Report: Xbox to break exclusivity, Starfield and Indiana Jones may come to PlayStation 5

Xbox is reportedly mulling over a shift in its business model that will help maximize game sales.

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Microsoft has discussed bringing big-name Xbox exclusives to PlayStation 5, sources have told The Verge's Tom Warren. Bethesda games like Starfield and the new Indiana Jones and the Great Circle game are both potentially heading to PS5. It's believed Microsoft is aiming at magnifying game sales by offering its titles on PlayStation, further cementing third-party ties between the two harmonic rivals.

The decision has faced heated opposition among Xbox teams, and Microsoft has yet to make any official comment on the reports. There is no guarantee that the games will break exclusivity and release on PlayStation.

Accidental file leaks from the FTC trial show that Microsoft aspires to attain market leadership by 2030 with an estimated $32 billion revenues. A significant portion of these earnings are to be driven by content and services including digital game sales, microtransactions, and subscriptions--the real backbone of the games industry.

More games are expected to break exclusivity, too. Reports indicate that both Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves could be crossing over to other platforms, with Hi-Fi Rush coming to PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.

The response from Xbox fans has been fierce. Gamers are up in arms, and the report may have done reputational harm to the Xbox brand.

Microsoft has telegraphed this shift for a bit, but the move nonetheless feels more abrupt. The news comes shortly after physical copies of Starfield were removed from store shelves, after some retailers in Europe stop stocking Xbox game discs entirely, and as Microsoft reported lukewarm hardware revenues despite strong holiday discounts.

Xbox's revenues for the holiday 2023 period were a record-breaking $7.111 billion, of which 30% was from Activision Blizzard King's contributions (with $1 billion in adjustments, eliminations, and accounting tweaks subtracted).