Focusing on its platform first and foremost
Don’t expect to see more Xbox first-party games on other consoles anytime soon. Or, at least that’s the story that Microsoft is sticking to.
A day after announcing Ori and the Blind Forest is coming to Switch, Microsoft insists it’s stepping back and focusing on its own platform. In a statement to gamesindustry.biz, Microsoft says “We have no plans to further expand our exclusive first-party games to other consoles. We continue to believe deeply in cross play and progression of games with the right flexibility for developers to insure a fair and fun experience.”
However, that doesn’t mean old plans are scrapped. Microsoft addressed the way its Xbox division has been aggressively snatching up studios. “The past year has been an exciting time for us as we have more than doubled the internal creative teams making up Xbox Game Studios. As these new studios transitioned in, we were aware of some existing commitments to other platforms and will honor them. However, going forward these new studios will focus on making games for our platforms.”
It seems as though Microsoft’s attention will be aimed solely at PC and Xbox One. It makes plenty of sense to focus on your own platforms. But, that means the cute relationship between Nintendo and Xbox was probably nothing more than a summer fling.
Microsoft has “no plans” to release more Xbox exclusives on PS4 or Nintendo Switch [gamesindustry.biz]
