Summary
Xboxis set to play a big role at this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC). Every year, GDC serves as a week-long gathering where game developers large and small from across the world meet up to network, learn, share ideas, and celebrate the development side of the video game industry. Several large panels and even a few award shows, like the Game Developers Choice Awards and the Independent Games Festival, take place during GDC week.Xboxtypically shows up big at GDC and this year seems no different.
The Xbox brand has been going through some big changes in the past year or so. Its controversial shift to more of a multiplatform first-party strategy has left many Xbox fans disheartened as former Xbox console exclusives pop up on other platforms. This third-party push started about a year ago with a handful of smaller first-party games, likeSea of Thieves,Grounded,Pentiment, andHi-Fi Rush.Then, more and more large Xbox titles began to confirm PlayStation 5 releases, likeIndiana Jones and the Great Circleand, most recently,Xbox’s 2021 arcade racing masterpieceForza Horizon 5. Microsoft’s “This is an Xbox” ad campaign, which launched late last year, brought its strategy into clearer focus, communicating the brand’s desire to be as accessible as possible across screens and devices of all kinds.
Xbox is Looking to Show Up Big at GDC 2025
Earlier this week on theOfficial Xbox Podcast, head of Xbox Game Studios Crag Duncan said that “Everyone that makes a game wants it to reach as many players as possible,” and it seems that Xbox is looking to use this sentiment to attract game developers to create games for the Xbox ecosystem. Supporting this is the message in Xbox’s GDC 2025 announcement image, “Develop for Xbox anywhere, reach players everywhere,” written in bold green letters. More developers signing on to put their games on Xbox only means good things for Xbox gamers, who will have the opportunity to play more games from developers who previously may not have been considering shipping on Xbox.
GDC is going live in just a few weeks and there’s no telling the types of hardware or software news that may come out of the event. While Phil Spencer has already confirmed that the heavily rumoredXbox handheld device is indeed in development, Xbox fans shouldn’t expect any word about it at GDC 2025 next month, as Spencer mentioned it’s several years away.
