Media: publishers doubt the need to release games on Xbox consoles
Microsoft has "big problems" with retaining publishers on Xbox consoles, according to journalist Christopher Dring from GamesIndustry.biz . According to him, some large gaming companies do not see prospects for Xbox support.
According to Dring, companies' interest in Xbox has declined partly due to falling sales of Microsoft consoles in Europe.
"I've heard from a very well-known company and one not very well-known one that Xbox sales in Europe have stopped growing. You can see this in our monthly reports on the European gaming market. Xbox sales have been falling all last year, and this year they are falling even more," Dring said on the GI Microcast podcast.
As the journalist says, publishers are increasingly wondering how profitable it is to release games on Xbox. He quoted one such company: "We put a lot of effort into creating versions of the game for the S and X Series, but to be honest, our main market is PC and PlayStation 5."
Another publisher, who released a major game in 2023, even told Dring that he did not understand why he supported Xbox.
In addition, publishers are taking into account Microsoft's new gaming strategy. In February, the corporation announced that it would begin releasing its games on competitors' consoles. So far, only four titles are officially known — Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves and Grounded — but the industry believes that most Xbox exclusives will gradually be released on PlayStation 5.
Later in the GI Microcast podcast, Dring also stated that many developers do not understand why the PlayStation 5 Pro is needed now. At the GDC 2024 conference, he talked with various developers, and none of his interlocutors saw much point in the advanced version of the PlayStation 5, since they still had not used all the features of the PlayStation 5.
