At yesterday's Gamescom press conference, Bethesda revealed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming PlayStation 5 in spring 2025, after an initial December launch on Xbox and PC. For Xbox boss Phil Spencer, bringing the title cross-platform is for the good of the brand.
On a live broadcast Following the event, Spencer explained that the decision was partly spurred by alleged success of games like Race to high fidelity AND Sea of Thieves on PS5 and Nintendo Switch ports earlier this year. And if Xbox games are going to be “as strong as they can be,” they’ll need to be cross-platform.
“Our end result has to be better games that more people can play,” he continued. “If we don’t focus on that, I think we’re focusing on the wrong things.”
Indiana Jones It was one of two Bethesda games that initially had PS5 Versions in the works before Microsoft bought the company. Those have since been scrapped, which complicates matters and highlights the strange position Xbox has been put in with its many acquisitions in recent years.
Another wrinkle is Xbox's various attempts to increase its base. In mid-September, it will introduce a new level (and price hike) for Xbox Game Pass that drops access from day one to its first-party formation, which in turn precedes Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 join the service.
With companies “looking for ways to grow,” Xbox's multi-platform approach could be here to stay for a while. Spencer said all studios “need to anticipate further changes in the way some of the traditional ways games were created and distributed.”
“For us as Xbox, [the] the health of Xbox, the health of our platform and our growing games, [those are the] the most important things.”