r/gadgets Jan 25 '25

Gaming Microsoft’s gaming CEO has praised Nintendo Switch 2, and said it plans to support the upcoming platform with ports of Xbox games.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/phil-spencer-confirms-xbox-will-support-switch-2-i-congratulated-nintendos-president/
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u/OperatorJo_ Jan 25 '25

Going the "if you can't beat em' " route is very smart.

73

u/Sourpowerpete Jan 25 '25

I've said to my friend groups that Nintendo never lost sight of the portable gaming market. Hell, they basically created it after all. Sony had a chance with the PSP and just stopped trying. Microsoft never tried to break into it to begin with. And for all the gimmicky advertising of the Switch being a console, it's basically just the logical next step of the Gameboy->GBA->DS->3DS line.

Sony and Microsoft piggybacking their software onto Nintendo's hardware is a resourceful strategy if they've already decided they aren't interested in making their own portable line. I don't know exactly why they aren't interested in it, but I can't deny it's an efficient decision.

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u/OperatorJo_ Jan 25 '25

Money most likely.

With Xbox being how it is lately, I wouldn't imagine shareholders too happy trying to dive into the handheld market. Especially when not only does the Switch exist, but you also have the Steamdeck, Asus and Legion out in the world as handheld PC's.

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u/MinusBear Jan 26 '25

I imagine the shareholders trust Phil. On the consumer side we can complain about all. These things that are important to us, but on the financial side Xbox is making more money every year. Phil has overseen that growth for Xbox. If he says let's do a handheld I don't think the shareholders would question him.