At the last of 2024 , Xbox finds itself at a crossroads that many fans would n’t have forestall at the head start of the twelvemonth .
eventually bearing the fruit of its costly Activision Blizzard acqusition , Xbox has had one of its most coherent eld in terms of game output . Game Pass receive a healthy telephone number of day - one game throughout the year , and Microsoft delivered a new first - party statute title to the servicing every month between September and December .
Elsewhere , Xbox ’s message lacked cohesion . On top oflaying off thousands of developers , shutting down studio , and makingGame reach more expensive , Xbox no longer seems as focused on those very scoop that helped elevate its firm year . Instead , it ’s at the starting line of a broad multiplatform coming that wuld make its games playable in as many place as potential — even on the PlayStation 5 . Xbox leadership has been wishy - watery when in public notice on where the newfangled direction is finally guide . Like Sony , whichstumbled through its own unclear visual sensation this year , Xbox needs to perpetrate to a plan in 2025 .
Xbox’s wild year
Instead of instantly and confidently responding to these issues , Xbox free a podcastweeks later on where Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and other exectives would do picayune more than confirm that four games — Pentiment , Grounded , Hi - Fi thrill , and Sea ofThieves — would come to other platform . In fact , Spencer outright say , “ if you ’re on those other platforms and you see these four games occur , please do n’t take it as some signal that everything ’s coming . ”
However , as the year went on , that statement started to feel untrustworthy . Games likeSenua ’s Saga : Hellblade 2did launch as Xbox exclusives , but not without a flowage of rumors that they were descend to the PS5 . The resolution of several Bethesda studios , including belovedHi - Fi Rushdeveloper Tango Gameworks , indicated that Microsoft was more concerned with making money in the wake of a $ 69 billion skill rather than creating fine art . If that ’s your independent goal , bring out on as many platforms as possible makes sense .
Doom : The Dark Ageswas announced during June ’s Xbox Games Showcase with PS5 listed as a platform . At Gamescom , we learned thatIndiana Jones and the Great Circlewould be coming to PS5 a few month after its Xbox release . The same was confirmed for Obisidan’sThe Outer Worlds 2at The Game Awards 2024 , which also saw advertising feed for the controversial“This is an Xbox”campaign that says gimmick other than the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are , indeed , Xboxes too .
As we enter 2025 , the farsighted - terminal figure future of Xbox still feels unclear . That ’s not because of a lack of capacity . Avowedis out in February , and plot likeDoom : The Dark Ages , Fable , The Outer Worlds 2,andSouth of Midnightare in the cards for 2025 . Microsoft has even teased newhandheld and console Xbox computer hardware . But seeing the “ This is an Xbox ” campaign alongside an upcoming game lineup that mixes single and multiplatform games exhibit a failure to commit to a multiplatform or single strategy on Microsoft ’s part .
I do n’t find the reasoning behind Xbox ’s multiplatform strategy all that confusing ; we ’re just not hearing the right things from the correct people . It ’s notable when Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says : “ We are redefine what it intend to be an Xbox fan . It is about being able to enjoy Xbox on all your devices . ” That ’s a statement we should ’ve see from Spencer month ago and a sentiment that should be reflected in the design platform for all of Xbox ’s coming games .
At this point , Xbox leadership needs to publicly commit to being a multiplatform company that occasionally produces hardware that stick out Game Pass . That announcement will see red plenty of fans , but it will at least give us a decipherable musical theme of where Xbox is heading five or 10 years from now . Xbox can transform into a serve , likeMicrosoft OfficeorChatGPT , and Microsoft can reap profits from it on every available platform . But right now , there is a dissonance between what Microsoft , the pot , wants and what Xbox players palpate or understand .
