Xbox is “open to discussions” on carrying its ecosystem to “closed platforms”, for example, the Nintendo Switch and PS5, as indicated by Phil Spencer.
In a new interview with GamesRadar+, Spencer talked about the brand’s way to deal with cross-platform development. Addressing gossipy tidbits about an Xbox application coming to Nintendo Switch, he clarified that while there’s nothing underway, this is at least “the right question” to ask, instead of which individual games could be ported, in light of the fact that he would “want the full Xbox experience to be something that we deliver.”
“We have no plans to bring it to any other kind of closed platforms right now, mainly because those closed platforms don’t want something like Game Pass,” he says. “There’s a ton of open platforms out there for us to grow in: the web, PC, and mobile. So all of our focus, frankly, is on those platforms … In the end, when we say we want everybody to be able to play on Xbox, we really mean if we can bring that full experience to a device that players want, we are totally open to those discussions.”
Xbox has played with a comparative idea briefly previously, yet it never advanced into anything past a few ports of Xbox games and essentially slowed down from that point. Business relationships aside, the main prerequisite seems to be the same: in case Xbox will exist on another closed platform, it will must be the full-fat Xbox experience, not one or two of games or services. Separating the ecosystem Xbox has gone through years developing would section its player base, however bringing it discount to another platform is difficult to swing – somewhat in light of the fact that, as Spencer proposed, access to Xbox Game Pass would have gigantic implications for titles on that platform which are additionally on Game Pass.
Between cross-platform multiplayer and ports of once-exclusive games, the enormous platforms in the industry are gradually getting all the more amicable.
