The past couple of hours have been incredibly hectic for the videogame world. Over the past couple of weeks many rumors have been circulating a brand new strategy for the Microsoft team in order to adapt to the current climate. CEO of Microsoft gaming Phil Spencer admitted that there is no console war, and that Xbox simply cant catch up to Sony and Nintendo anymore back during the FTC trial, since then Microsoft has closed one of the biggest deals ever with Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, and has promised many new console exclusives coming to Xbox in the very near future.
In a surprising turn of events, the rumors in question are that Microsoft is looking to make their console exclusives multiplatform. The first of which will be one of last years game of the year nominees Hi-Fi Rush and Sea Of Thieves. The rumors for those two titles started circulating weeks ago, but today even more shocking news arrived when reports of Starfield looking to be released on PS5 sometime in the near future, alongside reports that Machine Games Indiana Jones And The Great Circle will be getting PlayStation release as well a couple months after its initial Xbox release. All these reports come from Tom Warren, Senior Editor at The Verge and reliable Microsoft Source.
There is a lot of freakout coming from Xbox fans, as they were seemingly promised a brand new age for the console, one that would finally see them as potential heavy hitters against PlayStation once again. But the reality is, this is a great way for Microsoft to expand the reach to other consoles and players. If these ideas do come to fruition, it is very likely that Microsoft will attempt to lure players to buying Xbox’s by having their titles released on third party consoles, with the idea of Game Pass being a huge contributor to that instead of having to pay the $70 price tag for most brand new titles. The question is how far is Microsoft willing to go with this new game plan. Could this be the beginning of the end for console exclusives? Could Microsoft really be the first to extend the olive branch and begin a new age of all consoles sharing their titles? Its hard to gauge but nonetheless this is exciting. I almost jokingly wrote back when the initial Hi-Fi Rush rumors were circling that one day we could potentially see Halo on the PlayStation, and today, thats not so far-fetched.