Microsoft’s timing for bringing Xbox titles to rival platforms has been all over the place, but the company says it wants to fix that.

The head of Xbox Game Studios says Microsoft will try to make its PlayStation 5 release strategy more consistent going forward. As part of its push toward a multiplatform business model, Xbox shipped six games on PlayStation 5 in 2025 and plans to bring more titles to the console this year. So far, however, the approach has been uneven. Some games, such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Avowed, arrived on PS5 later, while others, including Gears of War: Reloaded and The Outer Worlds 2, launched day-and-date. That inconsistency will continue into 2026, as last week’s Xbox Developer Direct confirmed that Fable will launch on PS5 on day one, whereas Forza Horizon 6 will follow later. In an interview with GamesRadar, Xbox Game Studios boss Craig Duncan suggested that real-world development constraints explain why the new Forza arrives later on Sony’s platform.

“There are always development realities when these projects start – how big the team is, and what our plans are at the beginning. When a strategy changes, you might have a plan for a game, and you might be able to carry that over, or you might not. That’s why. And to be clear, that’s totally fair feedback. Sometimes we are inconsistent. You might see some games in one place, others in multiple places. Just know we’re working on it and trying to be more consistent. For our game makers, like the Fable team, the goal is simply that as many Fable fans as possible get to appreciate the team’s great work. That’s always the main goal. It’s rarely more complicated than that. The question is, how do we get the game to as many players as possible?”

“My primary job is to help our teams succeed. Part of my role is about the choices we make and the approach we take. You used the word ‘port’ earlier. Not to focus on the term, but wherever our games show up, we want them to be the best version they can be on that platform. We want to take advantage of that platform’s features and nuances. That can lead to some optionality. If we could only release a game on a platform in a way that doesn’t really show it well, we wouldn’t do that. Then we have internal conversations about whether we should ship it later instead. Team sizes are finite, resources are limited. Ultimately, everything comes down to resources. We just want to do the best possible job on every platform, for every game. In that world, sometimes we maintain options. Some games launch on PC first, others on console first. Grounded 2 is a good example, where we launched first in Game Preview on Steam and PC. So no, it won’t always be the same.”

The hope is that this push for consistency does not simply translate into longer waits for more games.

Source: VGC, GamesRadar