Rumours that Microsoft is considering a pretty drastic change in its platform exclusivity strategy, potentially looking to launch the likes of Starfield, Indiana Jones, HiFi Rush, Sea of Thieves and more on rival platforms like PlayStation and Switch, are tearing through the community right now – and with expectedly mixed reception.
Whatever your thoughts on how Xbox’s first-party efforts no longer being strictly exclusive to its hardware, there’s no doubt that bringing more games to more players is always a good thing. With that in mind, my mind got to racing about what other recent or semi-recent Microsoft exclusive games could be a good fit to go multiplatform.
I tried to keep things within reasonable expectation, with only a little wishful thinking, so while I would love to see how the likes of Halo or Forza would fare on a PlayStation console, I doubt it’s something we’d see without Xbox abandoning its position in the console race entirely.
Here Are Some More Xbox Exclusives We’d Love To See On Other Platforms
Pentiment
Pentiment is one of those critically-acclaimed titles that I really want to get around but just haven’t because it’s a game that warrants a lot of focus and attention, and when I spend most of my gaming hours on other platforms I just know that won’t happen. Slap it on my PS5 dashboard though, or give me a native on-the-go option with the Switch, and that just might change. More eyes on this Obsidian joint can’t be anything but a good thing, and if Brodie’s gushing about the game is to be believed, the holdouts among us are missing out on a great time.
Grounded
Another Obsidian game, this time a completely different vibe. Being a game that thrives on cooperative play, Grounded would work wonderfully as a multiplatform release. Like Sea of Thieves, it’s a game that invites a community spirit and leveraging that across PC, Xbox, PlayStation and even Switch would be a pretty cool thing. The huge success of the survival/crafting genre (looking at you, Palworld) in recent times would obviously be a huge boost as well, and I’d love to see the team motivated to expand on the game even further.
Killer Instinct
Having just had something of a re-launch last year with an update for Xbox Series X|S, the switch to an all-encompassing Anniversary Edition and the free-to-play version’s release on Steam, there really isn’t a better time for Killer Instinct to expand to even more devices. More players can only be good for a competitive fighting game like this, and the game’s easily in its best shape yet.
Battletoads
Dlala Studios makes some good stuff, but unfortunately for owners of only one or a couple of platforms their games seem to wind up stuck on certain machines. For Disney Illusion Island it’s the Nintendo Switch, and for 2020’s excellent Battletoads reboot it’s Xbox and PC. Battletoads seems like it should be an easy and effective port to PlayStation and Switch, and bringing the once-Rare-developed franchise back to a Nintendo console just makes a lot of sense to me.
Rare Replay (Or At Least Some Of It)
Coming off of one Rare classic, there’s a whole wealth of the studio’s former bangers on Xbox under the Rare Replay banner. This one might be a trickier proposition given it contains a number of OG Xbox and Xbox 360 games, and most of the Nintendo 64 have already made their way to the Switch via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack offering. Really, I just want the Viva Piñata games to get a new lease on life.
Quantum Break
After Alan Wake 2 launched, there were a lot of folks (myself included) who immediately went back to play, or replay, the Xbox-exclusive Quantum Break out of little more than desire to spend more time in Remedy’s little collection of worlds. Bringing Quantum Break to other platforms would hopefully close the case on whether it belongs in the “Connected Universe” as well as give the game the attention it rightfully deserved the first go-around.
Sunset Overdrive
Given how synonymous Insomniac has become (or re-become…?) with PlayStation after the Marvel’s Spider-Man games, bringing Sunset Overdrive home would be a welcome move. Opinions were maybe mixed on the game when it launched back in 2014, but I really enjoyed it and I can see it finding a new audience on more platforms. A PS5 “remaster” with enhanced visuals and new features would be neat, but there’s probably room for it on PS4 and even Switch since it’s nearly a decade old now.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
A bit more recent than the last couple of examples, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide made a lot of noise on Xbox and PC among fans of the franchise and enjoyed a relatively warm critical reception. With over a year of updates behind it, a PS5 release could land quite well, and provided the cross-play functionality carried over to Sony’s platform it could mean a nice injection of life into the community currently playing.
Lost Odyssey/Blue Dragon
While I tried to keep this list to somewhat modern titles on Xbox One or Xbox Series, the truth is that if I had only two choices among the entire Xbox exclusive back-catalogue to bring to other platforms, it’d be these two underappreciated bangers from Mistwalker. Make it happen.
