Why is Microsoft set to launch Xbox games on PlayStation?
And are the console wars finally over?
This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we discuss the bombshell news that some of Xbox's biggest exclusives are being mulled by Microsoft for release on PlaySation.
Blockbuster games such as Starfield and the upcoming Indiana Jones title could no longer be Xbox exclusives, reports now claim, following whispers that smaller titles such as Hi-Fi Rush were being considered for PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. So what has prompted Microsoft to think bigger with its third-party publishing plans? And does this finally mean the console wars are over? (Fat chance.)
Join us as we discuss the long-term factors at play - hardware sales, subscription service growth slowing - and more recent triggers such as the eye-wateringly large purchase of Activision Blizzard and the need to quickly see a return on that investment (also seen, sadly, in the recent decision to cull 1900 Xbox and Activision employees). We also consider Microsoft's next steps after all of this leaked - reportedly, by people within Xbox itself hostile to the very idea of Gears of War on PlayStation.
With me this week are Eurogamer's Ed Nightingale, Victoria Kennedy and Liv Ngan.