Xbox will continue making consoles going forward, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has allegedly told Microsoft employees.
After various reports about Microsoft going third-party, Phil Spencer announced an Xbox “business update” last week, in which details about the future of the brand will be shared. Rumors suggested that major Xbox franchises, including Halo, Gears of War, but also Starfield, the upcoming Indiana Jones, and Hi-Fi Rush would come to rival platforms. Some even suggested that Xbox would be going the Sega route where it would exit the console-making business. To make things even more confusing for fans, the Starfield coming to PlayStation story was debunked yesterday by the same leaker who initially fueled these rumors.
“We’re listening and we hear you”, Spencer wrote on X, responding to community backlash. “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.”
At this point, we’re not entirely sure what Phil Spencer and Xbox will be sharing next week,but apparently, an exit from the console-making business is not on the table. At least, that’s what usually well-informed reporter Shannon Liao writes on her blog. According to Liao, Microsoft held an internal townhall meeting last Tuesday where Phil Spencer assured employees that Xbox would keep making consoles going forward as part of a multi-device strategy. “The company held an internal Tuesday townhall where Spencer told employees that there were no plans to stop making consoles, and that Xboxes would continue to be part of a strategy that involves multiple kinds of devices”, the reporter writes on her blog. “Xbox did not immediately return a request for comment.”
good evening! here’s your weekly games journalism industry newsletter, as promised. link? why, you’ll have to do some digging to find that (it’s my full name dot s*bst*ck dot com) pic.twitter.com/cDwbjV1oIu
— Shannon Liao (@Shannon_Liao) February 9, 2024
Interestingly enough, there’s no mention of Spencer addressing community concerns over former Xbox exclusives coming to Nintendo and PlayStation platforms.
Amid the Xbox going third-party rumors last week, there have also been rumors about Microsoft planning to release its next-generation Xbox in two different SKUs – a traditional home console and a dockable handheld. Whether this rumor is credible remains to be seen, but last week, known YouTuber ‘Moore’s Law is Dead’ claimed that Microsoft’s next console might very well release later than Sony’s PS6 as no contract with AMD was signed up until last month.
We’ll update you as soon as we learn more about Xbox’s plans for the future. What are your thoughts on this? Discuss down below.
