Jez Corden had the pleasure of talking to the head of Microsoft Gaming and at the very beginning of the conversation a question arose – Can Xbox Game Pass come to PlayStation and Nintendo devices? Phil Spencer stressed that this was not an option.
Let me start by saying that we have no plans to introduce Game Pass on PlayStation or Nintendo. This is not in our plans. But I think you’ve hit the nail on the head of “what it means to own an Xbox.” I want to focus on how do we continue to innovate for the people who have chosen our hardware platform? And how to make them still feel good about their investment in what we’ve built. Of course, I will have my own point of view on our equipment. But I think our hardware teams have done a great job with Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, bringing value and performance to the line of devices. When I think about investments in things like Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming, cross play, cross save and ID@Xbox – I want us to continue to innovate so that the people who use our console feel that we are investing in a console that matches their engagement. Game Pass was one of the things that we built over the last five years and continue to build, it’s on PC, it’s in the cloud. It’s an important part of Xbox’s identity. And I think it will stay that way. We will also continue to look for future ways to innovate across our gaming portfolio and platform
The Windows Central journalist also touched on the Xbox Game Pass family plan – Microsoft wants to offer this proposition:
Yes, there is a schedule for the Xbox Family plan. We bring it to market to learn. It’s important for us, and for everyone, to understand that Game Pass is primarily powered by content from our partners. Yes, we are introducing our first-party games and I think that is an important part of our equation. But we also need to continue to build a service that also works for creators heading to Xbox Game Pass. So we carry out tests, look at what is happening on the market, and share this data with our partners. We need to develop a value proposition for creators and players so that it is mutually beneficial. We were able to achieve this thanks to the structure of Game Pass. We will continue to look for ways to provide value to more customers while continuing to make it a great service for creators
As you can see, players don’t have to worry that Xbox will suddenly become a third-party company and start offering its games to competitors. Microsoft spent billions on taking over the corporation and now wants to use developers to create exclusive games and the titles will be released on Xbox, PC and Xbox Game Pass.
I encourage you to read the entire interviewin which Phil Spencer also mentions hardware innovations and discusses the return of some Activision Blizzard IPs.
