By Chad W. Shreeves

After a whirlwind week of rumors and speculation regarding the future of the Xbox platform, Xbox head Phil Spencer took to the official Xbox podcast to finally set the record straight.

And the heads of the platform came out swinging with a deluge of updates that debunked the majority of the popular rumors and theories.

They started by confirming the initial report that yes, four games that were previously exclusive to the Xbox will be coming to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch in the near future. However, Spencer refused to say which games as he’s leaving that announcement for the individual developers.

Then came the swath of debunking, with a ton of information thrown at fans. The first being that Game Pass, their premier subscription service that has received massive praise from gamers for their consumer friendly format and day one releases, will be remaining Xbox console exclusive. So the rumors of Game Pass apps heading to PlayStation 5 and Switch were false.

They also committed that the next generation of Xbox consoles was already in development. Given the previously reported 2028 release window for the next generation, it’s no surprise that they’re already working on the tech needed. Spencer also stated that it will be the biggest leap forward in gaming yet.

They also hinted at a mid-generation refresh of consoles, with more information stated to come “later this year”. Some documents were released last year as part of the FTC/Microsoft court battle over the Activision/Blizzard acquisition, so it’s no surprise to get confirmation of the next generation of Series X/S.

And finally, Spencer confirmed that Diablo IV will be coming to Game Pass on March 28, making it the first Activision/Blizzard game to come to the service since the acquisition was finalized.

So this weird, wild week is finally settled and the console wars can calm down for a moment…until the next wild round of rumors and speculation begin.

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