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Before Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer addressed the public about the company’s future business strategy, he sent a memo to employees outlining his vision. One notable plan from that email–not specifically stated when Xbox confirmed four first-party games for PlayStation and Switch–was that he wants “a future where every screen is an Xbox.”
The Verge obtained Spencer’s memo, where he lays out what issues he sees currently and how to address them going forward. “When we look at the state of our medium, we see players increasingly gaming on multiple devices, but their experience is defined by the fragmentation created by platform silos,” wrote Spencer in the email.
“Multi-device players have to navigate multiple identities, entitlement libraries, communities, wallets, and reward programs. Similarly, the industry’s biggest franchises increasingly ship across multiple devices, requiring creators to build and manage multiple instances of their games, leading to higher costs and fragmented communities. All of this friction creates a tremendous opportunity for us to meet the needs of multi-device players and creators.”
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This leads into Spencer’s outlook of “every screen is an Xbox,” which isn’t too different from the company’s current Play Anywhere marketing for digital titles. It also plays into Spencer’s original messaging for Xbox Cloud Gaming when subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Late last year, Microsoft CFO Tim Stuart even said the company wanted Xbox Game Pass on “every screen” possible, including PlayStation and Switch.
Along with Matt Booty and Sarah Bond, Spencer also talked about next-gen Xbox hardware this week–plus teased new Xbox Series X|S options later in the year. He recently chatted about Helldivers 2 not being available on Xbox, too.
Looking ahead, a new report states Xbox might bring Microsoft Flight Simulator and the next Doom to PlayStation and Switch. Spencer didn’t specify the four specific games getting multiplatform releases. However, in general, he doesn’t “think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform.”
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