Xbox chief announces mysterious event after weeks of leaks, layoffs, and drama

Rumors have emerged that Xbox may port over exclusive marquee games to its rival PlayStation.

• It's rumored that Xbox plans to release its own exclusive games on rival PlayStation.
• Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, promised a "business update event" to clarify the situation.
• The controversial rumors came weeks after Microsoft announced layoffs in its gaming divisions.

The era of Xbox exclusives may be in its end game.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is telling Xbox fans to "stay tuned" amid a flurry of rumors and controversy on social media suggesting the Microsoft-owned platform may port over some of its marquee games to its rival PlayStation.

"We're listening and we hear you," Spencer wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "We've been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox."

Spencer did not specifically address any of the rumors, nor did he deny them.

If true, it would be the first time that games developed and marketed exclusively for the Xbox would be available for PlayStation, which is owned by Sony.

Some of the games rumored to be making the cross-platform leap include "Starfield," considered one of the biggest games of last year, as well as the upcoming "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle." The only game confirmed to be making the leap to Sony's platform is "Hi-Fi Rush," Forbes reported.

Xbox sales have lagged behind Playstation for years. By the end of 2023, the PlayStation 5 was outselling the Xbox Series X/S by a margin of nearly three-to-one, according to data cited by the Financial Times.

"The main idea is that Xbox has lost the console war for two generations now and they're going to just stop pretending otherwise," said Paul Tassi, a video game columnist at Forbes. "They have repeatedly said their future is in services, and bringing Xbox games to as many people as possible."

The rumors have drawn sharp backlash from several prominent Xbox influencers, whose content is based on games marketed as Xbox exclusives. Some have publicly withdrawn their support for the brand, VGC reported, and at least one has said they will gradually shut down their account.

"It's so easy to see Xbox is killing its hardware and putting a stake in the heart of it by doing this," one influencer said, per VGC.

It's the latest turbulence for Microsoft Gaming, which announced last month that it would lay off 1,900 workers in its Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and Zenimax gaming divisions.

That was less than three months after Microsoft closed a $69 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, known for titles such as "Call of Duty."

The gaming industry as a whole has limped into 2024, with a record 10,500 layoffs last year and 6,200 more in January alone.