Instead of Doubling Down on Exclusives? - The SportsRush
Xbox going third-party and stepping away from hardware, says insider (gamingbible.com)
If Microsoft Gives ‘Starfield’ To PlayStation, What Does Xbox Become? (forbes.com)
Is Xbox Game Studios going to become a third-party publisher? Let’s predict the future | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)
The last few weeks have had insiders dishing information out to news outlets what they've heard as an initiative towards Microsoft making their Xbox brand a third party focused endeavor. Given the state of exclusive games and experiences since the Xbox Series family of systems have released, as well as how poorly the Xbox One family of systems did in the last generation, it wouldn't surprise me if they decide to ditch everything and focus on things like XCloud and Game Pass. This is all hearsay with assumptions from insiders based on what they've been hearing and absorbing, however today the head of Xbox Phil Spencer sent out a tweet saying they plan on addressing everything next week:
(1) Phil Spencer on X: "We're listening and we hear you. We've been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned." / X (twitter.com)
What do you think this could mean? Going third party is one thing, but do you think they're going to drop their platform completely? No more achievements for your Xbox account? Will the Microsoft Store games be rendered useless as they turn to focus on Steam and other PC platforms? We'll potentially find out next week, but I love to speculate.
If they dip out and only publish games to other platforms, things will really have come full circle. Nintendo will be vetted once again against a four-letter S-named company and the two will vie for titles from third party publishers. But the landscape is way different these days, and PC gaming isn't as different of a landscape from console gaming as it was a decade or more ago. With something like the Steam Deck, PC gaming is almost on parity as a gaming device you can just take out of the box and play like consoles do. Xbox already felt like they were just becoming a PC platform with a box for those that wanted the console-like simplicity, but with the lines blurred between PC and console gaming as they are these days, perhaps Microsoft just doesn't see the need for a dedicated box - and would instead leverage the other existing boxes for the brands and IPs they've acquired in the last 5+ years.
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