Xbox needs to publish games on PS5 and Switch to be sustainable, according to the former president of Blizzard

With a long post published on X, Mike Ybarra, the former president of Blizzard, returned to talk about the strategy of the Microsoft Gaming division, giving his opinion on which path the division should take. In his opinion, at present it has dimensions, and consequently costs, so large that its business would only be sustainable embracing a multiplatform strategythat is, bringing games created by internal studios to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, as seen for example with Sea of ​​Thieves and, in the future, with Doom: The Dark Ages.

“As Phil said in an interview, more and more games will be released on more platforms. He is obviously referring to PlayStation and Nintendo. Becoming the largest publisher of great games globally is the fundamental goal that they need to embrace. They need to create great games that sell and engage players on every device available.

“I understand that hardcore Xbox fans want exclusives and want Xbox hardware to be predominant. Having worked on many Xbox consoles myself, I admit to having mixed emotions. I love Xbox. But you have to put emotions aside and focus on teams, players and business and make tough decisions Given the current size of Microsoft Gaming, it is not sustainable not to embrace all platforms. They’re taking their players on this journey – and it’s not easy. But this is the right plan for their teams and their players.

For Ybarra, Microsoft should aim for Xbox consoles made by third parties

In the same post, Ybarra also suggested a possible future where Microsoft Gaming will not directly deal with the hardware, leaving third-party manufacturers are responsible for creating consoles fixed or Xbox handhelds, focusing instead on making Windows a valid operating system for gaming on all kinds of devices. In some ways an idea similar to that of Steam Machines. Furthermore, Ybarra again spoke of a hypothetical future where Microsoft Gaming will deal solely with game publishing and service management.

“I have no insider information, but if I were Microsoft, I wouldn’t deal directly with hardware in the future. There are tons of third-party hardware companies that produce handhelds for PC: embrace them and focus on creating great games by making Windows viable on these devices (and that’s a lot of work!). ”

“Microsoft is good at this. They could make their own PC device, but in my opinion it will be expensive. Maybe selling a $600-800 handheld is a smart move, but I wouldn’t do it. Too many distractions, costs and risks. It focuses the entire organization on games and make Game Pass come to PlayStation and other devices, which, emotions aside, is what large-scale gamers will eventually embrace.”