Xbox has revealed when fans can expect news regarding recent rumours that many of the platform’s first-party titles will be cross-platform in the future.

Xbox has announced that a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast will air on Thursday, February 15th, at 3 pm ET. (That is, at 9 pm CET.) During the podcast, the company will address recent rumours that many of its exclusive titles will be cross-platform in the future.

Surprising Xbox rumours have sent shockwaves through the gaming community in recent weeks as titles like Starfield, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Hi-Fi Rush and more are rumoured to be coming to rival consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch as well.

Insiders speculated that the company’s difficult hardware sales and the massive cost of maintaining Xbox’s popular Game Pass subscription service were behind the new strategy. The company apparently hopes that the new cross-platform strategy will create a significant new revenue stream for the platform. But it’s important to note that this is just speculation for now. However, the speculations will soon be confirmed or denied. Because Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, will make the company’s future public this week.

In a tweet, the company confirmed Thursday’s official Xbox Podcast, which will feature Spencer alongside Xbox President Sarah Bond and Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty. Spencer previously said that this week’s update will share the console’s “future vision.” It looks pretty likely that the rumours are true. However, the extent of the new strategy is not yet known.

Fans may see only a few Xbox-exclusive games or be introduced to a whole host of cross-platform titles.

Some fear that the new strategy will significantly devalue Xbox consoles. Because other platforms, such as PlayStation, keep first-party titles exclusive. The rumoured shift in strategy seemed drastic enough to make some wonder if the company would stop making consoles altogether. However, Spencer reportedly addressed the possibility during a recent corporate town hall meeting.

Xbox addresses rumours of first-party titles going cross-platform

According to a leak, Spencer confirmed to employees that the company will continue to make consoles in the future. It’s unclear if this topic will be covered during this week’s podcast. Rumours about the development of the next-generation console have also spread recently.

An insider has claimed that the Microsoft Surface team has been tasked with designing the company’s next-generation console.

This possibility is consistent with other claims that the future generation of gaming devices will include two products: a handheld device and a more traditional console.

The company’s rumoured handheld followed rumours of a similar PlayStation device. Both are likely years away from release. It looks like the two companies’ next-gen gaming devices will focus much more on portability and cloud-based gaming, a rapidly spreading trend.

Source: X

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— Xbox (@Xbox) February 12, 2024