Are you concerned about the future of Xbox?
Reports emerged this week suggesting that the company is now considering launching some of its first-party games on competing platforms. There was already speculation around Xbox’s Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves launching on other platforms, but early this week the internet broke down after fresh reports suggested that Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Golden Circle could be heading to PS5 — although YouTuber Nate the Hate, who corroborated an original report now believes Starfield is not destined for other platforms.
Not long after those rumors had done the rounds, yet another report surfaced suggesting that Gears of War was also being considered for a PlayStation launch.
We’ve also seen mass layoffs at Microsoft, who has cut around 1,900 jobs across Xbox Game Studios, Activision Blizzard, and ZeniMax. As part of those layoffs, it was reported that Xbox had shut down departments dedicated to bringing physical Xbox games to retail. We’ve also seen these layoffs hit Crash Bandicoot and Spyro developer Toys for Bob pretty hard, with a reported 86 staff being let go. The mass layoffs also caught the eye of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which filed a complaint about the job cuts, saying they contradicted statements Microsoft made in court about how Activision Blizzard and Xbox would be run after the acquisition. Microsoft argues the layoffs were already planned at Activision Blizzard before the takeover.
With so many rumors and so much speculation doing the rounds on the internet — a lot of which is likely false — players are left wondering what’s in store for Xbox in the coming years. So far, the only thing we’ve heard from Team Xbox has come from Phil Spencer, who said Microsoft will share its “vision for the future of Xbox” next week.
So, what are your thoughts on all of this? Are you worried about the future of Xbox? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll and discussing it in the comments below. Have a great weekend, everybody!
