Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said that exclusive games will become less of a thing in the industry. Credit: Getty Images/Anadolu/Contributor.

Microsoft has said it will release four exclusive Xbox video game titles on external platforms as it makes the unprecedented move to reach more gamers after its record-topping acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced the move on a podcast on Thursday (15 February).

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Spencer did not specify which exclusive Xbox games will be released on other platforms, but the CEO confirmed they will have been on Xbox for more than a year.

Game titles exclusive to one platform have helped forge the modern-day “console wars”, with popular exclusive titles often gaining the name “system sellers”.

However, Spencer said exclusive games would become less standard in the industry in the next five to ten years.

The news follows the announcement in January that Microsoft would be laying off around 1,900 employees across Activision Blizzard and Xbox.

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Microsoft’s $69bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard is the largest deal in gaming history.

The deal, which concluded on 13 October 2023, gives Microsoft control of some of the biggest gaming franchises in the world, including Call of Duty, Diablo and Candy Crush.

The gaming industry will be worth a whopping $470bn in less than a decade, more than double its $197bn valuation in 2021, according to research and analytics company GlobalData.