© Reuters. Xbox Promises ‘Largest Technical Leap’ Yet In Gaming Hardware, Plus: 4 Titles Launching On Other Consoles
Benzinga – by Franca Quarneti, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Microsoft Corp.‘s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox recently disclosed its future trajectory during a podcast featuring executives Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty.
The video game hinted at a significant hardware advancement for its next console, proclaiming it as the “largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation.”
Bond described the hardware as “the flagship, seminal experience of Xbox” and a “developer target” for performance to hit. She also suggested that new Xbox hardware can be expected in the fourth quarter.
“There’s some exciting stuff coming out in hardware that we’re going to share this holiday,” Bond announced.
On X, Microsoft has officially verified that its hardware roadmap for this holiday season will encompass “more console and controller options.”
The announcement also outlined plans to incorporate Activision Blizzard games into Game Pass, with Diablo 4 slated to join the service on March 28, with promises of more to follow.
Furthermore, amid speculation about adopting a third-party publishing strategy, Xbox confirmed the release of four games on other platforms without providing specifics.
While the specific titles going multi-platform weren’t disclosed, Spencer stated, “The teams that are building those games have announced plans that are not too far away.”
Spencer refrained from divulging further, stating, “I don’t want to take anything away from those teams.”
However, according to The Verge, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded will reportedly be the games taken to other consoles.
Moreover, the Xbox boss said: “I have a fundamental belief that over the next five to 10 years, exclusive games — games that are exclusive to one piece of hardware — are going to be a smaller and smaller piece of the games industry.”
During the podcast, host Tina Amini asked Spencer to elaborate on how the decision to launch games on rival consoles doesn’t represent a shift in strategy. Spencer answered that Xbox has not been confined to a single device for a decade, and cited its presence on PC and mobile platforms.
Spencer highlighted that Xbox already has a presence on PlayStation and Nintendo through Minecraft and plans to publish more games on those platforms in the future, especially following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Read Next: Phil Spencer Reassures Xbox Employees: Consoles Here to Stay — Report
Image credits: ALDECA studio on Shutterstock.
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