It's been an unusual time for long-time fans of Xbox. The so-called "console wars" appear to be coming to an end as Xbox has committed to porting its first-party titles to PlayStation, something that would have been unimaginable in the company's Xbox 360 heyday.
In an interview with Xbox Era, Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer was transparent about Xbox's new business model, saying that "gatekeeping" games doesn't "really benefit people." We've already seen Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves arrive on the opposition platform, with Forza Horizon 5, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Age of Mythology Retold all confirmed to eventually release on PlayStation 5.
This apparent shift in priorities has worried long-time Xbox fans who fear that the brand is shifting away from first-party hardware and towards game publishing. An oft-expressed concern among these worried fans is that they'll lose their accumulated digital library of games if Xbox stops releasing consoles in subsequent generations.
While this concern is certainly valid, Xbox is unlikely to stop releasing consoles. Throughout this interview, Spencer stresses multiple times how important the company's native platform is. He also directly addresses the safety of digital libraries,...
