Xbox Studios head confirms multiplatform strategy amid rumours of Fable for PS5

The latest episode of the Official Xbox Podcast has dropped, and it has brought around one particularly big headline – Fable has been delayed from 2025 to 2026. As it turns out, this could have something to do with Microsoft's evolving multiplatform strategy, as rumour has it that Fable will now launch on PC, Xbox and PS5 simultaneously. 

During Microsoft's battle with the FTC to secure permission to acquire Activision Blizzard and the Call of Duty IP, Microsoft made it clear that it had no plans to make Call of Duty exclusive and spent much time painting the picture that exclusives are actually bad for business. In 2024, Microsoft took things a step further, bringing titles like Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment and Grounded to rival console platforms. since then, titles like Forza Horizon 5, Doom: The Dark Ages and Indiana Jones have also been confirmed for release on PS5.

Speaking on Microsoft's expanding multiplatform games strategy, Xbox Game Studios head, Craig Duncan, said on the latest Xbox Podcast that this approach is “good for gamers” and that it is “good for our studios”. Microsoft's approach now is to give its first-party games “the chance to reach the broadest audience possible”, which means taking a step back from its singular device approach to include the likes of PS5 and Nintendo Switch, as well as PCs.

Interestingly, it has been claimed by a few sources that Fable, which was just pushed back from 2025 to 2026, was already planned to come to PS5 next year. As a result, it is now expected that Fable will be one of the first Xbox titles to launch on PC, Xbox and PS5 simultaneously, doing away with the ‘timed exclusive' approach we've seen from Microsoft so far with titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The iffy part? Microsoft still wants to sell Xbox consoles and is planning a new generation, which seems somewhat pointless given the company's SEGA-style approach moving forward.

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KitGuru Says: Would you still buy an Xbox console if Microsoft were to start bringing its first-party games to rival consoles day-and-date with PC and Xbox? 

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