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A new report from Windows Central confirms that Microsoft is working to radically expand its ecosystem so that the next generation of Xbox will be closer to the PC than ever before.
According to the report published by journalist Jez Cordon, Microsoft plans to add third-party stores such as Steam and Epic to the upcoming Xbox, which will allow users to buy and play games directly from those stores, including former PlayStation exclusives such as God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Ghost of Tsushima.
The move means that Xbox gamers will have access to a much wider library of games, although those copies will not support core Xbox features such as Gamerscore or Achievements as they will work through third-party storefronts.
The shift is not entirely surprising as both Microsoft and Sony have been gradually loosening their exclusivity restrictions, with Xbox releasing its major games like Starfield, Forza Horizon 5, and Halo on PlayStation, while this year Sony allowed Helldivers 2 to come to Xbox in a first-of-its-kind precedent.
It’s clear that the boundaries between platforms are quickly blurring and the concept of exclusivity is becoming a thing of the past.
This plan goes hand in hand with Microsoft’s vision to unify the Xbox and PC ecosystem, which has already started with the ROG Ally X, which allows access to Steam and Epic in an integrated manner, and it seems that the next generation of Xbox will be built on the same idea, a single device that combines the convenience of a console with the flexibility of a PC.
If this move is officially realized, for the first time in history, games like God of War and Spider-Man will be able to run legitimately and directly on Xbox consoles, and it could be the official end of the decades-long platform wars.
Do you think this development is good for gamers or does it make platforms lose their own identity?
