According to several sources, Microsoft plans to release several of its Xbox exclusives on PS5 by the end of the year. We talk in particular about Starfield, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and HiFi Rush. If these rumors are true, it would be a real earthquake in the industry, which until now has been very attached to its exclusives.
In 2024, Microsoft seems determined to shake up old habits in the video game industry. After its historic takeover of Activision-Blizzard, the firm now wants to tackle physical games. But it could go further. According to several rumors, it is the very concept of exclusives that would be in the sights of the Redmond firm.
For years, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have had the habit of releasing certain games only on their respective consoles. The strategy couldn’t be simpler: by releasing critically and popularly acclaimed games on a single console, sales of the latter increase – and fuel a concept that has generated a lot of ink in recent years: war consoles.
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Microsoft could soon release its biggest cartridges on PS5
Very present (and noisy) at the beginning of the 2010s, this concept has somewhat disappeared in recent years, thanks in part to Microsoft’s omnipresent discourse on its desire to bring its games to as many players as possible. It is therefore possible that the company will soon take the next step. Indeed, several media outlets are now claiming that some of the biggest Xbox exclusives will soon no longer be able to be designated as such.
It all started on the XboxEra site, which confirmed yesterday that Starfield could be released this year on PS5. If this is the case, it is nothing more and nothing less than a small revolution. Despite its mixed critical success, Starfield is without a doubt the biggest Xbox game of 2023, which has been a hit for Game Pass and the branch’s financial results. According to XboxEra, the PS5 release would take place after the launch of the first DLC.
But it doesn’t stop there. According to The Verge, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be entitled to the same treatment by next year. Here again, this is the next big cartridge from Bethesda, therefore from Xbox studios. Finally, on Windows Central, we find similar echoes about Sea of Thieves. Note also that a few days ago, data mining of HiFi Rush, one of the most popular independent games in 2023 on Xbox, revealed several clues of an upcoming release on PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
Why Microsoft would want to end Xbox exclusives
In short, the rumors are starting to pile up, especially since they arrive more or less at the same time. Enough to seriously consider the possibility that Microsoft will simply put an end to its exclusivity strategy. But then, what’s the point for the publisher to do without one of the main selling points of the Xbox Series X? In truth, several reasons can explain this turnaround.
Firstly, the latter would be a continuation of Microsoft’s message: bringing video games to as many players as possible. This new strategy would reinforce Microsoft’s “good guy” image in the industry, which will not hurt it after having laid off 1,900 people from its gaming division at the start of 2024. That’s for show. Internally, the interest would be as radical as it is obvious: to increase sales of Xbox Studios games.
If Microsoft has never been the biggest seller of consoles, the latest generation has only reinforced this gap. There is therefore only one step to take before comparing Microsoft to Sega, which withdrew from the console market after the failure of the Dreamcast to become a “simple” publisher. It is still far too early to say that this is Microsoft’s real plan. One thing is certain, however: the strategy is not without meaning.
After all, Microsoft could move closer to Sony’s strategy, which consists of releasing its premium games only on PS5, especially not day one in PlayStation Plus (unlike Xbox Game Pass) before offering a PC port. Players will therefore always have a reason to buy an Xbox or a Game Pass subscription – to quickly play big releases – and Microsoft would ensure better sales thanks to multiplatform. Remember that Microsoft already wants to launch its Game Pass on Nintendo Switch. At this point, anything is possible. Even the end of the console wars.