We have an interesting new rumor to report about Microsoft, because it comments on other rumors that we have been hearing.
In the latest episode of the Xbox Two podcast, Jez Corden shared an interesting rumor about Microsoft’s investment in Game Pass. But before we get to that, we need to discuss the context of this revelation.
In an episode of GamesIndustry.Biz’s Microcast podcast. EIC Christopher Dring shared sentiments he heard from developers talking to him. Apparently game companies are questioning continuing to support Xbox, with one person claiming that Xbox’s Europe console sales are flatlining.
Dring also shares this statement:
“I was watching Michael Pachter’s podcast and he was talking about how it’s all about GamePass for Xbox, yet I’ve actually been hearing that Microsoft’s been putting less focus on GamePass.”
There was another report we sourced from PC Gamer, whose staff also talked to developers at GDC. People who were at the event claimed that both Microsoft and Epic Games were no longer offering contracts and deals for exclusives on their Xbox and Epic Games Store platforms, respectively.
Jez mentions all of this sentiment coming out of GDC as well, before he shares what he knows. Quoting Jez directly:
“I was told recently that Xbox will spend more on Xbox Game Pass 3rd party deals than they ever have in this fiscal year. That doesn’t sound like deemphasis to me. The fact that they have put mouse and keyboard on xCloud – that’s a significant amount of investment of dev work to get that working. That does not sound like deemphasis to me.”
If we’re comparing sources here, GamesIndustry.Biz and PCGamer are sourcing their information from developers at GDC. We don’t know who Jez Corden’s source is, but given his beat is Microsoft, which includes but is not exclusive to Microsoft Gaming, he likely got his information from within Microsoft itself.
So what’s going on here? It’s possible that developers are unwittingly spreading some FUD among themselves about Microsoft and their plans. And they may of course have worked with Microsoft before, but they aren’t actually Microsoft employees, much less executives at their gaming division.
What we do know is Microsoft has shown proof that they are investing more on acquiring 3rd party support for Xbox as of late. Final Fantasy XIV finally debuted on Xbox Series X|S for the first time, and they also scored major deals for Persona games and DLC with Atlus and Sega.
That hasn’t quite gotten them parity with Sony and their third party support, but these are clear steps forward in the right direction. And with companies like Square Enix finding that they can no longer rely on PlayStation gamers to keep their games profitable, they themselves will seek out new markets, and that would draw them to Xbox themselves.
In any case, nothing would prove Microsoft’s intent more than if Microsoft announced such deals. If we saw them greenlight their next Cuphead, questions will likely cease about their enthusiasm in this department.
