Exclusives, Game Pass - Xbox clarifies its vision for the future
In recent days, the Internet has been abuzz with several rumors regarding the future of Xbox. To prevent false information from continuing to circulate, Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty spoke in an official business-oriented podcast. It was an opportunity for the trio to give a precise update on the vision of the Redmond firm regarding Xbox Game Pass, hardware, exclusives, and the ecosystem.
Activision Blizzard games on Game Pass
During the podcast, Xbox provided an update on Game Pass, announcing that the service now has 34 million subscribers, which includes members of Game Pass Core (formerly Xbox Live Gold), a plan at €6.99/month that allows online play and access to over 25 games. Following the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, Xbox has significant additions to its catalog and intends to make them available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers. The Redmond firm reaffirmed its intention to integrate Activision and Blizzard games into Game Pass (not necessarily in the Core plan), starting with Diablo IV on March 28.
4 Xbox games will be ported to other platforms
With licenses like Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, or now Diablo, Call of Duty, and Overwatch, Xbox cannot limit itself to its own machines. The goal is to grow communities. Xbox Game Pass goes in this direction with the possibility of accessing titles via PC, consoles, and mobiles. To ensure Xbox's long-term success, the company must continue to evolve. In this context, Microsoft confirmed that four Xbox games will be ported to other platforms. Failing to name them, Phil Spencer indicated that they are neither Starfield nor Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle. However, he gave some clues, namely that these are games available for more than a year. Two deserve to be more widely discovered, and the other two are service games that can thus welcome new players into their communities. By cross-referencing with some rumors, we can think that Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Grounded, or Sea of Thieves might be involved.
The Xbox ecosystem, a cornerstone
Even if it shows more openness, Microsoft is not transforming into a simple third-party publisher. The company reaffirms its vision of the Xbox ecosystem by reassuring players about the sustainability of their digital library. Consoles will continue to offer an optimal experience, and Game Pass is not planned for PlayStation or Nintendo. Among the benefits of the ecosystem, it is reminded that there is backward compatibility, cross-play, cross-save progression, and even the Cloud. On this subject, Sarah Bond confirmed that new Xbox machines are in the works, ensuring a solid roadmap on the hardware side and promising “the greatest technical advancement ever seen.” We will have to wait until the end-of-year holidays to learn more.
