Reggie Fils-Aimé says he’s ‘surprised that Xbox has not yet fully embraced Switch 2’

Former president and COO of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aimé, has shared his thoughts on the Nintendo Switch 2, including his surprise at the low number of Xbox-published titles on the console so far.

At the time of writing, Microsoft has published Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 on Nintendo Switch 2, and will release Indiana Jones and The Great Circle next year.

Speaking to The Game Business, Fils-Aimé said he was “surprised” at the relative lack of Xbox titles on Nintendo Switch 2 at this point.

“I’m surprised that Xbox has not yet fully embraced Switch 2 from a software perspective,” Fils-Aimé said. “Certainly, some games could easily be ported over to Switch 2. And I’m surprised that we haven’t seen more of that.

“I thought there would be much more, especially during this timeframe leading into the holiday. All through the fall, I was fully expecting some dedicated announcement. And I’m surprised it hasn’t happened.”

Fils-Aimé noted that while Xbox is essentially no longer competing in the hardware war in the way it used to be, he still believes Microsoft should be making the effort to get its games on every platform.

“I do think that the years of direct competition are done,” he said. “With a large part of the Xbox business now being publishing, by definition, they’re a big third-party publisher that also makes some hardware. From that standpoint, they are no longer directly competing with the PlayStation business.

“In fact, they need support from Sony for Microsoft’s software to reach the largest audience. And as I said earlier, I think it would be in their best interest to find ways for Xbox software, beyond Minecraft, to make its way onto the Nintendo platform. So, from that standpoint, direct warfare is over.

“But, on the other hand, gamers out there have limited budgets. You have to win for every dollar spent, you need to win for every minute spent playing. And so there’s always going to be a war going on. It may be below the surface, but there’s always going to be a battle for attention and for mindshare.”

Microsoft’s head of gaming, Phil Spencer, has repeatedly said that Microsoft plans to support Nintendo’s newest handheld, though many of the ports fans have expected have yet to materialise.

In an interview with Variety earlier this year, Spencer reiterated his intention to support Switch 2, stating that he was “a big believer in what Nintendo means for this industry”.

“We’ve been supporting Switch 1, I want to support Switch 2,” he said. “Nintendo has been a great partner. We think it is a unique way for us to reach players who aren’t PC players, who aren’t players on Xbox. It lets us continue to grow our community of people that care about the franchises that we have, and that’s really important for us to make sure we continue to invest in our games.

“I’m really a big believer in what Nintendo means for this industry and us continuing to support them. And getting the support from them for our franchises, I think, is an important part of our future.”