Phil Spencer promises response to Xbox games on PlayStation rumors

But not for a while

Xbox head Phil Spencer said on Twitter that he and his team have a response to the Xbox games on PlayStation and PC rumors – but they aren’t ready to issue it just yet. Spencer made the comments almost a day after an unverified report from XboxEra suggested Microsoft plans to release Starfield on PS5 and may bring Indiana Jones and other exclusives to non-Xbox platforms as well.

“We're listening and we hear you,” Spencer said in the tweet. “We've been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned.”

The report from XboxEra was only the latest in a series of similar purported leaks that suggested Xbox planned to release Hi-Fi Rush on Nintendo Switch.

We're listening and we hear you. We've been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 5, 2024

Speculation for the rationale behind this potential shift ranges from the belief that Xbox is abandoning hardware to the idea that lower Game Pass revenue and console sell-through is forcing Xbox into a corner.

Whatever Xbox’s decision and the reason behind it, the situation is complicated. In 2023, Spencer told GLHF during a roundtable press event that Xbox is “millions of consoles” ahead of where they were in the 360 era, widely considered Xbox’s most prosperous period, though that success comes at a cost. Spencer said in 2022 that Xbox sells every console at a loss between $100 and $200.

During the same 2023 press event, head of Xbox Studios Matt Booty told GLHF that the company measures success by how many people are playing Xbox games – not by how many consoles it sells. Those metrics are what made Xbox’s Bethesda and Activision acquisitions important, as they were a way to bring millions of new players into the Xbox ecosystem.

Whatever the case and the factors comprising it may be, it’s evident change is on the horizon for Xbox.

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