February 12th 2024.
It is safe to say that Xbox has not handled this crisis in the best way. Despite rumors surfacing over a month ago about Xbox planning to make their exclusives available on multiple platforms, Microsoft has yet to make an official statement on the matter. This has caused quite a stir in the gaming community, with fans eagerly waiting for some kind of clarification from the company.
Recently, Xbox boss Phil Spencer promised a "business update event" sometime this week, but no specific date has been given. However, according to sources within the company, Spencer reassured Xbox employees that Microsoft is not giving up on making consoles. While the report is brief, it does mention Spencer stating that Xboxes will continue to be a part of their overall strategy, which involves multiple devices.
This news was apparently shared during an internal "townhall" meeting on Tuesday, but the only source to report it was journalist Shannon Liao from Inverse. Surprisingly, the news was only mentioned briefly in a newsletter and there was no mention of what else Spencer may have discussed, including the highly anticipated topic of multiformat games.
The idea of Xbox giving up on consoles seemed unlikely from the beginning, and other sources have also claimed that Microsoft has plans for new hardware, possibly even a next generation launch in 2026. However, according to Nick Baker from XboxEra, the new console will be designed by the Surface team, as the lead developer for the current Xbox consoles, Jason Ronald, has been replaced.
This information was leaked during a court case last year, but it is important to note that whatever Phil Spencer may have said during the internal meeting on Tuesday may not necessarily still be valid. This is because there is reportedly a lot of disagreement within Microsoft about which direction to take, which could explain why there has been no official statement yet.
Over the weekend, several sources shared their thoughts on the situation, including Jez Corden from Windows Central who suggested that the business update was planned since last summer but has been expedited due to the leaks. However, Corden later deleted his tweet and implied that he would not be posting on Twitter for a while.
Another source, Tom Henderson, who has not been involved in the drama before, stated that existing first-party exclusives will not be coming to PlayStation 5, but all future ones will. He also deleted his tweet and replaced it with a message about all options being considered and discussed.
There has also been confusion surrounding the highly anticipated game Starfield, with Nate The Hate, who first broke the rumors about multiformat games, now claiming that he was mistaken and that Starfield will not be coming to PlayStation 5. However, he still believes that other games, beyond just Hi-Fi Rush and Sea Of Thieves, will be going multiformat, which aligns with what Tom Henderson heard.
Tom Warren from The Verge also agrees that there is at least one major title coming to PlayStation that has not yet been mentioned. Overall, the situation is a complete mess with multiple sources constantly changing their stories, possibly in response to Microsoft's own changing plans.
What is currently believed to be the most accurate is that Hi-Fi Rush and Sea Of Thieves, along with other Xbox exclusives, will be available on multiple platforms, and Microsoft is not giving up on making consoles. However, the longer Microsoft waits to make a public statement, the more confusing the situation will become. There is currently no timeline for when they will address the issue, but hopefully, they will do so soon before the confusion gets out of hand.
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