bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Microsoft on Thursday shook up the video game world with word it is making four once-exclusive Xbox video games available for play on rival consoles.
Xbox head Phil Spencer did not specify which titles were expanding beyond the Xbox, but tech news website The Verge, citing unnamed sources, said they will be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves and Grounded.
“I do have a fundamental belief that over the next five or 10 years, games that are exclusive to one piece of hardware are going to be a smaller and smaller part of the game industry,” Xbox head Phil Spencer said on the official Xbox podcast.
In deciding to take four games to other consoles, Xbox did not decide to change its “fundamental exclusive strategy”, Spencer said.
Hong Kong gamers forced out of eAsian Cup after China left off team name
“Four games, no promise beyond that,” he said.
“So if you’re on those other platforms and you see these four games coming, please don’t take it as some signal that everything’s coming. It’s not.”

The move comes as Microsoft looks to boost Xbox sales that have lagged those of Sony PlayStation consoles, and to ramp up revenue from subscriptions to its cloud gaming service.
By putting its weight behind software and subscriptions, Xbox could be trying to match the success of streaming giant Netflix, which upended the film and TV industry.
Microsoft makes Xbox consoles along with game software, with titles such as Halo exclusive to its hardware.
This is a major deal. When they started porting games to PC they said it would only be a few and now look at it
Reddit forum member
Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo have long competed to be the console of choice with exclusive blockbuster titles from their own studios or in deals with other game makers.
Outside studios, in contrast, typically seek to reach the broadest number of gamers with big-name titles playable on all consoles and Windows-powered computers (PCs).
“Why did Xbox wait one week and let their entire community have a meltdown if the only thing worth reporting was that four smallish titles are going to go multi-platform?” wrote a member of a Reddit forum devoted to the official Xbox podcast.

Another member of the forum argued this is just the start of Xbox games heading for PlayStation and other rivals.
“This is a major deal,” the forum member wrote. “When they started porting games to PC they said it would only be a few and now look at it.”
Mat Piscatella, executive director of video games at market tracker Circana, said Xbox is continuing a strategy of expanding access to titles, particularly those that make more money the bigger the online community of players.
If Microsoft-owned blockbusters such as Minecraft and Call of Duty remain playable on an array of platforms, freeing up small Xbox games in similar fashion is not industry-shaking, Piscatella said.
Microsoft cuts 1,900 Activision Blizzard staff, cancels new game
Video games have become cultural phenomenon on par with blockbuster films, raking in fortunes from legions of devoted fans whose ire can be fierce if play disappoints.
Spending on video game content, hardware and accessories in the United States reached US$57.2 billion in 2023, up just 1 per cent from the previous year, according to Circana.
Money spent on video game hardware was US$6.6 billion, essentially the same as in 2022, with PlayStation 5 sales offsetting declines of Xbox and Nintendo Switch purchases, Circana reported.
Hogwarts Legacy, which is available on multiple platforms, was the top-selling game of 2023 in the United States, Circana reported.
Will China’s video gaming industry return to having fun in 2024?
Since releasing the first PlayStation in 1994, Sony has grown into a titan of console gaming, with Microsoft’s Xbox emerging as its main challenger.
Revenue from subscriptions has grown with the trend of video games being played online with content and features routinely updated.
Sales from Xbox content and services was up 61 per cent in the final three months of 2023, driven mostly by Microsoft’s acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, according to quarterly earnings figures.
Microsoft launched its blockbuster takeover in January 2022, an acquisition that made it the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue.


Japan’s ancient art of swordsmithing finds new generation of fans through pop culture

How Seoul became the world’s esports capital and is using it as a key tourism strategy

Next level: why China’s game makers are quietly bankrolling generative AI

Incarnations of the word avatar – from visiting deity to sci-fi hit and online personality

Video gaming

Bought an Xbox for its exclusive games? Why that might have been a mistake after Phil Spencer’s podcast reveal

The cheaper Xbox Series S (in white) and Series X (black) make up Microsoft’s current generation of console hardware. But games once exclusive to the consoles are being made available for rivals such as Sony’s PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch. Photo: DPA

Sales from Xbox content and services was up 61 per cent in the final three months of 2023, driven mostly by Microsoft’s acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard. Photo: AP

Xbox head Phil Spencer speaks on stage at the Microsoft Xbox E3 2017 Briefing on June 11, 2017 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. Photo: AFP

The most anticipated game releases of 2024, from the latest versions of Prince of Persia, Final Fantasy, and Destiny, to Pacific Drive

A screen grab from “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”. Photo: Square Enix

The new GTA isn’t hitting the shelves this year, but don’t worry, there are plenty of exciting releases to make up for it, including “Pacific Drive”, “Final Fantasy VII” and “Destiny 2: The Final Shape” (above). Photo: Bungie

A screen grab from “The Last of Us Part II”. Photo: Sony Interactive Entertainment

A screen grab from “Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth”. Photo: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

A screen grab from “Pacific Drive”. Photo: Ironwood Studios

Sony highlights PS5 momentum as hardware sales top 50 million

PS5 sales were hampered by supply chain snarls earlier in its life cycle. Photo: Shutterstock

PS5 products displayed in a GameStop in New York, US, December 7, 2021. Photo: Reuters

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Gadgets

Four once-exclusive Xbox games are being made available on rival consoles, with reports saying they are Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves and Grounded
Xbox is continuing a strategy of expanding access to titles, particularly those that make more money the bigger the online community of players, an analyst says


Four once-exclusive Xbox games are being made available on rival consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Switch, with reports saying they are Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves and Grounded.


Microsoft

United States