Microsoft Head Phil Spencer Says Nothing Is Off Limits When It Comes to Xbox Ports

You can’t think of Xbox without Phil Spencer coming to mind. The CEO of Microsoft Gaming recently stopped by the NYC Bloomberg office to discuss all things Xbox, including ports of their games to other consoles.

The interview with Spencer can be read here. It is full of interesting insights, including plans to acquire even more gaming studios and the development of a handheld that is years away. One particular highlight was Spencer’s thoughts on an Xbox that is more of an open platform. Microsoft’s advertising already acknowledges this. Furthermore, we’ve seen former Xbox exclusives come to both PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. Microsoft is quite happy with these results. Spencer added, “I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not.’” There is also a hope that Apple and Google’s mobile devices will become more open to Xbox titles appearing on their respective platforms.

While Spencer mentioned it is too early to decide about the Halo franchise, I posit that it is a certainty. Future Halo titles will be using Unreal Engine 5. There are even rumors Halo Studios wants to remake Halo: Combat Evolved. It would be the perfect opportunity to snag new fans. The devs could smooth out the rough edges of the original Xbox game, too. However, I doubt the Nintendo Switch would be able to run the title properly (maybe the successor could).

While this is good news, Spencer isn’t immune to criticism. Although he mentioned that, “The Xbox business has never been more healthy,” the industry would beg to differ. Spencer’s comment may mean future layoffs aren’t likely at this point, but that doesn’t help all of those workers who were laid off due to Microsoft biting off more than it could chew with its acquisitions. Here’s hoping the worst of it has passed.