Historically, exclusive game releases have been a powerful weapon in the console wars: customers are more likely to buy certain hardware if it is the only way to get the specific games they want to play In an interview with Polygon, Xbox boss Phil Spencer, Microsoft is now moving away from this strategy and is open to rolling out digital store fronts like Epic Games Store and Itch.io on the Xbox console.

Earlier this year, when rumors first surfaced that Microsoft was bringing Xbox-exclusive games to PlayStation, it made headlines. Eventually it turned out to be true, but as of now, none of the few games, and none of the big games, are set for this move. But it really seemed to set the tone for the future: in a podcast reviewing the Xbox-to-PlayStation pipeline, Spencer said that over the next five to ten years, console-exclusive games "will become an increasingly small part of the gaming industry."

he said.

Speaking to Polygon at GDC, Spencer said the shift is aimed at bringing games to more people on more platforms, thus restoring growth to the industry.

"The idea that the Xbox can only be one device that connects to a TV is not something you see in Generation Z surveys. Because for them, there's nothing else like it, some of them have iPhones, some of them have Android, but they all have the same games and everything else." At least for now, you can access TikTok on either device."

"All their stuff is available wherever they want. So for Xbox, our brand axis for attracting and keeping young users relevant is "Xbox is where I can find the great games I want."

It's not as if "everything is the same," as Spencer puts it. Cross-play is a fairly common feature these days, but I have an Android and my partner has an iPhone. On the console front, Nintendo is a complete "walled garden" and Sony is doing quite well with their PlayStation exclusives; Epic has famously been battling Apple for years over strict terms regarding access to their platform.

What makes more sense to me is the idea of solving the problem from a different direction by bringing other storefronts like EGS, Itch.io, and maybe even Steam to the Xbox console. 'Think about our history as a Windows company. If I had said, 'When you use a PC, where you choose to buy your games determines what kind of experience you're going to get. There is real value in that."

Spencer says that when he plays games on a PC, he feels like he is "an ongoing part of the entire gaming ecosystem." On consoles, however, "my games are sort of fragmented based on different closed ecosystems that have to be traversed, to use a gaming term."

There are practical reasons why Microsoft wants to break away from the Xbox monopoly. Spencer said that while PC and mobile gaming is growing, the console market is not, and subsidizing console production costs to generate revenue from game sales is not always viable in the long run. The waning interest in Xbox consoles may also be a catalyst for considering such a major change: according to a recent GamesIndustry podcast, Xbox console sales in Europe are "flat" and support for the console Some publishers are even questioning the value of supporting the console.

This is obviously not something that will happen anytime soon. Just adapting to the needs of console certification is going to be a major headache, and of course Steam's Wild West approach will not work as is, and Microsoft is not ready to raise the white flag in the console wars just yet. The company confirmed that some of the Xbox's exclusive titles will move to PlayStation, while also promising the future of the Xbox console: Xbox President Sarah Bond said the company is focused on making "the biggest technological leap we've ever seen in a hardware generation" with the next series of consoles. .