This is the latest from a series of columns of guests from Pure XboxA devoted community dedicated to the band All Things Team Green. We bring all the largest news from the Xbox world, as well as functions, polls, conversations, reviews and much more!
Many Xbox fans wonder if one of the “great three” franchise Xbox – HaloIN Gearbox Or Forza – They would finally reach PS5. Turns out Forza Horizon 5 is the first to make a jump, which was officially disclosed for the current Sony generation system with the spring window of the 2025 edition. No wonder fans were Very Opinions about the announcement since it fell.
The decision to transfer such a valuable exclusive Xbox to a competing console is even a broken heart, but it is true that we have been expecting for some time. If you read between the lines, Phil Spencer and the Xbox team subtly tried to inform us about “Lack of red lines” governance when it comes to exclusiveness nowadays, which probably means that halo, running, Starfield And many other Xbox franchise will face PS5, and maybe even Nintendo Switch 2 sooner or later.
But why are you doing this? Why risk the alienation of devoted fans who adapted to the Xbox brand Because his switches? The answer is almost certainly in numbers. We saw again and again how the revenues from the equipment fell for Microsoft and the income from Xbox content and services have increased. No wonder that the company’s priorities have changed. This strategy change means that Xbox can focus more on becomes a publication At the same time, providing their games with more players on all platforms.
At the beginning of this year, Spencer spoke Xbox “evolved” its identity To continue to develop well among challenging times for the industry. In addition, he believes that the novel Xbox approach was best accepted by masses to allow main programmers and publishers to continue creating AAA games with a vast budget. CEO Moon Studios, Thomas Mahler, recently agreed With this idea, suggesting that due to the growing costs of developing the game, the industry can develop only if it begins to reduce its dependence on exclusion.
Of course, it helps when they were Xbox exclusivity In fact, sell in vast numbers. In February 2024, Xbox announced this Hi-Fi RushIN Sea of thievesIN Pentiment AND Grounded He would go to other systems and quickly discovered that PlayStation, and Nintendo owners had an appetite for games that they could not play before. In particular, the sea of thieves became a huge success on PS5 and Microsoft was not shy in emphasizing this fact. Having said that, there was also a criticism for suggestion Just Four titles would work, which was never inevitable when PlayStation owners began to accumulate in crowds.
And this is the biggest problem with the novel Xbox strategy at the moment. Xbox began the main marketing campaign Each device “to xbox”And it seems that everyone understood this message. However, it is never Really He explained what was happening with games on PS5 and Switch. Initially, these were four games, and then a few more, and eventually it can (well, it will probably be) would be the entire Xbox directory. Xbox fans still don’t have Really A radiant picture of what to predict, in addition to gossip and occasional philu Spencer tips.
The debut of Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 can feel like a novel era, and even the beginning of the end for some Xbox fans, but it is really only the evolution of the strategy, which has lasted for some time – a strategy that is very profitable in 2025. The Push multiplatform is fullyAnd although Microsoft apparently does not want to give us a road map, we will certainly see more First page titles Xbox On PS5 Nintendo Switch 2 and other platforms before the end of the year. It will be fantastic from a business and industry perspective, but of course sorrowful for those who prefer Xbox to keep their games as exclusive.
You can’t say how it will be done in the long run. What happens when Next Xbox console is going on? What about Xbox Handheld? Will Microsoft be able to sell equipment without major exclusivity as a sweetener and maybe Xbox Game Pass Change the sufficient number of systems yourself? I have no doubt that Phil Spencer thought about these questions and others and, I hope, he has answers to them. But there is a sense of anxiety in the entire Xbox community, and Xbox will have to work harder than ever to keep devoted fans returning in the future. I just hope this is enough because Xbox is changing forever.
Fraser Gilbert is an editor Pure Xbox.
