Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has confirmed the company will continue bringing first-party Xbox titles to other platforms. In a shareholder letter (published alongside Microsoft’s annual report for 2024), Nadella said Xbox Game Studios will “continue to extend our content to new platforms.”
Nadella referenced the decision to bring Pentiment, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves to rival platforms including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch, and noted the company remains intent on “bringing great games to more people on more devices.”
The statement comes a few months after Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirmed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would only be a timed exclusive on Xbox hardware. The project, developed by Microsoft and ZeniMax subsidiary MachineGames, will head to PlayStation 5 in spring 2025 after initially launching on Xbox.
According to Spencer, it’s a move that will help ensure Xbox titles become “as strong as possible” in the long run. “Our end result has to be better games that more people can play. If we’re not focused on that, I think we’re focused on the wrong things,” said Spencer, speaking at Gamescom 2024.
Opining on the trajectory of Microsoft’s video game business, Nadella said the company will continue investing in new development studios and content to “expand our intellectual property roadmap and leverage new content creators.” Microsoft has laid off over 2,500 game workers and shuttered multiple studios since the turn of the year.
Nadella added that Xbox as a brand is being primed to enable customers to “connect and share online gaming experiences that are accessible on Xbox consoles, Windows-enabled devices, and other devices,” and said Xbox revenue is mainly impacted by subscriptions and sales of first and third-party content.
“Growth of our Gaming business is determined by the overall active user base through Xbox enabled content, availability of games, providing exclusive game content that gamers seek, the computational power and reliability of the devices used to access our content and services, and the ability to create new experiences,” continued Nadella.
“We’ve seen new devices from third-party manufacturers along with key PC and mobile end points that help us empower gamers to play in a way that is most convenient to them. We are focused on growing the platform and expanding to new ecosystems to engage as many gamers as possible.”
You can read the full 2024 annual report on the Microsoft website.