Ever since Xbox started putting its games on other platforms (particularly PS5), there's been speculation about whether the brand could ultimately end up going the way of SEGA during the Dreamcast days and become "just a publisher".
Xbox EVP and CCO Matt Booty actually addressed this during yesterday's Windows Central interview, telling the outlet that "we're not backing away" from first-party games and hardware (at least not anytime soon!).
Here's a bit more on what he had to say about it:
"It is core to our partnership with the Microsoft platform, being involved in early hardware decisions — all the work we've done to get games like Gears of War running great on new devices like the Xbox Ally, and so on. It is embedded within our structure, we're not backing away from that. We're committed to being a first-party games publisher in partnership with our first-party platform team."
Of course, it's not too surprising that Matt Booty is saying this — we've got some major first-party games launching this year, along with a new handheld (the ROG Xbox Ally) and an upcoming console that could be launching in 2027.
It's still good to get clarification regardless though, and it's worth noting that Asha Sharma once again reiterated during this interview that "returning to Xbox" is something that "starts with console" and "starts with hardware".