Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer has been doing a few interviews as 2024 draws to a close, celebrating Microsoft's generally strong lineup of games over the year while also warning that the PC-heavy lineup is «historical» and an «anomaly» following the $69 billion Activision-Blizzard acquisition.
Spencer's focus at the moment is talking up the strength of Xbox's lineup while flogging Game Pass, and moving towards a «Play Anywhere» marketing line that will see Xbox games work across a variety of devices.
It's Game Pass that feels like the real driver right now, however, with the recent launch of Black Ops 6 the first time a Call of Duty title has been available day one on the subscription service.
But that's part of a wider slew of offerings that, for the moment at least, tend to exclude most DLC and expansions across the slate.
In a new interview with newsletter GameFile, reporter Stephen Totilo pointed out to Spencer that three of Microsoft's nine fall releases are expansions: Diablo 4's Vessel of Hatred, World of Warcraft's The War Within, and Starfield's Shattered Space.