Starfield can only be played on Xbox Series or PC but Phil Spencer thinks it should be playable on mobile. In fact, Spencer feels that some of the most popular games on Xbox and PlayStation should be available as mobile titles.
During an interview with Eurogamer, Spencer was asked about Microsoft’s current emphasis on the mobile market. The head of Xbox talked about how the market for mobile gaming is always growing and feels that those gamers deserve huge story-centric AAA games.
“Console is relatively flat in terms of number of players, PC is relatively flat in terms of the number of players,” Spencer said. “I think we miss something if amazing story-based games like a God of War or Starfield or Spider-Man or whatever aren’t available in places.”
When Spencer was asked about how to bring games like Starfield or God of War to mobile, he said the answer is streaming. Xbox is attempting to do that with Xbox Cloud Gaming, formerly xCloud, though it’s currently still in its beta phase.
Most gamers are still mixed on cloud gaming, since that needs a constant internet connection. Players will need a consistently good connection so the games are responsive, but even that’s not a guarantee for quality. The Nintendo Switch, in particular, has been criticized for making poor cloud versions of titles like Kingdom Hearts 3 or Resident Evil 2 Remake.
Despite this, a number of video game streaming services are available on the market. Outside of Xbox’s service, there is Amazon Luna (read our review), Nvidia GeForce Now, Antstream and more. Even Netflix is attempting to get into the market.
However, Xbox has done a somewhat decent job at making cloud gaming a respectable form of the hobby. While xCloud is still in its beta phase, the company is consistently adding games and making improvements. Microsoft has even added backwards-compatible Xbox 360 titles to xCloud, showing their dedication to mobile titles.
Xbox’s dedication to mobile could lead to Starfield being streamable on mobile titles, though that remains to be seen. Even with an interest in mobile gaming, Microsoft is hoping interest in the Bethesda RPG will lead to console sales and Game Pass subscriptions.
Read More: Starfield will make you kill your enemies because pacifist runs are impossible
Starfield is coming to Xbox Series and PC on September 6.