Phil Spencer says no "red lines" over any Xbox game coming to Nintendo or PlayStation

"I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say 'thou must not,'" Spencer toldBloomberg, adding that it was still too early to discussMicrosoft's plans for the next Halo-now being built in the cross-platform-friendly Unreal Engine.

Xbox launched Pentiment,Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded andSea of Thievesacross a mixture of PlayStation and Nintendo Switch consoles earlier this yearto some success, withmore than 1m sales reported for Rare's popular piratical live-service game. Microsoft will follow this with aPlayStation launch for Xbox's biggest Christmas blockbuster, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, early next year. The expectation is that many other Xbox games will follow.

In a wide-ranging interview, Spencer also discussed hislong-held desire to launch some kind of Xbox handheld. Microsoft is currently working on prototypes and considering the market, Spencer said, though the launch of an official Xbox handheld is still a few years out. (So, no Xbox handheld beforeSwitch 2.)

Spencer also said Xbox still "definitely want to be in the market" to acquire other companies, followingMicrosoft's record-setting $68.7bn buyout of Activision Blizzard. That said, deals of similar size were currently unlikely due to the still-ongoing process of merging in Activision teams.

The Xbox chief said he was still looking for deals that added "geographic diversity", such as teams in Asia, despite itwalking away from Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworksearlier this year.

"The Xbox business has never been more healthy," Spencer concluded, when asked how he felt about 2025 after a yearpunctuatedbyrepeated layoffs. "The business is performing right now, and I think that means a more healthy future for hardware and the games we build."