While Microsoft usually gets a lot of ‘feedback’ from fans about their multiplatform strategy, there’s another issue that their actual Xbox customers have been worried about. As it turns out, Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer was paying attention to these loyal fans after all.
He made these statements in an interview with XboxEra:
“I want to show respect to the people who voice their concerns. To me, like I get it. And I would never disrespect anybody who comes to me, concerned. I’ve got a library of games on Xbox console. I want to make sure I’ll continue to be able to play those games. Are we going to still do hardware? Are we going to still get to play the games the way we’ve always played? Am I going to have to rent all my games? Can I still buy games? All that.
I get it. I get the questions. I think we’ve shown respect for people’s libraries over the generations with back-compat and Play Anywhere, and I want to continue to do that. You can buy every game that’s in Game Pass, we’re not trying to funnel everybody into one business model. Play the games the way you want to play them.
We obviously have to run a good business, so we’ll have our pricing and everything that we do, but I want to make as many options as possible for the games that we have. So they find more and more players.”
As Phil acknowledges, many gamers (and industry analysts) believe that Microsoft is looking at their business in terms of the lowest common denominator. And that means, aside from getting everyone used to Microsoft as a major third party publisher, that they will eventually make everyone use Game Pass.
And so Phil reminds us that all the way back in the deeply unpopular Xbox One years, he made the effort to set up a backwards compatibility program. Even with all its limitations, the Xbox compatibility program is the most extensive and definitive of its kind in the industry. It covers all generations of Xbox consoles, and has guaranteed games from all generations can be played even after they had closed the respective online stores for those older consoles.
Subsequently, Xbox Play Anywhere is one of those huge features that Sony still can’t match, are unlikely to do so ever. You can buy one copy of the game to play on both your Xbox console and on PC, via the Microsoft Store. On console or PC, you can keep your save and achievements, and this gives you ownership of the game outside of Game Pass.
It’s certainly ironic that Phil has taken Xbox in the most pro-consumer direction it has been in years, and most gamers don’t appreciate or even know that it’s happened. But this is their pitch to be the Avis to PlayStation’s Hertz, and Xbox gamers have already gotten so much because of it.
You can watch XboxEra’s interview with Phil Spencer below.
