In a recent episode of the Gamertag Radio podcast, Xbox head Phill Spencer joined hosts Danny Peña and Parris Lilly to discuss recent goings-on at Xbox. Lilly asked Spencer to elaborate on what the future holds for Xbox as it pertains to their portfolio of games after Xbox’s recent “This is an Xbox” ad campaign; seemingly cementing the company’s “Play Anywhere” strategy.

In response, Spencer said, “I want people to be able to experience the games that we build, the services that we offer, on as many devices as we can. Obviously, some of the devices out there, some of the platforms, are closed–they don’t allow everything that we do to show up on those platforms.” Assumedly, Spencer is hinting at Nintendo and the Switch when bringing up the “closed platforms,” though he would go on to praise the Japanese company a few minutes later and says he is “excited” to bring Xbox games to the Switch 2.

It’s no secret that Xbox have struggled to keep pace with Nintendo and Sony in regards to console sales. New estimates suggest the PS5 outsold the Series X|S five to one in November of last year, with the console duo also being nearly a million units shy of the Switch. As such, it’s no surprise that the company has moved away from the “console wars” and onto a different strategy that focuses on having Game Pass accessible to players on whichever device they choose. “There aren’t many platforms out there that try to build connections to people through so many different screens,” said Spencer after making a point about developers wanting their games accessible to as many players as possible.

That’s not to say Team Green is not going to build consoles in the future. In response to Lilly dredging up community concerns about the necessity for Xbox hardware if the platform and its games will be accessible without the need for a “box,” Spencer said, “I want people to pick hardware based on the capabilities of that hardware and how that fits into the choices they want to make about where they want to play.” Spencer would go on to say that he feels over recent decades player sensibilities have shifted more from “platform-first” to “game-first,” though he acknowledged that “box” is in the platform’s name and that hardware is “fundamental” to the Xbox brand.

It will be interesting to see how Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and all the teams at Xbox move forward with this continued strategy of putting games on competitor’s platforms and what that does for Xbox hardware in the future. What are your thoughts on what Spencer said on Gamertag Radio? Let us know in the comments below!