Anything is an Xbox: your phone, your ROG Xbox Ally, or even your Nintendo Switch 2. The days of the console wars are dying out, and Xbox president Sarah Bond is eager to bring everyone together - for better or worse. In response to Bond's recent comments, ex-Blizzard Entertainment head Mike Ybarra points to Nintendo as a tech giant getting exclusivity right in gaming.
But is leaving the age of exclusivity a good thing? Or should healthy rivalries still exist to motivate each company? With Master Chief coming over to the PlayStation 5, who knows, maybe a Halo: Campaign Evolved Nintendo Switch 2 port is possible. Following the release of the ROG Xbox Ally, Sarah Bond speaks to Mashable in a brand-new interview about how these handhelds open Xbox gaming to bigger audiences.
"We've always believed that people want to be able to play any game, anywhere they want, with anyone. Gaming is entertainment. You shouldn't be constrained to a single device; you shouldn't be locked to a single store," Bond explains.
In the grand scheme of Xbox's plans, the ROG Xbox Ally is the "manifestation" of those notions. The new Xbox-branded handhelds aren't exactly a one-to-one console experience, but new inclusions like the Xbox Full Screen feature are a step closer to bridging that gap. Of course, it means that your Xbox Game Pass library is front and center above everything else. If that isn't clear when you boot it up, there are plenty of in-app adverts before you even get the chance to launch anything in your library.
Yet, on the flip side of the coin, Bond echoes Phil Spencer's perspective on sharing its once-exclusive titles with other platforms. Alongside, another interview with Bond details a forthcoming Xbox console that could take influence from the Steam Deck and ROG Ally. Despite having a "premium" next-gen Xbox console in development, ensuring players stick to that platform isn't a priority.
Bond expresses that "the biggest games in the world are available everywhere. You look at Call of Duty, you look at Minecraft, you look at Fortnite, you look at Roblox […] that's where people gather and have experiences." As these FPS games or battle royale games are multi-platform, Bond adds that "the idea of locking it to one store or one device is antiquated for most people. You want to be able to play with your friends anywhere, regardless of what device they're on."
While you can probably see the benefits of opening up different games to more players, some companies like Nintendo are happy to cement the Nintendo Switch 2 as the definitive place to play new Switch games, such as Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Batting for that viewpoint, Mike Ybarra jokes that someone should "go tell Nintendo that exclusives are antiquated."
Commenting further on Nintendo's strategy, Ybarra says that "Nintendo has continually dominated with outstanding games. Sure, some platforms flopped, but they always took risks and came back very strong. It is the opposite of antiquated. It is risk and return."
Should the multi-decade rivalry between PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo keep going? It's certainly a strange development to see unfold, as PlayStation is still playing its cards close to its chest in the middle of all this. Aside from Helldivers 2, we're not seeing The Last of Us or Ghost of Yotei jump ship - at least not yet.
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