Microsoft’s Phil Spencer went from being somewhat of an Xbox hero to villain in the eyes of some fans as the company announced its multiplatform strategy earlier this year. Although Microsoft’s communication hasn’t been great, Spencer has reiterated Xbox’s multiplatform plans over and over, yet fans continue to take his comments out of context. Debate surrounding last night’s Indiana Jones PS5 announcement was no exception.
Fact-checking Microsoft’s recent statements on Xbox games going multiplatform
We’re going to stick to Microsoft’s more recent statements because Xbox is a fundamentally different business than it was just a year ago.
“So, we made the decision that we are going to take four games to the other consoles. Just four games,” Spencer said in February. “Not a change to our fundamental exclusive strategy. We’re making this decision for specific reasons.”
Fans interpreted the above as Spencer pledging that only four games (Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Grounded, and Sea of Thieves) will ever make their way to PlayStation. What they missed were Spencer’s comments that followed the statement above, where he elaborates that Microsoft has to make decisions with Xbox’s “long-term health” in mind.
Could Spencer have worded his statement better? Perhaps. But I’m not seeing where he said “only” four games “ever.”
Spencer was then specifically asked if Starfield or Indiana Jones were headed to PS5, and in a carefully-worded response, he said they weren’t. And of course, that statement has been misinterpreted as well. So let’s look at the context.
Spencer wasn’t the one who mentioned Starfield or Indiana Jones. In fact, he was roped into answering a question about these games. There was no announcement to be made at the time, so he understandably responded by what’s been quoted in the screenshot above.
That very day, Spencer said in a statement to The Verge, “I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform.”
I don’t expect to not see fanboy meltdowns every time an Xbox game is announced for the PS5, but pretending Microsoft hasn’t made its multiplatform strategy clear at this point is baffling.
After all, it wasn’t long ago that the company announced in its own advertisement (pictured above) that players no longer need Xbox consoles to play Xbox games.
