As the Xbox rumor mill continues to spin out of control, Xbox’s big wigs will finally break the weeks-long silence over the future of its first-party games. On Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm GMT a new episode of the Xbox Podcast will air, giving us the Xbox business update previously promised by Phil Spencer.
“Please join us for a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast,” the announcement tweet reads. “Hear from Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty as they share updates on the Xbox business.” For the uninitiated, Phil Spencer is the CEO of Xbox and Sarah Bond serves as its president. Matt Booty, meanwhile, is the head of Xbox Game Studios.
If the three horsefolk of the Xboxalypse are involved, you know it’s going to be a whopper, though the decision to opt for a podcast over a live stream is certainly not what we were expecting. It’s giving ‘we’re hiding in the bunker’, though livestream comments are hardly ever constructive. Given the fan reaction towards the leaks that some of the best Xbox games and exclusives could be heading over to rival platforms, we can imagine things might get… frosty.
The latest update arrives a week after Spencer promised to share more about the studio’s “vision for the future of Xbox.” As for what that vision may look like, nothing is set in stone yet. However, reports have come in thick and fast in recent weeks regarding first-party behemoths like Starfield, Indiana Jones and the Golden Circle, and Gears of War heading to PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
According to a new report, Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment will be the first to appear on rival platforms – Hi-Fi Rush served as the spark that lit the Xbox multiplatform fuse alongside Sea of Thieves. However, it looks like a potential Starfield PS5 port has been walked back. Regardless, first-party exclusivity will undoubtedly be the hottest topic that Xbox addresses during the business update.
But it’s not only software that’s become a hot topic in the Xbox space. The next-gen Xbox launch has become the subject of fierce speculation in the light of these first-party title revelations – who’s going to invest in Xbox hardware if it doesn’t have any exclusives, after all?
While we’re expecting further clarity to be offered on the podcast here, it was recently reported that Spencer had “told employees that there were no plans to stop making consoles.” As for what the next-gen Xbox console (or consoles) may look like, recent reports indicate that we could be in for two separate machines: one a traditional, high-power box akin to the Series X, and the other a dockable handheld in the same vein as the Switch.
Between these two core pillars of Xbox’s strategy, there’s a lot for Spencer, Bond, and Booty to discuss – you can see the original announcement tweet here. We can’t imagine it’ll be a quick chat, so be sure to block out some time to properly listen to it before passing judgment – social media hottakes shouldn’t form the basis of your opinion here.
For more of the latest Xbox news, check out the genius PS5 feature next-gen Xbox consoles are reportedly borrowing. Meanwhile, read up on how Palworld is “severely lacking” staff following its freak success.