If Xbox Reverses Exclusivity, Expect These 3 Games on PlayStation 5

Microsoft Gaming can’t seem to shake internal chaos.

After the tech giant laid off 1,900 people across Activision Blizzard and Xbox in January, social media has been abuzz this month with rumors that many exclusive games within the Xbox ecosystem will release on other platforms, namely rival PlayStation 5, resulting in outrage among some gamers.

No one at Microsoft, Sony or any related studio has confirmed such details, but Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in an apologetic tone last Monday that a “business update event” is planned for next week, a sign there is likely some truth to the rumors.

Three games make the utmost sense for a multiplatform shift:

“Starfield”Bethesda Game Studios’ massive space-exploration RPG was a significant hit for Xbox when it released last September. The game reached 1 million concurrent players at launch and had over 6 million players overall by the next day, making it Bethesda’s biggest launch ever.

However, the title’s same-day availability on Game Pass and absence on other consoles caused “Starfield” to narrowly miss a spot in 2023’s top 10 U.S. bestsellers list, which included PS5 exclusive “Spider-Man 2” and Nintendo’s latest “Zelda” game.

Xbox Series systems ship substantially fewer units than either competitor.

The first new IP at Bethesda Game Studios in decades, “Starfield” was originally announced in 2018, well before Microsoft acquired parent ZeniMax. That whet the appetites of gamers who have long enjoyed the studio’s “Elder Scrolls” and “Fallout” franchises on PlayStation and would have played “Starfield” in droves if not for the ZeniMax deal.

“Indiana Jones and the Great Circle”A multiplatform release for MachineGames’ “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” is already rumored and would be a smart decision for Xbox — and Disney.

Warner Bros.’ “Hogwarts Legacy” became the bestselling game of 2023 through a multiplatform release that exceeded 22 million in sales, despite diminishing returns for the film studio’s “Fantastic Beasts” series and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling’s public tirade against transgender people. With a big-budget “Harry Potter” Max series in the works, the “Hogwarts” game was a lifesaver for the IP.

“The Great Circle” could do the same for “Indiana Jones.” What was meant to be Ford’s swan song in 2023’s “Dial of Destiny” underperformed last summer against a massive $300 million production budget. This only added to the boulder of losses Disney is trying to outrun, on account of Marvel productions having overstayed their welcome.

November’s “The Marvels” finished its box-office run as the MCU’s worst film yet. Getting good returns on “The Great Circle” is imperative, as Disney has also set “Marvel’s Blade” at an Xbox studio.

“Hogwarts Legacy” was internally developed and published through Warners but Disney is strictly a licensor, albeit one that has ramped things up considerably. The company invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games Wednesday for an expansive Fortnite partnership that will see many experiences on the platform designed around Disney IP. 

This will open lucrative streams of revenue from digital gaming merch that should help CEO Bob Iger offset losses in other divisions, mainly streaming. Iger dissolved Disney Interactive Studios in 2016 during his prior tenure, triggering a butterfly effect that eventually led to the success of “Hogwarts Legacy,” as Warners seized on the opportunity and reestablished developer Avalanche Software the following year before tasking it with the game.

If Disney hopes “The Great Circle” will rejuvenate “Indiana Jones,” the game can’t be confined to Xbox. A reversal of its exclusivity might indicate the multiplatform pressure is as external as it is internal — especially if Lucasfilm is entitled to a portion of sales.

“OD”Hideo Kojima’s “Death Stranding” sequel closed out PlayStation’s recent State of Play presentation with one of the game designer’s typical star-studded trailers, but Kojima Productions also has “OD” slated at Xbox. A collaboration with horror filmmaker Jordan Peele, it’s the first time Kojima has co-created a game alongside Hollywood talent since his and Guillermo del Toro’s “Silent Hills” fizzled out at Konami.

Keeping this game exclusive to Xbox would be a missed opportunity. Del Toro and Kojima’s 2014 “P.T.” demo, a teaser to “Silent Hills,” was exclusive to PS4 consoles but removed from the PlayStation Store in 2015. The demo is so sought after that preowned PS4s with the game installed are posted on eBay for prices well above a new PS5.

Narrative-driven horror games such as “The Last of Us” and 2015’s “Until Dawn” — the latter of which starred Rami Malek and has a remaster due for PS5 — remain a common element of PlayStation’s first- and second-party strategy. Quantic Dream’s “Heavy Rain” in 2010 helped sell PS3s at a time when sales were neck and neck with Xbox 360, as Bungie’s “Halo” games and Epic’s “Gears of War” titles were big performers for the console before those IPs shifted to internal Xbox teams.

Microsoft can certainly test the multiplatform waters with either franchise, neither of which has ever been on PlayStation. But “OD” should cast as wide a net as possible if it wants to capitalize on Peele’s acclaim in Hollywood, not to mention that of Kojima, who is spearheading a film adaptation of “Death Stranding” at A24 and recently announced “Physint,” a new multimedia franchise he is developing at Sony.