Xbox boss Phil Spencer's just said some things about the decision to bring Indiana Jones and The Great Circle to PlayStation
"I think it's just gonna be a strategy that works for us."
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is now confirmed to be arriving on PS5 in spring 2025, not long after it initially releases later this year as a timed exclusive. That was set in stone - following plenty of reports and rumours - during yesterday's Gamescom Opening Night Live, and now Xbox boss Phil Spencer's said some thing about what went into the decision to bring the game to Sony's consoles.
Obviously, this is all a part of Xbox's ongoing plans to do more multiplatform things, as outlined in that podcast earlier this year, with Grounded, Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, and Pentiment, having all been brought to fresh platforms so far.
During one of Microsoft's Gamescom 2024 livestreams, Spencer was asked about the whole Jones on PS5 thing. Acknowledging that those four games outlined above made the jump as part of Xbox doing some "learning", the exec said he's seen Xbox's "franchises are getting stronger" and "Xbox console player [numbers] are as high this year as they’ve ever been.”
He then alluded to the impact pressure from Microsoft on Xbox - which has already laid off staff and closed studios this year - to deliver strong results following its big acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year as being a factor. "We run a business,” he said, “It’s definitely true inside of Microsoft the bar is high for us in terms of the delivery we have to give back to the company, because we get a level of support from the company that’s just amazing and what we’re able to go do.
“So I look at this [as], how can we make our games as strong as possible? Our platform continues to grow, on console, on PC, and on cloud. I think it’s just going to be a strategy that works for us.”
Spencer then added: “The last thing I’ll probably say [is that], as an industry right now, there’s a lot of pressure on the industry. It’s been growing for a long time and now people are looking for ways to grow. Us as fans, as players of games, we just have to anticipate there’s going to be more change in how some of the traditional ways that games were built and distributed, that’s going to change. That’s going to change for all of us, but the end result has to be better games that more people can play. If we’re not focused on that, I think we’re focused on the wrong things."
He closed that in Xbox's case, the "most important things" are its own health, the health of its platform, and its "growing games”.
What do you think of Indy hitting PS5 not that long after it releases, especially if you're an Xbox owner? Let us know below!