Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer says he wants to open Xbox consoles to third-party game stores, such as the Epic Games Store and Itch.io. This should give players more freedom and make the platform more attractive. Spencer did not say when the stores will come to the consoles.
The consideration to open up consoles follows from the changing revenue model behind consoles, Spencer explained to Polygon. Console makers currently make money from consoles by selling the consoles themselves below cost to consumers and then making money from the proceeds from the sale of games. That's why consoles, for example, currently have one digital store where players can buy games.
However, subsidizing consoles is becoming increasingly challenging, Spencer says, partly because component prices are falling less quickly than before. “And I don't know if it's growing the industry,” Spencer says. “So then I wonder, what are the barriers? What are the things that are causing resistance among players and creators right now? And how can we help open up that model? Maybe the walls that are meant to keep players in consoles, just ensures that those players stay away.”
Spencer compares the console situation with Windows PCs and notes that on Windows you can choose where you buy games. According to Spencer, there is value in this and it makes for a more attractive platform. That is why he wants to open the console platform to external game stores. The article does not indicate when external game stores should come to Xbox and it is also not clear whether these external parties are interested in this. It is also not clear whether those external game stores will have to pay commission to Microsoft.
In addition to possibly installing external game stores, Spencer also wants to release fewer Xbox exclusives to make the platform less closed. That is why Sea of Thieves, among other things, is also coming to PlayStation 5. It should not matter which platform players have to let them play together, Spencer believes.
It has been known for some time that Xbox is having a hard time in the console market. Although Microsoft itself rarely shares sales figures, the company reported last June that it had sold 21 million Xbox Series consoles, while Sony had sold almost double that number of PlayStation 5 consoles at the time. GamesIndustry.biz says in a podcast at the Game Developers Conference fair that it has heard from two companies that they barely sell games via the Xbox platform. “I don't know why we even bother supporting the platform,” said 'a major company that released a major game last year'.