There’s a new rumor about Microsoft Gaming’s change in strategy that isn’t just affecting their games, but is already affecting their own Xbox community.
We had just reported on rumors that Starfield is planned to release on PlayStation 5 in the future. Now, The Verge reports that the just revealed Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is being considered for the rival platform as well.
As you may already know, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle was originally planned to be a multiplatform title. However, Microsoft renegotiated the contract for the title with Disney to make it an Xbox exclusive. The Verge claims that there will be a short period of Xbox exclusivity for the title before it comes to PlayStation 5.
The Verge corroborates details from XboxEra’s Starfield rumor, that Microsoft is shifting towards a more aggressively multiplatform approach. While we don’t know the reasons for this shift, as Microsoft has yet to officially comment, we may have an insider source who knows the 411.
According to TimDog, a well-known member of the Xbox community, he got a leak of information from someone within the company, who is hoping the fan outrage from their plans will reverse course. While we can’t vouch if the rumors are true, there seems to be a mandate to share this rumor, at the very least, to compel Microsoft to respond.
There are several concerns that have prompted this change. For one, Timdog claims that Call of Duty really is not coming to Game Pass. This may be the case not because of any legal or contractual obligations, but to keep income from retail sales safe.
The perception in the company is their hardware is dead. They see decline in hardware sales year after year, and see more interest in the Xbox One than the Xbox Series consoles. In the last three months, they put consoles on sale for $ 350 and it didn’t move the needle.
A surprising claim is that Game Pass is unsustainable. We know from officially revealed and leaked documents from the regulation of Microsoft’s Activision deal that Game Pass is a major revenue driver for Microsoft Gaming. Timdog’s source claims it’s not enough to offset Game Pass’ costs.
The rest of Timdog’s statements seem to be speculation on his or his source’s part. But if you may remember, the CMA made the surprising revelation that the PlayStation and Xbox make about equal amounts of money in gaming, regardless of how it appears on the surface.
We have, of course, seen other claims of the viability of the games industry go public. For example, the Insomniac leak reveals that Marvel’s Spider-Man didn’t make enough money compared to how much was put into it. Many of Sony’s first-party offerings would not be considered profitable if they had not started publishing their games to PC.
The big claim here seems to be that Microsoft is looking for their return on investment immediately for their purchase of Activision Blizzard King. Apparently, even the immediate jump on revenue they already felt from that company’s recently released library of games is enough to satiate the company.
Timdog made his comments on an episode of the Gamer’s Council podcast. You can catch them in the timestamp here.
For now, we don’t have an official confirmation that any of these plans are true. But if they are, there will be huge consequences to the video game industry. While these rumors do not state Microsoft would stop making consoles, based on its impact, it would be comparable to Sega’s decision to exit the console hardware business and become a third party publisher.
