Breakdown
- Phil Spencer wants more game stores on Xbox consoles, like Epic
- Spencer feels that consoles are limiting customers with only one game store
- Spencer wants console users to have options similar to PC players
Phil Spencer has shown that he’s willing to think out of the box for Xbox, recently bringing the system’s former exclusives to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. It seems that this line of thinking isn’t just for games, as Spencer also wants to see other game stores like Epic on Xbox consoles.
During the Game Developers Conference, Spencer expressed his frustrations with consoles having only one first-party store to buy games from. Speaking with Polygon, Spencer said that he thinks having stores like Epic or Itch.io on consoles would benefit players and console publishers.
“[Consider] our history as the Windows company. Nobody would blink twice if I said, ‘Hey, when you’re using a PC, you get to decide the type of experience you have [by picking where to buy games]. There’s real value in that,” Spencer said.
Seeing Xbox boss Phil Spencer be open about this is interesting, since these console publishers usually get a cut from selling games on their stores. Bringing in Epic Games or GOG to consoles like Xbox would be interesting, just to see how these companies would compromise on the money they’re making.
One benefit of having a singular store for consoles is the simplicity, making sure players don’t get lost when buying new games. Adding new stores might confuse things, especially if they also sell the same games, but they could get used to it. PC gamers are already used to buying from multiple stores and key shops, so console users could learn to do the same.
It seems that Spencer really wants to shake things up for the current console market, which is always a good thing. The Xbox boss did bring Hi-Fi Rush to PS5 recently, with rumours that it’s also coming out on Nintendo Switch 2. Spencer also teased wanting a new Xbox handheld to compete with Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck, though that system hasn’t been confirmed.
Will we see the Epic Games Store on Xbox? Only time will tell.