Spec sheets apart, availability of a decent number of exclusive titles is instrumental in determining the success of a console generation.
Despite several big-ticket acquisitions including ZeniMax Media and Activision Blizzard King (ABK) over the years, Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S consoles never really beat the PlayStation 5 in terms of number of exclusives.
However, both Sony and Microsoft are convinced games needn't be tied to their respective platforms. Microsoft has announced several first-party titles to the PlayStation. Similarly, Sony has brought and continues to bring a number of its exclusives to the PC (Bloodborne cough... cough).
The coming months and years could see Xbox taking a whole new strategy, and the Xbox console may no longer be the centerpiece of it all.
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It is either Sony or Microsoft, and it's likely to be the PlayStation
Market research firm DFC Intelligence predicts that while gaming industry will see record growth in 2025 thanks to the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 and GTA 6, the market will have to contend with just one non-Nintendo major console.
"There isn't room for more than two major console systems", according to the firm. The analyst believes Microsoft has better luck on the software side of things while Sony can build upon the current momentum with the PlayStation and continued availability of exclusive titles.
The next Xbox could run Windows... and Epic, GOG, and Steam
Microsoft looks to be bringing Windows and Xbox closer than ever. We've been hearing this since long. After all, the whole idea of introducing the UWP framework on Windows 10 was to have a single codebase that spans console, PC, mobile, and mixed reality.
However, recent developments at Microsoft suggest that Xbox vNext could be running Windows for all intents and purposes. This will allow gamers to run alternate stores like Epic, GOG, and probably even Steam, and has been Xbox chief Phil Spencer's musing for quite some time now.
The appointment of Jason Ronald as VP of Next Gen Xbox and Roanne Sones, who has been a Windows OEM lead into the Xbox executive suite further hints at the "Windowsification of Xbox" as Windows Central's Jez Corden puts it.
Interestingly, Ronald will also be present at the CES 2025 launch of a new Lenovo Legion handheld running Valve's Steam OS
The strategy could make sense given the increasing stagnation in console hardware sales. The other prospect is that Microsoft could open up this new Xbox-Windows OS platform to handheld makers, who currently have no option but to use full fat Windows 11.
Essentially, more Xbox but on non-Xbox hardware.
Of course, this is assuming that Microsoft will develop a version of Windows without legacy baggage and the pitfalls of Win32. The other concern is ensuring Xbox backward compatibility actually works on Windows.
Xbox exclusives may soon be history
What this also means is that Xbox will no longer chase exclusives. All first-party games will eventually make their way to competing platforms as Microsoft looks to transition the Xbox brand into a gaming ecosystem of sorts than limit itself to console hardware alone.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle could very well be one of the best exclusives that Xbox has had in a long time, but the above developments are clear indicators that Xbox fans will have to let go of exclusivity aspirations for good.
Corden recently claimed on X that Xbox won't have exclusives going forward and everything will be a timed exclusive at most. “If some games are exclusive it’s gonna be incidental at best, the ‘case by case’ argument is by and large going to be multiplat, timed, and with maybe a few (very few) outliers.” he said.
Microsoft recently started pushing the "This is an Xbox" narrative as a way to promote Game Pass. Basically, any device that runs the Xbox app with Game Pass is essentially a game streaming Xbox console. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella even went on to say that being an Xbox fan means playing Xbox games on "all your devices".
Back in February, Microsoft said Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded would be made available on the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. Doom: The Dark Ages will also head to the PS5 apart from Xbox consoles and PC while Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will land on the PS5 sometime in Spring 2025.
Even the much-anticipated Fable reboot in 2025 is likely to head to other platforms after launching as a limited-time exclusive on the Xbox.
Given Microsoft's history of nerfing perfectly working devices when they are on the verge realize their true potential (Windows Phone, ahem), the likelihood of the console itself becoming irrelevant can be upsetting to fans, and rightfully so.
Nothing is set in stone yet and plans can/will change, though it is not hard to see Microsoft recognizing and adapting its strategy to tell-tale changes in the console landscape in the coming years.
Meanwhile, let me get back to finding the stolen cat mummy in full path tracing glory on my RTX 4090 PC.