Phil Spencer On Microsoft’s PS5 Release Strategy: ‘I’m Not Trying To Move Them All Over To Xbox Anymore’

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Xbox chief Phil Spencer has touched on Microsoft’s ongoing plans to release titles on the PS5 during an interview with XboxEra, where he admitted that while he would prefer to sell games on Xbox formats, he’s not ignoring other userbases anymore.

Spencer was quizzed about comments he made during an FTC hearing in 2023, where he stated that Sony’s 30% cut earned from Xbox-owned studio selling a title on the PS5 store was being used in deals to block other third-party games from coming to Microsoft’s platform.

Given the recent shift in strategy that has seen numerous Xbox games come to PS5, Spencer was asked if the is less concerned about Sony’s cut and more on the 70% that Xbox earns for its games sold on PS5.

It’s maybe not what I was going to say on stand at the time but yeah, I would love to make all of the money for all the games that we ship right now. Obviously we make more on our own platform, it’s one of the reasons that investing in our own platform is important.

But there are people – whether it’s their libraries are on PlayStation or Nintendo, whether it’s that they like the controller better, they just like the games that are there – and I don’t want to then look at that and say ‘well, there’s no way that we should be able to build a business there, find fans of our franchises there.

I’m not trying to move them all over to Xbox anymore. We’re all so invested in where our games are, let’s just allow more people to play. And yes, the 70% that we make on games on other platforms is helpful to us being able to build great portfolios, like we showed at Developer Direct, and I hope this will continue to show through the rest of the year.

Looking ahead, Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are both confirmed to come to the PS5 in Spring 2025. Spencer has previously said that there are no red lines as to which Xbox games may arrive on Sony’s current-generation console, so the door is wide open in that respect.

[Source – XboxEra]