Cross-buy and cross-save between Xbox One and Windows 10 is good for gamers, says Xbox boss

The gaming community suffered from a minor kerfuffle yesterday as the Xbox One exclusive title Quantum Break was announced for Windows 10 PCs. The fact that the title was being produced for Windows 10 as a cross-play (and cross-buy) game upset some folks, among other reasons because of fears that producing the title for multiple platforms could negatively impact the Xbox One experience.

Xbox One leader Phil Spencer received the brunt of the complaints, and naturally responded by defending the decision to produce cross-platform titles. Offering titles on cross-buy and cross-save basis adds value to all players is Spencer’s position, as he indicated on Twitter:

@Nahkapukki @MSFTY @Nicodemus9 @DCNationSlade We'll make it a platform feature. We think it's good for gamers.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 11, 2016

He makes some additional arguments, including highlighting the fact that Xbox One appeals to certain gamers while high-end gaming PCs appeal to others.

@Fir3blad320 High end PC gaming rigs aren't the price of a console. People play on console because they love that experience, same for PC.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 11, 2016

Companies like Microsoft are often faced with difficult decisions like this one. Produce only exclusive Xbox One titles and risk offending PC gamers who want to see Windows 10 support the most popular games. Produce only Windows 10 titles and risk offending Xbox One owners who, likewise, want access to the best experiences. Produce cross-platform titles like Quantum Break (and Rise of the Tomb Raider as another example) and risk offending everyone.

Spencer is a brave man for entering into this debate, and we applaud him for doing so. Clearly these are passionate topics for a number of people, and putting himself out there and addressing complaints is the right way to go, in our opinion.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on these developments, because in the end we’re sure that Microsoft will continue pushing cross-platform as a strategy. This latest online debate isn’t so different from the one that continues to rage around Microsoft’s producing its first-party apps for iOS and Android–and sometimes, more quickly and with more features than their Windows 10 counterparts.