Microsoft is expanding its Xbox Research program to get feedback from game developers to understand why they aren’t releasing their titles on the Xbox platform. The program plans to establish collaboration with game studios to clarify all the problems they encounter when working with development tools and other aspects of interaction with the platform.
Image source: Microsoft
As reported by TheVerge, the new program, similar to Xbox Insider, aims to collect feedback on various development tools and performance tuning projects. Microsoft is also interested in the opinions of studios that do not yet release games on Xbox. “If you’re not on Xbox, we’d like to know why,” says Deborah Hendersen, lead researcher for Xbox. “If you use our competitors’ products, you likely have valuable experience that we could learn from.”
Interestingly, this initiative from Microsoft comes against the backdrop of noticeable delays in game releases on Xbox from third-party studios. For example, Baldur’s Gate 3 was released on Xbox several months after its debut on PlayStation 5 due to technical issues related to the development of the Xbox Series S version. Capcom also recently announced that its collection of fighting games Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics and Capcom Fighting Collection 2 won’t be released on Xbox until 2025, following “technical discussions” with Microsoft.
Black Myth: Wukong will also be coming to Xbox later than PS5, as Chinese studio Game Science continues to optimize the Xbox Series X|S version to meet their quality standards. At the same time, Microsoft emphasizes that the delay is not related to platform limitations and hints at a possible exclusive agreement with Sony.
Additionally, the developers of Enotria: The Last Song recently announced an “indefinite delay” to the release of the Xbox version following problems with Microsoft’s review process for the game. This incident caught the attention of Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, who personally contacted the team to help resolve the situation.
Microsoft hopes that Xbox Research will help identify and fix key issues that are preventing some developers from releasing their projects on Xbox. “The new program will use a variety of research methodologies mirroring those used in player-focused research, but tailored for developers,” the company said in a blog post.