Microsoft is shaking things up of late by bringing more of its first-party games to rival platforms like PS5 and Nintendo Switch. This multiplatform release strategy is good for people who like games and helps Microsoft’s own studios by extending any given game’s reach, according to Head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan.
“I think it’s good for gamers, I think it’s good for our studios,” Duncan said on the official Xbox podcast. “Our studios make amazing games, and we want to give those games the chance to reach the broadest audience possible.”
This lines up with what Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said recently when asked about Microsoft’s new approach of launching its own games on rival platforms. “It doesn’t really benefit people to gatekeep games. Restricting where games can be played is not helping the games themselves,” he said.
Duncan was previously the studio head at Rare, and he said bringing Sea of Thieves to PS5 was a good move for Rare and the game because it removed barriers and allowed a bigger group of people to play together via cross-play. Forza Horizon 5 is also coming to PS5 this spring, alongside Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. “I just think it’s good for gamers, it’s good to have our games reach more places,” Duncan said.
Duncan went on to say every developer making a game hopes it can find the largest possible audience, and bringing Xbox games to rival systems is a way to help do that. “I love that we can give that opportunity,” he said.
Xbox games coming to more platforms will also help Xbox make more money, and that’s part of the equation as well. Spencer said this plainly before, stating that while Microsoft only makes 70% of the revenue from one of its games sold on PS5 with Sony taking its 30% cut, that’s money that it might not make otherwise. Microsoft then takes that money and uses it to make more Xbox games, Spencer said.
Microsoft’s multiplatform release strategy varies by game. Starfield, for example, launched exclusively for console and has not come to PS5 as of yet, whereas Indiana Jones and the Great Circle debuted in December 2024 for Xbox and comes to PS5 this spring. Doom: The Dark Ages, meanwhile, will launch on Xbox and PlayStation at the same time this May.
