With Xbox continuing to shift its focus away from exclusive consoles and instead making it a priority to release many of its first-party games across platforms, head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan has made it clear that Xbox wants to be more consistent with the timing of how it releases games for the PlayStation 5. Xbox launched a number of key titles for its rival console, but many haphazardly released the consoles in 2025. day one on both Xbox and PlayStation systems while other Xbox games saw big delays before they came to PS5. Whether addressing audience protests directly or simply wanting to build a more sustainable model, Duncan has spoken about the current plans at Xbox Game Studios to ensure better launch strategies going forward.
Longtime gaming fans are no doubt familiar with the infamous “console wars” of the mid-2000s and 2010s, where Xbox and PlayStation competed to be at the top of the console market. The so-called battles between Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3, Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4, and even Xbox Series X|S vs. PlayStation 5 drove both developer innovation and fan engagement, though many see the future as far less competitive. This is largely due to Xbox focusing on multi-platform releases, which Craig Duncan has reiterated as a key focus for Xbox Game Studios.
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What are Xbox's plans for releasing games on PS5?
Speaking to Games Radar, Craig Duncan was asked how Xbox Game Studios decides when certain games will be ported to other platforms. Duncan responded that Xbox wants their games to “reach the most players” and seeing the large influx of active players once games were released on PlayStation 5 was a welcome sight and wants to continue to ensure that PlayStation fans can have access to Xbox releases, although previous timelines for multi-platform releases were on a case-by-case basis. When asked about this inconsistency of how Xbox games launch on PS5, Duncan admitted that “developmental realities” can contribute to how long it takes a team to prepare a game for multiple platforms, giving the upcoming Fable sequels and Forza 6 releases as examples of different development plans resulting in some Xbox games coming day one to PS5 (Fable) while others may see slight delays (Forza 6).
Duncan further emphasized the importance of making sure each game is the best it can be for each specific platform, which “can lead to a bit of choice” affected by resource constraints and subsequent delays between releases on Xbox and PlayStation. In particular, he acknowledged that a desire for more Xbox games releasing day one on PS systems is “totally fair feedback” and said that Xbox Game Studios “will work on” trying to “be more consistent”. However, he concluded by stressing the importance of quality releases over diversified releases, noting that the team will absolutely stick to picking and choosing which games to launch first on PC, first on Xbox, or simultaneously on different platforms, all depending on how to ensure the studio can “do the best job, of each platform.”
While audiences and pundits may remain divided on Xbox's cross-platform strategy, many fans have been happy to see more titles become available on all console platforms, including Xbox, PlayStation, and even Nintendo Switch 2. PC has also remained a key platform for Xbox, thanks to PC Game Pass and “everything is an Xbox” ideology, and despite some development hurdles that will appear to cross-platform release, Xbox will be able to release games that will cross-platform. are determined to keep the players on Xbox and other platforms in mind as you prepare for the future.
