Xbox boss Phil Spencer says there are no “red lines” banning certain Microsoft games from being released on PlayStation, but it’s too early to make decisions about tentpole franchises like Halo.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Spencer said that “the ball is moving in the right direction” when it comes to more open game platforms. “This idea of open platforms, where users have more choice, creators have more choice, you see the momentum, right?”
Pushed for specifics, Spencer says that he’s pleased with the results of Microsoft’s first games to come to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch – earlier this year, Sea of Thieves, Pentiment, Grounded, and Hi-Fi Rush made the jump, while Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will launch on PS5 a few months after its Xbox release despite original plans to the contrary. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, while also now a Microsoft game, got the multiplatform release that CoD fans have come to expect over the years.
Microsoft does seem hesitant to lift the lid on bringing more of its games to PlayStation, especially those that are its major franchises. Spencer said that “I do not see […] red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not'” take certain games or series multiplatform, but Bloomberg reports he also said it was too early to make any kind of decision on that front relating to the next Halo game.
We don’t know much about that Halo game beyond the fact that it’s been in development in some form for about 2.5 years now. In that time, however, Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries underwent a major rebrand to become Halo Studios, beginning what it said was a new chapter in the series’ history, following the prior work of both 343 and Bungie.
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