Phil Spencer explains why Xbox’s Indiana Jones is not an exclusive

With the news that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle won't be exclusive to Xbox, Microsoft Gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, has a few questions to answer. The explanation behind the decision to bring the game to PS5 is pretty simple – more sales. 

After titles like Halo Infinite and Starfield failed to move the needle for Xbox hardware sales this generation, Microsoft has been exploring a new multi-platform strategy. This kicked off earlier this year, with the release of Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded and Pentiment on PS5. Now, the strategy is extending to some of Microsoft's bigger titles, starting with Indiana Jones.

During the Xbox @ Gamescom broadcast this week, Phil Spencer brought up the multiplatform situation, saying: “We run a business, and that's definitely true inside of Microsoft. The bar is high for us in terms of the delivery we have to give back to the company, because we get a level of support from the company”.

Reading between the lines, it seems that at this stage, Microsoft has invested so much money into Xbox through studio acquisitions, that it needs to begin delivering on that investment. As Xbox consoles aren't exactly booming, they need to find those customers elsewhere, which means we will see more Xbox games on PS5.

This is very in-line with the policies put into place by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, back when he first took over the company. Microsoft doubled down on software and ditched hardware projects like Windows Phone, instead choosing to supply software and services on platforms like Android and iOS to ‘meet customers where they are'. A similar trend is now happening with Xbox. Tens of billions of dollars have been funnelled into Microsoft's gaming division over the past five years, and that comes with the expectation of sales growth, even if it means sacrifices.

Phil Spencer added that “there's a lot of pressure on the industry” right now, so he expects other publishers to begin changing up  “some of the traditional ways that games are built and distributed”.

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KitGuru Says: Do you think Xbox consoles have much of a future, or do you think Xbox will transition into being a games publishing force after this current generation? 

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