Out of all gaming companies, Xbox has some of the most active executives on social media, constantly communicating with fans, replying to them and even Phil Spencer occasionally gaming with Xbox fans. Yet the Irony is that Xbox has very bad communication when it comes to important information about their games. Since the generation started Xbox has made it a habit to announce a new AAA game without even mentioning what platforms it is coming to. The latest in this is Marvel Blade, which was announced at The Game Awards 2023.
This has led Xbox fans to constantly rely on leaks and rumors to know what platforms Xbox games are coming to, an example is the Indiana Jones game by Bethesda, announced in 2021 it wasn’t until 2023 that Xbox fans found out via leaks that the game was going to be exclusive to Xbox consoles and PC.
Contrast that to PlayStation, who always list what platforms games are coming to when they are announced, When Sony announced the game Concord from their new studio, they immediately listed PC and PlayStation as platforms it was coming to, PlayStation is a company that mostly publishes games only on PlayStation, so when they are publishing on PC, they spell it out and leave no room for speculation. When they announced Wolverine, they listed the PlayStation 5 as the console it was in development for.
These constant speculations have caused a lot of negative discourse around Xbox game announcements, with constant bickering about what platforms Xbox games will launch on. This might keep Xbox games trending in the algorithm longer, but it ultimately creates an air of negativity around them.
If Xbox had spelt it out clearly that AA games would release on X/Y platform after a specified period of time, nobody would be angry about the rumors of Hi-Fi Rush going to the Nintendo Switch.
Xbox needs to be consistent with its messaging, and it needs to communicate clearly with its fans(customers) what it is doing, so that Xbox fans don’t have to rely on rumors and leaks to get important information that should have been provided by Xbox in the first place.