The expansion of Microsoft’s gaming sector relies heavily on the presence of Sony and Nintendo consoles. For the Xbox brand to grow and thrive, it requires broad audience engagement. Mike Ibarra, the ex-Blizzard Entertainment chief, shared these insights on his personal blog.
Ibarra noted that Microsoft’s gaming strategy has evolved past the conventional role of platform holders. Particularly after acquiring Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, the company’s gaming division has grown significantly. Given this scale, focusing solely on Xbox exclusives is no longer feasible, prompting the expansion of its market reach, a move that Ibarra believes fans should understand and support.
“You need to put emotions aside and focus on developers, players and the business itself. All this requires difficult decisions. Given the size of Microsoft’s gaming division, it must be understood that it can no longer exist without a presence on all available platforms. Such dynamics will affect the audience itself, so you just need to accept that this is their plan.
I really enjoyed their last presentation, and I love the strategy that Phil Spencer talks about. As he said in an interview, more and more Microsoft games will be released on other platforms. Obviously, he’s talking about PlayStation and Nintendo,” wrote Mike Ibarra, who worked at Xbox for many years.
Xbox CEO Phil Spencer: “You’ll see more of our games on a wide variety of platforms in the future”
In response to the announcements of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and DOOM: The Dark Ages for PlayStation 5, Phil Spencer confirmed that Microsoft will persist in releasing its games beyond the Xbox ecosystem.
While not all projects will transition to multiplatform, the frequency of such releases is expected to rise. The executive elaborated that this strategy would enable the company to more vigorously cultivate its diverse franchises.
“In the future, you’ll see even bigger games on a wide variety of platforms. For us, this seems to be an opportunity to develop certain franchises more effectively,” said Phil Spencer.
Currently, the release of specific games beyond the Xbox platform is determined individually. For instance, DOOM: The Dark Ages is set to launch on PlayStation 5 concurrently with its premiere, whereas the action-adventure game Indiana Jones and The Great Circle has been announced exclusively for Xbox Series X|S and PC.
