A number of Xbox-exclusive titles have had any mention of Xbox Game Pass removed from their listing on the official Microsoft website.
Previously, the likes of Fable, Avowed and Hellblade 2 all mentioned their inclusion on Xbox Game Pass on their respective listing on the Microsoft website, alongside the logo for the Xbox Series console.
Now it seems Microsoft has updated those listings. There is no mention of Xbox Game Pass until much further down the page, and text reading “console and PC” has replaced the Xbox Series logo.
Microsoft Removes Xbox Series & Xbox Gamepass Logos From It’s Site:
Before: Xbox Series Logos
After: Console, PC, Cloud#Xbox #MicrosoftGaming #Microsoft pic.twitter.com/am2GtPQ0VK
— @Zuby_Tech (@Zuby_Tech) February 9, 2024
NME has reached out to Xbox for comment.
The update follows numerous rumours that Microsoft is moving away from exclusive titles, and has plans to make Starfield, Indiana Jones & The Great Circle, Sea Of Thieves, Halo and Gears Of Wars available to play on the PlayStation 5 while Hi-Fi Rush could be coming to the Nintendo Switch.
Trying to downplay the rumours, Xbox boss Phil Spencer took to social media this week to tell fans the company was listening to them. “We hear you,” he said. “We’ve been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future,” he continued, before asking fans to “stay tuned”.
Spencer has previously spoken out about the so-called rivalry between Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo users. In 2020 he called console wars “one of the worst things about the industry.”
“I’m more interested in the growing pie of gaming than I am our slice of the pie-eating into someone else’s,” he added the following year. “It’s why we focus on things like cross-play and cross-saves. I think about these scenarios of why you and I maybe can’t play a game together, and it shouldn’t be because of the console you bought versus the console I bought.”
However, last month Spencer confirmed the company had “no plans” to bring Game Pass to Nintendo or PlayStation after CFO Tim Stuart said the plan was to bring the service to “every screen that can play games.”