Starfield On PS5 Isn't Ruled Out, Xbox's Phil Spencer Says

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has once again commented on the company's strategy as it relates to launching its own first-party games on other platforms. As Spencer has been saying for a long time already, he believes Xbox is strongest and best-positioned when it launches its own games on other platforms. A game remaining exclusive to Xbox in perpetuity "doesn't work for us" going forward, he said.

Speaking to Destin Legarie, Spencer was asked directly if he could confirm if Bethesda's RPG Starfield would remain exclusive to Xbox on console for the time being. Spencer said, "No."

He added: "There is no reason for me to put a ring fence around any game and say, 'This game will not go to a place where it will find players, where it would have business success for us.'"

Spencer said what his team has found is that launching Xbox games on other platforms amounts to "better business" results for the company, which in turn allows Microsoft to invest in the kinds of games that it recently showed off at the January Xbox Developer Direct.

"That's our strategy. Our strategy is to allow our games to be available [across consoles]. Game Pass is an important component of playing the games on our platform. But to keep games off of other platforms, we don't think--that's not a path for us. It doesn't work for us," he said.

"What we're doing now we think really enables us to build the best platform for the world's best games. Because the world's biggest games are available in multiple places. More and more, creators are asking us, 'How do we stay connected when our game might be playable in all these different places.' We want Xbox to be absolutely the platform that enables that," Spencer added. "We think that makes us unique. Most of the other platforms out there are 'single platform on single device.' Whether that's PC, whether that's mobile, whether it's a console. We want Xbox to be a platform that enables creators across any screen that people want to play on."

Some Xbox fans have expressed concerns about this new strategy, and particularly how it may lead to a feeling of Microsoft losing its identity. Spencer said he's heard these concerns and takes them seriously. He said Xbox's "identity will continue to evolve," which he said has always been the case since the Xbox brand was launched in 2001.

The next big Xbox title to come to PS5 is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which hits Sony's console this spring following its debut on Xbox back in December. Doom: The Dark Ages will then launch in May across Xbox, PlayStation, and PC at the same time. Starfield, meanwhile, launched in September 2023 and remains exclusive on console to Xbox (it's also available on PC).