Summary
In another interesting revelation,Xboxhead Phil Spencer has reportedly backed the arrival of third-party game stores on game consoles. This has led toXboxfans anticipating the possible launch of game stores, like Steam, on Microsoft’s console.
Recently, Spencer has been sharing his thoughts about the future of Xbox, attracting the interest of the community, including a potential tease as well as hypothetical ideas about what he would want ina possible Xbox handheld device. Now, he has shed light on what he thinks about having third-party stores on a console.
In aninterview with Polygon, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer revealed his wish to bring down the closed ecosystem of consoles and introduce third-party storefronts, such as Steam, Epic Games Store, and Itch.io, to such platforms. When asked if these stores could exist on Xbox consoles in the future, he said “Yes,” likely fueling excitement among fans. Further, he highlighted that getting to choose where a player buys their game from is an advantage PC gaming offers over console gaming. He said, “Nobody would blink twice if I said, ‘Hey, when you’re using a PC, you get to decide the type of experience you have.' There’s real value in that.” However, he also admitted that such a move would require tackling a lot of paperwork.
Spencer addressed how the long-running strategy of console makers, which involves subsidizing or selling the hardware at a loss to eventually recoup the money and profit via software sales from their own digital game storefronts, may no longer be reasonable. He added that the walls meant to lock people into consoles might motivate them to stay out. Moving on, he said that subsidizing has become “more challenging,” and console makers need to look at doing away with other platform limitations, in particular, the absence of third-party stores, to attract players’ attention. This particular freedom of storefront is also the USP of gaming PCs, such ashandheld devices that include the likes of ASUS ROG Allyand Lenovo Legion Go.
Xbox has Big Announcements Coming in the Future, Starting from Later This Year
Back in January, Xbox President Sarah Bond shared that the console giant was set to make an announcement on the hardware side of things later this year. Not long after, reports emerged of anew Xbox console developer kitmaking rounds in South Korea, adding more fuel to the flame of the rumored Xbox handheld console and a potential disc-less Xbox Series X.
Taking note of Xbox’s imminent announcements slated for the near future and execPhil Spencer’s personal viewson the state of console gaming, it is well within reason to think that accommodating Steam and Epic Games Store onXboxmay also be in the pipeline. In case that happens, it would mark the first time a third-party storefront is available on a mainstream game console.
Microsoft Xbox Series X
The Xbox Series X boasts the fastest CPU and GPU configuration currently available for a current-generation console while offering 1TB of fast SSD storage for users out of the box.It comes with an Xbox Series S|X controller, a power cord, and documentation along with a trial for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in the box.
