Craig Duncan, head of Xbox Game Studios, has stated that Microsoft will try to be “more consistent” in the future with its strategy for releasing games on PlayStation 5. Considering that six Xbox titles arrived on PS5 in 2025 alone, and that a similar number is expected in 2026.
So far, release strategies have been handled on a case-by-case basis. Some games arrived later on PS5, such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Avowed, while others launched at the same time on PC and Xbox, like Gears of War: Reloaded and The Outer Worlds 2. This system will continue in 2026, as the recent Xbox Developer Direct confirmed that Fable will launch immediately on Sony’s console, while Forza Horizon 6 will arrive later.
Acknowledging the Lack of Consistency
Speaking with GamesRadar, Duncan explained that the delayed release of Forza Horizon 6 on PS5 is due to development-related factors.
“There’s always development realities about when these projects start – how big a team is, and what plans we have at the start of development,” he said. “Like you said, when a strategy changes, maybe you’ve got a plan that exists with a game and maybe you can adopt that, maybe you can’t. So that’s why.”
Duncan also openly acknowledged the criticism: “And to be clear, this is totally fair feedback. Sometimes we are inconsistent. You see some games in one place, some games in multiple places. Just know that we’re going to work on that, and we’re going to try and be more consistent with what we do.”
Quality First, Even on PS5
He added that, for developers, the main goal is to let as many fans as possible enjoy their work: “But you know, for our game makers, if you’re on the Fable team you just want as many people who love Fable to appreciate the great work that the team’s doing. That’s always our goal.”
For PS5 specifically, the intention in the future is to release games at launch, just like on PC. However, Duncan stressed that quality is the priority: “You used the word ‘port’ before, and not to sort of pick you up on that word specifically, but wherever our games show up we want them to show up and be the best that they can be for that platform. So we want to take advantage of whatever features and nuances that the platform has.”
He further added: “If we’re only in a position to release a game on a platform and not have it show up really well? Then I think we wouldn’t do that.”
He also explained that other factors, such as team size, also matter: “So we just want to do the best job, by each platform, by each game. So in that world, sometimes we’ll maintain optionality. Some games we might go PC first, others we might go console first. Grounded 2 is a really good example of this, which we launched into Game Preview, Steam, and PC initially. So yeah, I think it won’t always be the same.”
