There is a good chance that Xbox games will soon be playable on other consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.
With sales of the Xbox Series X/S still lagging far behind Sony’s PlayStation 5, Microsoft needs to get money from somewhere else. Especially after Microsoft Games CEO Phil Spencer revealed that the number of Game Pass subscribers is also declining.
To catch up, the company plans to bring certain Xbox exclusives to the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, according to sources from The Verge. So that’s good news if you don’t have an Xbox.
PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch instead of Xbox
Releasing Xbox games on other consoles has advantages and disadvantages for Microsoft. One advantage is that they can increase sales from their games because more people can purchase a copy.
At the same time, this creates a risk. Without exclusive games, consumers have little reason to choose an Xbox Series S/X over the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch.
Microsoft’s main reason for releasing Xbox exclusives for the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch is that the expectation for the number of Game Pass players is too high.
In May 2022, the service had 25 million subscribers, which was 7 million more than the previous year, but nowhere near its ultimate goal. By 2030, according to Microsoft, the service should have 100 million subscribers.
The future of Microsoft
Microsoft hoped to keep growing, and so its focus went full on Xbox Game Pass. But now that those subscriber numbers are actually shrinking, the company has a problem and is looking at the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5.
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One of the causes were Xbox games that came out too late. Starfield and Redfall were scheduled for 2022, but they were delayed a year. In doing so, Starfield missed an important vacation period when many people could have played the game. There was also a 16-month gap in 2022 in which no new Xbox exclusives came out, unlike the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5.
Since then, the company has kept its jaws tightly shut about the numbers. Analysts now estimate that Xbox Game Pass has grown by only 8 million subscribers in the last two years. So their goal of 100 million members by 2030 is still a long way off.