Hot off the back of still-strong rumours that Xbox is planning to bring some of its catalogue of exclusive games to competing platforms, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has revealed that a “business update event” is scheduled for this week where the company will be sharing details on what’s next in the brand’s future.
We don’t yet have a date or time for when this “event” is going to occur, with Spencer’s message on social media last week simply reading, “We’re listening and we hear you. We’ve been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned.”
We're listening and we hear you. We've been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 5, 2024
Naturally, many have assumed that this is in direct reaction to the claims that titles like Starfield, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, HiFi Rush and many more will be going multiplatform at some stage in the future.
In the week or so, those claims have grown as more “insiders” share which games they believe are headed to more platforms than just Xbox and PC. Those titles include the above as well as games like Hellblade 2, Pentiment, Grounded, the Gears of War Series and more, though we obviously don’t know how accurate any of these actually are until Xbox makes the announcement itself.
As far as its hardware plans go, journalist Shannon Liao has made the claim that Spencer held an internal townhall last week where he assured employees that there are no plans to exit the console business and that Xbox consoles would continue to be a part of its multi-device strategy.
One multiplatform launch that does seem set in stone at this stage is HiFi Rush, after dataminers discovered actual assets in-game that point to platform-exclusive outfits clearly designed for PlayStation and Switch. One, a blue design, reads “I’m Here Baby” with main character Chai pulling a distinctly Cloud Strife-esque pose. The other, a red design, reads “Rock Out! Anywhere” which can be taken as the idea of playing Hi-Fi Rush on the go with the Nintendo Switch.
That rumours like these carry so much weight also shows that Xbox fans are ready for the company to be more forthcoming about its first-party plans and the direction of its business – no less after it just shed nearly 10% of the Xbox workforce post-Activision Blizzard acquisition.
