With the next generation of Nintendo’s Switch console on the horizon, it seems that Microsoft might be gearing up to bring more of its games over to rival platforms. In a new interview with Bloomberg, Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, discussed some of the plans Microsoft has for the future of the Xbox brand and what it might be doing with newer hardware. While a lot of that doesn’t pertain to the Switch, a few comments do.
When chatting about Microsoft’s mobile store, a project that still hasn’t come to fruition yet, Spencer inevitably brought up how Xbox as a platform has started to tear down its borders and allow some exclusives onto other platforms. We’ve already seen games such as Pentiment and Grounded head to Switch and that won’t be the last of them. “I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not,’” Spencer stated when questioned on which types of games would jump to other consoles.
This inevitably brought up discussions of Halo, which has been rumored to have switched over to Unreal Engine 5 in an effort to gear up for a multi-platform launch of the next installment. Spencer said it was too early to make any specific decision yet. Still, that wording makes it very likely we might see Halo 7 launch simultaneously on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Switch 2.
Elsewhere in the interview, Spencer brought up the rumored Xbox handheld device, which is something that would compete directly with the Switch 2. Far from giving any concrete details, Spencer simply said that the “expectation is that we would do something” regarding a mobile console. He does state that prototypes exist and Microsoft is considering what it can bring to the table, but that such a device is still a few years out. As we can infer, it definitely will not launch before the Switch 2.
The interview is certainly full of interesting tidbits, though the more pessimistic among us might read it as Microsoft scrambling to save a brand that is slowly losing relevance. It is very unlikely that Microsoft will ever abandon gaming outright, but Xbox as a console could cease to be in the future. It might live on as an alternative to the Steam Deck or even as simply the name for Game Pass. Either way, 2025 looks to be another interesting year for Microsoft when it comes to porting games to rival platforms.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
