Xbox says its consoles will remain the ‘flagship’ experience and the only place for Game Pass

Xbox has pledged that its consoles will continue to be the best way to play its games, and that access to those games will not be removed in the near future.

As part of its statement on the future of the Xbox business, an article on the Xbox blog states that Xbox consoles “will continue to provide a flagship experience for players”.

It also notes that Game Pass “will continue to be only available on Xbox platforms”, essentially shooting down suggestions that it may come to PlayStation or Nintendo systems in the future.

The statement also appears to dismiss concerns that players’ Xbox libraries will be shut down in the future, saying the company’s “commitment to game preservation is unwavering”.

“Xbox players should have confidence in building your digital library in the Xbox ecosystem,” it says. “We will continue to reward that with the most robust, player-friendly experiences, including backwards compatibility, cross-play, cross-save progression, convenient cloud gaming, and more.”

During a supporting podcast, Xbox president Sarah Bond implied that more hardware was in the works.

“There’s some exciting stuff coming out in hardware that we’re going to share this holiday”, she said, “and we’re also invested in the next generation roadmap.

“And what we’re really focused on there is delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation, which makes it better for players and better for creators and the visions that they’re building.”

In its blog article, Xbox makes the following promises to its players:

• “The biggest games in the world will be on Xbox. ”
• “Our games will come to Game Pass day one.”
• “A robust and innovative multi-year hardware roadmap.”
• “Compatibility with your library is a priority, inclusive of cross-play, cross-save, and robust cloud features.”
• “Xbox will continue to help game creators find the biggest audience possible.”