Xbox’s biggest competition ‘isn’t another console’ but ‘TikTok and movies’, claims exec

Xbox’s studios boss has claimed Microsoft no longer sees other consoles as its biggest competition.

Matt Booty, the president of Xbox game content and studios, discussed the gaming division’s multiplatform strategy in an interview with The New York Times, published to coincide with news that Xbox’s historical flagship franchise, Halo, is coming to PlayStation for the first time.

Commenting on the decision, Booty claimed consumers no longer have a strong attachment to the devices they use to play games. “We are all seeking to meet people where they are,” he said. “Our biggest competition isn’t another console… We are competing more and more with everything from TikTok to movies.”

In the same interview, Booty briefly commented on the 9,000 company layoffs earlier this year, which saw the cancellation of numerous games and the closure of The Initiative.

“Layoffs are difficult,” Booty said. “They are a part of managing our business.”

Xbox’s multiplatform shift comes as Xbox continues to evolve its business in the wake of lower-than-expected console sales – PS5 is estimated to have outsold Series consoles two-to-one – with a continued focus on its Game Pass subscription service, at the expense of some traditional premium game sales.

Xbox’s shift to multiformat releases started in early 2024, when Microsoft gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced “just four games” from its first-party line-up would be coming to rival platforms, claiming that the ports were “not a change to [Xbox’s] fundamental exclusivity strategy”.

However, since then, the floodgates have opened, with numerous other former Xbox console exclusives making their way over to PlayStation, including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Forza Horizon 5, and Gears of War: Reloaded. Earlier this month, Xbox president Sarah Bond called the idea of exclusives “antiquated”.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, Microsoft has asked its Xbox division to produce profit margins well above the industry average, putting pressure on executives to cut costs and boost profits.

And there is evidence the strategy is working for the Xbox business: between April and July, six of the top 10 best-selling games on PS5 were from Microsoft.

Microsoft announced company-wide layoffs in July, reportedly resulting in as many as 9,000 people being laid off across all of its departments, and multiple projects were cancelled, including Rare’s Everwild and The Initiative’s Perfect Dark (the latter studio was also closed).

In further unpopular news for fans, Microsoft announced a 50% price increase to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate last month. The company has also raised the price of Xbox consoles twice this year.