Microsoft is keen to hear from developers who are opting to release their games on the PS5 but not on the Xbox Series X|S. The company is overhauling its ‘Xbox Research’ division, which was originally focused on player experiences. Now, it wants to talk to the people behind games, and “address pain points.”
Microsoft says devs using PS5 will offer a ‘great perspective’ to the Xbox team
Over the last year or so, an increasing amount of devs have become vocal about the challenges that Xbox Series S development poses, which they don’t have an option to escape because Microsoft mandates game releases on both the Series X and the inferior Series S.
There were also at least two cases over the last few months alone of devs publicly announcing that they are skipping Xbox because of Microsoft’s communication — or lack thereof — with smaller studios. With games either skipping Xbox entirely or being delayed on the platform, a common misconception is that Sony’s “moneyhatting” everything behind the scenes. But conspiracy theories only go so far, and perhaps, Microsoft sees the damage it’s causing.
“If you aren’t on Xbox, we’d love to know why,” reads a post on Microsoft’s game dev site. “And honestly, if you are using our competitor’s products, you probably have a great perspective we could learn from!”
Microsoft says the idea is to avoid an “echo chamber” and get fresh perspectives from people who aren’t “deep in your community.”
